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The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

Michael A. Singer (Goodreads Author)

4.19 · Rating details · 57,904 ratings · 4,430 reviews

What would it be like to free yourself from limitations and soar beyond your boundaries? What can you do each day to discover inner peace and serenity? The Untethered Soul—now a #1 New York Times bestseller—offers simple yet profound answers to these questions.

Whether this is your first exploration of inner space, or you’ve devoted your life to the inward journey, this boo ...more

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Paperback, 186 pages

Published October 3rd 2007 by New Harbinger Publications

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Jan 29, 2013 John Woltjer rated it it was amazing

I know that there are some people who go to religious texts on a regular basis to glean wisdom about their lives. I have never been that person, raised in a decidedly secular home that was deeply suspicious of organized religion. I consider myself lucky to have been raised in a way that left me unshackled from religious dogma or tethered to a religious institution. But an inquisitive mind also puts one on what, for better or worse we call a spiritual path. Avoiding religion does not make the ult I know that there are some people who go to religious texts on a regular basis to glean wisdom about their lives. I have never been that person, raised in a decidedly secular home that was deeply suspicious of organized religion. I consider myself lucky to have been raised in a way that left me unshackled from religious dogma or tethered to a religious institution. But an inquisitive mind also puts one on what, for better or worse we call a spiritual path. Avoiding religion does not make the ultimate questions go away, it just allows the mind to wander more freely in search of truth. In my 57 years I have searched widely, sometimes earnestly to understand just what my niche is in the majestic mystery called life. i have read many books, sought out many gurus, talked to many people about what the meaning of life really is. And in that search, I think I have never read a wiser, more intuitively grounded book than The Untethered Soul, by Michael Singer. Perhaps it is true that there is nothing new under the sun; that the same truths just get said in myriad ways that appeal to people at different places on the spiritual journey. If that is true, then what Singer does in this book is to synthesize those truths in a way that are direct, crystal clear, and uniquely graspable. In some regards, his book is a much shorter version of Eckhart Tolle's books; more concise, more accessible. Singer deals with the "two of us" that are within us--the experiencer of things, the monkey mind, the consciousness that is constantly feeding us information through our senses, our intellect--and the observer, buried deep behind the monkey mind that has the capacity to watch the parade in our heads--to step back behind and just watch, dispassionately all that is being projected onto the screen of our minds. That is the great wisdom that underlies much of the new thought about consciousness--that there are, in fact two of us in there-one, out of control, spinning its daily dramas-and one, timeless and immortal, the true river of consciousness from which each our lives flows as tributaries. The brilliance of Singer is that he makes the awareness of that very clear--he quite literally walks us through the question of, "who are we" in a step-by-step process. He calls the monkey mind our "inner roommate" that quite often borders on pure insanity. He invites us to imagine the monkey mind as a roommate, sitting next to us on the couch, and asking us to consider how long this roommate would be allowed to live with us when considering just how obnoxious and pestilent it can be. what becomes quite obvious is that we live with a crazy person in our head that torments us with persistent, meaningless, repetitive dialogues that ultimately blind us to what is truly real--the world behind all the stimulus in our heads. This is a brilliant book--just reading the praises written by many prominent people at the beginning of the book gives the reader a sense of just how profound the truths within are. One comment dares to suggest that this book can give the reader a glimpse of eternity. I have found this to be true. All of life is, of course process. It is my belief that our capacity for the development of consciousness is just like our capacity for physical development. Some people are uniquely suited for developing Olympic quality physiques, others of us capable of attaining transcendent awareness through spiritual development. Most of us are posted somewhere in the middle of those kinds of capacities--we can be physically healthy, and we can be spiritually aware. The concept of the archetype is helpful--the archetype of the spiritual teacher is represented by Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, etc. They are the exemplars of the ability to stand closest to the spiritual fire. Most of us will never attain their ability to feel the deepest levels of spiritual transcendence, but we can, though a lifetime of development, develop the capacity to have moments of transcendence that give us the wisdom to carry on in a life that, at times, can be maddeningly inscrutable. Singer is one of those people who can open the crack just a little wider to accessing that wisdom. I have returned to this book many times--it was a re-reading this morning that inspired me to write this review. This little, wise book has helped me incalculably on my own spiritual journey, and has helped me to glean just enough wisdom about this life I have been given to prevail through some very difficult transitions in my life. I am sorry that i can only give it 5 stars--it deserves multiples of that... ...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Lauri rated it it was ok

