2.19: The Danger of Spiritual Bypassing

First Name Basis Podcast

Jasmine Bradshaw

How To, Parenting, Education, Kids & Family

5 • 629 Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2020

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There have been many different types of reactions to the calls for racial justice that are going on in our country right now. If your social media looks anything like mine you’ve probably noticed a lot of spiritual bypassing. Spiritual bypassing is a term coined by psychologist John Welwood in 1984, he describes it as, “a widespread tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.”

It is calls for “prayer,” “unity,” and “love” without a commitment to action. It is the message that “we are all different and God loves everyone” and statements like “I’m not listening to the voices of the world anymore, I’m only listening to God.”

Spiritual bypassing may look harmless on the surface, but it is actually a form of violence because it shuts down conversation and allows people to distance themselves from the responsibility they have to be part of the solution, which in turn perpetuates racism. In this episode we discuss how to spot spiritual bypassing, what makes it so dangerous, and what you should do when you see it.

Human Nature, Buddha Nature: On Spiritual Bypassing, Relationship, and the Dharma by John Wellwood

Spiritual Bypassing, White Privilege, and Black Lives Matter

Song Credit: “Away” by Geographer and “Beach Disco” by Dougie Wood

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the First Name Basis podcast, Season 2, Episode 18, The Danger of Spiritual Bypassing.
0:14.0	Welcome to First Name Basis, a community of parents committed to making the transformation,
0:20.0	from good intentions to confident action.
0:22.7	Join us each week as we cover critical topics and answer the questions you've never felt comfortable
0:27.3	asking. We'll use the lessons we learned to teach our children about race, religion, and culture.
0:33.2	I'm your host, Jasmine Bradshaw.
0:48.0	Thank you. I'm your host, Jasmine Bradshaw. Hello, First Name Basis, fam.
0:50.4	I am so glad you are here.
0:54.0	We are living in a really amazing time in our nation's history.
0:59.8	And I know you might be a little bit surprised to hear me say that, but I really do think that it is
1:05.2	amazing. The fact that racial and social justice are at the front of so many people's minds, so much so that
1:14.9	they are being stirred to take real, tangible action is just astounding to me. When the protests began
1:26.4	after the murder of George Floyd, I remember talking to my parents on the
1:32.5	phone and asking them, do you think that this is different or do you feel like this is going to be
1:38.4	more of the same? Are we going to see protesting for a little while and then just have it die down and go back to
1:46.1	quote-unquote normal? And both of my parents agreed that we are living in a revolutionary time
1:53.3	where we can make real change. And I think that's so cool and so powerful because they have
2:00.6	seen a lot in their lives. So today I want to talk to you
2:05.9	about how you can be part of that revolutionary change and avoid one of the most common pitfalls
2:12.9	that I have been seeing taking place during this time.
2:19.7	So let me start with a little story.
2:22.9	I was talking to one of my friends a couple of weeks ago,
	...

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