Connect with Your Higher Self

Some people who read the original post asked me to go into more depth about the Higher Self; what is it and where does it exist? I will do that but I have included the original post for those who have stumbled upon it for the first time.

In the 1970's and 80's there were many channelers, channeling information from a number of great teachers such as Seth, Ramtha and Old Chinese. When the channelers went deep into trance these energies would come through them and teach the students that were drawn to them. For the most part when they came out of trance the channelers would have no idea what information had been channeled.

It is my belief that these beings were coming through their Higher Self and as Old Chinese once taught that when a message comes from our higher self that the ego or subconscious mind would have no memory of what was coming through. If the channeler had a fully memory of what had come through then it was because it was created by his ego to make him or her more special.

In the twenty first century there seems to be many individuals who seem to be channeling information from the gods, Angels, beings from other planets and other dimensions or from great teachers of the past. What makes them different from channelers of the past is that in many cases they have a full memory and understanding of the channeled information. Normally I would have let these teachings go as manifestations of the ego, but I have seen and met many of these, so called, channelers and modern day mystics who have access to the inner worlds. Although much of this information appears to be coloured by the thoughts and belief of the channeler, there appears to be wonderful information that is coming from the area of their Higher Self which is connected with everything.

My old teacher quite often talked about the spiritual quickening which was going to take place on the planet in the last twenty years of twentieth century and on into the twenty first century. I wonder whether this quickening includes greater access to the information that is stored in our higher selves.

Old Chinese was an energy that came through Marshall Lever to teach a group of students who wanted to move beyond the ego and the Earth plane. His teachings required discipline because he believed it was necessary for discipline for the individual to move beyond the ego; for the ego doesn't like discipline because it wants to have its own way. By providing it discipline it tends to quiet and let the higher self come through and around the subconscious mind. This energy from the higher self allows the individual momentary glimpses of the divine. In those moments when we have this connection with the higher self we are connected to all things. The challenge is that as soon as we recognize these moments of pure creativity coming from the higher self; the ego tries to hold on to it, but in the process of hanging on to it, all that is left is the ego and its self importance. Like the Tao the Higher Self is an energy that is indescribable. We have moments of it enlightening our lives or a situation, but because in most cases these moments are so brief we cannot describe them and in the end the higher self withdraws into itself and our ego believes that it does not exist and that it was an epiphany from our own wonderful goodness or intelligence.

You can recognize that it was your higher self because, it is an energy that you cannot put your finger on. You have a wonderful insight and then it is gone; most times you don't even have a memory of what the insight is.

Through discipline, such as meditation, fasting and time spent in nature you can slow down your ego to the point where these insights increase. You can even ask a question and an insight is immediately given; sometimes in the form of a feeling or a single word; sometimes these insights come from something in the outside world such as a sign or a word that would not normally have this effect on you.

Another discipline that allows your higher self to come forward is the discipline of creativity. It would seem funny to use the words creativity and discipline in the same sentence, but to be truly creative, you must have discipline. It is one of those strange quirks of fate that when you are at your most creative, whether a writer, painter, sculptor or anything that is creative, that in that moment of creation your are extremely focused and yet also in a meditative state. People who meditate regularly will tell you that in those moments when you are in your deepest meditation are the moments when you are connected with everything around you. If you want to feel the energy of the higher self then find what is your stick, what it is that drives you creatively. For me I am at my most creative in three situations; firstly when I am writing, secondly when I am teaching spiritual or metaphysical concepts or when I am meditating. In all these situations it is like there is a little voice that I am not aware in my normal life that comes around my subconscious mind and shares its wisdom. The trick I find is not to try and hold on to the little voice, but allow it to share what it needs to share and let it go. When you try to hold onto the little voice or the concept that is coming through it is only your ego which is feeling full of itself as it believes it was the creator of the idea or concept when in reality it comes from the higher self. But I hear you say that if it is from the higher self does that mean that we cannot create by ourselves. My answer to that would be it is the act of creation that we allow a window between ourselves and the higher self. If we could keep our ego out of it and continue in the act of creation like a little child then these moments of connection with the higher self can become longer.

