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

The "Spectrum of Spirit" blog features insightful articles, essays, and reflections penned by the founder, Paul, and diverse guest contributors. Focusing on contemporary spirituality, the blog offers regular updates with weekly themes and seasonal reflections, fostering ongoing engagement and a deeper understanding of spiritual practices and trends.

What If Seeing Was Sacred?

Category:

By

Paul Hudson

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7–11 minutes

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In my NIV translation of the Hebrew Bible, there are a few early occurrences of the word “see” in Noah’s Ark story. Noah used birds, first a raven and then a dove, to see if the sea level had receded enough for them to land. Later on in the story, god makes a covenant with Noah, using the rainbow as a reminder of this covenant. When god sees the rainbow, it will be reminded to not destroy all life with floodwaters. I believe the rainbow was like a mirror for god, allowing god the ability to remember the promise it made to itself and to all of the living. I believe the birds were used as an extension of Noah’s eyesight, and whether or not he was able to see through the eyes of the birds, I believe the trust he put in the birds could be another version of seeing. Noah’s birds and God’s rainbow both contribute to seeing the world, in its current state of devastation, and the future promise of safety and security. I believe the opening stories of sight don’t involve seeing from a physical perspective, but in a spiritual sense.

I believe seeing is important in one’s understanding and just as important in one’s expression. I believe seeing allows one to connect with themselves, show compassion to the family they may be with, and bring creativity to the community they might be surrounded in. In this blog, we will be taking a look at nondual Christianity, or as one of the speakers states, “Jesus without the B.S (Belief System)”1. I don’t know much about nondual Christianity, but I can only imagine how the removal of good/evil, wrath/grace, and male/female, could impact the grey area or spectrum of one’s spirituality. I believe the mystery of the grey could be beneficial for some seekers, presenting another doorway to engage with the divine.

Beyond Seeing

Beyond burger, a plant-based burger patty that’s designed to look, cook, and taste like beef2. On the surface, I think you could look at a beyond meat patty and an animal-based burger patty and mistake them as being made of the same material. However, once you get to experiencing the patty, you would come to understand though the patties may be made of something different, they accomplish the same goal. Though the plant-based patty may seem to be the opposite of the animal-based patty, life is still being consumed, seeing the equity in all life. With my current understanding, this is where I believe non-duality Christianity comes in, breaking down divisions of self/others, sacred/secular, and body/spirit.

Stay Spiritual released a video on their channel, an interview with Jill Brennan, the host of the “Non Dual Christian” channel3. James cuts right to the chase, asking Jill what it means to be a Non Dual Christian.4 Jill openly states that in her comment section there have been people who claim there is no such thing as a Non Dual Christian5. Jill reveals that this shift is more like an evolution for her, as she has roots in Christianity, specifically with the Salvation Army6. In Jill’s upbringing, she shares that her childhood was filled with adults emphasizing her need to know Jesus and develop a personal relationship with Jesus, with lots of her beliefs being internalized7. Jill became familiar with the term, “The Christ Within”, and the inner dialogue she would have with Christ, a focus on the one to one connection rather than external rituals8. Once she knew Christ’s presence, Jill began to move away from the church, even though she was very involved with her church, at one point being a minister in the Salvation Army9. Jill identifies a turning point for her being rooted in personal suffering10. First, when her dad got a stroke and never recovered, and a year later, Jill was diagnosed with an eye condition, filling her with fear and leaving her to question why this is happening to her11. After these experiences, Jill started to lose faith in an interventionist god, questioning the idea of prayer, why some prayers are answered and why others aren’t12. Over the years, Jill became more familiar and interested in the line of Christian mysticism13. With this, Jill concludes with the idea that the only subject matter humans know is their own experience, otherwise known as the “I AM” Awareness14.

James and Justin open up the video interview, allowing Jill to express her current understanding of her faith journey. Jill first acknowledges the doubt she was approached with by some of her audience members, almost as if they were asking, “how could you claim to identify as something without fitting the model?”. Jill continues sharing how she grew up within the Salvation Army Christian Tradition, but sought out more upsides to support her new experiences15. Jill lost faith in the traditional way of believing, and instead of jumping off the Christianity ship completely, she found a better option to support her experience16. I believe Jill has set the precedent of an important shift, how moving from Dual to Non Dual thinking is similar to going from meat to beyond plant based foods, aiming to transcend tradition, seeing a global need.

