Do animals and insects have higher selves?

[JeremyW]

And do they choose their life circumstances?

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by JeremyW

And do they choose their life circumstances?

Heck, even humans are not certain that they have higher self and can chose their life's circumstances...

However, if you think that they do... in your own private universe, they do... and if you think that they don't... they just don't...

Each of us has a conception of the universe... and it is unique and personal...
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[carenkh]

The beginnings of my spiritual journey... well, was when I was born! but the *conscious* beginning of my journey was reading Behaving as if the God in All Life Mattered. I actually don't remember a whole *lot* of it, but do remember it was something similar to Findhorn Garden, whose founder would get in touch with the devas, or "overlighting spirit" of the plants, birds, pests, etc. I wonder if it's not that each plant, animal, etc. has a higher self, but rather a collective higher self.

[Andrew Brunelle]

I believe they must. If you look at the ways animals interact with nature, are totally in perfect harmony with it, and do not fear death, but rather accept it as a part of the cycle. Even if you do not believe me, I have a distinct feeling that animals are enlightened far beyond us humans. They were enlightened to the point where they chose not to evolve neurologically so that they do not get so smart they start destroying their home in the search for a "better life." There has to be something guiding their behavior.