Lower-Self, Middle-Self, and Higher-Self

Millions of years ago, when our animal like ancestors were trying to survive the numerous threats from other, bigger, more fierce animals, and from the natural earth elements, it was necessary to have an effective fight or flight mechanism. If a saber-toothed tiger was about to jump out to gobble them up, an automatic emotional response was the only thing they had to move them from being dinner, to having dinner. A nervous shock was needed to activate the adrenals to release the adrenalin into their blood stream so that their bodies, their muscles, their minds and all their senses became acutely focused and strengthened. The emotional alarm system commanded full attention. When the tiger was ready to pounce, instincts told them to run or to fight for their survival. In general, as survival mechanisms go, our animal ancestors were programmed for automatic duality--automatic feeling of otherness, threat, and paranoia. Survival required instant domination of consciousness to meet the perils of the jungle.

Survival and happiness in 2008 now depend on tuning in to the overall situation involving ourselves, the people around us, and the total environment of the here and now. Perceptiveness, wisdom, and oneness are now the ingredients of effective and happy living. But our biocomputers are still programmed for jungle fight or flight--for a fast release of adrenalin for that, all-too-familiar, rapid heart beat--automatic anger and fear. We tend to make mountains out of molehills and this constant distortion destroys our energy, our insight, and our ability to love. For us to survive in our current social and global environment means that we must have instant perceptions of oneness--of love--of compassion with everyone and understanding of everything around us. When we learn to cut through our paranoid jungle programming, we are on our way to higher consciousness and happiness.

Paranoid individuals who cannot love themselves and others tend to get heart trouble, ulcers, other psychosomatic diseases, are accident-prone, etc. This is evolution working to remedy this primitive jungle alarm system. In the future, humans may have nervous systems that are automatically structured to produce instant insights that facilitate love and oneness. In truth, that is where our survival lies. How do we advance the human mind on its evolutionary journey? We need a system to override our jungle programming, that monkey brain chitter-chatter I write about, so that we can enjoy living here and now, with clear perception, elevated feelings of love and oneness.

Lower-Self Mind is the survival mind. It is the ego mind. The ego's primary purpose is survival. We cannot exist without it. It assumes responsibility for the body and identifies with the body. It is the part of us that wants to breathe and operates with the illusion that "I" is a separate individual being. The ego is afraid of death. Whenever any problem comes to the body the ego becomes very alert and focused in the body. This is not a bad thing. I used to hear spiritual teachers say to "surrender your ego" and I couldn't understand how that could be possible. But what they were saying is move up in your conscious awareness to the place of your heart where love heals and elevates all vibrations. If left in the place of ego centered awareness the mind will become competitive, isolated, fear based and not at ease.

Middle-Self Mind is the intellect and is ego directed, subject-object oriented, power conscious, and constantly involving the rational mind. It is inflexible and guarded using personal patterns and habits as a form of surviving social expectations. It is the tool of consciousness and contains knowledge. The intellect carries with it the past, the present and also speculates about the future. It is the birth place of rationalization, and explanation for the purpose of defense from the judgment from 'others'.

Higher-Self Mind is full of wide ranging insight and deep intuitive understanding giving full flexibility of flow in mutually supportive and loving ways without the blocks of preconceived beliefs and outmoded personal patterns and habits. It is the divine spark of Source. It is the real you, the part that knows the truth and is connected to the Divine Matrix of Universal Mind.

Our biocomputers are the most remarkable instruments in the universe. The only challenge is to learn to use it properly. It is capable of handling two million visual inputs and one hundrend thousand auditory inputs at one time. It is capable of making millions of simultaneous computations and operates continually throughout all parts of our bodies every second. When you learn how to operate your exquisite mechanism, you will be able to fully realize your potential for a happy life.

Most of us live in the lower and middle self mindsets charactorized by trying to find enough security, sex, pleasant sensations, ego rushes, love and attention, prestige, money, power and status. This active struggle leads to constant worry, resentment, suspicion, anger, jealousy, shyness, and fear. We create the bickering and turmoil in our lives through this struggle to 'find' happiness outside of ourselves. Oh, certainly you can experience flashes of pleasure in sex, and other physical sensations, like the high from alcohol and drugs, and the feeling of winning the lottery when a big chunk of money comes our way...but these are fleeting feelings. True and permanent happiness, true security comes from a place deep inside of our own conscious awareness.

You will know you are ready for growth into the happines of higher self awareness when you realize the futility of trying to 'find' happiness through the lower self desires. Although they are seductive and masquerade as "needs" they lead us from one illusion to another. They line up, one behind the other, as we search for ways to not feel our insecurities, our fears and vulnerablities, in short....our feelings. When we suppress and close off our feelings, we cannot contact the universe within us, we cannot hear our intuitive voice, and we certainly can't enjoy being alive.