Interestingly last night I had one vision and one dream. The vision occurred during my meditation. When I was completely relaxed what appeared to be a tunnel could be seen off in the distance. At first I thought it was the tunnel to what some have called heaven, but which is in reality a tunnel which can take you to the spirit world and a number of other dimensions based on our belief patterns. Unlike the normal tunnel which usually appeared right beside me this one appeared off in the distance and I found myself just staring at it - not sure whether to go towards it or not. It was then that my spirit guide Bartholomew (great name for a guide - he is also sometimes called Nathaniel, but that is a story for another time) entered my meditation and told me that the tunnel in front of me was the connection to my higher self. Connection was not quite the right word though because we are all connected to our higher self. What Bartholomew explained was that each of us has the opportunity to open up and enter into our higher self, where we will have the knowledge and understanding of what we have ever been and ever will be. I immediately felt nauseous and was almost spat out of the vision. As I opened my eyes I had a feeling that we are not meant to strive towards this connection with the higher self, but through our work on ourselves we draw the higher self to us.

That same night I had a dream where their was a group of us sitting around a table and I was teaching them how to connect with their higher selves. It was fascinating as I was sharing stories and teachings that I had been receiving and yet most of what I was teaching was from my upcoming book 'The Way of the Initiate,' a book that was written in parable form about a disfigured young boy who becomes a wise old sage and an Initiate of an ancient brotherhood.

As I have described elsewhere the higher self is like a library in which each of our lives are equivalent to a book. The Higher Self is an eternal, immortal and infinite energy with the role to grow in knowledge by having experiences in this and other dimensions to allow its knowledge to grow and further add to the knowledge and the experiences of the all that there is or as some would call Tao or God.

The Higher Self does not differentiate between what is good or bad because, like the Tao, it has no understanding of those concepts, because to do so would stunt its own evolution and it would then only choose experiences that fit in with it's own biases. So wherever you find yourself is where you are meant to be, because where you find yourself is the greatest opportunity for you to learn and or experience the lessons that you came to the earthplane to learn. If we came with knowledge of these other life's and experience then we would not achieve what we have come to learn. There is an opportunity given to us in our incarnations where we can experience aspects of the Higher Self and that is when we have memories of who we have been before, but they are only dream like glimpses or the feelings of deja vu when we experience something that we have experienced before. Like walking through a city we have never been to and immediately knowing where everything is or memories of having walked these streets before.

There is even a point in some of these incarnations when due to work on self you open up a doorway between your individual aspect and the Higher Self. In the beginning this door will appear off in the distance but energy will leak from the higher self and you will experience more and more insights about this and other lives or experiences across this an other dimensions. It is difficult to describe the experience because it is one of those things that can only be understood by doing the inner work and having the experience itself.

What I am sharing is what I have learnt from my teachers and glimpses I have had beyond what one called the hidden doorway. My experience will not be your experience because it is clouded by my own belief patterns. The cool but frustrating thing in the early stages of this inner work is that you will suddenly have insights or epiphanies from your higher self, but then you cannot remember what happened, other than strange recollection that something important happened.

After thirty years of working to open up the doorway to my Higher Self I have realized that it is always open; it is just that we are not open to the information coming from. That is why it is important to work on your inner self if you really want to see and connect with what was always there. Of course in the early stages of your journey you will have to believe in an energy that you cannot see and probably do not understand.

It is for this reason that I have written "The Way of the Initiate," it is based on the techniques and teachings that I have followed over the last 30 years. Although it is written as a parable, I have tried to simplify each of the steps so that anyone could follow them for you don't need a great intellect to connect with your Higher Self. All you need is the courage to take the road of the Initiate.

Over the next few months I will share with you some of the steps that I have used along the way. Although these steps have been helpful on my journey and I believe they will be helpful for others on the path, they are not the only way, but one of many.

Blessings and Peace - may your higher self give you a hint of its and your magnificence


The 33rd Sage and the 33rd Sage and the Initiate are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris and a number of online book stores.

