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Thanks for posting, a great read.

I can relate a lot to the mechanism he mentions. I discovered Buddhist ideas after being recommended meditation by a psychologist. At first I saw meditation as a means of relieving anxiety, which meant I struggled with it because I was always "trying to relax". I also used meditation practice as a bandaid instead of addressing underlying issues that caused the difficult feelings. Learning some Buddhist philosophy helped me work past this; I learned to accept the anxiety and this helped me to get deeper into meditation since I wasn't struggling against my feelings. The acceptance of the feelings eventually helped me see the issues with the way I was dealing with things.

A great teacher once said to me that freedom without heart is a very dangerous thing. I thought that was wise.

Alan Watts remarked on the tendency to try to get a 1 up on the world via Buddhism/zen. People are always trying to beat the game.

In which case, they're missing the point and can't succeed.

Meditating for 4 hours a day is one thing, but failing in the real world shows all the folly with thinking oneself superior for not needing to partake in the game. If you can't play it you're not above it

Another useful concept is the closely related spiritual narcissism. If you wondered why Krista Tippet and other similar self-described “spiritual” people rubbed you the wrong way; this might be it.

https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Bypassing-Spirituality-Disc...

Did Welwood really coin the term spiritual bypassing? I read Robert Masters book and found it to be transformational. I don’t think he credits anyone for introducing the term though..

Looks like he credits Welwood with coining the term in 1984:

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Spiritual_Bypassing/Vn3...

https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=welwood+intitl...

Aha, thank you!

It is curious how all of this is also shown in St. John of the Cross’s writings (Ascent of Mount Carmel, and his poetry). I guess any true spiritual “way” must acknowledge the need for detachment together with the need for attachment, contradictory as it might look. “In order to possess I must go through the way of dispossession…” and so on.

Edit: not trying to compare or enter into a discussion, just sharing what I do know.

The reading has been quite interesting, despite my not shating the buddhist view of the world. Thanks to whomever posted it.

Is changing our definition of happiness enough to achieve it?

Thank you for sharing, amazing read!

Without a definition of "spiritual" or at least the version the author is using the paper is meaningless.