The Spiritual Breakthrough: Reaching Your Higher Self

For decades now the accepted method of analysing the self has been to divide 'it' up into body, mind and spirit. This method of analysis is a means of separating the various parts that make up our being and has been recognized by civilizations as early as the Egyptians. But there is another way of analysing the self (one of many) that is equally valid and in many ways more useful as a way of understanding more about ourselves and this ‘thing’ called consciousness.

Every one of us have two distinct aspects to ourselves. These two aspects are our constant companions that we cannot escape and together they make up your consciousness and your experience of your Self. The first aspect represents our appearance and the face we wear in this world. It’s called the ego and it that part of you that represents you to others and to the world at large. The second aspect of You, is your spirit or your higher self. It is that part of you that’s invisible and that quietly lives in that inner space deep inside your consciousness.

These two aspects of your Self are not like two people living inside you, but are simply two sides of the same thing. Like two faces of the same coin they are inextricably connected to each other. Although ego and spirit are so closely related, they have vastly different demands on both your conscious and your subconscious attention.

Ego is primarily concerned with maintaining it’s importance in the world. It always wants to be right and is convinced of the fact that it is separate from everyone else. It’s always in competition – always wanting to be better than everyone else. Ego always strives to have more, to be better and to dominate. The ego’s value is determined by comparing itself to others to see how it stacks up – the ego’s point of reference is always outside of itself.

The needs of spirit is almost the exact opposite and is not interested in any of the demands that dominate the ego. Spirit’s primary need is to be at peace and being right and conquering others is of no concern to spirit. Spirit has no need for more because it knows that it’s value comes from itself and not from what it gains, what it wins or what it collects and accumulates.

Much of our own inner conflicts arise from a conflict between these two aspects of ourselves. It presents us with two vastly different and conflicting sets of demands. Living a more spiritual life with a greater sense of inner peace and personal fulfilment is primarily about placing greater emphasis on the higher self and on giving the spirit a greater prominence in your life. It’s not a process of slaying the ‘evil’ ego, but rather about learning to subdue the ego and it’s demands in favour of the higher self’s demand to be at peace.

The real question is who you are allowing to run things in your life. Is it ego or is it spirit? If your life is driven by having more, being better than, being right and dominating; then ego is in charge. If your life is driven by having a sense of inner peace, by being compassionate, reaching out to others and giving - then you allow spirit to take over. Living from your higher self is about living in harmony with the flow of goodness of the universe and you will rarely encounter any conflicts. Ego on the other hand thrives on conflict – it’s a chance to proof it’s importance and dominance over other people and circumstances.

Renowned scientist Albert Einstein once said that “The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.” What he meant with this is that we will discover a higher value in being human when we learn to free ourselves from the demands and expectation of the ego. Who is running your life? Is it ego or is it spirit? Learning to break through the facade that your ego upholds you can live a more peaceful, joyous and fulfilled life.