Painful and traumatic experiences of our lives are what shapes our personality and is in the core of who we are. It is the lessons that our soul has come down to learn and therefore must be acknowledged. The wound should be given attention to, understood and healed. Yet, there are some who want to hide from further distress by reliving their trauma and hide behind spirituality or spiritual practices to avoid dealing with reality. This is called spiritual bypassing
Avoiding feeling of anger or hurt by constantly being optimistic and positive. Even if the person sees the negative events around them, they turn a blind eye towards them and tamp down any feelings of distress by falsely painting a rosy picture in their mind.
Developing a feeling of spiritual superiority to hide personal insecurities is another sign of spiritual bypassing. A person will try and look down upon others and through his actions or words try to glorify himself as a spiritual being, above the world.
Some people play the victim in their life and refusing to take charge of their life. They use spirituality as their excuse to give charge of their life to someone else.
One of the main behavioral symptoms of spiritual bypass is righteous behavior. The person trying to avoid his problems, will look at faults in other but will turn a blind eye towards his own shortcomings
At times, an individual may use traditional methods of chanting, invocations or prayers to hide from the real issues in life.
Sidestepping or ignoring unresolved emotional issues or deep traumatic experiences can act as a hurdle for an individual’s personal growth and development. While spirituality can definitely be a part of the healing process, using it as a shield is highly detrimental for emotional well being.
We have all used spiritual bypassing at some or other time in our lives, dismissing real problem of people. Though well-meaning we have told people to not look at their real feelings and instead be nice and positive when dealing with a traumatic life experience.
Hence, it is essential to deal with spiritual bypassing and remove its presence from our lives. The first and foremost step to do this is acceptance.
Embracing our shadows and truly working through our darkness is what really takes us further on the road to Light.
PC : Getty Free Images