Self As Earth - Returning To Our Shared Being

In this poetic meditation, we explore the illusion of a separate, exalted "higher self" and instead uncover the wholeness that has always been here—woven into our being, inseparable from life itself. Through guided reflection and deep presence, you’ll be invited to see the self not as something to transcend, but as a vast, interconnected relationship—like a forest sustained by unseen forces.

By releasing the spiritualized striving for a "better" self, we return to the intelligence of nature, where growth is not a personal achievement but a harmonious unfolding. This meditation is an invitation to rest—not in seeking, but in remembering. To listen. To trust. To meet life with the same wisdom that moves rivers and unfurls leaves in spring.

If you long for a more grounded, expansive way of being, this is for you.

Transcript

Dear,

Beloved,

I know you want to be more than you currently are or feel differently than what you do.

I know you long to feel that steadfast compass inside of you that knows where to go and what to do.

We all have a deep yearning to trust ourselves and this path we've been graced with,

And in our sincerity to move forward with intention and in alignment with the most spiritual parts of who we are.

We often come to imagine that there is a higher part of who we are that is wiser than the lower part of who we are,

And this fractures our sense of self into two,

The conditioned ego self and the spiritual higher self.

Spirituality is often undertaken with the idea that if we practice hard enough,

Meditate for long enough and surrender with greater vigor,

We will somehow connect to this higher self who ceaselessly knows what is right and wrong for us as an individual.

But this duality is the very cause of our endless seeking for what we already are in concepts that do not recognize that we cannot,

At any moment in our life,

Be separated from the most intelligent,

Mysterious aspect of the universe.

If you're still holding on to the idea that a separate,

Transcendent self is something you can eventually become through time and effort,

Consider that this very illusion may be keeping you from recognizing what you already are.

Always connected,

Always knowing,

Always abundant,

Inseparable from the earth and the intelligence that animates all life,

Your deepest,

Wisest nature is not separate from the ego,

Rather the ego is merely a small aspect within its vastness,

And this makes what we choose to pay attention to in daily life far more important than any distant,

Exalted spiritual goal.

Inhabiting a higher self is often seen as the pinnacle of spiritual practice,

A state of clarity,

Confidence and authenticity that we believe will remedy the ego and its limitations.

We feel we are making headway when we do things that make us feel good or shed people and habits that no longer serve us,

But the moment the higher self becomes a tool for the ego's own game,

We risk forgetting a deeper truth,

What is truly right for us as an individual is inseparable from what nurtures the whole.

This is what nature knows intrinsically,

And as nature,

We can see how this deficient sense of me has come to be spiritualized by the ego as a way of justifying its own sense of lack.

Throughout history,

Leaders,

Gurus,

Business tycoons have claimed to operate from wisdom or enlightenment,

Yet their actions have often reinforced systems that benefit the very few at the expense of the many.

The ego's greatest trick is to disguise itself as selflessness while continuing to extract,

Hoard,

And control in the name of progress,

Prosperity,

Or even spiritual awakening.

We too often justify our personal striving as necessary for happiness,

Success,

Or self-worth.

We tell ourselves,

If I attain this,

Or become that,

I will finally be enough.

I will finally be fulfilled.

I will finally stop searching.

We don't just consume things,

We consume identities,

Experiences,

And even spiritual ideas such as a higher self.

This idea that we can become who we already are,

Or connect with something we are interdependent with,

Only deepens the sense of lack we're trying to escape.

We have unknowingly inherited imperialist beliefs that say there is a higher part of us that speaks the truth,

Rendering the quieter parts redundant or unintelligent.

And yet,

Indigenous wisdom shows us that it is the silent and unseen within us that holds the deepest knowing,

The part of us that does not claim to have all the answers,

But tends to the mystery in all things.

We have lost the sway of quietly walking through the world,

Knowing we are held within something much larger than our small mes that is always pulling us towards sustainable growth,

Intimacy,

And reciprocity,

The way of walking that knows we are always connected to the deepest part of who we are through our beingness,

The simple and gentle knowingness of our aliveness in this present moment.

