Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

In my NIV Bible, the first mention of a “line” is in conjunction with family. I believe the Bible is a coalition of books, comprising of multiple genres. I believe from a bird’s eye view, it’s easy to see a line that leads from one familial generation to the next. However, when taking a closer look, I think we can see the cyclical patterns in each generation’s lives. In my personal journey, I am trying to uncover the experiences of my ancestors to hopefully connect their lives and mine, to understand the patterns I find myself falling into. I believe identifying the cyclical patterns we find ourselves in and the one’s our ancestors found themselves in, is vital to my personal growth and my creativity. I believe reflecting on the good and bad patterns of life builds a deeper understanding of our personality, and the ability to transform our strengths.

Examining Lines

In my research, Karmic Cycles are defined as repetitive cycles of events and emotions in one’s life¹. I find myself in similar events almost every year, and at this point I’m not sure why similar circumstances keep arising. I find myself in almost routine emotional cycles. I’ve attributed my feelings to the weather in the past, but now I’m considering it may be attached to my personality. My cycles show up in my relationships, my energy level, and even in my yearly NBA 2k cycle.

In the Highest Self Podcast, Sahara Rose hosts a podcast with Rosie Acosta². Sahara begins the episode reflecting on conversations she has with Rosie everyday³. These conversations led Sahara to think about karmic loops, connections with people that bring out the best gifts or the worst wounds in each other⁴. After explaining karma, Sahara shares what karmic relationships are, relationships that teach our souls what we need to learn to become what we signed up to become on Earth⁵. Sahara restates that karma is in everything and everything we do has a karmic reaction⁶. Sahara believes we have come into this world with our own karma, and connects this to past lives, or our ancestral lineage⁷. Later on Rosie asks Sahara if every relationship one has is karmic and Sahara flips the question back to her⁸. Rosie responds that she thinks every relationship is karmic, because every relationship teaches you something about yourself: your perception, relationship, and presence in the world⁹. Later in the episode, Sahara contrasts short term relationships and karmic relationships, karmic relationships being a significant relationship where you are pulled with another because the karma needs to be played out and burned out from previous lifetimes¹⁰. Sahara continues, when she found out about the infidelity in her marriage, the next day she knew her marriage was done, in contrast to what she thinks the previous women in her family would have done¹¹. When Sahara got her divorce, she felt that this was a major closing for her karmic loop because no woman in her family had ever had the opportunity to get a divorce¹².

Sahara shares a unique perspective into her understanding of her ancestral life that I believe we can learn from. Though the beginning of the podcast focuses on karmic relationships, Sahara also touches on soulmate relationships, relationships that bring out the best in each other, and twin flame relationships, relationships that show the other where they need to grow¹³. Sahara analyses her own ancestral patterns, and recognizes where she might have an influence in her own karmic spiral. From a bird’s eye view, Sahara could have seen her ancestral line and given in to how things have always been, but I believe when Sahara went deeper into the pain, she found the spiral, revealing the relationship’s purpose for her and facilitating her evolution into who she has become.

As I shared earlier, I am not good at recognizing the karmic cycles, examining the lines of my own life. However, I would encourage you to deeply reflect on your past, your parents’ past, your grandparents’ ‘past, etc. I am working on this in my own life, and breaking free of these spirals is something I am still wrestling my mind around. I would encourage you to keep seeking the connections of your life and the lives that came before you and use your own intuition to figure out what you want to do with the patterns. I would encourage you to use these connections to launch your personal growth, examine these lines and grow spiritually the way you feel comfortable.

Exploring Lines

Inner peace continues to be a theme explored in my blogs and I don’t want to overplay it. However, I think the lines in the peace symbol could give us some insight into life. First, when I draw a peace symbol, I start with the circle. I believe this could represent all that encompasses what’s to come next in life. Secondly, I draw the lines to cut the circle into thirds. I believe this could represent that life is the perception of the way our mind, body, and spirit interact with one another. Finally, I draw the line from the bottom to the top. I believe this could represent how life, when perceived through the mind, body and spirit, can bring us from a place of happiness to a place of fulfillment.

In The Sadhguru Podcast, Sadhguru shares some daily wisdom about enjoyment and peace¹⁴. Sadhguru opens up the recording stating peace is not the highest goal in life, but is the most fundamental requirement to enjoy any aspect of life¹⁵. Sadhguru continues saying breathing, eating, sleeping, relationships, just about anything, the most fundamental thing is to be peaceful¹⁶. Sadhguru then laughs about people who think peace of mind is the ultimate goal of life; they will only rest in peace, and suggests not to do that¹⁷. Sadhguru then explains why peace is so important, if one is not peaceful, they cannot enjoy the food that they eat, they cannot enjoy the air that they breathe, and they cannot enjoy the people that they are with¹⁸. Sadhguru believes, once one is peaceful, other aspects of their life will fall into place¹⁹. Sadhguru closes by warning that what should be the “A” in one’s life should not become the “Z”²⁰.

Sadhguru raises an alternative perspective to the spiritual states I expressed in a previous blog post. Sadhguru believes peace is not the highest goal in life, but does believe it is a goal we should strive for to grow in our lives. I would argue, Sadhguru is claiming peace to be one of the roots in the tree of life. I find this interesting in reference to the New Testaments account of the “fruits of the spirit”, one of them being peace. I would argue Sadhguru’s message relates to this passage, if one is seeking peace in the present moment, the rest of life will be fulfilled in their spirit. However if one is seeking the Holy Spirit in the present moment, they will rest in peace. Whether peace is the root, tree, or fruit in your forest, I would encourage you to explore a version of peace in one way or another.

