Ego, soul, and spirit
The 3 Worlds of Existence on the Spiritual Journey
If you don’t transcend, you must descend in order to ascend
1. The Middle World (Ego Realm)
The middle world is the home of the ego. Many associate this world with the earth. It’s where we come to clear karma, disintegrate our egos, and form healthy, unique personalities.
We learn to shed our limiting beliefs, abandon old destructive habits, form new habits and perceptions, and transform into the highest versions of ourselves.
But like everything on earth, there are distractions to the work we came here to do. We get lost in the middle world chasing after money, dreams, fame, and status, forgetting this is not our permanent home and we’re only passing through.
Corporate jobs take all of our time; certain relationships become idols that lead us further away from our purpose, and problems of the physical realm all prevent us from doing the work we’re supposed to do.
The main work we’re supposed to do in the middle world is to transcend the ego and develop our personalities to help us navigate the other worlds.
Instead of becoming slaves and letting our egos lead the way, we must live from the heart and put our ego in the backseat where it can do its best work.
We must become self-aware, learn, discover, master, and love ourselves through self-exploration so we can understand why we think the way we do, feel the things we feel, and behave the way we behave.
If we don’t transcend, we must descend in order to ascend.
2. The UnderWorld (Soul Realm)
The underworld is the home of souls. Many associate this world with hell because it’s the downward and inward realm where we descend for soul correction and soul development.
It’s the realm of repressed thoughts, unresolved emotions, pain and trauma, unconscious wounds, nightmares, dormant gifts, and talents.
It’s the place where things lurk in the shadows.
The underworld is feared by many because of the discomforts that are experienced there and because of that, no one wants to descend there. No one wants to face the darkest parts of themselves, and that’s why we shove them into the shadow.
But we must all transit the underworld at some point and when we find ourselves in the underworld, we meet the devil himself and we can no longer run. We encounter demons and other frightful creatures and we are forced to stay in a hell-loop where there’s a repeat of the same torment, with no end to the cycle until we’ve come face to face with our greatest fears.
In the underworld, we come across the disowned, neglected, repressed, and abandoned parts of ourselves, and we are forced to take a look at those aspects of ourselves through shadow work.
Shadow work is no easy task. We go through a death and rebirth process that reveals the very nature of our souls. We heal core emotional wounds, clear out karma, and disintegrate the shadow.
Despite the fact that the underworld is such a harrowing experience, it can be a powerful transformation and serves to help souls evolve.
The death and rebirth process can feel daunting and uncomfortable, but when it’s all said and done, we are liberated.
It is only by descending into the underworld that we can truly unite with the aspects of ourselves we’ve ignored over the eons and fully embrace our true and highest authentic selves.
Despite the fact that the underworld is such a harrowing experience, it leads to a powerful transformation.
3. The Upper World (Spirit Realm)
The upper world is the home of Spirit. Many associate this realm with the heavens because it’s upwards and outwards, and it’s commonly referred to as reaching enlightenment.
It’s the stage where we embody our true nature, become our higher selves, rise above the ego, and experience ascension.
But it’s hard to ascend when we have baggage and things in the shadow weighing us down. We can’t move on into the upper world with massive egos that hold and drag us down.
We can only ascend into the upper world after we’ve done the work in the middle and underworld. We can only experience ascension and unite with Spirit after we’ve transcended the ego and faced our shadow.
Practices that can help us experience the upper world don’t include five-minute daily meditations. No. It requires long stretches of meditation, like an hour or more per day.
Sitting still for long periods of time isn’t easy and requires lots of patience and that’s why many people — myself included — can’t tap into the upper world. It's hard, but many people do it successfully.
Other techniques include plant medicine like ayahuasca, mushrooms, and marijuana.
Disclaimer: Don’t smoke weed, try mushrooms or attend an ayahuasca ceremony just because you read it helps experience the upper world. Do it using your own conscious intention and mature discernment.
Others can experience the upper world through praying with spirit, breathwork, hypnosis, yoga, lucid dreaming, or astral travel.
Also, spending time in nature can help you experience the beauty of the universe.
If you want to enter into an altered state of consciousness, you have to be gentle with yourself because you can’t achieve it in one try. It’s something you must work on every single day.
When you make it to the upper world, you’re set free from the illusions of the middle world and the dangers of the underworld.
You’re no longer connected to the body, ego, and soul, and your spirit merges with the Divine. You begin to see that everything is one and connected.
It’s difficult to experience the upper world when you carry traumas and hurt from the middle world and shadows and repressed wounds from the underworld.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to know where your mind currently is and where you want it to go next.
The middle world is the home of the physical body and ego, the underworld the home of souls and shadows, and the upper world is the home of Spirit and the Divine.
Different spiritual practices and techniques are required in each of the three worlds to help transcend the ego, evolve the soul and merge with Spirit.
Many people assume that focusing on the upper world is all it takes to reach enlightenment but to truly ascend and rise above it all, we must do the work required in the middle and also the work in the underworld so we can let go of what holds us back and drag us down.
It’s only then will we be able to spiritually ascend and enjoy the pleasures of the upper world.