Two Selves

Just about all religious traditions believe in a model of humanity in which we all have two selves: a higher self and a lower self. A main goal of human life is to work toward transcending the lower self and abiding in the higher self. Ultimately, many religious traditions take this a step further and call upon us to strive toward transcending the illusion of selfhood entirely.

In many religions, the lower self often corresponds to the physical whereas the higher self corresponds to the non-physical. The Western religions speak of body and soul, while Eastern religions speak of different levels of consciousness. In both cases, physical bodily pleasures are thought to be a distraction from the more important work of elevating the spiritual qualities associated with the higher self. Simply put, feeding the lower self (with things like physical pleasure) keeps us stuck identifying with the lower self, while feeding the higher self (with contemplative practices like prayer and meditation) helps us transcend the lower self. Doing so helps us to live morally, but also allows us to achieve salvation–whether that means reaching heaven in the Western model or attaining enlightenment and release from the cycle of birth and death in the Eastern model.