Higher self

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You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body ~ C. S. Lewis

How's that for a powerful statement?!  Quotes often prompt blog articles for me.  I've had this quote saved to my drafts file for several weeks, waiting for all the thoughts to coalesce. 

I was speaking with a friend on the phone recently who is going through some personal struggles.  He was focused quite a lot on dissecting specific words down to their most minute definitions, nuances and applications.  I do that myself, as I always enjoy how written language can change with the slightest emphasis on a syllable, or depending upon how that specific word is used in a sentence.  Stringing words together into a quote such as the one above will have me pondering all the layers and directions and possibilities, and quite often, will open my eyes and mind up to a perspective I might not have come up with on my own.

We do lose sight of our origins, this is a daily truth.  Being on the front lines of this Earth School bombards us with all the raw emotions and experiences that are meant to mold our character, grow us up and refine all the rough edges.  Small wonder that we forget that we are Spirit in essence, merely housed in a physical container.  It is human nature to think in corporeal terms, because we're in a physical reality!

But taking time to remember our own Divinity is worthwhile.  We can't remain here in the physical plane forever, that much is an absolute for this reality.  It is a temporary gift we're given, being able to incarnate here and interact with all the wonderful people around us, to be able to feel, hear, think and express ourselves in a human manner.  I often wonder what the beauty must be in the non-physical plane, as what we are capable of producing here has breathtaking expression. 

When I meditate, there are moments when my consciousness is able to connect at a level that gives me glimpses of that non-physical plane.  Occasionally, I am able to shift my consciousness and step outside of my physical body, and those experiences are transcendent.  As a child, I can remember reading a great deal about Helen Keller and the fact that, despite her physical limitations with sight and hearing, she was able to shift her consciousness and travel great distances with meditation.  She was able to describe other countries in clear detail, down to colors, textures and scents.  When asked how this could be possible, her reply was, (paraphrased here) "My body is blind and deaf, but my Spirit isn't."

Similarly, a story I remember hearing of President Reagan's family caring for him in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease was that his daughter, Patty, would spend hours talking with him each day.  At that point in his disease, he had lost the ability to speak, and doctors were unsure if he could hear conversation around him.  His daughter continued to have her one-sided conversations with him each day.  When asked why she bothered by a medical technician, her reply (again, paraphrased here) was, "His body has Alzheimer's disease, but his Spirit doesn't.  I'm positive he can hear me, so that's why I do this each day."

These several quotes cobbled together in my mind and made me wonder, what is to stop each of us from having similar conversations with ourselves?  Many esoteric tenets hold the belief that we have an Over Soul, or Higher Consciousness.  Some believe that we can tap into our own thread that is connected to the Universal Consciousness, or that which we might label God, and that at that level, our Spirit, or Soul, is the culmination of all of our best, strongest, most noble achievements.  Call it our own personal spiritual anchor, or bellwether of sorts. 

Most of us are comfortable with the process of prayer; some prefer to access that Higher Consciousness through meditation.  I've said many times before that when we are creative or loving, or happy, we are expressing something Divine with our actions.  Why not take time, then, to remember that we truly are that Soul, housed temporarily in a physical body.....and recognize that as such, our Spirit form is supremely powerful and capable of guiding us in the most pure form?  When I remember to do this, I find that my days are much clearer.  Energy flows better and I am in a very present state.  Solutions to problems are more easily discovered, and connections to people who I am meant to find, interact with and teach and learn from seem to manifest effortlessly. 

It is the days that I forget and focus on just being human, wrestling my way through all the front lines activity of a given "battlefield" that life is much more challenging.  Another good friend, a Buddhist, always gives me these amazing quotes that she learns from her spiritual teachers.  Life is as simple, or as difficult as we make it.  That's not a tough concept to read and absorb, but it certainly can be challenging to NOT make life difficult!  I know I excel at that very thing!  Coming back to quiet, taking time to be with myself and remembering who and what I am.....a being of spiritual energy that is connected to the Divine....this is where and when Life flows much more easily. 

So, I do remind myself of Mr. Lewis's quote above.  I am a Soul.  Inhabiting a physical body, yes, but consciously reminding myself that there is so much more than this immediate physical plane of existence. 

What are your thoughts on this C.S. Lewis quote?  Do you take those small moments to reconnect with your own Higher Consciousness?  What method of approach works best for you?  There are no right or wrong answers to these questions; I'm just curious and I know I will value the comments that each of you take time to write here.

Namaste'.