The Untethered Soul Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

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Brief Summary

Your inner voice and thoughts are not your true self and do not define you. You can take control of your life by recognizing your consciousness as your real self and the role of your inner voice in creating your emotions and actions. Once you build awareness of how your body and mind are objects of your consciousness, you can become untethered from them. The result is a happier, healthier, more honest experience in life.

About the Author

Michael A. Singer is a spiritual teacher and founder of Temple of the Universe, a yoga and meditation center. He experienced his own spiritual awakening after entering seclusion to study yoga and meditation. His other writings include: The Surrender Experiment, The Search for Truth and Three Essays on Universal Law: Karma, Will, and Love.

Topics

Self Development

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Key Insights

This book considers the path towards spiritual enlightenment and a happier, healthier, and calmer life. The author argues that the path to inner peace involves distinguishing between the perceived self and the true self. By cultivating awareness of this difference, and getting in touch with their true self, a person can free themselves from unnecessary stressors and negativity and instead appreciate the full potential of their life.

Your thoughts are persistent but don't define you. Recognize your thoughts as separate from your true self.

Everyone has a voice in their head. These thoughts form unspoken words and sentences that interpret the world around us. Psychologists call this “inner speech”.

Singer points out that these thoughts can often be confused with the true self. For example, if a person thinks about doing something immoral, it does not make them an immoral person. On the other hand, if a person thinks a kind thought, this does not necessarily make them a kind person.

This is a key difference. Singer asks the reader to become aware of thoughts as separate from the “conscious” or the part of the self that can be aware of the thoughts. The real self is this consciousness, and the thoughts are just objects of this consciousness.

By becoming aware of these thoughts as separate from your true self, you can prevent yourself from getting caught up in them and reacting in damaging ways.

“Inner Speech” creates a limited picture of reality. Rather than seeing reality for the expansiveness that it is, it becomes a series of labels and interpretations.

When we think of things in our internal voice, whether it be another person, a situation that happened to us, or about our identities we describe it in terms. These terms are made up of descriptions we’re used to hearing. These interpretations are not necessarily true and paint a limited picture of how things are.

For example, when we describe ourselves as hard-working and smart, this does not capture the millions of other traits we exhibit. This method of labeling can be used as a way for the mind to avoid truths that threaten our idea of who we are. These labels can function as a cage, making our conceptions of ourselves static and dishonest.

Consciousness, on the other hand, by merely observing and not labeling, can take everything in without clinging to any particular description. It remains open to many possibilities at once.

Singer argues that you shouldn’t let your inner voice selectively create a version of reality that you subscribe to. Instead, open yourself up to the world without interpreting. Observe and be present and let go of the tendency to equate descriptions with the truth. Pull back and take everything in without judgment.

Transcend fear by becoming aware of it.

Singer states that when we come across a difficult moment in our life, say a moment of great anxiety or fear, it is easy to get caught up in this feeling. We evolved to feel fear and anxiety deeply to survive in a different world, but it...