Shelves: own_it_kindle

Meh. The first couple of chapters were good. It's a super useful concept to see yourself as simply an observer of your thoughts rather than believing that they make you; not having to be jerked around by that nagging voice in your head sounds pretty good to me. The part about how people trap themselves by self-limiting thoughts and rigid views / perceptions of life, the world, people, success, etc. resonated. And the part where we build realities based upon those perceptions and struggle to pres ...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Barbara Abernathy rated it it was amazing

This may be the last and only book you need to read to truly understand who you really are and how to be truly free. The author makes it all very simple. That doesn't mean it's easy. The basic idea is that you are not your mind. Your mind has made up its own arbitrary list of likes and dislikes and preferences. The reason you suffer and are unhappy is because the outside world is not conforming to your idea of how you think it should be. The more time you (soul, spirit, observer you) can spend w ...more

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Jul 10, 2014 Lisa rated it did not like it

I wanted to like this book! It is clearly one that has resonated with so many people and changed lives, but sadly it fell completely flat with me. I kept hoping that at one point it would start to resonate, but it did not. I believe these are some of the reasons why -

1. I'm suspicious of authors who claim it is possible to live life free of worries, problems, and unhappiness. This author makes such claims throughout the book and many times indicates that freedom from suffering should be the goa I wanted to like this book! It is clearly one that has resonated with so many people and changed lives, but sadly it fell completely flat with me. I kept hoping that at one point it would start to resonate, but it did not. I believe these are some of the reasons why -

1. I'm suspicious of authors who claim it is possible to live life free of worries, problems, and unhappiness. This author makes such claims throughout the book and many times indicates that freedom from suffering should be the goal of the spiritual journey. I see life and the spiritual journey differently, and though I do believe we all should strive for a happier life and a more peaceful spirit, I don't believe it is desirable to live without some unhappiness, some worries, some fears. We need to experience and honor both the dark and the light in order to live in balance. That is my view at any rate, and this book did not make a strong enough case for me to change it.

2. Contradictions. The author contradicts himself many times, but more importantly doesn't indicate any awareness that he has contradicted himself. In one chapter he is claiming that God only likes to be around happy people, but in a later chapter he points out that God does not judge, that the sun shines equally on us all, etc. Confusing, right? Thus, while the author makes many statements throughout that I agree with, he also constantly is making other statements that contradict previous ones, giving me the impression that he is just writing a stream of consciousness of statements cherry-picked to resonate with a broad range of spiritual-enlightenment-seekers, without much regard to whether those statements gel together to form a cohesive whole. Which brings me to. . .

3. Structure. To me the book reads like a long-winded, disorganized, repetitive lecture on how the reader should be living his life. While there may be many helpful suggestions and kernels of wisdom sprinkled throughout, the lack of structure, evidence, and strategies for how to go about actually doing what the author is suggesting really rubbed me the wrong way. For me, these types of commands - "just open" or "just do it" or "let go of fear" - are never helpful. These types of life-suggestions happen on every single page, as if it just takes reading the words enough times to know how to actually go about doing things that take enormous amounts of courage and practice. I need help with the how, and I found this book was like a list of ingredients with no recipe, assuming that the reader was already an experienced chef.

Perhaps the book is simply not written in a way that speaks to me. As I said at the beginning, it has clearly resonated with many, and so I feel badly giving it such a poor review. If the book has helped you to find happiness and live a more peaceful life, then wonderful! I would not want to take that away from anyone, but sadly, it is not the book for me.

...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Rsoeffker rated it it was ok

Just finished reading this book. While much of what the book says is true, much of it is soft soap and pleasantries that offer no real insight. Skip the book and read the following sentence that says the exact same thing in roughly 1/282,293,389 th of the time "Let go of things that are past and look forward to the future in a positive light".

Seriously... That's all the book says. If offers very little in "how". If you like the Buddhist/Hindu style of thinking, skip this book and go read Lao Tz ...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Ann rated it it was ok

Shelves: religion-spirituality, religion

I may have been a little stingy here with just two stars. I read this book because a friend wanted to use it in a book discussion group and asked if I'd give him my opinion of it.

I had not read it, so I took it on vacation. My bad. This is not a beach read and, fortunate or not, my soul untethers automatically when it nears salt water. (Actually everything I have sort of unravels around brine. I even have to use caution around big jars of dill pickles.)

