Being able to communicate with one’s own spirit guides can be very useful, particularly when we are aspiring to or are on the Path to awakening. It is explained that every person has their own spirit guide, and sometimes more than one. They may or may not be the same ones for the duration of one’s lifetime; it is apparently not uncommon that they would change at certain stages of life, possibly depending on life’s lessons that the person is going through.

Our spiritual guides live in the higher planes of existence, such as in the astral and the mental world, and can contact us from there. More often than not, they contact us from the astral world when the physical body is asleep, and we are outside it in our astral vehicle, in the world of dreams. This is a time when we are the most susceptible to clear messages, particularly in the early morning, when dream recall tends to be more successful.

Spirit guides are usually more advanced than the average level of humanity, and obviously are in line with the call of service, of helping humanity, just like someone in the know on a subject here in the physical world would choose a role of teaching or showing others about particularities of that topic. They can also be very advanced, depending on whom they have under their wing. Whatever the case may be, they are there to help us and guide us through life. Most of the time we may not be aware of that guidance at all, but from time to time we get clear indications that something or someone out there is helping us.

When we are advancing on the Path, we get help from various sources, such as from our inner Being, spiritual masters, and also our guides. We do not tend to lose our guides simply because we start to advance in a real way; on the contrary, it is more probable that the higher beings make sure that we receive the necessary lessons (initiations) and give us all the help we can get to pass them successfully, even if that sometimes mean receiving no help at all.

Spirit guides have their part to play even when we are advancing on the Path. Not knowing better, there are students who believe that the help on the Path we receive exclusively from the inner Being and spiritual masters. Even though the former two probably have the most essential role in our advancement, the work done by the spirit guides should not be underrated just because we enter the stream of the Path.

Helpful spirits, spirit guides, and various ranks of higher beings are there and ready to help us. Our spirit guides help and instruct us both in dreams and in waking state, but we can also contact them if we wish so, by opening a channel of communication. If our guides think it is a good idea to make their presence known at this particular time, they will no doubt answer us, in one way or the other.

There are several ways through which we can open the channel of communication with our spirit guide. For many, the easiest way would be to contact them while in a dream. In order to do that one needs to have a sufficiently developed dream recall (there are plenty of ways how to develop that, one that works well is by not moving at all upon waking up in the morning or during the night, and proceed immediately with remembering dreams).
Before going to sleep (and as you go to sleep), focus on the idea of your spirit guide, and then mentally direct them your questions, or whatever you wish to tell them. Have a clear and genuine intention, something that really interests you. For example, someone who faces a seemingly insurmountable problem can ask about how to overcome it, or if you want to know something pertaining to your past lives, spiritual development, etc., you can ask about that.

The second way to contact your spirit guide is in meditation. You can try and make the attempt of such contact meditation at different times of the day, but it seems that a particular suitable time for it is as soon as you wake up in the morning (while still in bed), or in the evening, or in the afternoon. Before starting with this practice, make your questions and intention clear to your guide, invite them to your room, ask them to help you with what you need. One of the main elements here  is to clear out all thoughts and emotions by concentrating on an object (such as on breathing, or on a chakra, or visualizing something that is spiritually uplifting etc.) until the mind is left in a completely quiet state. Once at that point, allow for the message from your guide to appear. Be attentive to the screen of the mind, where images will unfold spontaneously. Do not force it through; simply wait for it to come, while enjoying the peacefulness of the serene state of mind. Though many images may come from the subconscious mind, some can come through the higher senses of perception, as a message from your guide. With experience, you can start to differentiate between the two, knowing exactly the flavor of higher messages, whether that be in the form of a vision, an inner sound, a thought, or a feeling.

Not always will these messages come from our guides; they may come from our Being, or from spiritual masters, or from some helpful spirits etc. The important thing is to learn to distinguish between what is real and what is a projection of the subconscious mind. Once that is learned, we may start with asking more detailed questions, which can make clear to us  many things, including from whom the message is coming from.

The third way is by consciously leaving the physical body (astral projection) and invoking your guide to come and meet you. This is the best way because you can see them and talk to them as you would talk to a friend whom you meet in person here in the physical world. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest of ways, which is why many people prefer to put more efforts into other ways. Nonetheless, learning how to astral project has incredible benefits for our spiritual progress, making it a very useful skill that can be used for many purposes, beyond of just meeting our spirit guides.

It can be a life-changing experience when we see that there are helpful spirits out there, ready to help us and instruct us on what it is that we need to do in order to progress spiritually by going through the lessons of life. It can be especially profound insight for someone who is stuck in the materialistic viewpoint to suddenly realize that there is more to life than the mundane living, and that the latter is imbued with higher lessons, which is the true purpose for the existence of such events.

HDP, July 2021.