When we take a closer look at our individual sense of self,

It appears just like the concept of a forest.

Self appears to be a singular truth,

But if you try and locate it,

You realize it is just a collection of elements.

Trees,

Bushes,

Plants,

Animals,

Land,

Water,

Air,

Sun.

There is no one separate thing that is the forest beyond these components.

It exists only as a concept,

Meaning we can't touch forest,

Because it is all and none of these things.

Likewise,

Our sense of self appears to be singular,

An independent I,

But when we try and find it for ourselves,

Somewhere between the ears,

We find just a collection of thoughts,

Memories,

Sensations,

Biological processes.

There is no fixed self in the head,

Only a label we use to make sense of an ever-changing,

Interdependent flow of experiences that we have no control over.

This makes searching to embody a higher self like searching for a more transcendent part of the forest,

Not realizing it is all forest,

Just more mind identification.

However,

There is something deeper here,

Something more fundamental and supportive in our experience that can transform the way we move through life.

It's not something we must attain,

But something we already are.

We don't need to eliminate the ego,

We only need to see what else is here.

Just as a forest cannot exist without the sky,

The rain,

And the unseen forces that sustain it,

We too are shaped by far more than what we currently perceive.

By remembering this,

We step into a broader,

Truer sense of self,

One that is not confined to the mind,

But held by the whole of existence.

Who we are beyond the egoic sense of me,

Beyond our personal narratives,

Desires,

And our past,

Is the profound recognition of our interconnected nature.

We come to see ourselves as a single cell within the vast,

Living body of the Earth,

And this deeper sense of being is not something separate from this present moment.

It is presence itself,

Inseparable from the unfolding of life,

Right here and right now.

We are Earth's self-awareness.

We are her self-love.

We are her most intimate sense of being.

What if the higher self we seek to embody is not something exalted,

But the quiet,

Breathing life beneath our feet?

What if it is the river's gentle current,

The winter blackbird's song,

The first blue bell breaking open in spring?

What if our truest self is not separate from the force that unfurls a poppy in summer,

Or guides a wolf to lead its pack,

Or carries a monarch through its perilous migration?

Perhaps we have simply forgotten that life is not ours to change,

But ours to be changed by.

Perhaps the higher self is not a peak to ascend,

But a ground to rest into,

To listen,

To respond,

To offer our presence as freely as the wind gives flight to seeds,

Trusting that wherever we land,

We are meant to grow.

For so long we have mistaken transcendence for escape,

As if rising above the world could free us from it,

As if spirit and soil were separate.

But the great mystics remind us otherwise.

The self is not contained within our skin,

Nor does it speak through thought.

It moves like mycelium beneath the forest floor,

Like roots intertwining unseen,

A seamless exchange between body and earth.

The self is not a thing,

But a relationship,

And not between two separate entities,

But as relationship itself.

In the end,

We are not lonely seekers,

Reaching for enlightenment,

Like a prize beyond the clouds.

We are earth,

Waking up to itself,

Remembering its own sacred nature.

Let's take a moment right now to remember what we knew before the individual's sense of self became the most prominent aspect of our experience.

Let's go back to the body's wisdom,

Who finds sincere peace in a larger self that can see the forest for the trees.

Take a deep breath and gently close your eyes.

Come home to the body,

To this moment,

To what is.

Sink into your feet,

Sensing the gentle ground beneath you,

Holding you wherever you are.

There's no need to connect with the ground.

Simply remember that you cannot be separate from gravity,

One of life's quiet,

Ever-present forces.

Alongside it,

Notice another faithful constant,

Awareness.

These two,

Gravity and awareness,

Are the ground of your existence,

Your anchor into presence.

Let your attention settle into your feet,

Your ankles,

The soles,

Bones,

Toes,

The soft skin in between.

Rest your breath here,

As if you were breathing through your feet into the earth.

I'd like for you to imagine that you're standing in a dense,

Ancient forest.

The trees stretch high above,

Their thick foliage filtering the light into shifting swaths of gold.

The air is rich with the scent of soil and moss.