When I read the table of contents and saw C I may have been a little stingy here with just two stars. I read this book because a friend wanted to use it in a book discussion group and asked if I'd give him my opinion of it.

I had not read it, so I took it on vacation. My bad. This is not a beach read and, fortunate or not, my soul untethers automatically when it nears salt water. (Actually everything I have sort of unravels around brine. I even have to use caution around big jars of dill pickles.)

When I read the table of contents and saw Chapter 15 "The Path of Unconditional Happiness," I eagerly shook the book expecting at least a handful of cannabis to fall from between the pages. Call me naive.

The first section topics: The Voice Inside Your Head, Your Inner Roommate and Who Are You, made the room spin for a moment and I heard my mother nagging me to cut my hair, but once I got past that, the book did contain some questions and viewpoints that I thought could quite nicely spur discussion in a group with varying viewpoints. I even thought about sending a copy to my congressman and would have if the vocabulary were less extensive. "Untethered," after all, has 10 letters.

"Just letting go" seems to be author Michael Singer's solution for handling life's problems. One can block his or her flow of energy by not letting go.

I can just let go if someone cuts me off in traffic, (deep breath, ooohhmmmm,) or when the kids forget I'm picking them up after the game and catch a ride home with a friend. High school can be a very peaceful place when you are the only one there at midnight.

But when my husband eyes my plate and says, "I thought you already had dessert," letting go ceases to be a deep cleansing breath, and instead looks more like a plate flying through the air.

When Tiffany down at the post office said she didn't think this color was flattering for my hair (I don't dye it), letting go gave our small town newspaper editor a new story for the front page. The feature on bunions had to be moved to page two.

I gave the Untethered Soul two stars because it has truly been an inspiration to me in finding creative ways to "let go." I have toned and strengthened my upper arms. I am able to throw my voice like a ventriloquist so that a soccer ref cannot determine from which side of the field the obscenities are coming and I feel more confident hearing the baseball bat rolling around in the back of the van.

I think everyone should read this book. You can never have too much untethered soul.
...more

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Aug 29, 2013 Emily Alp rated it it was amazing

This book is absolutely incredible. I'm a Yoga teacher and have read a lot of philosophical texts and spiritual books and have been working on this self-help stuff for a while. When my friend left this book on my table a couple weeks ago, and she was raving about it, I couldn't figure out how such a small book could be so life-changing. Well, it is.

It's kind of the foundation upon which all other self-help and philosophy rests, actually--in my opinion. If I read this book twice a year, I'll hav ...more

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Aug 03, 2015 Chris rated it did not like it

Shelves: didn-t-finish

Wasn't doing it for me. I remain tethered. ...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Jason , etc. rated it really liked it

Usually books whose cover shows a horse (or unicorn) galloping through the surf of a random shore are not my cup of tea. However, whenever I find myself in a bookstore coffee shop with a day to kill, I grab something from the self-help section for old-time's sake just to remind myself either 1) How I ever gained so much comfort from books like these or 2) Why I tend to no longer read them. Occasionally you find a diamond in the rough that strikes all the right chords despite the cover. This is o Usually books whose cover shows a horse (or unicorn) galloping through the surf of a random shore are not my cup of tea. However, whenever I find myself in a bookstore coffee shop with a day to kill, I grab something from the self-help section for old-time's sake just to remind myself either 1) How I ever gained so much comfort from books like these or 2) Why I tend to no longer read them. Occasionally you find a diamond in the rough that strikes all the right chords despite the cover. This is one of those books.

I won't get into specifics about the book's themes since the synopsis does a better and more succinct job than I could. I'll simply say that the overall message resonated with me, reminded me in many ways of what is and isn't essential to our inner and outer well being, and, possibly most important of all, how full of shit our inner voice is most of the time. An excellent example and a handy exercise: Given some of the outlandish scenarios that your inner monologue/critic/confidant/crack dealer can come up with regarding your past, present, and/or future, if you anthropomorphized this voice into a dude, would this be someone whose advice you'd actually take seriously if they were sitting on your couch and telling you how you were going to fail at everything? I've learned over the years that the perpetual answer to this question, with or without having given the voice a body, is 'No', but there's something to be said for being reminded occasionally of how absurd our mental narrator can be in relating observations and expectations to reality.

