One of the most dangerous elements of spirituality is when it’s used as an escape from humanity, rather than a tool to better understand it. There are people who speak beautifully about consciousness and manifestation or divine purpose, all while being completely disconnected from grief, rage or fear. And what’s worse is they hold court to impressionable people, whilst quietly abandoning their own human emotions. I’ve seen clients become so focused on being ‘healed’ spiritually they forget the real-world work it must be built on. Solid spiritual foundations mean engaging fully with our mess, all our contradictions, ambivalence and fear.
Spirituality can be comforting, but it’s also very good at masking avoidance. It’s easy to reframe pain as a lesson (I do it often) or grief as resistance to change (yup, guilty). The difference is that I am aware and will always try to discourage human emotional responses from being subtly pathologised as spiritual failure.
So, from me to the seekers: not everything painful is misalignment and not every difficult emotion needs transcending. Whoever you work with and however you do, be careful about whether you’re truly ‘awakening’, or simply using spiritual vocabulary to dissociate from life. I say this with compassion, not judgement. Whether you’re searching for relief, belonging, safety or meaning, look after yourself. The uncomfortable reality is that healing doesn’t make anybody permanently peaceful, loving or emotionally resolved. Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is not try to transcend our humanity, but remain fully present inside it.
The Dangers of Spirituality