The Way of the Initiate will be published mid 2013

Twitter @GeofSpalding
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Book Websites 'The 33rd Sage,' at www.33rdsage.com
'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' at www.the33rdsage.com

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 - The Sage Does Not Infringe

It was after the meditation one morning when all the students had gone back to their homes, only Huo had stayed behind with the old sage to help him clear up the space they had used in the Pagoda and clear the energy from the meditation; for some times even after the meditation the unclear thoughts that had dropped away from the participants needed to be cleared away from the sacred space to allow anybody who used it later to find a space that was open and clear of any negativity. The old man always made sacred anything he did. It did not matter whether it was getting dressed in the morning or teaching a student; everything the old man did he would do it in a sacred way for to do any less would mean that something was less than the other.

The young man had not understood it at first, but as he began to practice the technique of making everything sacred, he soon realized that it was what connected him with everything. It was in the act of judging something to be less important or less sacred that disconnected him from the one or the Tao. It was interesting to watch his own life; to observe the difference when he did things in a sacred way.

He remembered the first time he had created a sacred space before he meditated. At first it felt silly and uncomfortable; of course that was only because he was coming out of judgement and the reason he was judging it was because he did not yet understand - everything is sacred. It was that one realization that changed him forever. Just like the old sage, he was now doing everything in a scared way and the most surprising thing was that because he made everything sacred, even things like washing, dressing and eating, which had been mundane, had now taken on a new quality; a quality of freshness.

The world had come alive for him. When he put on his clothes in the morning he could sense, almost feel the man or woman who had made the garment and what they were feeling at the time. He would give thanks to the person who had created this garment for him. He started to realize how abundant he was. Others would see him as a penniless young man because they came from their own judgement. If they could only look deeper they would see a young man who was having all his needs met. Huo was so in touch with the Tao that he wanted for nothing; it was in his gratitude that he understood that he was receiving so much.

In clearing the space in the Pagoda he could see what energy the students had left behind and it would instruct him and the old sage on what to teach the students the next day. He looked across at the old sage who was sweeping the space they had used; ensuring that on all levels it would cleaner and clearer than when they first entered it. As the old man swept, a beetle crawled into the space. To anyone else it would have been a nuisance, but not to the old sage who saw it as one of God's creatures and an extension of himself. He picked up the beetle and took it out to the garden where he spoke gently to it before putting it down on the ground.
When the young man, who had followed him out into the garden, questioned him on what he had said to the beetle. The old man replied that, "I had thanked the beetle for allowing to me have a break from my cleaning and experience the beauty that existed in the garden. It is easy for us get caught up in our own world and sometimes it takes the beauty of nature to show us that we are all connected. And to do some kindness, to even something that appears as insignificant as a beetle, can return to you a bounty far in advance of what you did. Look at the garden, it is teeming with life; all the plants and insects working together to create the moment we are now experiencing; a moment only you and I can share. It is only by living in the now and treating everything as sacred that we get to see the beauty in the world. It is through non-judgment that we can truly see the beauty that is inside us all and then it is reflected in the outer world."
"Chung Fu you are the wisest person I have ever met and each day you deepen my wisdom and knowledge of the Tao, but I never see you sharing this wisdom without being asked. Many times I am sure you could have helped people when they need you assistance. Why is that?

That was the first time he had called the old sage by his name in many years. It was good that Huo had gone beyond the master and apprentice relationship because the old sage could see that the young man was already a very wise sage himself. "I was going to answer that question but then spirit prompted me to ask what you think?"

