081. Robert Augustus Masters

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Aug 1, 2011

Robert Augustus Masters, relationship expert and psychotherapist, discusses spiritual bypassing, embracing pain, maintaining intimate relationships, and exploring psychedelics and lucid dreaming. He emphasizes the importance of authenticity, confronting inner dragons, and deep healing. He also explores the significance of creating safe spaces and the next Buddha being a community of peers. Along with his wife, he shares personal experiences and insights on embracing mortality and cultivating intimacy.

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INSIGHT

Spiritual Bypassing Defined

Spiritual bypassing is using spirituality to avoid facing real psychological or emotional issues.
It often leads to deeper shame and stagnation rather than genuine growth or healing.

ADVICE

Face Pain to Heal

Face your pain consciously and skillfully to find deep healing and spiritual opening.
Avoid rushing into pain; proceed at a pace that feels safe and intimate.

ADVICE

Honor All Development Dimensions

Integrate personal, relational, and spiritual aspects equally for true development.
Use psychotherapy, spirituality, and body awareness together to avoid imbalance and stagnation.

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Robert Augustus Masters, Ph.D., is the author of 11 books (including Transformation through Intimacy and Spiritual Bypassing), a relationship expert, a spiritual teacher, and a highly experienced psychotherapist (and trainer of psychotherapists) with a doctorate in Psychology. His uniquely integral, intuitive work (developed over the past 33 years) dynamically blends the psychological and physical with the spiritual, emphasizing full-blooded embodiment, authenticity, emotional openness and literacy, deep shadow work, and the development of relational maturity. At essence, his work is about becoming more intimate with all that we are, in the service of deep healing, awakening, and integration. In all this, he works side-by-side and in very close conjunction with Diane, his wife and partner in all things. Website: robertmasters.com Books: Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirituality Disconnects Us from What Really Matters Knowing Your Shadow Emotional Intimacy To Be a Man Summary and transcript of this interview Interview recorded July 30, 2011, with assistance from Fax and Sharon Gilbert. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Robert Augustus Masters and Spiritual Bypassing 00:05:11 - Breakthrough in Spiritual Work 00:09:23 - The Heroic Journey Into the Underground 00:13:00 - The Circuitous Journey of Personal Growth 00:17:14 - Shedding Familiarity and Embracing Darkness 00:20:06 - Exploring Fear and its Gifts 00:23:05 - The Unpleasant Feeling of Shame 00:25:46 - The Power of Deep Groups 00:28:13 - Awakening Through Intimate Relationships 00:30:55 - Embracing the Uncomfortable and Blowing the Whistle 00:33:32 - Poetry and Paradox in Writing 00:37:30 - The Moral Development of Spiritual Teachers 00:41:30 - Therapy and Spiritual Practices 00:44:34 - Going Beyond Separation 00:48:10 - The Importance of Attachment in Relationships 00:51:52 - Feeling Fully and Passionately 00:54:55 - Body-Centered Therapy and Connected Catharsis 00:58:05 - Therapy as an Adjunct to the Spiritual Path 01:00:59 - The Possibility of Integral Enlightenment 01:04:05 - The Rarity of Authentic Community in Relationships 01:07:39 - Working through Friction and Honoring Individuality 01:10:36 - The Relevance of Personal Stories in Healing and Transformation 01:14:06 - Going Beyond the Rush to Reach the Universal 01:18:05 - Spiritual Bypassing and Spiritual Ambition 01:22:14 - Reflections on Life and Death 01:25:31 - The Breaking Point and the Ayahuasca Phenomenon 01:29:25 - The Intensity of the LSD Experience 01:33:40 - Transformation Through Intimacy 01:37:40 - Mature Monogamy and the Paradox of Freedom 01:41:00 - Cultivating Intimacy with Ourselves 01:44:07 - Prioritizing People according to Demand Save Save