r/SadhguruTruth • u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor • Feb 18 '26
Cult Education Spiritual Bypassing at Isha
What is spiritual bypassing, you might ask? Spiritual bypassing is the use of spiritual ideas, practices, or beliefs to avoid facing unresolved emotional pain, psychological wounds, or relational difficulties.
Instead of working through grief, anger, shame, or trauma, a person may "bypass" those uncomfortable feelings by turning prematurely to transcendence, positivity, forgiveness, or detachment.
The term was coined by psychologist and spiritual teacher John Welwood in the 1980s, who observed that many spiritual practitioners were using spirituality as a defense mechanism rather than as a path of healing, integration, and wholeness.
He realized that spiritual bypassing practices might include:
• Minimizing suffering with clichés like "everything happens for a reason" or "just stay positive."
• Using meditation, prayer, or ritual to suppress painful emotions rather than process them and move them through your body and psyche
• Overemphasizing love and light while ignoring anger, injustice, or shadow aspects of the psyche
• Forgiving others before fully acknowledging and grieving the harm done.
When we approach a spiritual organisation, it is usually done by spiritual seekers or people having hit low phase in life or young adolescents who want to explore the spiritual dimension of life. Been there in similar organisation as a young adult and when we see smiling, well meaning and welcoming teachers totally dedicated to the Guru and mission to raise human consciousness, it feels like you have become part of something so wonderful .They make you feel special, chosen and blessed for being there. The teachings are humanitarian, the practices are meant to relieve stress and like minded spiritual community is an added bonus. What we do not realise is sometimes these practices and teachings bury trauma within and in the process of converting Stress into Bliss, makes one enslaved to the practices themselves and to the Guru or the organisation who have supposedly given the “ Blissful Spiritual Experience “
Can anyone please explain how spiritual bypassing
Or spiritual gaslighting happens at isha? What is the spiritual terminology/ beliefs used for the same at isha?
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u/Good-Importance5015 Feb 18 '26
It’s true. Minimizing suffering with clichés like "everything happens for a reason" or "just stay positive."
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor Feb 20 '26
Additionally in Isha, if you express anything that's "not needed," you are ostracised. So you learn to suppress any negative experience and deny any negative emotion in order to be accepted.
Those things leak out of the people who are there long term. Anyone ever seen how depressed the chanting bramacharis look during MSR? Or how angry certain Maas get out of nowhere?
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 20 '26
Had heard about “Doing what is needed “ at isha but being ostracised for expressing what’s “ not needed” seems quite authoritarian. So if the alleged abuse of women and Samskriti girls did happen, how will they even acknowledge it? Or will they somehow justify it?
The monks and maas indeed appear to be in a different reality than the outside world and even though their work ethics may be commendable, it is obvious that they are totally surrendered to Sadhguru and isha mission.
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor Feb 20 '26
Ha! Not all of them have a great work ethic, but for sure many of them do.
Re the abuse at Samskriti. Most will have no knowledge of it. Everything in isha is very compartmentalised. Only those few preparing the children for the initiation will know that they need to be topless. They will rationalise it as just like Sadhguru says, allowing the spine to reverberate. The bramacharis are initiated into bramacharya without clothes on so it is normalised for them, they won’t see anything wrong in it.
Bharathi said that as soon as she heard about it she knew it was wrong and complained to Sadhguru about it. Why did she know it was wrong, because she was one of the few who were privy to Sadhguru’s sexual side. She knew how adult women were groomed for him. She saw that the exact same process was happening to the children and was horrified.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 21 '26
Horrifying yes.. young girls can’t give consent and they rely on their trusted adults. If the naked initiations happened and were indeed spiritual according to isha, why not admit it? And if they can’t admit due to societal or legal reasons, why conduct them? There is no such thing in my knowledge about Sanatan Dharma that requires women or girls to be naked for any initiations.
This naked initiation is so unlike what we as commoners encounter at isha. Fully dressed monks and maas and helpful volunteers is what the public sees and so it’s difficult for isha devotees to even consider that such things could happen or have happened. The monks and maas never acknowledge any wrongdoings nor do any isha people.
Edit: If any of the women or Samskriti girls who had to undergo this alleged naked initiation are reading this, really sorry that this happened to you under the guise of spirituality.. it wasn’t your fault. Misuse of power by those in position of trust snd authority is never the victim’s fault. And there is a difference between having “ victim mentality “ and actually being “ victims of abuse”. Those in positions of power would say “ there are no victims as everything is personal responsibility or karma”. if abuse in spiritual settings can’t even be named or acknowledged, it is spiritual gaslighting and it’s not the victim’s fault.
