A good working definition of a Spiritual Bypass is “using spiritual beliefs or practices as a shortcut to avoid facing uncomfortable or painful situations.” Spiritual bypass falsely leads people to avoid facing their deeper shadow-based issues and limiting belief patterns, which then fuel adverse behavior. Spiritual bypass makes genuine emotional healing virtually impossible. 

Spiritual truths can be distorted until they become tools for manipulation, control, protection, and in some cases, even abuse. People who engage in spiritual bypassing often employ rationalization and logical reasoning to defend their belief systems and opinions. For instance, OCD can be rationalized as being detail-oriented instead of going under the veil to understand the root cause of OCD. Another example is having strong opinions on topics like buying a home, where one might argue that purchasing a home is a financial trap rather than a path toward financial freedom. The root behind this opinion against buying a home could simply be that they cannot afford to purchase a home. However, because they are unwilling to admit and accept the truth, they rationalize reasons for not buying a home. 

Another spiritual bypass may be living in the ethers. Having a superior attitude towards others under the false belief of being better than, being so evolved and so spiritual that others can’t relate to you, thus these individuals become unrelatable.  The real truth is they chose a spiritual bypass rather than doing the deeper shadow work. When this happens we tend to project our opinion on to others to anchor it as a truth. This is all fueled by the ego’s need to protect the individual. This belief system fuels disconnection from self, others, and the world at large, and is often fueled by low self-esteem, self-worth, and even an inferiority complex.

To avoid the trap of spiritual bypass, we need to get really honest with ourselves, develop the quality of humility, learn how to sit with uncomfortable truths about self, and do the deeper shadow work. We need to learn how to take accountability for our actions, words and belief systems.