Why is it important to integrate spiritual tradition and modern psychology?
A. Because without so doing, even if we have genuine and profound spiritual awakenings and experiences we will not be able to hang on to and integrate them deeply and properly. Spiritual growth is like a triangle that can only goes as high as the foundation is wide and strong. Otherwise, we will eventually suffer some measure of grandiosity and hubris and topple over. At best we will oscillate between spiritual openings and limited and painful psychological states, and not make much growth on either front. A.H. Almaas, founder of the Ridhwan School and the Diamond Approach speaks to this point in several of his books, including The Inner Journey Home: Souls Realization of the Unity of Reality. In his recent book Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation, psychologist and author John Welwood discusses a term that he invented in 1984, spiritual bypassing. In Chapter 1 he notes that starting in the 1970s he began to per
