Exploring Spiritual Bypass: Navigating Our Blind Spots (Residential)

This is the RESIDENTIAL component of the retreat. If you’d like to register for the ONLINE component, please click here.

How can we investigate what we do not see? Spiritual bypass, a term introduced in the mid-80s by John Welwood, a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist, is a tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks. In this weekend retreat, led by three Buddhist teachers, two of whom are psychotherapists, we will dive deeply into the topic of spiritual bypass.

We might initially believe that spiritual bypass is something that other people do. Not us. But as our meditation and spiritual path progresses, it becomes clear that everyone must eventually grapple with a tendency to use meditation as a way to avoid facing our more uncomfortable states, and the roots beneath. In other words, we are all susceptible to spiritual bypass and need to be proactive to address it. Through awareness practices and psychological healing, we can work with our own patterns of bypass to come into meaningful relationships with others, and with our world.

Please join us to:

• Explore contemplative means of turning towards our avoidance, suppression and distraction
• Engage in exercises to gently parse out these patterns in relationship with oneself and others
• Practice meditation and self reflection in community

With exercises and self-reflection, we will begin to explore the impediments to freedom, how we avoid, suppress and distract ourselves from the roots of our suffering. We will then consider the psychological and mindful work required to find freedom and joy in our life and practice.

In the end, by engaging a dual path of awareness and psychological healing, we can begin to circumvent spiritual bypass and realize our profound potential, as human beings, social creatures and citizens of this planet.

Typical Retreat Schedule

(All times are Eastern time zone)

First Day — Orientation at 6:45 pm. Opening session begins around 7:00 pm.

Full-Day Schedule — Morning meditation 7:00 am; Breakfast break 8:0-9:30 am; Lunch break 12:00-2:00 pm; Dinner break 5:30-7:00 pm. Evening session 7:00-8:30 pm

Last Day —The closing session end at 12:00 pm.

These times are just for reference. An expanded schedule will be provided in pre-retreat information emailed during the week prior to the event.

Important Health Information

The NDF Health Committee continues to monitor evolving public health conditions and trends, as we keep the safety of our Sangha at the forefront of our decision-making. At this time, COVID-19 testing is no longer required. Masks are optional and encouraged if you are at higher risk. We encourage you to stay at home if you are symptomatic to protect others.

Scholarships

Cancellation Policy

We understand that personal circumstances may require you to cancel your registration. In these cases, please contact us right away at register@naturaldharma.org. Cancellations affect our ability to offer rooms to others and create additional work for our staff, therefore we charge the following fees to help mitigate these costs.

For cancellations (based on program start date):

• > 45 days: 100% refund minus a $75 admin. fee.
• 31-45 days: 50% refund of the required deposit; or 75% refund if registration paid in full.
• 21-30 days: 50% refund of total registration cost
• < 21 days: nonrefundable

If you must cancel due to an emergency or extenuating circumstances, please contact us at register@naturaldharma.org.

Access to Recordings

NDF offers unlimited access to recordings, which are available in your user dashboard (more information about user accounts provided in a pre-retreat letter). If you have a user account, please register with the same email you use to log into your dashboard. If not, an account will be created for you using your registration address.

Availability will vary depending on the type of event and the backlog for our precious resource volunteers. Thank you for your patience.

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