Huo's ego was immediately taking in by the complement, but the real Huo, the eternal, immortal and infinite Huo understood that it was now time for the teaching to come totally from within. By going beyond the need to judge, he allowed a higher awareness to come through. In that moment he understood that he was no longer the apprentice. He answered his own question by saying, "I know that one word from you could change a person's life; a person's evolution. Who are we to decide what a person has incarnated in this life to learn. To give them help without asking is infringing on their journey. It is to treat them as a finite being, rather than an eternal, immortal and infinite being that they are." The young man stopped for a moment as he allowed another impression to come forward; he knew it was time, before he could even voice the words, he had felt it when Chung Fu had suggested that he answer his own question. "I have defined our relationship, as you are the Master and I am the apprentice, but now it is important for me to experience life rather than be defined by our old relationship. It is time for me to move on. I am sure I could learn much more from you, but in my heart I know that I am to become my own teacher. It is time for me to wander the lands and learn from my interactions with all the aspects of the Tao. I thank you from my heart for all that you have taught me, but it is now time for me to go."

Tears escaped from both their eyes as they both knew it was time for Huo to go. Chung Fu had chosen well, the student was now the teacher. The old sage reached into his pocket and pulled out the dragon fly pendant and gave it to the young man.

Huo took the pendant which was now more special than ever, for when he held it or looked at the pendant it would now remind of more than his parents, it would remind him of his time with the old sage. In losing the pendant it had become an even more sacred object.

After saying his goodbyes to the old sage, he went to find Qing. She was in the kitchen preparing their breakfast. He took her in his arms and kissed her full on the lips. At first she tried to pull away, not because she did not want to kiss him, she had wanted it more than life itself, but because it had shocked her that he had been so bold. After pulling slightly away she eased back towards him and joined him in a passionate kiss. During the kiss she could feel that they had come closer together, but on some level further apart. She looked at him for some kind of explanation. He could feel it to. He explained to her that, although he loved her with all his heart, he had to leave her and the old sage so he could continue his inner journey. He promised he would come back for her one day, but he was not ready, his journey was leading him elsewhere.

She tried to talk him out of it, with talk of their life and what their life would be like, but she soon realized she may as well have been taking to the wall of the Pagoda, his spirit was already on the journey and it was his body that needed to catch up.

That evening they held a banquet in his Honour, but before the speeches were finished he had quietly slipped out the side door, collected his small pack and walked from the town.
He looked back a couple of times but only to remember what the town looked like; for the people, Chung Fu and Qing were forever in his heart and he would never forget them.

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My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

Oprah, Paul Coehlo and Jessie

Oprah, Paul Coelho and Jessie have been three of the greatest influences in my life. In many ways it has been their influence that has made me the man I am today. One who I am only just starting to enjoy. The first two are well known, but who is the Jessie that I refer to? I will put her aside for a moment, although she is the glue that holds this little story or window into the me, the writer, together. We will meet her a little later and the wait will be worth the effort.

Oprah and Paul came to me at a similar time and they both inspired me in oh so many different ways. I was suffering with a disease which today would be called Chronic Fatigue, but in the early 1980's it was barely known and poorly understood. It was at the time when I had only recently met the Old Chinese teacher who I write about in my first book the 33rd Sage. It was a time when I was barely able to move, for the old man's remedies had not cured me physically but they were certainly having an affect on me spiritually.

It was during this period when my spiritual journey was just starting, its first tentative steps, that Oprah and Paul came into my life. They never knew me, but like millions of others I was affected by them. Sitting on the couch, not able to do much else, I turned on the television to be confronted by a young black woman called Oprah. She intrigued me. Over the next few years she inspired me, not only to go beyond my illness, but to make a difference in the world.

After a couple of years of being inspired by Oprah, Paul Coelho waltzed into my life. It was a humble beginning. A friend, who noticed I was changing, gave me a copy of the Alchemist. At first, it lay on a pile of well meaning books given to me by my friends who wanted to help me live a more fulfilling life. I wanted to change; needed to change. Oprah was helping and each day her dose of inspiration kept me going. One day after watching a program about people overcoming their weaknesses;  they encouraged others to take action. I was inspired but I did not know what action to take. It was then that I looked at my pile of books. Maybe that was the place to start, I thought to myself. I picked up the top book because it was the book on top, not for any other reason. It just so happened to be the Alchemist. When I started to read, I was captivated by the young shepherd Santiago and his journey to Egypt, after having a reoccurring dream of finding treasure there. I could not put it down. After a few short hours I sat stunned. When you want something bad enough the universe conspires to help you get it. It was as if the universe was conspiring with me to help me change. I wanted to change. I wanted a more spiritual life and it was occurring. I had not even noticed it occurring. In a matter of a couple of years I had met a number of wonderful teachers and now I was on my own quest, the quest for inner truth. It is a wonderful journey that continues today. A journey which has taken me to over 25 countries and allowed me to meet some amazing people.

