In my NIV translation of the Hebrew Bible, I have found a couple references to others. The first mention I could find is when Jacob is sending his servants to confront the approaching Esau. Jacob tells the first, second, third, and other servants to say they belong to Jacob, they have gifts for their lord Esau, and Jacob is following close behind. The second mention is an older Jacob, who holds back sending Benjamin with his other brothers to see Joseph because Benjamin was the youngest and didn’t want harm to come to him. Last but not least, We get the story after Jacob is buried. Joseph retuned to Egypt with his brothers and others, to bury his father’s body. There’s a lot I find interesting about the phrasing of the passages, but the question I want to focus on to start is how the use of other’s seems to strictly occur in the story of Jacob. What I find even more intriguing is the use of “others” isn’t in reference to foreign people, but its connected to the familial tale.
The reference of others in the Hebrew Bible could be the result of plenty of factors, but for the sake of this blog I would like to supposed even though these characters have little detail, they may have had a huge influence in someone’s life. In my own life experience, there have been connections I have made that felt like just another one-off connection, however, over time, it feels like I met this other individual before we met in this life. In some traditions I am familiar with, there is a concept of pre-birth, a moments before an individual was born on this earth. I wonder if in this pre-birth, was make some sort of spiritual agreements, pacts with others that guide our relationships and growth. I wonder if in this pre-birth life, these agreements span across a vast range of spiritual agreements, inhabiting multiple rooms in our mind/spirit mansion. I wonder if one way to journey through the mansion of the mind in our physical bodies, is to seek out a path to harmony and beauty within the purpose we make for ourselves.
Exploring Others
I do not know much about soul contracts, but I feel like I have heard them come up in some of my most unenjoyable conversations and some of my thought provoking conversations. The one I am most familiar with is “twin flame” through the Netflix docuseries, “Escaping Twin Flames”. In the documentary series, the university promotes the idea there was a spiritual connection or agreement between two people made pre-birth, and if you find this person and have a romantic relationship with them, it will be the most fulfilling relationship you can ever have. The docuseries displayed many different layers to this kind of socialization, especially how when this mindset is forced upon a group of people, how harmful it can be.
The Highest Self Podcast released a podcast where she shares some psychic knowledge1. Towards the middle of the podcast, Sahara states we’re all human and are in a journey, juggling positive and negative qualities in oneself2. Sahara continues, stating how someone she is interested in, has an important part in her journey, to be the mirror for her in her own journey3. This brings Sahara and the man she is interested in to a crossroad, on whether they want to show up as the person reflecting in the mirror in a relationship4. Sahara elaborates more, that the answer for each individual is going to be different5. Jumping to another topic, Sahara believes there are sets of men who are more supportive of feminine dynamics, supportive of their wives and families6. Sahara jumps once more, to the idea of karmic knots men are dealing with, balancing the desire to ease control without losing oneself7. Sahara continues, traditionally men have been leading for a long time, and since tides and energy are shifting, men aren’t going to lead forever8. Sahara believes there are some men who holding on to their traditional desire to lead, but they feel it slipping through their fingers9. Sahara points out other men are trying to readjust to the shifts in society and culture, and the amin question she thinks is being asked is in referral to how to lead from a hard space10.
Sahara jumps to multiple topics in her psychic share that deals with the complexity of modern day relationship dynamics, that are continually being challenged against traditional norms. Like we see in Sahara’s episode, I believe this internal dialogue with oneself, in addition to the external dialogue with others, can be quite a draining and reflective practice, but I do believe it can be beneficial. I would encourage one to reflect on what you see reflected back in others you have connected with, exploring how one wants to support masculine and feminine dynamics within a person, and investigate one’s own balance of their desire for control and losing oneself to another. I believe this internal survey could benefit an individual to find their own way to lead their own life, or the relationship they desire with another, in the hard spaces we find ourselves in.
Suggesting Others
I believe memory is a very complicated phenomenon. We remember events that we haven’t experienced, we remember events we have somewhat experienced, but outside of our first person point of view, we even remember things we imagine, but can’t remember some of the most recent moments. I make these points to open our mind to how present we are in our experiences and how much our mind fills in the gaps, and how the scale tips in different experiences depending on who we are around and the moments that come in between our recall. I believe how much we forget is just as important as how much we remember, influencing our ability to embrace what may feel like a new experience. I believe a beneficial use of memory is not one that stirs people away, but brings them to new opportunities, reclaiming feelings that have discouraged them in the past, creating another path or space for them in their future.
