How to Contact My Higher Self, Receive Answers, and Pray to Saints?

Question

Hi, I’m a beginner and would like to know how to contact my higher Self.

Will contacting my higher Self give me answers to any question?

I wish to ask also: can I pray to these different saints?

Thank you.

—David, Ireland

Answer

Dear David,

The way to contact your Higher Self is through daily meditation. Regularity is the key. Meditation gradually creates an inner space of inwardness and silence in which the Self can slowly emerge.

The Self is said to have eight qualities: joy, love, peace, calmness, light, sound, power, and wisdom. Through meditation, one or more of them will manifest in your life.

Do you already know a meditation technique? You may try the Hong-Sau Technique of Concentration which was taught by Paramhansa Yogananda.

Be patient, the mind is like a restless monkey. It’s normal. Don’t be discouraged, just keep going, keep trying. Start with 20 minutes a day, and when it feels right, increase that time. Slowly you will feel your life changing, as your higher Self will start to surface.

If you keep going with your meditation over the years, your Self will reveal itself to be deeper and deeper. Yogis say it is divine. It actually is limitless.

Yes, you can also learn to receive intuitive answers to your questions. At the end of your meditation, concentrate on your spiritual eye (located between the eyebrows) and ask your question there to your Higher Self or to Superconsciousness. Make it a clear and simple question. Then after some time of doing so, shift your concentration to the heart chakra (on the heart level, but at the center of the body), and sensitively feel the answer there. You may pose alternatives: visualize one possibility at the spiritual eye, and ask, “Is that right?” Then feel in the heart for the answer. Then visualize the other possibility, and do the same. Do that again and again, and the answer will become clearer and clearer to you.

Such inner intuitive understanding is often a much more trustworthy guide than our rational mind. To make it work, however, the heart needs to be calm, and without preconception. Your answer also may come later, during the day, like a flash, not at all while you are meditating.

And yes, you can pray to any saint who inspires you. Such a practice will give you wonderful inner benefits. Just as concentration on a great musician helps us with our own musical inspiration, or concentration on a mathematician sparks our own mathematical insights, so our concentration on a saintly person gives us inspiration, or love, or joy, or wisdom. It happens because of an exchange of magnetism. Try it: concentrate on that holy soul, with openness and love, if possible. If you have a photo, meditate on his/her eyes. Feel him/her very close. Once you feel his/her presence, start to pray: “Guide me. Help me with my next step in my evolution.” Do that repeatedly. In this way, you are building an inner connection, a soul friendship. It also works perfectly with saints who have left the body, as they are still very much alive.

If Yogananda inspires you, try meditating on him, pray to him. He said, “To those who think me near, I will be near,” and “I will subtly guide your thoughts if you allow me.”

A good book to study for you might be Awaken to Superconsciousness by Swami Kriyananda. It answers many important questions.

All the best on your inner journey. Please ask again if any question comes up.

With friendship,
Jayadev