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The Hidden Pitfall of Spirituality
Are You Letting Go or Just Running Away?
Many who dabble in the spiritual path seek wisdom, peace, and transcendence. But along the way, a hidden danger often arises — one that disguises itself as wisdom, even spiritual progress: escapism.
Many of us, in pursuit of growth, try to amputate parts of ourselves — desires, ambitions, anger — because they don’t fit the polished image of a “spiritual person.” But cutting away what makes you human isn’t transcendence. It’s avoidance.
A “spiritual view” mistakenly hovers above the world, dismissing the material and mundane as distractions to be transcended. But true transcendence does not come through avoidance.
It comes through engagement with all the mundane, unsatisfactory parts of the world that we want to get away from in the first place.
As Carl Jung said, “The path to heaven goes through hell.”
Too often, we turn spiritual concepts like “letting go,” “detachment,” and even “self-love” into shields against discomfort. Instead of confronting the real work of living, we sidestep the hard stuff with a spiritualized version of avoidance.
I’ve fallen into this trap repeatedly.