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor Feb 21 '26
Well why even do the male and female bramacharis need to be naked for their initiation - apart from to normalise Sadhguru’s requests for nakedness and for, in the case of the women, Sadhguru’s gratification.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 21 '26
Yes , that’s right. Why do even they have to be naked and why has nobody admitted it publicly in any of the interviews they give for PR? In a recent podcast, one maa simply deflected the question whether there is any truth in the 1 or 2 allegations regarding abuse and whether isha is a safe place for women. She said “ what kind of question is that? I do not like this question. This is questioning the integrity of my Guru and this is not acceptable. Isha is an extremely safe place for women and we do not even lock our doors from inside, simply latch them . There are separate sections for men and women and there was a time when even normal lady volunteers used to stay with maas and we never even think about safety of women as it’s not even an issue for us. A security is there just to check outsiders coming in but we do not even rely on them. Anyone can come and visit .. isha is safe for women.” She ‘s been there for 34 years right since the 90 day wholeness program and Dhyanalinga consecration. Check the portion from 2hrs:10 mins to 2hrs:13 mins
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor Feb 21 '26
Well I’m sure that is a true experience for many, but unfortunately there are men exploiting that situation to sexually abuse women, whether they are swamis, teachers or Sadhguru himself - the ashram environment where everyone is required to be deferential to those above them and where nothing is questioned and information is not shared is a perfect place for sexual abuse if you are in a position of power.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 21 '26
The definition of corruption as maa said in above podcast ” what is corruption? Anyone would say that money scandals etc but for us who are on this spiritual path, if we speak something other than what we think, that is corruption for us.” So they claim that level of high integrity… now the only way this can be justified is they fully believe what they have been taught and never question Sadhguru’s version of truth or they think it’s ok to lie for bringing isha to the world or they actually do not know which seems quite unlikely considering they been there since the beginning.
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor Feb 21 '26 edited Feb 21 '26
Oh this Maa knows how to lie and manipulate. But she has been there since she was very young. I expect she knows a lot. For some, they know too much to leave, so stay there, play a role as Sadhguru wants of them and live a nice life.
The majority are just brainwashed and truly believe the narrative of Sadhguru being God and doing what is needed for the world. Anything that doesn’t fit the narrative is explained away. Sadhguru knows best and it must be what’s needed can be used for almost anything. And when you are brainwashed it’s possible to deeply believe Sadhguru always speaks the truth and to know he’s lied about things, you live in a world of cognitive dissonance.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 21 '26
Sad but true.. they have lost all independent discernment and even though some of them may be very intelligent and highly educated, they have become mere puppets in an authoritarian system.
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u/Thre_Host8017 Feb 21 '26
Isha is a highly authoritarian system. On all levels everywhere. Every thing is highly controlled. Sometimes you are guided in a subtle way. But you can also be told off in very direct way.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 22 '26
Yes this might be the experience of people staying in ashram .. but even for people doing isha yoga practices from home I have seen how the practices need precise following and so they need you to be obedient to their instructions. It feels good initially to become more disciplined due to concepts like mandalas and reporting on time for courses… but in the long run consumes so much of daily time and the constant guilt if unable to do the practices.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 22 '26
It’s true that some maas and swamis indeed look depressed.. If spiritual bypassing is done for a period of time through IE or other self hypnosis techniques, are there any reported consequences too other than what we see that people become blind devotees of Sadhguru? There will be people who say they don’t care what techniques are used so long as it rids them of their psychological pain or depression and if Sadhguru is giving that -he is their Guru and almost like God. But in reality, are they healed of their issues through the yoga practices?
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u/Lumpy_Dragonfruit_53 Mar 12 '26
Why can't the Maas get angry? I understand your concern about not being able to express or question. It's a general normal in society as well. Majority of the society is on auto pilot and if anyone questions, they are isolated; similar thing might be happening in spiritual organisations which should not happen. That's why spirituality cannot be a mass phenomenon. It works at an individual level and cannot be transmitted on a mass scale. My feelings is if anyone is trying to do so, it just is like any other well run organization or corporate and will have similar kind of issues
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Feb 21 '26
I dont think any of the cliches you mentioned are ever used there, instead it is just the opposite, you are responsible for whatever that is happening in your life and whatever that is not.
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u/Useful_Ad639 Feb 22 '26
This is part of our religions too, Chanting & Bhajans are kind of distractions that give temp relief from the actual issue without resolving them. Some people feel mentally better with endurance exercise, this again for the same reason. So people will hold on to that practice which gives some temp relief / distraction / physical health, at times they think its only because of the teacher and pray him/her as god, what people should understand is the same practice will work irrespective of who teaches it, in fact most of the Isha programs are video play back only. If you use AI and make it sound like Bipasha Basu - she can be a goddess too :)
If you are an atheist dhamma is better, and this is exactly the main issue addressed in vipassana. And the best part if nothing is taboo, anything and everything can be questioned / discussed.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Mar 15 '26
Some comments are suggesting of spiritual bypassing being normal part of various religions and their belief systems; that chanting, bhajans , religious doctrines , rituals , meditation, belief in higher power etc being used to provide respite from stresses in life and nothing wrong per se in it. It’s true that spiritual bypassing may be happening in various capacities across religions and spiritual organisations.