There's a feeling of being bound to the rhythm of the seasons here,

A sense of an ever-changing shifting environment.

Everywhere you look,

There's movement.

From the leaves falling to the ground,

To the birds weaving through the trees,

All is in flux.

This forest represents your personal sense of me,

Shaped by identity,

Attachment,

And survival.

It is where desire rises and falls,

Where anxieties take their grip and then subside.

It is the landscape of memory,

Labels,

And interpretation.

Everything is working together to create this sense of personhood.

Look around you.

Can you find the solid me in this place?

Every tree represents a label,

Every shrub a preference,

Every mushroom a job title,

Every weed a trauma.

If one were to fall away,

Would your sense of self disappear?

Or does something else remain that is more unchanging and true?

Begin to notice what else is here.

There is space.

There is air and light.

There is the gentle rain that nourishes without expectation,

The breeze that passes through without resistance.

These elements are not of the forest yet,

They make the forest possible.

Feel yourself gently lifting from the ground,

Rising up through the canopy.

Broadening your point of view until you can see the entire forest below you now.

The air feels cooler.

The trees become patchwork of greens.

Notice its boundaries,

How it's held within wider space.

This forest can only ever manifest itself through a thought.

Every time you have a thought,

It is the forest finding its way through to you.

Keep rising and watch your sense of me become just one aspect of the larger whole.

The thoughts and identities that once felt all-encompassing now seem contained,

Less consuming.

Feel those desires and fears,

Those personal afflictions,

The past,

Soften under this broader perspective.

You need not erase the forest,

You only need to see that it is not all there is.

Watch the sky around you begin to darken now,

Into an ebony black.

Stars emerge,

The crescent moon rests on its side.

The vastness of space cradles everything.

Silent,

Patient,

Boundless and unchanging,

This is your being.

Not personal to the ego,

Not separate and shared with every other living thing.

This open thoughtless space is presence,

It is openness,

It is love.

Just notice for a moment who is aware of this inner space right now.

Try and locate the witness who is aware of this moment.

And if you can't quite locate them,

Allow yourself to become one with the space,

With the universe inside of you.

Dissolving any fixed center and filling the whole of your body with this beautiful,

Safe,

Foundational life energy.

Let's begin to return to the forest now.

As you gently come back to the forest floor,

Notice that the space you touched is not separate from any plant,

Any tree or root.

In fact,

It holds every aspect of the forest.

Just as your deepest self lives as presence between and within thoughts,

Between and within breaths,

Between and within moments of struggle.

This spaciousness does not go anywhere,

It is here always,

As constant as gravity itself.

Take a deep breath,

Allow all internal images to fade.

Feel into the body,

The feet and gravity,

And absorb yourself into what might be of support to you later.

Just rest for a moment with whatever arises,

Without trying to make sense or hold on to anything.

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes.

Whenever life feels contracted and heavy,

Laden with lack and doubt and desire,

Remember you are seeing it from the density of the individual self.

You can start to expand your sense of self and return to the whole,

By turning towards the senses,

Toward emotions,

Without their woody narratives.

Allowing the me and mine to become only a small part of the whole.

You can begin to notice the support beneath you,

The openness around you,

The relationship you are between all things.

The sky supports the forest,

So too can your sense of wholeness ease your sense of fracture.

Absorb what is here with the qualities of wholeness,

Ambition with patience,

Change with sustainability,

Pain with compassion,

Expression with authenticity,

Desire with non-attachment.

Whether you identify who you are as the thought-made self or as simple felt beingness is the greatest spiritual shift most traditions point to.

When we loosen our identification with the egoic self,

We begin to sense something more about who we are that is unchanging and fundamental.

Beingness is not another version of the ego polished and exalted.

It is not a higher self we must attain and maintain.

It is the most constant sense of I,

Of whom we have always been inseparable from life itself.

From this place of beingness,

We meet the earth as kin,

As part of a greater flow as we once did.

We shift from a mindset of ownership to one of reciprocity,

From controlling life to participating in its unfolding.

