The Untethered Soul - Book Summary & Review

The Untethered Soul

The Journey Beyond Yourself

Michael A. Singer

Who are you? When you start to explore this question, you find out how elusive it really is. Are you a physical body? A collection of experiences and memories? A partner to relationships? Each time you consider aspects of yourself, you realize that there is much more to you than any of these can define.

In this book, spiritual teacher Michael Singer explores the question of who we are and arrives at the conclusion that our identity is to be found in our consciousness, the fact of our ability to observe ourselves and the world around us. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, Singer shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realization.

Divided into five parts, the book offers a frank and friendly discussion of consciousness and how we can develop it. In part one, he examines the notion of self and the inner dialogue that all of us live with. Part two examines the experience of energy as it flows through us and works to show readers how to open their hearts to the energy of experience that permeates their lives. Ways to overcome tendencies to close down to the rest of the world are the subject of part three. Enlightenment and the embrace of universal consciousness are the subject of part four. And finally, in part five, Singer returns to daily life and the pursuit of "unconditional happiness."

Amazon Book Description

Notable Ideas in the Book

Discover how to overcome disruptive emotions and connect with the inner you.

We all get jealous, sad or even afraid. These negative emotions often make us feel less like the person we really want to be.

While the mind is certainly amazing, pushing us up, it can also take us low, undercutting good thoughts and sinking us in negativity.

Taking a closer look, we find the mind has a mysterious and compelling consciousness that has the ability to crush the negative emotions and release instead the positive energy in all of us.

After reading the book, you’ll know

·       What the difference between your “self” and your “personal self” is;

·       How the concepts of chi and shakti can help you channel energy; and

·       How conquering fear is like removing a painful splinter in your finger.

We all have a little voice in our heads. It is our inner monologue. But what is it exactly, and why does it never stop talking?

Our inner train of thought never stops to take a break. If we pause for a minute, we should be able to hear it.
The first step toward enlightenment is to start paying attention to your inner voice.

We have to understand that our thoughts don’t define us. They're simply a product of our consciousness.
Our inner voice follows a certain patterns. Sometimes it makes us worried, upset or surprised. It also influences our emotions.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our thoughts that we forget the reality. This is the difference between our self and personal self.

Your self is your pure consciousness, which flows as it likes. Your personal self is the way you see yourself and the patterns of your thoughts.

To become enlightened, you have to accept that your thoughts and feelings don't define you. Your sadness or jealousy isn't who you are. The real you is only aware of the role these thoughts and feelings play in daily life.

There's a well of energy deep inside you. Don’t block it, but learn to let it flow.

Consciousness is a wonderful, mysterious thing. It's the energy we all have within ourselves. If we can learn to let it flow, we can do just about anything.

Just like the energy of the physical world, there's an internal energy inside you.

You sometimes probably feel a sudden burst of energy – like you can take on the world. This energy is called chi in Chinese medicine, and shakti in the yoga tradition. To feel it, we need to open our mind and let it flow.

Inner energy may seem unreal, but it's very real. It's a resource that's waiting for you to tap into it. We don’t feel it constantly because we tend to subconsciously block it.

We need to let our energy flow. Unreleased energy can lead to negative emotions, like depression.

You can never live a fear-free life. The only way to transcend fear is to let it go.

We have a bad habit of focusing on negative things, but there’s a reason for this. ‘Focusing on our predators made us more likely to survive!’ Unfortunately, this trait has led us to become very sensitive to fear and anxiety.
Fear is also an object of your consciousness. It can be dealt in two ways: recognize its presence and let it go, or run away from it.

We often just bottle fear up. We structure our lives in a certain way so nothing ever triggers fear.

Fear is ultimately the result of blocked inner energy. Your natural flow of energy gets blocked, it can't reach our heart. In this case, the heart will become more susceptible to fear.

Enlightenment isn't about eliminating fear. It is about reaching a point where we're aware of fear, but we don't let it take over our life.

When you widen the focus of your consciousness, you transcend the confines of your personal self.

Letting go of your thoughts and feelings is the key to spiritual growth. But what if our consciousness could transcend all that, and become something more profound?

Our consciousness is tightly bound up in your personal self. Our personal self is like a cage that our consciousness is stuck in. We impose mental boundaries on our own minds, to protect ourselves from anything we feel threatens our idea of who we are.

When you let go of your thoughts, your consciousness can expand.

Our consciousness is focused on our own thoughts so much that it tunes everything else out. Buddhists call this clinging. This clinging is similar to caging ourselves. When we let go, we’ll realize how much freedom there is to gain.

The idea of death helps us look at our lives with a clearer lens, and prioritize what’s important.

Humans are said to be the only creatures that’re aware that they will die one day. Reflecting on death can actually make your relationships meaningful. It helps us prioritize what’s important. It teaches us to not waste time on unimportant things. If there’s something important that you'd want to do before you die, you should do it now.

Finding the balance between extremes, or Tao, is an essential part of spiritual awakening.

The Tao Te Ching, one of the world's most profound spiritual teachings, holds that there's a way – or Tao – between extremes, and it leads to the best result.

We need balance to succeed in life. When we lose our way from this balanced path, we also lose a lot of energy.

When we find the right path in life we need to stick to it, we won't only feel energized but our life will also become simpler and clearer, too.

In conclusion, we need to listen to ourselves and we need to learn to let it go. Our thoughts are not us. We can learn to control it to have a better life.

  Ruchika Verma

You can purchase this wonderful book from Amazon