From the book "Gods About Us", Max Rempel
Answer 1. Yes, the Higher Self possesses the same consciousness; it is a part of the same soul, the same mind, as we are, and not somewhere, somehow, in some general sense, but quite concretely: if you were to arrive on the other side and meet the Higher Self of someone you know, you would recognize it at once. It is he himself, his essence, his manners, his interests, and everything else. The main thing that distinguishes it from the person on earth is its broader perspective: it remembers the general task, the past lives, the goal of the present incarnation, the higher agreements with the participants of the present landing on earth, the chosen lessons-trials; the Higher Self has its own circle of association - it communicates with higher selves, with the souls of your loved ones and indeed of all the participants of the landing, including the souls of animals and of much that we never suspected - the souls of mosquitoes, of the earth, of the sun, and the like. The Higher Self has its own mentors, and it works hand in hand with your guardian angels, but I repeat: it has the same character as you, the same individuality.
Answer 2. Yes, it possesses a mind. Its logic and common sense differ from ours, since it sees what we do not see. To it the other side is more real, and this side less real. It understands the entire conventionality and toy-like nature of the landing on earth. At the same time, it understands the importance of the experiment as a whole and understands that it has no other path upward than to perfect itself in successive incarnations. It is precisely for this reason that the preservation of life on earth as a whole is very important for human souls. Energy, the energetic resource, and success on the other side are, to a significant degree, connected with success in this world. This is, naturally, not about material success but about the energy of the soul, and above all about the energy of love and compassion.
Answer 3. The goal of the Higher Self is the balancing of the soul, the raising of the soul's vibration in the direction of nobility, spirituality, elevated feelings, the increase of the soul's energy, the completion of the incarnation cycle on earth, and the transition to the next level. This desire is obvious to the Higher Self, and it does not subject it to doubt. This is the goal of all human souls.
At the same time, some souls that have already finished the incarnation cycle voluntarily remain in the community of human souls and continue to serve in it as advisers, mentors, preachers. This recalls a real episode from the life of Chizhevsky. He spent about 30 years in the camps and, by the time of Stalin's death, managed, with his talent, to found a research laboratory inside the zone. When the order for his rehabilitation came, Chizhevsky asked for and received a few months' postponement in order to finish a series of experiments.
Souls that have voluntarily remained at the level of human souls are called Ascended Masters (literally Ascended Masters, or, more by sense, Spirit-Mentors). They too sometimes land on earth for particular assignments. Naturally, one asks oneself whether Chizhevsky was not an incarnation of one of them.
As far as I can understand, souls of an advanced level of development do not necessarily possess an angelic character. They may well be harsh and do not shy away from strong steps if they consider them necessary. What characterizes advanced souls is self-sufficiency, energetic richness, luckiness, far-sightedness, and fearlessness. In this they are akin to angels, but not necessarily in gentleness.
An important feature of the Higher Self is its timelessness. It is located outside our time and knows what was, what is, what will probably happen, and it has access not only to our reality but also to worlds parallel to ours, where events went along a somewhat different path.
What means of influencing our reality does the Higher Self have?
First - the Higher Self sends us inspiration and its opposites - irritation, depression, and disgust. That is, the Higher Self has very tangible levers of influence on our earthly mind. By the way, our earthly mind is separated from the Higher Self by a film - a veil. It is very important for a person to learn to understand where inspiration comes from. If it is bright, noble, and creative, then it comes from the Higher Self. If the inspiration is destructive, based on fear and self-pity, then perhaps it comes from the earthly mind, from the delusions introduced by civilization, and from the ego, which, as we have already mentioned, is a mechanism keeping individuality from dissolving. So admiration for nature may be sent down from above by the Higher Self, while admiration for an advertised product may be superficial.
Likewise, irritation may be sent down by the Higher Self, telling you that you are not on the right path, or it may be dictated by an unfounded fear that has been introduced by old traumas and superficial values. For example, looking out the window, you may feel irritation from the fact that the Higher Self is prompting you that you have forgotten about an important appointment, or from the fact that you are afraid you will be accused of idleness. In the second case the fear may be superficial. From the point of view of the higher spheres, physical idleness is honorable when it is accompanied by inner work of the soul.
With time and practice, it seems to me, I begin to better recognize the messages of the soul from the Higher Self. Its voice differs a little from the voice of the ego. Feeling inspiration, I try to understand toward what I am being nudged. I do not let pass by such messages from the Higher Self as repetitions (11:11), palindromes (12:21), chance telephone calls, and the like. The same with irritation. If I feel irritation sent from above, it is most likely a reminder. I look into the calendar or dig through my memory - and often I become convinced that the irritation was not without reason.
So, for example, recently a fly bit me. And it turned out to be at the most needful moment. I had stopped writing the previous chapter and rushed off about my business.
But this is just superstition and little fairy tales! you will say. Yes, superstition and little fairy tales. This is precisely what Bashar speaks of: that the more we come to understand the structure of the universe, the more we will become convinced that it works like the world of our fairy tales.
Answer 4. So we have reached the methods by which the Higher Self influences our fate.
These methods follow three principles:
1. It is not permitted, without particular necessity, to deprive us of freedom of choice. From this follows a lemma: it is not permitted to lift the Veil that separates us from the other side. Because if we know who pulls which strings there, and what awaits us in the future, then the freedom of our choice is radically narrowed.
2. The Higher Self is permitted to interfere in our life by minimal means, that is, expending a minimal amount of energy.
3. (In essence this is a part of point 2.) The Higher Self is permitted to rig the cards. That is, the most economical and effective way for it to influence our life is to send us luck or bad luck, depending on its goals and tasks, which, as we have just discussed, consist in the balancing of karma and the growth of the soul.