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 You Traveled the World Just to Finally Arrive Within?

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By

Paul Hudson

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7–11 minutes

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In my NIV translation of the Hebrew Bible, “travel” is not used in the book of Genesis. However, “travel” is an underlying theme in the Torah as well as in the Writings of the Hebrew Bible. One of the stories I would like to use to introduce this topic comes from the book of Job. Job is replying to his friend Zophar, stating he knows what Zophar is thinking, apparently schemes to do Job wrong. Job mocks Zophar, pretending to be Zophar and asking Job where is his great house, where are the tents Job once had. Job wonders if Zophar has ever questioned those who can travel a lot, if Zophar has ever paid regard to their accounts and possessions. Job shares that from his perspective, the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, the wicked are delivered from the day of wrath? Job questions who denounces the wicked to their face, and who repays the wicked for what they’ve done. Job believes the wicked are carried to their grave, and there is a watch kept over their tombs. Job believes the soil in the valley is sweet for the wicked, and plenty of people come before and after the wicked.

This is just a part of the poetic dialogue used in the book of Job, a dense narrative describing the wrestle of Job as he comes to his belief of who god is. I believe the narrative reveals Job’s desire for understanding of why he has lost all the things he owned, why he has lost the family he had, and how god had an influence on these events. However, I believe the story of Job is not the only ancient cultural story that has addressed this concern. I believe Job’s poetic and creative narrative is one of many efforts to display the journey of growth in one’s understanding of the spiritual realm, similar to texts like the Mesopatamian’s Ludlul bel nemeqi, the Egyptian’s Eloquent Peasant, the Canaanites trials of King Keret, etc. I say this to say I don’t think Job’s story was something unique in the time it was written, but was a common dilemma a lot of ancient cultures faced. I believe through all of Job’s interactions in the story, he is not searching for a new way of life, but he is trying to remember who god is, and most importantly who he is without the factors that made up his identity.

I believe the story of Job is one instance where cultural anecdotes explore similar spiritual journeys. I believe the stories that travel around the world physically, what is discovered is a common understanding of the mystery of the divine, an internal struggle of a connection we have within. I believe Job’s reflection considers the complexity of divine intervention alongside the main character’s self awareness in how they are just one piece to the puzzle of their world. I believe it’s important to immerse oneself in multiple perspectives, immersing oneself in multiple cultures, to slowly digest themes that travel the world. Whether or not Job’s interaction with friends and with god was historical doesn’t impact the relevance of the story, but I believe it is important to recognize the unique creative expression the Hebrews used to display their cultural understanding of how the spiritual interacts with the divine. I believe one could travel the world to find evidence to corroborate the world they understand, yet I believe these stories are somewhat meant to bring us back home to ourselves with a different perspective.

The Illusion of Travel

I believe the advancement of technology in the past fifty years has vastly impacted the tools, knowledge and possessions we value and hold today. For Job, it was sheep, camels and oxen. Today it might be a phone, a laptop, or a television. I believe our perception of what is valuable in one’s personal life has adapted since the ancient times of Job, yet these items create a sense of security in one’s life, equipping us to live the life that we want in the time period we live. One unique aspect of Job’s story that I believe could be important to this blog is Job’s description as being a righteous man without following a strict adherence to the tenants Moses described in the Torah. I believe this is important due to Job, god and Satan, identifying Job as a righteous man, however by the end of the first chapter, Job feels spiritually disconnected from the LORD.

On the Stay Spiritual Youtube channel, James and Justin react to one of Osho Rajneesh’s messages, “You Have Everything, but You Don’t Have Yourself”1. After getting to the halfway point of Osho’s message, James and Justin share this message sounds like something they have talked about before2. James dives deeper into detail, Osho’s discussion about needing a certain amount of affluence to create a fertile ground to then be able to question things at a certain level3. James continues, when one is poor and living purely for survival, one doesn’t have the time to ask deeper questions beyond their perceived survival needs4. Justin adds to the conversation, believing there is a person out there for everyone5. Justin gives an example of when a person is in kindergarten, the teacher doesn’t teach calculus, they teach them based on where they are at6. Justin believes for a lot of people it is a life long struggle to receive that person for themselves7. Justin believes this is where spirituality comes in, the wise knows what to say to every person to solve them, and that’s a tough pill to swallow8. Justin invites his audience to imagine if he could frame everything he said into a way most of his audience could accept9. Justin believes real spirituality is most likely not going to be reached in one’s life because people tend to clamor to their conditioned needs10. Justin believes people have a tendency to chase approval, status or societal satisfaction to feel right about their life’s upgrades and luxury11.

