30 Nov Mindfulness Practices and Spiritual Bypass
John Welwood (1984) introduced the term spiritual bypassing, and it has become a concept used not only within the field of transpersonal psychology, but within the popular field of personal and spiritual growth seekers as well. The term is generally believed to mean when an individual uses spirituality to bypass their personal psychological work, which might cause suffering. Most people see spiritual bypassing as an attempt to avoid suffering or dealing with one’s shadow material.
Sherrell & Simmer-Brown (2017), however, add another dimension to the definition. In their article they display two shocking covers of Time magazine covering the mindfulness movement — each one showing a young, blonde white woman with an ecstatic expression on her face, one of whom exposes her ample cleavage. What, they ask, is being communicated here about mindfulness?
Mindfulness is presented, they suggest, as part of the implicit power of the privileged class, and the marginalization of all else. There is, of course, the obvious racism, but also denying mindfulness’s Asian roots. Therefore there is a subversion from spirituality itself, and promotes the harmful idea that there is only one way to be mindful – the white, pretty one.
The second reading I found quite interesting this week was Ray’s book on Somatic Descent (2020). I had always wondered about Wilber’s characterization of the Descending line, finding this to be pejorative in a world that believes that that which ascends is superior. He is coming from a background in tantric (Vajrayana) Buddhism, however, is which the ultimate wisdom is found in the body. Any attempt to wake up fully that does not ground itself in the body is seen to be limited and one-sided. In the rest of the book he offers a series of meditations and exercises to help one “descend” into the wisdom of the body.
References
Ray, R. A. (2020). Somatic descent: how to unlock the deepest wisdom of the body. Shambhala.
Sherrell, C., & Simmer-Brown, J. (2017). Spiritual bypassing in the contemporary mindfulness movement. ICEA Journal, 1(1), 75-93.
Welwood, J. (1984). Principles of inner work. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Vol.16 #1
© 2022 Catherine Auman
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