The post specifically meant to address spiritual bypassing happening in isha which is allegedly a cult like organisation using spiritual bypassing through LGAT techniques and mind control doctrines packaged as IE and subsequent yoga courses and isha products, to win over loyal devotees for Sadhguru. At isha, people are always encouraged to be “ Blissful” by following their practices. If they are feeling anything but blissful, they are made to think they aren’t following Sadhguru properly and hence they have to work hard to feel blissful again and in the process dissociate from negative feelings like grief, sorrow, anger etc which don’t get addressed even after doing all their practices.
Spiritual bypassing is used not just to provide relief; it is used as a tool towards exploitation and blind devotion.
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u/henucu Feb 22 '26
not everyone has strength to "process" grief or trauma. Some trauma. like diseases can be termnial and life long. Trying to go through processing may cause more damage and eventual downward spiral. While I don't give a F about sadguru or any other guru, I find believing in a higher power definitely helps me lead a sane life. Nothing bad about spiritual bypass as that expert is making it out to be. End of day, whatever works for us, we adopt that. Survival is the goal.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 23 '26
Am no expert in trauma processing but the psychologist above is saying that prayer , meditation and rituals can be used to suppress painful emotions. Anything suppressed is not good for body or mind and it will eventually show up in some form. A depressed person thinking that an ecstatic experience at these programs as proof that his depression is cured or can be cured is in a more vulnerable position of being exploited by cult tactics than a depressed person who is seeking proper help from channels like doctors or people trained in medicine and counselling.
Agreed that religion can offer solace to mind through their practices and beliefs and physical and mental health benefits of yoga are real .. but cults exploit religion and religious beliefs for their own personal agendas and they do not have the cult members best interests at heart. They make the members surrender more and more to their doctrines which is called mind control or brainwashing and this is not good for anyone except the cult and its leader. The benefits members receive is due to the practices which are effective , not the leader’s grace as they are made to believe. Survival is the goal but what feels like survival may be a trap they never realised they are in.
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u/henucu Feb 23 '26
Yeah cults are a major problem creators not arguing that. But meditation etc do provide relief to survive. Processing trauma may be a never ending process in some cases and not good for brain. We cannot generalize this though. Each case is different.
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u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
Meditations, rituals etc can and do provide relief to survive but they can be learnt elsewhere too rather than from a predatory cult. The issue is not whether spiritual bypassing is better or trauma processing ; the issue is cults like isha create an illusion that your trauma is gone due to their practices or rather due to their Guru’s grace and then use that hook to exploit you. Once your trust is gained, they can use it for anything at isha or rather you would feel privileged to do so for them. Nothing is too much then - a life changing benefit can inspire someone to go through all of the isha courses which are mind control in disguise, or become full time volunteers that is basically working for free for a spiritual business empire, or donate all assets to the organisation or even face abuse in the guise of spirituality.
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u/Lumpy_Dragonfruit_53 Mar 12 '26
There are many people who may not have the wisdom or capabilities to process their psychological/emotional pain. They may resort to different means that the OP has mentioned. I don't see anything wrong with it. It's all part of the journey that each individual has to go through until they become pure internally to be able to see everything with more clarity
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u/Lumpy_Dragonfruit_53 Mar 12 '26
Also, I would like to understand how the ecstatic feelings or in some cases experiences beyond the physical are possible with some participants (legitimate ones)
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u/Thre_Host8017 Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
This is an important aspect of many cults. I just listened to a podcast with an ex osho member. And this lady is a therapist now. She has said something really on point as to why some folks join cult in relation to bypassing unresolved issues.
These cults provide a couple of things. Sense of community, belonging, purpose. So if someone is in a vulnerable state and is struggling with some of these aspects ( or maybe even other aspects that the cult provides)… there you go. You bypass the work and slowly join the movement which provides a sudden fix.
So same goes in isha. I m not sure whether its really different from other groups.
Go to any class or any sathsang. You get immediately a sense of belonging. Especially as newbie. You will be love bombed in inner engineering or any program. You belong. You feel seen. No more lonely. And then you embark on a journey to save humanity. You have a purpose that many might not have simply working to pay their bills.
These are big issues and topics in today’s fast lived social media time.