Passages: John Welwood, Trailblazing Buddhist Psychologist

John Welwood, a pioneer in the field of East–West psychology, has died at age 75 on January 20, 2019. Lion’s Roar reported that: Welwood was the former director of the East–West Psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and the associate editor of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. He is known for coining the term “spiritual bypassing” to describe the use of spiritual ideas and practices to avoid unresolved emotional and psychological challenges.

Welwood was inspired at a young age by the works of D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts. In an interview with Buddhist Geeks, Welwood said that when he read Watts’ Psychotherapy East and West, “it blew my mind completely, and I saw my destiny right there. I felt this intersection was the most important thing I could imagine.” Welwood spent the rest of his life pondering the relationship between Buddhist awakening and growth in psychotherapy.

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