Sep 18, 2024 3 min read Meditation lessons

2. What is the Higher Self?

Become the Higher Self and you enter a meditative state—detached from all experiences, existing in stillness, observing with intention.

Photo by Mitchell Griest / Unsplash

In a previous lesson, I mentioned two fundamental shifts in perspective that are key to unlocking your ability to meditate: recognizing yourself as awareness within the body and understanding the breath as a life-giving tool. In this lesson, you'll discover yourself as the Higher Self—the awareness within the body.

When meditating, you should be able to roam your mind (your inner world) just as easily as your body roams the Earth (your outer world).

In other words, just as you can move your body to different places on the planet, you can move yourself—as the Higher Self—into different places within your mind. These inner world places include your memories, dreams, thoughts, feelings, imagination, and even transcendental experiences beyond the mind, none of which are accessible to your body.

I refer to these inner world places as realms of awareness. To access them, you need only realize that you exist as something far greater than your body and material identity.

Introducing the Higher Self.

The New Age movement often suggests that the Higher Self is an external entity you can connect with, but I'm here to correct that misconception. The Higher Self is you. When meditating, you place your body in a comfortable position while you, as the Higher Self, roam the realms of awareness within.

The term "Higher Self" refers to you—the version of you looking through your eyes, within your body. Other terms you might be familiar with include the inner self, the soul, the spirit, or my personal preference: consciousness, or the creator within. Don’t get too caught up in semantics. All these terms essentially refer to the same thing, albeit at different stages of practice.

What is Consciousness?

This is one of the biggest questions ever posed to the human mind, and while I cannot definitively explain it, I can help you experience what consciousness is through the following exercise:

Recall what you had for lunch yesterday, in as much detail as possible.
Now imagine what you're going to have for dinner tomorrow.
Finally, focus on something directly in front of you and take a deep, conscious breath.

In this simple exercise, you visited three realms of awareness: 1. The Past, 2. The Future, and 3. The Present. Notice that in steps 1 and 2, you did not enter those realms with your body, but a version of you did. The version of you that can revisit memories or imagine the future—that version of you is consciousness (the Higher Self). Also, notice how in step 3, you returned to your body as consciousness and commanded it to take a deep breath.

To reiterate: You are consciousness (the Higher Self). Whenever you identify yourself as such, you enter a meditative state—detached from all experiences of mind and body, existing in stillness, observing with intention.

In later lessons, you'll discover what I mean when I refer to you as the creator within. For now, start recognizing yourself as consciousness, and understand that your body is something you have, not something you are. While your body allows you to experience the physical realm, it is confined to it. Though your body may sit in meditation, it is you, as consciousness or the Higher Self, who is truly meditating.

Next week, you'll learn how to map out your mind to organize your thoughts, feelings, and sensations, raise your self-awareness, and truly resonate with the you within.

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Please note: Esoteric concepts are not meant to be taken literally or as absolute truths. However, they can provide valuable perspectives and context, helping our limited human minds grasp complex ideas.

@meditationbytalwinder What is the higher self? @Terry | 🧘🏽 Teacher & Author - you are innately the higher self, it’s the version of you that controls your body and sits inside your mind. This breathing technique will help you feel the energetic presence of your higher self, and hopefully encourage you to expand your field of consciousness and access higher states of awareness! #meditation #higherself #breathingtechniques #breathingtechnique #neurdivergent #autistic #autism #autistiktok #autismawareness #asd #adhd #neurodivergent #higherselfawareness #higherselfconnection #higherselfvibes ♬ original sound - Meditation by Talwinder