I believe the circle of life is filled with divots and spikes. The world is constantly changing, in beneficial and harmful ways. I would encourage you to find agreement between your mind, body, and spirit. I would encourage you to experience joy, from moments of happiness to states of fulfillment. I would encourage you to remain in a state of serenity, reflecting on feelings of peace. I would encourage you to explore what’s going on inside, pursuing the spiral line of life.

Reflecting Lines

I believe it’s important to reflect on spirituality. Additionally, I believe spirituality is influenced by the mind and the body. In my experience, culture frames the way we view our bodies, therefore impacting our spiritual growth. I think some people hate their bodies, others love their bodies, and most fall somewhere in between. Similar to the spirit, I believe it’s important to build a relationship with our bodies just as much as it is important to build a relationship with our spirit.

On the Multicultural Misfits Podcast, the boys get together to rant about Mark Wahlberg and his latest movie “Flight Risk”²¹. One of the guys does a recap of the movie, sharing that at some point, Mark, a hitman acting as a pilot, is unconscious and handcuffed to the aircraft by Michelle Dockery, an Air Marshal, in an aircraft, and they are getting close to landing a plane²². Michelle is stressed out trying to figure out how to land the plane. Mark wakes up in his handcuffs, disoriented after getting beat up by Michelle earlier in the film²³. Mark begins to torment the fugitive he is trying to kill, Topher Grace, striking fear into Topher before he gets to kill him²⁴. Mark asks Topher, “Did you make a poop? Are you scared?” and the boys break into laughter at the line in the movie²⁵. One of the guys questions if Mark was the one who wrote the movie²⁶. He responds that Mark did not write the movie, and after his research he found that the writer of the movie has no credits to any other movie and is working on seven other movies²⁷. He continues stating that film critics are speculating the writer is AI, and the boys joke about the outrageous parts of the movie, such as the “Did you make a poop?” line or how Mark is a bald Texan in the movie²⁸. The guy who’s recapping continues, explaining before Mark wakes up, the subplot of the movie is revealed to the audience, through a phone conversation taking place on the plane²⁹. The audience learns Michelle’s boss was getting paid by Topher’s previous employer³⁰. He explains that Michelle’s boss is working with Mark to help kill Topher³¹.

The boys start the podcast joking about the film starring Mark Wahlberg, and continue to discuss the Weeknd and Emilia Perez. The Oscar nominations for 2025 have recently been released and the Weeknd came out with a masterpiece of a music video this week. I believe visual media has an extensive reach on our contemporary society, influencing the way our imagination evolves. The way “Flight Risk” touches the audience raises discussions and reactions from people of all backgrounds. The Flight Risk shows an alternative reality to Air Marshal regulations, highlighting ridiculous phrases and plot twisting corruption. The ritual procedure of transferring a criminal turns into an offbeat adventure of imagination, invigorating the spirit with laughs and the body with tension.

Though “Flight Risk” may not have intended to be a spiritual formation film, I believe there is some ethereal substance we can gather from the work. The timing of the phrase “Did you make a poop?” and the following: “Are you scared?” could be interpreted with a more significant meaning. As Mark wakes up from his unconscious state, he asks Topher if he pooped, or in another way, if he cleansed himself. Mark goes further, teasing Topher about whether he is scared, or if he has been released from the fear Mark strikes in him. Mark can see by Topher’s body language and expression that he is frightened, and uses this awareness to renew the fear of survival that may have dwindled while Mark was unconscious. I believe Mark observes Topher’s physical state to assume his spiritual state and grow closer to the goal he once started. I believe the line, “Did you make a poop”, is a reflection of the examination of Topher’s physical state and a speculation of Topher’s spiritual state.

Reframing Lines

Personalize your life. Grow in your spiral. Straighten out your relationships. Connect the lines of your culture. Observe and be aware. Dissect the parts of your spirituality. Embrace breathing cycles. Journey through diverse environments. Express the lines you find. Pursue your artistic path. Seek encouragement for your vision. Read through your origin. Discover patterns in eternity. Hear the echoes before your life. Question the mysteries with curiosity. Show compassion to all facets of yourself. Sense your soul. Dance with laughter.

Bibliography

1. “Learn How to Work With Karmic Cycles,” Verywell Mind, last modified February 23, 2022, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-karmic-cycle-5219446#:~. ↩︎
2. Highest Self Podcast. “588: How To Spot Karmic Cycles + The 3 Types of Relationships with Rosie Acosta.” Podcast audio. February 4, 2025. Accessed February 5, 2025. https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Bkpd8v5Z1KIfipgknEET6. ↩︎
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14. The Sadhguru Podcast, “If you want to enjoy any aspect of your life, first you must be peaceful,” podcast audio, February 5, 2025, accessed February 6, 2025, https://open.spotify.com/episode/7oTW5UHEvJ2Scr65CMF6wE. ↩︎
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21.  Multicultural Misfits Podcast, “Did You Make A Poop,” podcast audio, February 4, 2025, accessed February 6, 2025, https://open.spotify.com/episode/4S6f26mn5JuXGuUuB7lN4c. ↩︎
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