HUMAN NATURE, BUDDHA NATURE
On Spiritual Bypassing, Relationship, and the Dharma
An interview with John Welwood by Tina Fossella
TF: You introduced the term “spiritual bypassing” 30 years ago now. For those who are unfamiliar
with the concept, could you define and explain what it is?
JW: Spiritual bypassing is a term I coined to describe a process I saw happening
in the Buddhist community I was in, and also in myself. Although most of us
were sincerely trying to work on ourselves, I noticed a widespread tendency to
use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional
issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.
When we are spiritually bypassing, we often use the goal of awakening or
liberation to rationalize what I call premature transcendence: trying to rise above
the raw and messy side of our humanness before we have fully faced and made
peace with it. And then we tend to use absolute truth to disparage or dismiss
relative human needs, feelings, psychological problems, relational difficulties,
and developmental deficits. I see this as an “occupational hazard” of the spiritual
path, in that spirituality does involve a vision of going beyond our current
karmic situation.