Spiritual Bypassing (2011) [pdf]

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.

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

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..

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.