James and Justin share the misconceptions some of humanity lives through. James touches on the standing or security one might need to ask certain reflective questions about one’s life. The questions that pertain to who we are, what we want our life to mean, and maybe even what part of ourselves we have not been noticing. Justin goes off this point, reflecting on the way people benefit from those who see them for who they are, and the difficulty in living a spiritual life with conflicting desires of societal approval. To be able to reflect and live a full spiritual life, I believe it’s important to travel, not to a new physical place, but to a reflective place outside of ourselves. I believe James and Justin are outlining the way for us to escape our self-created illusion, the illusion that luxury and riches is what we need to be the best version of ourselves. I believe it is the reflective practice, the ability to travel and look back on ourselves, that allows us to live out one’s own spiritual path.

The Spirituality of Travel

James and Justin finish Osho’s video, and James and Justin laugh at the way the video ends12. Justin doesn’t see anything inherently wrong with space exploration projects13. On another point, Justin wonders who decided for Osho to dress up in his pink wizard costume he’s wearing, if it was himself or his followers who decided his outfit14. James jumps in, acknowledging he felt a little lost near the end, wondering how the politicians and the homeless have to do with his main point15. Justin helps him out, pointing back to Osho’s point of the government not allowing abortion and increasing the population without helping the poverty-stricken people due to the increased population16. Justin adds to his point, saying that the government didn’t put their attention in raising people’s culture, but towards grandiose endeavors like going to space and building bombs17. James refers to Osho’s wish, that our society would grow towards teaching meditation, consciousness, and bringing people to a sustainable place of living18. Justin bounces off of James’ point, recognizing how he has taken for granted where other people are at in life19. Justin tells a story of a time he was at a gas station one time, where he met an Indian looking woman behind the counter20. The Indian looking woman shared how people came in earlier throwing out racial slurs at her, and Justin replied that some people are not nice21. Others in the store came up to the counter to join the conversation, sharing they were also not nice people22.

James and Justin reflect on just how ignorant and arrogant people have been in the past and continue to be in our modern world. James and Justin reflect on the misalignment of people’s advocation and the way they impact the lives around them. The pursuit of what seems unachievable taking precedent over being in touch with who humanity is. Similar to Justin, I support space travel, however I question if we are in touch with ourselves well enough to be ready for what we find outside of our world. Even in Justin’s story at the gas station, the other customers at the store digest the story at a surface level, commenting on the details that they resonate with. Before we travel the world we live in, before we travel to worlds around us, I would recommend inhaling where you are presently, meditating on our perspectives and being conscious of our experiences. I believe recognizing where we are in our spiritual journey could allow us to travel not trying to understand something outside of us, but allowing what’s inside of us to express itself unpredictably. I recommend before one travels to ask themselves where they are showing up outwardly, but feel absent inwardly?

Call to Travel

This will be my last blog for the next few weeks. I am very grateful for everyone who took the time to read one word. Thank you for reading my understanding and expression of the mystery we share in life. I’ll be back very soon, hopefully with more contributors. See you later!

Invite travelers. Read the world. Comment on your finale. Arrive momentarily. Practice from within. Create your own illusion. Help your spirituality. Feel the call. Find your understanding. Inhale your world. Search for your expression.

Bibliography

  1. Stay Spiritual, “OSHO Rajneesh | You Have Everything but You Don’t Have Yourself | FOREIGNERS REACTION VIDEO,” YouTube, July 29, 2025, accessed July 31, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a05hYRvQSQw&t=59s. ↩︎
  2. Stay Spiritual, ↩︎
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