Seeing Compassion

Moving forward with the video, Justin interjects into Jill’s monologue, stressing his warning of over reasoning or adding too much logic to one’s experience17. Jill bounces off this thread, affirming his concern of people trying to just escape from their physical body in a spiritual journey18. Jill references others expressing their body crying out and Justin adds that people try to mute their body with chemicals to alleviate the noise coming from within19. Jill loved the idea of going further inward into the body for her spiritual journey, coming to the essential nature of who she is, grounded in her being20. Jill continues, finding this essential nature, grounding oneself in their being is where one finds bliss, happiness, and peace21. Jill sometimes introduces others to a practice of closing their eyes and questioning “who is here?/who is it that is here?”. Jill walks through the practice, saying one’s first answer is typically their name, “Jill”22. Jill believes responding with our name is part of our conditioning, and our identity rooted in our name is a part of our body-mind construct23. Jill continues with the practice, acknowledging the layer of our body-mind construct, our name, and moving it to the side, comparing it to hanging a coat on the peg24. Jill asks once more, “who is it that is here?” realizing her awareness is still present, and questioning who and where this awareness comes from25. Jill believes this awareness is the ground of being, awareness is something we share with everyone and everything26. Jill walks through the rest of the practice highlighting the importance of recognizing the one awareness we share with all beings, and removing the judgment on the sense of self or others27.

Jesus has been loved by many traditions for many things, his wisdom, his miracles, his healings, etc. I believe Jesus’ compassion led him to share his wise parables, walk on water, and feed large groups of people with little resources. There were multiple times where people who were not Jesus’ friends questioned his identity, who he had claimed to be, and what he was doing to their society. However, I believe Jesus was over the primary layers and lived in a deep state of awareness with everyone he came across, even the ones that wanted him dead. I believe Jesus saw the oneness of life, and how he could join each living person, in their uncomfortable situation, to aid them in the position. I think this is the model Jesus presented for humanity, not only a figure of worship for some, but a perspective of life where using our compassion, we can access a deep awareness of the seasons people go through, and see them through their chosen path.

Still Seeing

Jumping towards the end of the video, Justin is speaking about the consciousness needed to deal with the vile or disgusting things humans present to each other that demons can run with28. Jill does a good job of making sense of what Justin was saying, connecting it to Biblical sayings of “love for your enemies” and “pray for those who persecute you”. Jill elaborates further, stating this was where Jesus was possibly encouraging people to check their subconscious, to bring the parts of ourselves we don’t want to address to the surface29. Jill continues, loving the things we push down and bringing attention to those who harm us or we dislike brings awareness to the oneness of human beings, diffusing the harm and integrating them in a way that is beneficial to one’s human experience30. Jill believes the resistance or drama a person can feel when dealing with “enemies” or “persecutors” dwells in the realm of duality31. Jill believes when you remove the labeling of people from friends/enemies, supporters/persecutors and you move people into a state of oneness, there is no more resistance and all that exists is love32. Jill jumps to another scripture reference, where Jesus tells his audience, be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect33. Jill believes the point of this message was to move the audience to a point of non-duality34. Jill claims the word used in the Greek for perfect is used more for completion or wholeness. Jill continues, the use of perfect does not mean perfect, which she believes has misled people to trying to be better and do good35. Jill concludes, Jesus is saying the people need to be integrated, they need to be whole, they need to be unified36.

I could tell from the way Jill listens and expresses herself, she has spent ample time digesting her thoughts and the thoughts of others. I believe Jill is someone who has contemplated and wrestled deeply with scripture to fit her experience and her current understanding. I believe Jill is someone who has sat in plenty of silent meditations, questioning who is here? What is persecuting me? and where am I missing perfection? I believe Jill is one that sees past some of the polarizing, divisive, and dual aspects of our society, or the way scripture is taught, and still has the desire to bring a deeply unified awareness to all of the living.

Seeing Prompts…

See when. Make the sacred last. Experience beyond time. Show some compassion. Recognize it can still be new. Prompt your way. Observe change. Inhale who you are. Express what you bring to the whole.

Bibliography

  1. Stay Spiritual, “The True Jesus Of Non Dual Christianity with Jill Brennan,” YouTube, June 3, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7SY_zabVKk&t=14s. ↩︎
  2. “Beyond Burger | Original Plant Based Burger | Beyond Meat,” Beyond Meat: Vegan Meat, Plant Based Meat Substitutes, accessed June 5, 2025, https://www.beyondmeat.com/en-US/products/the-beyond-burger/the-beyond-burger#:~:text. ↩︎
  3. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
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  15. “Beyond Burger | Original Plant Based Burger | Beyond Meat,” ↩︎
  16. “Beyond Burger | Original Plant Based Burger | Beyond Meat,” ↩︎
  17. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
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