Here,

True care,

Reverence,

And responsibility arise,

Not from duty,

But from knowing in our bones that we were never separate to begin with.

When we seek a higher self,

We often do so in the same way we seek God,

As something greater than ourselves,

Something above and beyond.

But if the universe includes everything,

And God is somehow more than everything,

Then we're faced with a duality.

Perhaps what we call God is not separate from reality,

But reality itself.

Too vast for the mind to grasp,

Yet intimately present in every breath.

Every tree,

Every moment of our existence.

Likewise,

Our higher self is not something distant,

But the very essence of who we are,

Even in our suffering,

Even in the pain and the heartache.

So step outside today,

Feel the ground beneath you.

Let the sky stretch wide above your head and breathe in.

Exhale.

Remember your higher self is not elsewhere,

It's not something you can become.

It is here.

It is always and already who you are and have always been.

And descend into the earth to remember it.

And when you seek guidance,

Support,

Or healing,

And cannot find it in yourself,

Turn to nature and seek counsel in its wisdom.

Look to the plants,

Animals,

And trees.

For ways of relationship and growth.

For ways of resilience and rest.

There is no greater intelligence than that within you,

Within the quiet hush of all living things.

And may this meditation be one you return to in different seasons of your life,

In shifting states of mind.

My hope is that with time,

Its hidden elements reveal themselves more fully,

And that it continues to meet you and support you,

And unfold alongside you.

If you'd like to continue the exploration of wholeness,

I have a new course on Insight Timer,

Which you can find on my profile.

It serves as an invitation to explore the pathless path of self-realization through meditation,

Poetry,

And insight.

For now,

Thank you so much for being here,

And I look forward to our next journey.

Reviews

Absolutely beautiful. I felt the groundedness and interconnection to all. Thank you ✨🙏🏼💞

Your awareness is deep, your poetic communication skills profound. I love you.

Sez, may you never leave my side, just as you always reside in my heart. ❤️

Once again, thank you Sez for explaining so thoroughly with words, poetry, metaphors that reality (God) is always here within me, that it is not something for me to try to attain, become but rather simply be aware that it is always here.

Extraordinary! Thank you so much for articulating a path of non duality so beautifully!

So thought provoking and wonderful. You are amazing.

True guidance to the inherent wisdom and truth held in my own being, and yours. Thank you, Sez, as always for exactly who you are, and the sweet medicine you carry.

This is wonderful! 🙏❤️

A lovely reverie nicely accompanied with music and nature sounds. Thank you 🙏🏻

This is one of the most beautifully presented pieces I’ve ever listened to on insight timer. The truth of it resonates deeply within me and it brings me peace. Thank you from my heart.

So beautiful!! 💕

💖

This was definitely the most mind-blowing meditation I've listened to. Soooo helpful, a must have <3

Excellent. ✨
Sez is my go-to choice for guided meditation that speaks to even the parts of myself that are yet just seedlings. She has a way of shining a pure light energy to those areas, and fosters my own ever-growing intuition to cultivate and strengthen all the interconnections of self and universe. This meditation unveils untrodden concepts for me that ring true on a multitude of tiers.
Thank you for another gem, Sez! 🙏🤍🦋

Extraordinary meditation and guidance that makes you connect to yourself as earth, helps you transcend beyond the spiritual ego, eye opening aspects of it tell you how ego disguises itself as selflessness and that you are your higher self..there are no two or 3 separate entities.. basically it makes you expand and remember who you are. Marking it as my favourite meditation with the intention to keep coming back to these reminders and will definitely explore the course regarding the path less path. Thankyou thankyou thankyou for being the mirror I needed 🙏🏼🌸✨May you always be blessed by this abundance SEZ. You are so beautifully powerful in your gentleness, wisdom and depths. Bowing to your beauty 🙏🏼🌌✨

Life changing…thank you Sez…🙏

Following the pathless path. 💗🙏

Everything I needed to hear right now. Thank you Sez 🫶🏼✨

Amazing, thank you so much. I look forward to listening to your course. Much love and appreciation to you 💟🌺🙏

Lovely
Namaste