Having become well-versed in how astonishingly self-defeating one's thoughts can be, I flew through the book in a couple of hours because it's quite well-written. And yes, there's a great deal of spirituality involved, but no proselytizing or any sort of do-this-or-burn style of dogmatic head slapping. It's relatively neutral in its treatment of the 'soul', placing the book squarely in the 'Switzerland' category of self-help tracts (IMHO). ...more

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Jan 27, 2010 Brittney rated it did not like it

This book actually changed me for what I once thought was the better. Recently I have realized that it wasn't for the better at all. It made me believe that emotions were optional, and that we can actually be happy all the time. Not true. I thought it possible for awhile, until I eventually realized that I was just suppressing all of the "unhappy" feelings and was building up negative feelings inside me. I would not recommend this book to anyone who wants to be happily in touch with their emotio ...more

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Mar 03, 2018 Rita rated it did not like it

I'm going to start by saying that I agree with the philosophy of this book. He's all about living the theme song to Frozen, whereas I've always been more about the imagery of being made of chain link -- instead of letting the issues be a gust that topples me as I try to fight it, I let it blow through me. Same idea, different metaphors. So, of course I think the concept is good, but it's not new and it's not his. He didn't invent or discover it. He's only trying to explain it. And, that's where I'm going to start by saying that I agree with the philosophy of this book. He's all about living the theme song to Frozen, whereas I've always been more about the imagery of being made of chain link -- instead of letting the issues be a gust that topples me as I try to fight it, I let it blow through me. Same idea, different metaphors. So, of course I think the concept is good, but it's not new and it's not his. He didn't invent or discover it. He's only trying to explain it. And, that's where I have the issues.

First off, this book is presented with such an overwhelming privileged white, cis, hetero male perspective. Every example (but one, which I'll elaborate on later) is from a man's perspective. And nothing even relatable to my experience, either. He's super hung up on girlfriends dumping the reader or girlfriends cheating on the reader or being jealous because the reader suspects his girlfriend is cheating: Think about that time after your girlfriend dumped you and you were so depressed that you couldn't get out of bed for days and the only evidence that you had eaten was the empty pizza boxes littering your room. Seriously? SERIOUSLY??? Nope. Cannot relate. I've never had the personal luxury of being Bella from Twilight and crumpling into a ball of "depression" (pssst, that's not depression) because someone dumped me. I have, however, had the experience of initiating a divorce to leave an abusive marriage after 20 years, supporting my three kids and myself emotionally and financially through it, which presented some very real hardships, and is the second issue I have with this book...

He never addresses any real trauma or legitimate hardships in the book. His examples, being from such a place of privilege, are trivial and superficial. He doesn't talk about the Muslim woman who endures hate slurs as she walks her daughter to school every day, or the man who works three minimum wage jobs to pay for his disabled son's medical care and is functioning on 3 hours of sleep every night, or the girl with the chemical imbalance in her brain that causes debilitating depression. The lack of even pitting these philosophies against serious problems comes off as offensive.

And, his solutions are shallow. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. But, he never explains exactly how to let it go, and he proceeds with the assumption that once you choose to let it go, the one time will fix everything, always. That it doesn't take way more practice and coming at it from many different angles to try to find the visualization and the inner mind-space that works for you. He ties it into how easy it is to quit smoking. Quitting smoking is harder than quitting heroin. It's so much more involved that just not putting a cigarette in your mouth. But, the fact that he devoted two paragraphs to how to quit smoking and then tied it to this philosophy was telling. He perceives them both as easy. If you just take ONE STEP, it'll solve it forever. Anyone who has quit smoking (I have, using mindfulness!) or has tried to achieve this kind of consciousness knows that it requires real effort. It's not a switch you flip on and off and then it's all fixed.

Which brings me to my last issue -- he completely left out any sort of introspection. His presentation of this idea seemed to actually oppose introspection, which is very flawed. Here's a scenario to ponder from two perspectives:

Perspective one-- Michael is driving a car and pulls up to a stop sign. On the sidewalk next to the stop sign, a cyclist shakes her fist at him and shouts at him, then rides away on her bike. Michael's heart chakra is momentarily clogged by the repressed memory of a bike-riding girl in third grade who he had a crush on, but she didn't like him back and yelled at him to stop following her home every day, so he has to practice his let it go mantra and it works immediately. He's free forever now.

