I started my spiritual journey a good few years ago. Okay, decades ago. It was beautiful. It empowered, expanded, soothed my soul and being. The principles gave me inner strength and I found a community of loving, accepting, and refreshingly kooky people.
But later I started to notice something. Slowly and subtly at first, until in the height of the pandemic something purely toxic and bordering on evil!
Spirituality is meant to uplift and empower us, offering principles that can transform our lives by connecting us more deeply with ourselves and the universe. However, when these principles are misunderstood or misapplied, they can become toxic, leading us away from the growth and healing they were intended to foster. Let’s explore some key spiritual ideas—both well-known and lesser-known—and how they can be distorted into harmful beliefs.
1. The Law of Cause and Effect – From Empowerment to Victim Blaming
Originally from the Kybalion, this principle teaches that our actions have consequences, empowering us to take responsibility for our lives. However, when distorted, it turns into victim blaming, where individuals are told they must have “caused” their misfortunes through their thoughts or actions, leading to guilt and shame rather than understanding and growth.
2. The Law of Mentalism – From Mind Power to Spiritual Bypassing
Also from the Kybalion, this law suggests that “the universe is mental,” emphasizing the power of thoughts. But it can turn into spiritual bypassing, where real-world issues are dismissed as mere “illusions” of the mind, ignoring the need for action, empathy, or practical solutions.
3. The Law of Attraction – From Positive Thinking to Toxic Positivity
This popular New Age principle was intended to encourage positive thinking and intentional living. Unfortunately, it often leads to toxic positivity, where people are pressured to maintain a positive attitude at all costs, suppressing natural emotions like grief, anger, or fear, which are vital for authentic healing.
4. Manifestation – From Creation to Blame
The idea that you can create your reality was meant to empower. However, it can be oversimplified into blaming people for their circumstances, implying that if they haven’t manifested their desires, they simply aren’t trying hard enough, ignoring systemic issues and life’s inherent complexities.
5. Karma – From Moral Guidance to Justifying Suffering
Karma, a concept of moral cause and effect, guides ethical living. Yet, it can be distorted to justify suffering by suggesting that bad things happen due to past deeds, often leading to judgment rather than compassion.
6. Non-Attachment – From Avoiding Suffering to Emotional Coldness
Originally intended to help us avoid suffering by not clinging to outcomes, non-attachment can become emotional coldness, where people detach from meaningful relationships or responsibilities under the guise of being “spiritual.”
7. You Create Your Reality – From Agency to Spiritual Elitism
This empowering idea can become spiritual elitism, where those who succeed feel superior, and those who struggle are seen as “unevolved” or “not enlightened enough,” creating division rather than unity.
8. Oneness – From Unity to Erasure of Individuality
The concept of oneness is beautiful and meant to inspire unity and compassion. However, it can be misused to erase individuality or dismiss valid differences and experiences, sometimes leading to cultural appropriation or a lack of respect for personal boundaries.
9. Living in the Present – From Presence to Spiritual Nihilism
Living in the present encourages us to be fully engaged with the moment. Yet, it can become spiritual nihilism, where planning for the future or addressing past traumas is avoided, leading to irresponsibility or denial.
10. Shadow Work – From Integration to Glorification of Dysfunction
Shadow work is vital for integrating the darker parts of the psyche, but it can be distorted into self-obsession or overidentification with one’s “dark side,” which can sometimes justify harmful behavior as being “authentic.”
11. Follow Your Bliss – From Inspiration to Impulsivity
Joseph Campbell’s famous phrase encourages pursuing passion and joy. But taken to extremes, it can lead to reckless impulsivity, where responsibilities are abandoned in the pursuit of instant gratification, ignoring the importance of balance and long-term consequences.
12. Everything Happens for a Reason – From Comfort to Passivity
This belief can provide solace during hardship, but it can also lead to passivity, where people resign themselves to their circumstances instead of taking action to improve them, sometimes justifying harm as “meant to be.”
13. The Universe Has a Plan – From Trust to Fatalism
Believing the universe has a plan can be reassuring, but it can also lead to fatalism, where individuals avoid responsibility, assuming everything is predestined and out of their control.
14. The Mind is Everything – From Empowerment to Denial of the Body and Emotions
While the power of the mind is undeniable, overemphasizing it can lead to over-intellectualization, where emotions and bodily needs are dismissed, resulting in imbalance and disconnection from our holistic nature.
15. Intuition is Always Right – From Inner Guidance to Self-Deception
Trusting intuition is valuable, but it’s not infallible. Overreliance on intuition can lead to confirmation bias or self-deception, where people ignore evidence or reason, leading to poor decisions and a disregard for rational thinking.
16. Spirituality over Science – From Wisdom to Mistrust
There’s a growing trend that pits spirituality against science, leading to mistrust of scientific methods and health practices. True spiritual wisdom should complement scientific knowledge, not reject it.
17. Energy Vampires – From Boundaries to Fear-Mongering
The concept of “energy vampires” suggests certain people drain our energy. While boundaries are essential, this idea can become dehumanizing, leading to fear-mongering and the avoidance of meaningful relationships based on a simplistic understanding of energy dynamics.
18. Raising Your Vibration – From Growth to Elitism
Raising your vibration is meant to elevate consciousness, but it can lead to spiritual elitism, where people judge themselves or others for experiencing negative emotions, viewing it as a sign of being “low vibrational.”
19. Transcend the Ego – From Higher Consciousness to Self-Denial
The goal of transcending the ego is to connect with higher consciousness. However, it can lead to self-denial or spiritual arrogance, where individuality and personal boundaries are suppressed, or superiority is claimed for having “transcended” others.
These spiritual principles, while rooted in wisdom, beauty and empowerment can become toxic when misinterpreted. The key to maintaining their positive impact lies in integrating them with critical thinking, self-awareness, and a balanced approach that honours both our spiritual and physical realities. By doing so, we can ensure that our spiritual journey remains one of true growth and empowerment, rather than one of distortion and disillusionment, or worse, bullying and cruelty in the name of spirituality.
