Connecting With Your Higher Self

~ Deepak Chopra

In the ancient Greek world, the Oracle of Delphi was where you went for answers. The voice of the Oracle was the priestess, called the Pythia, named after the Python which had been the guardian of the spring located at the original site.

Here you could receive an answer for any question: When to plant your seeds, whether to marry your suitor, where to go on a trip, how to conduct your business or whether your city was going to win or lose the battle. The most famous incident of prediction was when the priestess said that Athens would win the Battle of Salamis using a “wooden wall”, which they figured out actually meant the Navy.

Yes, figured out. That was the trick to the Pythia’s answers. They weren’t just yes or no, straight-out replies or recommendations. They were phrased obscurely, sometimes metaphorically or as analogies. Sometimes the meaning didn’t become clear until later. It was never handed to you on a platter; you had to put some effort into it. And if you took it literally, you might find yourself in worse trouble than if you hadn’t asked.

Such are the perils of Oracles. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the witches told Macbeth that his kingdom would be safe until “the forest moved.” Being a literal minded kind of guy, Macbeth then said, Hey, no problem! I’m good to go. Forests don’t move. But of course his enemies weren’t bound by his logic; they attached branches to themselves in an early version of camouflage so that they could approach the castle secretly. With what must have been a real raising of his hackles, Macbeth eventually did see the forest move. If he’d been able to interpret the oracle metaphorically, he might have been on the lookout; since he saw things only literally, he was doomed.

Wouldn’t it be great to have an oracle to go to, some wise old witch or priestess who knew the right answers, and could give them to us, even if we had to sometimes do a little interpretive work ourselves?

In fact we do have this wise person available to us, always there, full of insight and wisdom.

This being is our soul, spirit, higher self—whatever terminology you use, the meaning is the same. It is the part of us that is directly connected to the quantum field, non-local intelligence, the universe. We are first and foremost energetic beings; our material form is re-created in each moment by that energy, using the laws of physical reality to express ourselves on the physical level. But the energy comes first and remains our true nature. It is always connected to the Field and therefore links us to other people, other times, other realities. This Higher Self is not separate from us, but IS us. It is Who We Really Are.

Deepak Chopra says, “It is our best self, the egoless self, that bit of the universe acting through us for the good of all.”

Because its home and its nature are part of the Quantum Field, this Higher Self is always aware of, and alert to, the changes and patterns of our lives in the larger sense. The easiest way to see the presence of this higher self is in synchronicities, those aligned events that resonate with meaning. If you dream or think of someone from your past and that day they call; if you pick up a book and it falls open to a sentence that is the perfect message for you right now; if a detour or traffic jam makes you late and because of that you miss an accident or meet a significant person in the lobby; all of these things are messages and input from your Higher Self, your connection to the Field. By just noticing the events and incidents that unfold around you, you can begin to get a sense of how intricately reality is knitted together. There is a guidance system that you can count on to give you messages and shine a light on your path.

“We know that our deepest relationships and meanings and contexts derive from the soul. And our aspiration, that grand and wonderful and mythical thing that we yearn to do, also ultimately derives from the soul.” ~ Deepak Chopra

Deliberate Cultivation of the Higher Self

Robert Hopcke, in his book There Are No Accidents, talks about synchronicities as messages from our soul, from the collective unconscious. He speaks about these things occurring especially at times of transition or major change, whether voluntary or involuntary. At these times we often seek out help from therapists, counselors or other professionals, but also:

“Many people receive a form of help in making transitions which isn’t simply external or social in nature but is internal and psychological. Without willing or seeking it out, help often arrives in the form of an accidental sequence of events which occur at precisely the right time to aid us in moving on in our lives, very often when we feel there is little else we might do.”

These kinds of events are uplifting, fascinating and reassuring, as they convey the feeling that we are part of a larger whole, that our lives are guided somehow; that we are not alone.

What if we could cultivate this kind of connection in a deliberate way? What if we could find a way to ask our Higher Self specific and heartfelt questions that are at the heart of our dilemmas?

We can. It’s not even hard. All we have to do to contact our Inner Knowing is to quiet the mind-chatter and go within. We don’t have to go to a sacred spring or make a pilgrimage to a foreign land.

Contacting your Higher Self can give you insight into your own life and desires, it can help you sort out conflicting impulses, decide which of several options to take or just give you a sense of the wisdom and guidance underlying your life.

There are many methods to use to do this. Prayer, meditation, automatic writing, visualization techniques, dowsing, divination methods such as the tarot or I Ching, are all ways of contacting the Energy level of our being and requesting help on any subject. Several methods will be outlined here, and there are links to other resources.

Writing it Down

A man named Neale Donald Walsch, undergoing a time of severe distress, took a legal pad and wrote an angry letter to God, demanding answers to the most difficult, unresolvable situations in his life. To his surprise, answers came into his mind and through his pen. The result of this inadvertent attempt to contact his Higher Self has been an amazing series of best sellers about the nature of reality, humanity and the universe.

While not all of us are going to become New York Times Bestseller authors as a result of our questioning, we can all use the same technique. For those who are word-oriented and like to have things laid out in black and white, this kind of writing is very helpful.

To do this, set aside a good block of time when you will not be interrupted. You’ll want to give yourself at least 30 minutes at the beginning, so that you don’t feel under any pressure. Make sure there will be no phone calls, kids, pets or other interruptions. You could meditate for a few minutes to get yourself centered, if that is something that appeals to you, or just sit quietly. It is sometimes helpful to light a candle or burn some sage, or do some other ritual act that impresses on your psyche that you are engaged in a serious questioning process and that your full attention is required.