In The Sadhguru Podcast, Sadhguru posts daily wisdom about the power of the mind. Sadhguru opens explaining what we call our mind, to really be a million room mansion. Sadhguru believes if you were to walk into every room of the mansion, it would take a very long time, and we have a really brief life. Sadhguru continues, stating we never really see all that’s in our minds, and draws an analogy to checking into a hotel with 1,000 rooms. Sadhguru elaborates further on the analogy, stating you get the key card from the hotel employee and your key card only opens one door to one room. The cleaning lady who is cleaning the rooms on your floor has a key card that opens all the rooms on that floor. Then the manager comes and has a key card that opens all the rooms in the hotel. Sadhguru rhetorically questions if the manager has gone into all 1,000 rooms of the hotel and responds no, with an exception. The manager has randomly visited a few rooms and because of that the manger knows what’s happening in every room. Sadhguru believes this the same way our million room mansion mind works, confirming no one visit is all the rooms. However, Sadhguru claims if one visits one room and pays attention to that one room, they can know every room, not their content but their quality. Sadhguru states one room is enough, and their room could include the type of education one wants to get, what job they want to get, how well they want to do the job, etc. Sadhguru proposes what might happen if you enter another room, many things will happen suddenly. Sadhguru concludes, proposing if you enter ten rooms, magical things will happen with others.
I find Sadhgurus monologue on the complexities of the mind to be very complex. Though this is a blog series focused on spirituality, I believe the mind has a role in the earthly development of one’s spirit. Sadhguru creates an analogy to the different levels of reaching one’s mind, to the key card access people at a hotel have. I would suggest the three different levels of key card access, the visitor, the cleaning person, and the manager, represent different levels of consciousness and possibly different types of identifying factors. With my limited understanding of the spirit and even more limited understanding of the mind, I would like to propose each room is a different combination of expression between one’s personality and strengths. I can’t get into detail here, but I believe the combination of one’s strengths and personality can help them try on an archetypal identity of themselves, and when it fits, there could be a new level of consciousness waiting for them at the end of their season. I believe the more room one opens in their mind, the more archetypes of themselves they explore, the more opportunity and suggestions will be offered to them by others along a similar journey.
Including Others
The Hiddur Mitzvah is a Jewish practice promoted with the congregation to encourage each individual to “beautify the commandments”. At least this was once way this practice was explained to me by Rabbi Aaron Benson at the North Shore Jewish Center. Thinking about this practice deeper, I wonder if we could take a deeper look into how to beautify the commandments out of strictly aesthetic worship. In a relationship between an authoritative figure and its subordinate, I believe harmony can be achieved through showing care or honor for one another, including each other in each path to create beautiful traditions. I believe these beautiful traditions grow in meaning and significance though the generations, evolving into a sacred tradition, including the other ancestors of the practitioners past.
This week I’m adding a special feature podcast to round out the blog. I was recommend the podcast, Sufi Heart with Omid Safi, by one of my mentors Christopher Ray. In this episode, Omid goes solo to discuss the path of love, harmony and beauty. Towards the end of the podcast, Omid points out a large contingent of people who are frustrated and disappointed with organized or institutionalized religion. Omid continues, thinking this group of frustrated people might make some jokes, about other religious institutions they may not be apart of, even going to the point of calling them less than well people. A group of people Omid points out in his discussion is the Spiritual But Not Religious group, SBNR, a fast growing group who are good at self defining spiritually. Omid describes the movement as a free age spirituality, and portrays how the movement could be tempting. Omid closes this section discussing how it can be including of others to share the story of not being able to connect with god in a religious building but being able to connect with god in their heart.
Omid hits home on how traditional religion can isolate practitioners of a religion from to others who don’t like to conform to religion. The feelings of frustration are understandable as I have witnessed the hesitancy and even resistance of certain religious groups in supporting other religious activities due to viewing them as the misguided, the lost, the other. I believe Omid acknowledges the authenticity the SBNR group has embraced and is sought from seekers of a spiritual community. I believe people want their story to fit within the whole, people want their selves to fit within the world, without them having to change aspects of themselves that make them who they are. I believe the continued growth of the SBNR group is symbolic of where our culture is today, a collection of others, a collection of people seeking after the divine, but not in traditional ways. I believe people would benefit from having their unique voice heard, their authenticity included, and to classify as other, or unique in the institution of religious classification.
Proposing Others
Propose spirituality. Live always. Randomize conversation. Value others beauty. Explore the orchestras dynamics. Suggest intentionally. Encourage inclusiveness. Read into culture. Ask to deepen your diversity. Listen to others expression. Connect with your vision. Discover the vastness of your echo. Fortify your inner origins. Eternalize your mind mansion. Mystify your walk. Find your twin path. Revere your soul. Harmonize your dance with others. End with energy. Invite others along your quest. Reflect on your light. Build the architecture of your renaissance. Spiritualize your relationships. Think about your inner life.
- Highest Self Podcast, “606: Psychic Shares: Do You Have A Soul Contract With Someone?,” podcast audio, June 10, 2025, accessed June 11, 2025, https://open.spotify.com/episode/1i4XUiUCmQmuo0mxaUV5lv. ↩︎
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- Highest Self Podcast, ↩︎
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