Concept vs. Embodiment: The Illusion of Growth vs. the True Transformation of Being

There is a profound difference between having a conceptual experience of transformation and actually becoming a new being. One is a beautiful painting you admire from a distance—the other is stepping into the canvas, dissolving into its colors, and realizing you are the art itself. Too often, people leave ceremonies carrying a shimmering tapestry of insights, visions, and cosmic downloads, only to fold it up neatly and place it on a shelf labeled “Spiritual Achievements.”

The ego loves this. It gets to call itself “awakened” without the pesky inconvenience of actually changing.

Michael Singer puts it plainly:

“You have to understand that it is your attempt to get special experiences from life that makes you miss the actual experience of life.”

Ceremony can open the door to truth, but walking through that door? That’s on you. And let’s be real—sometimes we don’t want to walk through it. Sometimes we want to peek inside, say, “Wow, that looks deep and important,” and then slam the door shut before any real work can touch us.

This is where spiritual bypassing sneaks in, dressed in flowing robes and speaking in sacred geometry. Instead of sitting with pain, we intellectualize it. Instead of integrating discomfort, we book another ceremony. Instead of doing the hard, messy, ego-shattering work of transformation, we chase peak experiences, convincing ourselves that more journeys mean more progress.

But here’s the truth: If you are constantly seeking the next ceremony, the next medicine, the next vision, you might not be healing—you might be hiding.

When Ceremony Becomes Escape

There is a sacredness to these medicines, a reverence that must be upheld. Yet, when we use them as a revolving door—jumping from one journey to the next, chasing the next grand revelation—we reduce a profound sacrament to just another drug. Not in the chemical sense, but in the way it numbs rather than liberates.

If you feel the pull to keep going back, ask yourself:

• Am I integrating what I’ve already received, or just collecting experiences?

• Am I allowing myself to feel, or am I using medicine to avoid pain?

• Do I think the next journey will ‘fix’ me, or am I truly ready to do the inner work?

Michael Singer again gifts us with wisdom here:

“The only way to inner freedom is through the one who watches the mind, not through the mind itself.”

You don’t become free by thinking your way to enlightenment. You don’t become free by stacking spiritual experiences like merit badges. You become free when you finally stop running from yourself.

Medicine Won’t Save You—But You Can Save Yourself

Let’s say it plainly: If you are still the same person between ceremonies, then the ceremony isn’t the problem—you are.

This isn’t said with judgment—only love. The kind of love that calls you forward, that nudges you to see where you might be fooling yourself. Because truthfully? We’ve all done it. We’ve all had moments where we wanted the shortcut. The easy path. The one that didn’t require feeling the weight of our wounds.

But if you want true transformation—real, gut-wrenching, soul-liberating transformation—you have to live the lessons, not just collect them.

Medicine is a door, but it won’t walk you through it. That is your path, and yours alone. So take a breath. Feel your emotions. Don’t just see yourself in the medicine—become the one who no longer needs it to remember who you are.

And if you find yourself craving the next journey, ask yourself first:

“What would happen if, just for now, I sat with what I’ve already been given?”

Because in that stillness, my friend, is where the real magic happens.