To view this newsletter in the browser, click here                 Issue #161       A newsletter from Creativegarh to help you live a life of passion, purpose and meaning.         There's a difference between healing and hiding.                     Yesterday we spoke about spiritual ego. Today let’s talk about spiritual bypass.           A smart escape from the inner work, a shortcut to enlightenment, the throwing around of spiritual ideas like confetti to sidestep unresolved emotional issues, wounds and uncomfortable truths, avoiding instead of addressing, masking the pain with mantras, replacing inner work with outer rituals, seeking light to avoid sitting with our shadow.           Walking the spiritual path is a call to experience life fully - anubhuti - a direct experience of the experience but in today’s world in new age spirituality, there’s enlightenment available in Pro version, a quick and easy cheat code for everything.           Everything happens for a reason, they say, trying to dismiss your pain instead of sitting with your experience. Yes, those who suffer well and are able to give meaning to their suffering are always happier but it’s important to take the time to acknowledge the pain and have a conversation with it.           Protect your energy and draw your boundaries, they say. But that’s escaping from a trigger rather than processing it. The idea is to use the trigger to find the doorway to your wound. And once the wound is healed, draw those boundaries by all means. If you choose to cold shoulder the trigger, it’s just a matter of time before someone else will trigger you. How many people will you shun?           Forgive and move on, they say. But premature forgiveness to avoid uncomfortable feelings like anger, betrayal, or grief is a bypass, not the path to joy. Yes, living a spiritual life doesn’t lead to forgiveness. Forgiveness leads to a spiritual life. But feel the pain first, fully, without any filters. And you realise, in the pain, the first person who inflicted the wound on you was you.           We bypass it by just ‘focusing on the bright side’ while being in deep grief. We bypass by blindly following spiritual leaders and outsourcing inner sovereignty to ‘divine masters’. We bypass by writing a manifestation journal but never really question our relationship with money. We seek magic mushrooms while ignoring our own magic.           A spiritual vocabulary can become armour that protects the ego instead of dissolving it. True healing doesn’t skip discomfort. Using a practice to avoid, deny or suppress stops being healing and starts being hiding.                 The tiny, little now purpose of your life.                     We go through our lives finding out ikigai, our purpose, our reason for being, our rationale for living an expansive life, our why, the reason for our existence.           We look for our life purpose in our work, in our jobs, in the things we do, in our accolades, in our acceptance, in our social circles, in our professions, not realising that we can live it right now, this very moment. What if we had a life purpose which was made of millions of ‘this moment’ purposes. A life purpose may transcend a lifetime but a ‘now’ purpose is one that is for the now.           As you wake up in the morning, maybe your only ‘now purpose’ is to become a safe space for your teenager who’s going through a heartbreak.           Maybe your ‘now purpose’ is to walk into a room and light it up with your energy.           Maybe your ‘now purpose’ is to be the ann-daata for your pet beagle who has been patient with your Friday sleep-in.           Maybe your ‘now purpose’ is to give hope to a friend who lost her father and your call has been nothing less than a miracle for her.           Maybe your ‘now purpose’ is to just become the harbinger of love, compassion and kindness for the leper selling incense sticks at the traffic signal.           Maybe your life purpose is to tell stories that shift people but your ‘now purpose’ is to help a colleague rewrite the story of her hatred against her in-laws.           Maybe your life purpose is to help people heal but your ‘now purpose’ is to heal an amputated Barbie doll and make it whole and complete with Quickfix, for your five year old daughter.           Maybe your life purpose is to create meaningful art to help people see the unseen but your ‘now purpose’ is to help your octogenarian with her cataract surgery so she can see you clearly.           Maybe your life purpose is to capture the beauty of the world for everyone to see but your ‘now purpose’ is to put your camera aside and just observe the world and capture it in your heart.           Maybe your life purpose is defined by how you honour the thousands of ‘now purposes’ that you show up for everyday with love, compassion, empathy and generosity.           Maybe, only this moment is your entire life. Pour yourself into it. Make this moment the purpose of your life.             Our upcoming retreats                         Andretta Last 2 Seats Left 16th to 22nd November     To reconnect to your inner child at a beautiful hillside retreat with 14+ soulful individuals will make this a life-transforming experience. See you at Andretta!   More details     Reignite conversation     Munnar Last 6 Seats Left 7th to 13th December     Sitting amidst lush landscapes and misty mountains, Munnar offers the perfect backdrop for a retreat focused on self-discovery, growth and renewal of life purposes.   More details     Reignite conversation     Kasauli Registrations Open 4th to 10th January     The stunning vistas and holistic experiences at Kasauli create the perfect space for self-discovery and ensure this retreat is a transformative and unforgettable experience!   More details     Reignite conversation           This week, let's revisit     Jodhpur February 2024                         Experience a life full of purpose                     The purpose of my life is to live and empower people to live a fulfilling life through inner journey.   Anupama Giri Nainital, May 2022         The purpose of my life is to make an impact with the power of stories to inspire people to lead a life full of light, joy and miracles.   Megha Kukar Sakleshpur, August 2022               For a daily dose of Creativegarh and our retreats, follow us here:                           Mantra Gold Coatings & The White Paper Creative         Sunita Somani         Pedal On               View Our Collabs for Joy                   creativegarh.com             You are receiving this newsletter because either you have subscribed to it through our website, interacted with us by filling an invite form or because you have asked us to put you on the database. 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