Talk:Spiritual bypass

Another source

• The ACA Encyclopedia of Counseling, Spiritual bypass

Merger proposal

Intermediate zone into Spiritual bypass: other terms, same topic. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 05:31, 6 October 2015 (UTC)

• Support per above. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 05:31, 6 October 2015 (UTC)

My friend Kazlev has moved on years ago, I am retiring my account from Wikipedia after making this final comment having seen every article I worked on deteriorate, and I doubt there is any point in me trying to explain why they are different that in your terms if you can't see it from the text. The IZ is a realm, not a psychological state. Which is what makes it so dangerous. Do what you will...that is the law. Dseer (talk) 19:20, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

Sri Aurobindo, The Intermediate Zone (1933):

• "At this stage"
• "it is not the supreme Truth in which he can rest, but only a stage. And yet these stages have to be passed through"
• "This is in fact an intermediary state, a zone of transition between the ordinary consciousness in mind and the true yoga knowledge"

Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 04:17, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Well if you want to sincerely discuss it I can make an exception as I have the expertise and have some time so I ask you first to consider the full context of the selections you outline. The Aurobindo letter begins:

"All these experiences are of the same nature and what applies to one applies to another. Apart from some experiences of a personal character, the rest are either idea-truths, such as pour down into the consciousness from above when one gets into touch with certain planes of being, or strong formations from the larger mental and vital worlds which, when one is directly open to these worlds, rush in and want to use the sadhak for their fulfilment. These things, when they pour down or come in, present themselves with a great force, a vivid sense of inspiration or illumination, much sensation of light and joy, an impression of widening and power. The sadhak feels himself freed from the normal limits, projected into a wonderful new world of experience, filled and enlarged and exalted; what comes associates itself, besides, with his aspirations, ambitions, notions of spiritual fulfilment and yogic siddhi; it is represented even as itself that realisation and fulfillment."

In short they are talking about planes of consciousness (basically astral and mental planes) which more experienced occultists are familiar with as actual realms. Ancient occult lore is true that there are stages of awakening to these planes which is what is meant but the danger is in not being able to handle the energies and conscious influences, archetypal forms and beings there so that one becomes more of an intermediate zone medium (a sad state some of us have actually observed which is why Kazlev popularized the concept). This becomes clearer once you read the full text of Paul Brunton's Chapter on the Intermediate Zone here: http://paulbrunton.org/notebooks/16/12.

Brunton's beginning point is that:

"The pathway of the mystical goal is strewn with human wreckage. Why? Several reasons would be needed to give a complete answer but one of the most important is this: Between the state of ordinary man and the state of the matured mystic there lies a perilous and deceptive psychological region which has been given various names in mystical literature. It has been called the astral plane, the intermediate zone, the hall of illusion, and so on. The early efforts of all aspirants in concentration, meditation, self-conquest, and study, bring them into this region. But once here their egoism becomes stimulated by the subtle forces they have evoked, their emotional nature becomes more sensitive and more fluid, their imaginative power becomes more active and is less restrained. The consequence of failure to negotiate these changes properly is swollen vanity, superstitious credulity, emotions run riot, and imagination gone wild. The safeguards against all this are first, submission to the philosophic discipline and second, submission to competent guidance."

I appreciate that you have more of a Buddhist orientation in your views while the sources use Hindu based concepts. In this case to say that the IZ is similar to a Buddhist concept of a spiritual bypass which is "a tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks" is sufficiently related to the IZ concepts of Aurobindo and Brunton to justify combining rather than cross referencing them, is to miss the import of the IZ concept. You would be familiar with the Buddhist wheel of life with its different realms of being. A more Buddhist way to look at it would be that you have to pass the tests of illusion and influences of certain beings of each realm up to and including Mara to truly get through the IZ (and free of the wheel), and it is too dangerous without a proper guide. While Buddha (or for that matter any enlightened being) is fully awake and present on every level of the wheel) the aspirant is only awakening slowly from the dream and can be easily confused. Even highly practiced, relatively balanced and well meaning spiritual people can and do fail to pass through the IZ. The "spiritual bypass" is a concept far too psychological to express the broader meaning of the IZ.

So I think your idea has some merit and certainly the article can and should be improved but a better solution would be to improved the cross referencing and not just force an integration of the terms. I hope you take the time to thoroughly review Aurobindo and Brunton's full exposition of the concept before pushing ahead. I have no difficulty with you taking over lead on the article in that case. All I ask is that editors be thorough and give some weight to those with expertise on a specific topic. Dseer (talk) 22:01, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Hi Dseer. There are differences indeed; I noticed that too. Maybe the IZ also has similarities with Makyo. I'll think abut it further; thanks for your extensive reply. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 05:43, 20 October 2015 (UTC)

Neo-Advaita section

I don't know if anyone is still actively involved in editing this article, but I noticed some issues with it today and tried to make some improvements. Regarding the "In Neo-Advaita" section in particular, which appears to have been copied almost verbatim from the main article on Neo-Advaita, I initially rewrote it to avoid having anyone else read it the way I initially did, as suggesting that having a spiritual awakening and then "still being a human being" with thoughts, feelings, desires, etc. was somehow an example of spiritual bypass. Then I got to thinking that really this issue is widely regarded as a challenge for all spiritual traditions, and there seems to be no good reason to specifically single out Neo-Advaita as an example here.

Since that section was originally part of the Neo-Advaita article anyhow, I decided to just merge my clarified version back into that article and remove the section from this one. I hope that is acceptable; if not, please explain. It does still leave somewhat unaddressed the issue of only using primary sources that was flagged in that section, but I don't think that was really fixable, as all the relevant sources I can find specifically on spiritual bypass in Neo-Advaita are either primary sources or overtly biased polemics. And I'm not sure if primary sources are necessarily as big of an issue as examples in a dedicated "Criticism" section as they have over in the main Neo-Advaita article. Anyway, I would welcome feedback if someone else has a better solution to these issues. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cbhack (talk • contribs) 05:04, 23 July 2020 (UTC)

some EXAMPLES are urgently needed

Equinox ◑ 14:20, 10 April 2023 (UTC)