9 Common Questions About the Higher Self, Asked By Spiritual Seekers

Mario Canki PhD

February 20, 2024

Getting in touch with one’s Higher Self begins the discovery process for the spiritual seeker. Ultimately, it is the experience of being one with the spiritual energy pervading the Universe.

I have spent over thirty years studying and experiencing the Higher Self. I have experimented with its energies, studied the philosophies of Higher Self Yoga teaching and a variety of other teachings and practices. Psychosynthesis training in particular supplied me with greater self-awareness and an understanding of how to transform my lower nature characteristics, both of which have been invaluable.

Since my last post, many friends in the community have asked me to expand on those experiences and my understanding of the Higher Self. It is in this spirit of giving back that I share answers to some of the commonly asked questions about the Higher Self, and it is my hope that other spiritual seekers will benefit from my observations and understanding.

1. What does it feel like to experience the Higher Self?

In my previous post, I briefly described my first Higher Self experience. in short, my own experience of Higher Self is one of freedom. Existential angst and fears fall away. I only feel peace and gratitude in the silence, and sometimes you can feel the pulsating energy of the cosmos. Positive energies enter your consciousness. Using my Higher Self, I was able to uncover my own worldly and spiritual potential which resulted in the recognition of my life’s purpose and meaning.

2. Is my Higher Self a part of me or part of the Universe?

It’s both! Your Higher Self is a spiritual energy potential that is both part of you and part of the Source—the ultimate higher power, the universal source of cosmic energy pervading all life. This energy links us to everyone and everything through the conduit of our Higher Selves. Once we are aware of this energy, we are positioned to access this wisdom and knowledge from within and without.

The Higher Self is expressed and perceived as different forms of energy that we can observe and experience in a variety of body and mind sensations. This energy is firmly within the realm of physics. Ultimately, this energy opens up the possibility of accessing higher states of consciousness.

All spirituality comes down to the search, discovery, and study of this energy. It is a life-long journey that is creative, exciting, and fulfilling. My own pursuit of the Higher Self energy and higher states of consciousness has been nothing short of life-changing.

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3. Is the Higher Self the same thing as a soul or seed of the spirit?

It depends on how you define “the soul”, but generally speaking, yes! The seed of the spirit consciousness (or soul as some people like to call it) is contained within each one of us from birth. It is pure dormant energy waiting for us to discover its presence and work with it to express its full physical and spiritual potential within us.

We are connected to this energy through the Higher Self. You may think of the Higher Self as the conduit of energy flowing between our innate seed of spirit and higher cosmic energies.

4. How does the connection between the seed of spirit and higher cosmic energies work?

The Higher Self is the channel between our innate consciousness and cosmic energy, as well as the gateway to higher states of consciousness. The more we use it, the more we expand our self-awareness and spiritual wisdom.

We link to our Higher Self through the use of our heart-mind energy in meditation, which in turn allows us to touch upon and bring to our conscious self the cosmic understanding and knowledge. In this sense, the Higher Self acts as a bridge between self-awareness and higher wisdom.

The heart-mind connection is imperative to establishing this connection to the Higher Self because the heart and mind balance each other's energies. Without the heart, the mind lacks the grace of compassion and understanding needed to connect and be understood by others. Without the use of the wise mind, the heart lacks critical balance and analysis, which can easily result in different and inappropriate conclusions and actions.

In a way, this is the more technical part of understanding different energies and their connections that are represented in Diagram 1 below. It may sound complicated, but the best way is to begin is simply starting to meditate. Meditation is the way all of these energies become available to us.

5. Is there a lower self?

There is no “lower self” in the same way there is a Higher Self, but we all have lower personality characteristics that for simplicity we refer to collectively as lower self. Some lower characteristics include many fear responses such as greed and jealousy, among many others, all of which cause us to react to the world in unconstructive and harmful ways.

Most lower-self responses originate from the fear center in our brain, which drives these responses to the perceived fear stimuli (Fig. 1). Neuroscience has identified the amygdala as the fear center in the brain that influences our emotional behavior.

Responses like greed, lust for power, or money are some of the more common fear-driven examples that cloud our judgment, preventing us from reaching our spiritual potential and higher states of consciousness. These fears and spiritual harm caused by such lower emotions are famously described in Dante's Divine Comedy, in Inferno and Purgatorio or “Hell-The Sea of Pain and Learning to Move out of Hell”.

A word of caution though… one must never “close the door” to unresolved fears and lower emotions. No matter how hard you try to ignore or repress them, they always rear their ugly head when least expected. Once you realize what your fear-driven emotions are, you can choose to stop yourself from acting on them, and by this action you are on your way to transforming these lower tendencies at a deeper psychological and spiritual level. By doing this, you create space for the positive energies of your Higher Self to come in.

(There are several models of lower nature and how to transform it, that I will address in more detail in my next post.)

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6. Do any major religions discuss the idea of the Higher Self?

The concept of the Higher Self is present in some form in almost all spiritual and psychological practices, including Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. It is a central concept in Psychosynthesis, as well as in many different individualized practices. The concept likely dates back to the beginning of humanity. Many refer to the Higher Self as part of the god-principle, and as a conduit to experiences of higher consciousness and energies. Regardless of any definition, it holds different meanings to people, religions, and different cultures.

Higher Self Yoga combines the spirituality of the Higher Self with transformative work of the fears held by your lower self.

7. Is there an objective way of explaining the Higher Self?

The energy of the Higher Self has been accurately explained as part of the all-pervading universal energy holding all of life together. It may sound like a spiritual idea, but science has shown that we all are composed of the same matter as the Universe, down to individual atoms. To be sure, we are all different - with our own individual personalities, characteristics, and emotions, but the fact remains that the same cosmic matter unifies all of humanity and nature.

This pervading cosmic energy within each of us is accessible through meditation. Once we tap into it, we can access its wisdom to understand our meaning and purpose in this life. According to the neurologist and psychiatrist Dr. Viktor Frankel, this understanding of our purpose gives our life a meaning and ends our existential suffering. His theories of logotherapy are documented in many volumes of his theoretical and experimental research, but these many volumes are fortunately condensed and distilled for us in his most popular book ‘Man's Search for Meaning’.

8. Are certain people better at listening to their Higher Self?

In my experience, it mostly depends on one's thirst for knowledge and openness to explore one’s own innate spiritual energy. I find the two most important elements are the desire and drive to learn more about yourself and your spiritual potential, followed by the will to put that knowledge into action. The stronger your drive is, the easier this process becomes. Whether you desire to open it up and work with your spiritual potential or not, is up to you.

If you feel existential angst, feel unhappy, unsatisfied, or are suffering, and you feel that there is more to you than meets the eye, then you are ready to start exploring your Higher Self connection. The knowledge of what we don't know is unlimited and you’ll likely be surprised by what you learn. There is nothing to lose, but there is much to gain.

9. How do we connect with our Higher Self?

We connect to our Higher Self through our heart and higher mind, both of which we can access through meditation. Meditation is the energy that holds all these different energies together. Through one or many lifetimes of strengthening your Higher Self connection, we expand our spiritual consciousness to its unlimited potential. When you become one with your Higher Self, you are living and acting in the consciousness of the Higher Self wisdom. To get started, try these visual meditation exercises.

What questions do you have about the Higher Self?

Ask us in the comments below!