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I saw this on FB earlier and immediately thought it was a comment on spiritual bypassing (the tendency for some spiritual folk to use their beliefs as a way of avoiding challenging personal or political realities).

Then I saw it had been shared by the meditation teacher Tara Brach with the caption, 'the wisdom of elders 💕'. She clearly took it the opposite way.

How do you see it? Curious what the cartoonist intended.

#cartoon #spirituality #TaraBrach

#spirituality #cartoon #TaraBrach
in reply to Cathitza Cathington

Anders Rytter Hansen
Anders Rytter Hansen
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you mean how i understand the cartoon?
i see it as: when you want to manifest something you have to believe it until its yours. don't doubt on the way because it will happen if you have faith and dont doubt.
in reply to Anders Rytter Hansen

Cathitza Cathington
Cathitza Cathington
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Yes. It's funny how people can interpret it in different ways. I saw the cartoon as making fun of that kind of belief. I thought it was saying that people can believe in manifestation etc all they want, but it's a kind of spiritual bypassing, ie it numbs us to the realities of being screwed over by the system and the greed of those in power.
in reply to Cathitza Cathington

Anders Rytter Hansen
Anders Rytter Hansen
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Haha maybe that can also be true 😃 as for spiritual bypassing I can tell that from my reality, things truly manifest if you believe in it. But it has to be real deep belief, which takes some practice to obtain. I have manifested so many things so for me it's become quite clear that its the mind which shapes outer reality.. like a dream. I think what you call spiritual bypassing happens when you haven't fully let go of the current/past reality and because of that the same things keep manifesting and then you try to suppress it because you don't like what you see. One has to completely close their eyes to the current experience and assume the new desired reality before it will fully take shape.
in reply to Anders Rytter Hansen

Cathitza Cathington
Cathitza Cathington
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Belief can certainly help effect change, but a balanced way of living means means also not denying external, systemic inequalities. It's easy for someone in a relatively privileged position to focus exclusively on their own wants and beliefs and say that's key to a happy life or whatever. But are you going to tell a starving child in a war-torn country that they're in that situation as they haven't closed their eyes to their current reality enough?
in reply to Cathitza Cathington

Anders Rytter Hansen
Anders Rytter Hansen
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@Cathitza Cathington
No I'm not gonna tell them that.

The outside world is a mirror and I'm not gonna try to change the mirror. If I want to change something I'm gonna change my own face, which is what the mirror is reflecting. There is no point for me to try to change the mirror itself.

@Cathitza Cathington
in reply to Anders Rytter Hansen

Cathitza Cathington
Cathitza Cathington
• •

I agree the outside world can reflect our own stuff back to us (including our dark/shadow sides). And that we need to start with healing ourselves. But we also need to consider others and take action out in the world. We need activism against oppression, injustice, etc. History has shown this. A balanced approach includes both: external/internal, self/others. This kind of balance is everywhere in nature.

Also, I really want to contact this cartoonist and see what he intended. :-)

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