All Comments By Stefanie E

The way I understand this is that bypassing happens when we use some parts of our experience - the one we are more comfortable with or more familiar with - to disregard or not deal with the parts that are hard. We do get lost in our minds, and thinking that this is the only truth, can run away from the discomfort. I think "Cognitive bypass" is an important term and observation, and I think it should be discussed together with emotional bypassing or spiritual bypassing - and maybe even physical bypassing (by exercising to make ourselves feel better). Every one of these facets of our wholeness can be used to divert attention from facing life fully - from experiencing life fully. Many people get lost entirely in overwhelming emotions, losing the ability to engage and make cognitive sense. Others will never rest for long enough to feel or notice their thinking. So where is the approach that will include all of it, and refrain from excluding? We even exclude 'the head' from 'the body' while really, it is part of it. In the same way, cognition is part of emotion. Without naming an emotion it is nothing but sensation. Without using cognition to explore the underlying thoughts around grief we don't even allow it to come to the surface fully - grief is part of a story of our life. Thought and emotion belong together and enhance spirit and body.

I love this piece of writing. I can so relate to it. Work being tiring is only always a mindset. It comes from not being present with what we do, for whatever reason. We might not like the work we are doing, we might not be doing what we want, we might not feel connected. Then we blame the work or our circumstance and feel powerless to change. I've seen the same that Lynne Twist sees. When I'm able to allow the pain and suffering in my life, I'm also given the power and connection to do something about it. On all levels.

What keeps me from allowing is my thinking mind. Believing that my reality should be different than it is leaves me powerless. I get tired, exhausted. Accepting reality exactly as it is allows me to make clear and informed decisions. I'm energized. The next step forward is totally clear. The satisfaction of doing the work I do is boundless. Joy enters life.

As a middle class white women I have faced little adversity. And in my thinking I have found that I carry the dark stories of humankind regardless. Never having faced torture I am still troubled by it. Not having lived through war I can still feel the hurt and fear of it. As I notice these thought patterns in my life, I can be with them, accept them, and inquire into their truth. I found that only when I allow the darkest corners of my mind to be what they need to be, do I have access to the height of love. Coming out of inquiry of deep fear comes such joy in life, joy in this moment, and exuberance in celebrating it, every moment.

I love the question of the man asking what he is doing there, if God isn't partial - and imagine to being able to hold that space for him to find his own answer, by saying: I don't know. I love that you are asking that question of yourself.
So often we think we need to find answers to convince others of the truth and the light we've seen. And they can never find it on us, only in themselves, listening into the silence of their own wisdom.