Have blank paper and a pen ready. First, focus on the question or situation that you want help with. This can be anything from which job to take, what to do about a difficult relationship, whether to move, when to buy a new car; any of the many decisions and directions we have to take every day.

Write down the situation. Be succinct. You don’t want to use up your whole 30 minutes elaborating on the problem! All you need is to focus your mind on the crux of the matter. “Should I take this new job or keep the old one?” “Is it in my best interests to stay in my apartment or buy a house?” A brief sentence or two is all it should take.

It is helpful to keep in mind that you want the answer which will serve your highest good—you are not looking for the pragmatic approach here, this is not a case of writing down the pros and cons and making a purely rational decision. You are looking for input from your soul, from the universal energy that informs all of us.

Once your question is written, hold the pen in your hand and wait. Do some deep breathing, close your eyes, and relax your mind. You should hear words begin to come to you after a few minutes. Try not to be impatient, just sit and wait for the words.

When they come, don’t think about them, analyze them, review them or rephrase them, just write them down as they come to you, without thought, almost without even noticing what they are. Keep writing as long as the words come. If they stop, sit again with the pen and restate the same question. Then write again what comes. Keep doing this until you feel satisfied or until your time is up.

Only then should you read through with an evaluative eye, trying to find the meaning and to see what the answer is. It might be direct: “Buy this car, it will be the best thing you’ve ever done, this is the time to take advantage of your good energy”. Or it might be more obscure: “Some times are better than others for financial gains, looking for a signal in the outside world is a way to find out which times you are in”.

Often what you have written will seem meaningless or off the subject on first reading. Later, however, you will find yourself understanding the words in a different way. You may have a dream that deepens your insight into the problem, or have an inspiration “out of the blue” of something to do in the direction of resolving your situation. Be open to whatever the experience offers you. There are no right, wrong, or meaningless answers. It’s all just information that will be processed on many levels.

With practice you will get better at this. As you gain experience you won’t have to set aside so much time, or need props to get you started. If you stick with it you can learn to access your Higher Self for answers to many of the questions that are so hard to address from a purely rational standpoint.

Visualize It

For those who are not so word-oriented, there are good visualization techniques that can be used to access this wisdom. These work like a guided meditation, and involve the following steps:

1. Sit or lie in a quiet, comfortable place. Make sure that you won’t be disturbed for 20 or 30 minutes. Have your question or situation in mind in a brief sentence or image.
   
   

2. Begin by just following your breath. Breathe in and out deeply but not in a forced way. Follow the feeling and the sound of your own breath.

3. Imagine a scene. The following are some suggested images: A garden with a high wall at the back; a long hall, with a door at the end; a tunnel or passageway with a turn at the end that you can’t see around. Any of the images will work, so pick one or invent one that suits you. What you want is an image that you can focus on minutely, and a hidden dimension beyond that.

4. Visualize the scene in as much detail as you can manage. View the flowers, trees and grass of the garden. See the long, long hallway. Imagine the stairway leading down and down. Really put yourself in the scene that you are creating.

5. Once you are there, and feel yourself present in that scene, begin to become aware of the hidden dimension: the high wall, the closed door, the turn at the end of the path. Gradually increase your awareness of that hidden aspect, and begin to tell yourself that behind it lies a wise and insightful energy that has your answer. You can imagine this as some kind of being—a wise man, a witch, a dragon, or another creature—or as an impersonal vision of power, such as a bright light.

6. When this sense of the presence of this power behind the scenes is really strong, let yourself see the way to approach it. See that the key is in the lock of the door, find a gate in the garden wall, and begin to walk down the path towards the turn. Do this with the knowledge and confidence that your answer is waiting for you.

7. Open the door, go through the gate, walk around the turn. Meet the image that you have created to represent your Higher Self. Immerse yourself in the Light, be embraced or welcomed by the wise man or woman.

8. Ask your question.

9. Hear the answer.

10. Express your gratitude and gradually come back to present reality.

Now it is possible, especially at the beginning, that you might not get an answer during this visualization. If that is the case, don’t feel that you have somehow failed to do this “right”. Be aware that you have set a powerful request into motion, and while the answer might not have come in the manner that you had determined ahead of time, it will come. You might get a revelation later that day or the next day. You might suddenly find yourself clearer in your understanding, knowing within yourself what the answer is to your question. You might find yourself having a synchronicity, which gives you insight into the situation.

There are many avenues for Energy to communicate with us. All it takes is awareness, and we can begin to see that answers are everywhere, that our Higher Self is not some distant personage living in another realm of the galaxy, but the true heart and core of our being, always within and around us, ready to give us the benefit of its wisdom, knowledge and expanded vision. Once each of us begins to trust in that presence and learns which method works best for communicating with it, we can live a more full and expanded life, asking for and receiving the insight and wisdom of that larger self.

By Margie Waters

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Here is an excellent quote from Abraham that describes your higher self - no wonder it's so wise!:

"You acknowledge that your Inner Being exists? And we say to you that your Inner Being is very old, it has lived thousands of Life experiences. Your Inner Being sits now as the culmination of all that you have lived — very decided, very sure and very happy — in a place that by your standards, you would say is pure ecstasy. Your role, your work is to harmonize with you, which means — think thoughts that make you feel good — Speak words that make you feel good."

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