Spiritual bypassing is a superficial way of glossing over problems in a way that might make us feel better in the short term, but ultimately solves nothing and just leaves the problem to linger on. This session is an opportunity to begin to understand the concept of Spiritual Bypass (as coined by John Welwood in his book “Toward a Psychology of Awakening”) and how to practice with it.
Discover more from the Dharma Library
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Working with difficult emotions.
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December 4, 2016 Feelings have the power to motivate one toward wise action when facing a challenge. They can also cause intense suffering, drive and distort behavior, and lead to regret. Being able to work with emotions, both intense and subtle, is a skill that can be developed through mindfulness meditation. We explore the Unified Mindfulness technique of…
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Frontline Dharma: Exploring how practice can support and nourish us in engaging with challenging times
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June 24, 2017 For many of us these are times of deep questioning: How do we respond to the challenges we are facing in our societies and our planet? What can we do? How to engage in ways that are skilful and non-harming and also honour our inner sense of integrity, urgency and care? Zohar offerssome reflections and…
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This Dharma I Have Reached
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March 4, 2018 Without a doubt, Buddhism is recognized as one of the world’s great religions. For almost three millennia these ancient teachings have spread rapidly around the globe influencing humanity in a variety of ways. Needless to say, the historic Buddha, (Siddharta Gotama) did not teach Buddhism, he taught the Dharma as a means to overcome suffering…
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The Individual-Relational Dharma Paradox and Why it Matters to Your Life
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February 16, 2025 Biologically, psychologically, and in common sense there is no doubt that the human experience is both intrinsically individual and intrinsically relational. Our bodies are separate. You will never directly know my inner universe. Also, our bodies evolved to relate. The brain is a relational organ. Our sense of safety and joy, suffering and inquiry, has…
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When did you stop breathing?
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June 4, 2017 We could say that the Buddha was teaching us to breath again. It’s said that the prince Siddhartha was sitting under a Bodhi tree, practicing the anapanasati (the mindfulness of breathing) when he gained enlightenment and became awake, a Buddha. He was aware of the whole experience of breathing. Through breathing he trained the mind…
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The Joy of Letting Go: Simplicity and Renunciation
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July 6, 2025 In our consumer culture, we fall for the illusion that more choice-in things, work, people, even spiritual paths-leads to more freedom, when often the opposite is true. As Jack Kornfield says, we live “in an era of unlimited desires but limited resources, when we think it’s the opposite.” More mindful awareness of our consumption isn’t…
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Patience: In Praise of an Undervalued Helper
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December 4, 2022 Patience can be one of those qualities which we think of as being theoretically helpful but feel little motivation to actually cultivate and strengthen. So much emphasis in our busy world of achieving goals and getting tasks done is about doing, taking action and fixing problems. We will spend this session exploring the benefits of…
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Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nirmala Werner – Week of May 27 – 31, 2024
This week’s topic is “Mindfulness of the nervous system: transforming fear, struggle and separation into love and connection”. We humans are social animals and need each other to feel safe and secure, to grow and to nourish ourselves. How can we live with a sense of connection, loving-kindness, and inner family? Our meditation practice allows us to take a break between stimulus and response. When we come into contact with our loved ones, we all too easily lose the inner freedom we think we have achieved and avoid our difficulties, also called spiritual bypassing. This week we explore what supports us to react flexibly to the internal and external world, to relax and to allow closeness and real intimacy. We will look into the first foundation of mindfulness, mindfulness of the body, including harmonizing the body formations and nervous system to meet our difficulties with gentleness.
Discussion