What of Jessie I hear you say. Don't worry I have not forgotten her. I was hoping you were hearing her voice through this whole story. Jessie was my mother. She was not famous, but she influenced me in more ways than I could ever describe. It was her that always gave me the courage to fight on, even at my worst times. It was her that gave me the great respect for women; no it was more than that. It was Jessie that showed me how powerful women were and yet most men don't see it because their power is on the inside. One short story that will show the courage and conviction that my mother gave to me was the story around the birth of myself and my twin brother. A twin brother, yes there is two of me running around. We look the same but god made us the mirror image of each other. We were born very premature at about thirty weeks and we were not thriving. In fact one of the daycare nurses told my mother that we would be lucky to survive, let alone thrive. My mother did not argue with the nurse but in her heart she knew she would do everything for her twins. One of her greatest joys was twelve months or so later taking us back to the daycare nurse and showing her two bouncing baby boys. That was the kind of woman my mother was. Whenever things were tough, she would simply put her head down and silently push a little harder.

In my life I have been lucky to have been surrounded by strong females. That is why in my books I always have a strong female character. In life, as in my books, the male character could not achieve his goals without the support of the women in his life.

Nearly everyone of us has heroes that inspired us in our adult lives. It is easy to remember what they taught you. But what of your parents and especially your mother; what did she teach you. If you sit quietly for a moment you will realize that who you are today is a result of what your parents taught you. Your mother or father may never be an Oprah or a Paul Coelho, but look, in the mirror and you will see them in every ounce of your being.

Thanks Oprah, Paul and Mum.

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My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate has now been released and is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, good book shops or on my website at  www.the33rdsage.com

The 33rd Sage and the Initiate

“It was 3 days before the Solstice and the sage must prepare him;” was the beginning  of the stunning first spiritual novel by Geof Spalding. In The 33rd Sage and the Initiate, Geof Spalding once again weaves into this story profound elements of spiritual teaching. This modern day fable allows the reader to access worlds and dimensions which have been previously hidden from view, except to those who have been initiated into the mysteries.

Conway's journey begins when he meets an old hermit who allows him access to the teachings of an ancient brotherhood who guide the evolution of the planet. The brotherhood send Conway off on a quest to discover the true story of Jesus and the Holy Graal. On the quest Conway meets many strange characters who help him on his journey; including an old hermit, a Chinese Sage, a Buddhist Monk, the keeper of the Garden Tomb and a being from another dimension. The quest allows Conway a window into his own soul and the discovery of who he had been in a previous life and the reason he incarnated into the planet at this time and place.

“The 33rd Sage and The Initiate,” takes the reader on the ultimate journey of self-discovery; the journey to find their own inner truth. The key to finding other worlds is to first find them within yourself.

This transformational novel is a must read for anybody who has ever asked the big question why am I here and where am I going? Readers will make the journey with Conway as he walks the path of the initiate and is transformed to a person who has a deep understanding of his place in the universe. In a similar vogue to the Celestine Prophecy and the Alchemist this is a story that changes lives.

Come with Conway as his quest takes from the beaches of Bali, to Portugal and the apparition, to Glastonbury and the Graal, to the Himalayas where he finds love and the ancient manuscripts, to Jerusalem and the tomb of Jesus, to another dimension and to Macchu Picchu where he meets the ancient brotherhood and finally understands the reason for his quest.

Earth and mankind are currently going through great changes. The old mystics called it the quickening. It is now more important than ever to take the journey within because during times of transformational change, your infinite spirit will be your best guide on this magical journey.