Next day, he drives his car to the stop sign. The same cyclist is on the sidewalk and she shakes her fist and shouts at him. He doesn't react because he is fixed and he has let it go. The same thing happens day after day until one day, the cyclist stops yelling at him for no apparent reason.

Perspective two -- Rita is driving a car and pulls up to a stop sign. On the sidewalk next to the stop sign, a cyclist shakes her fist at her and shouts at her, then rides away on her bike. Rita's heart chakra is momentarily clogged by a repressed memory of someone else yelling at her at another time, but she also engages in some introspection and asks, "I wonder why THIS cyclist yelled at me," and then notices that the front of her car is over the line for the crosswalk and the cyclist was about to cross the street but became afraid when the car didn't stop where it was supposed to.

The next day, Rita approaches the stop-sign in her car and is careful to stop before the lines for the crosswalk. The cyclist rides her bike across the street and smiles and waves at Rita.

Granted, in the Rita situation, she doesn't get to unclog her chakra by practicing letting it go when she's yelled at, however, she also stops endangering a cyclist with her bad driving, because she considered the cyclist's perspective, matched it to the situation and corrected her behavior. Maybe Michael's psyche is a little bit better in his way of doing things, but he also continues to be a jerk. Introspection is imperative. I know that this philosophy does not oppose introspection, however THIS presentation of the philosophy completely left it out.

Oh, I forgot to bring up the one example he used that wasn't from a male perspective -- once at the beginning and once at the end, he asked the reader to describe who they are, and both times he said, "You might tell me you're a 45 year-old woman..." and I completely believe that he had something else written at first but his editor told him to change it to being a 45-year-old woman because that's the demographic most likely to read this kind of book. Nothing else he says ever matches up to anything a middle-aged woman would have experienced.

I'd have really liked this more if it had been delivered by someone else, in a different way. But, it was this book I read, so it's this book I have to review. ...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Jennifer Campaniolo rated it really liked it

On the back cover of this New York Times Bestseller is the question "who are you really?" Before I read this book, I would have answered, "I am my thoughts, opinions, actions, experiences, and memories" or "I am a 39-year old wife, daughter, aunt, and friend."

After reading The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself I realize that the answer is more philosophical and complex than all that. Basically who I am and who you are exists in the seat of our consciousness. We are the person who obs ...more

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Feb 06, 2018 Lisa rated it it was amazing

This gem of a book was transformational for me. It offers insights for developing an awareness of negative, limiting thoughts and energy, for realizing that we don’t have to absorb or cling to them. We can let them go; they are not who we are. This is the book I most often give to others.

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Nov 22, 2014 Bharath rated it really liked it

This is a much referred book, and it is not difficult to understand why. Michael Singer does extremely well in summarizing and dwelling on key aspects of our mind and human happiness. While he does not delve deep into religion, the book is still very spiritual with insights into the human mind. The book starts off especially well on how we need to watch our thoughts in a non-judgemental manner. The subsequent chapters move into living in the moment, letting go and being free of pain and sufferin ...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Bette rated it it was amazing

I still milk on this book. I read this book and a second highlighted reading last year, shortly after its release. I didn't really need to highlight anything, because it is not full of cliches, or complexities. Actually, I would be more inclined to highlight every sentence. Singer succinctly states what all the other New Thought and Spiritual leaders/writers have written volumes on. He's very economical in his style, but he does a very straightforward job (for me) of progressing his thoughts in ...more

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Jul 30, 2013 Kaylee Sakellar rated it it was amazing

I love this book, it is easily one of my favorite self-help books. It is so different than any book I've ever read, and even though I'm picky in expanding the types of books I read, I'm so glad I decided to go with something different and choose this book. I love reading it in the morning or afternoon because it actually gives me energy and puts me in a good mood. This is not a religious book, although it might look like it would be from the cover, it's not what so ever. It's not exactly a "how ...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Rebekah rated it did not like it · review of another edition

A whole lot of dumbed-down, Eastern-themed chatter that can be summarized thusly: 1) you are not your thoughts, and 2) cultivate a mindfulness practice.

Maybe I should renew my license and start charging people for terse, grumpy talk therapy. "Yep, that constant narration in your head is a real bummer. Why don't you concentrate on existing solely as a being constantly perceiving rather than narrating the present? Doesn't that make you feel better? Don't answer that; it's narrative."

...more

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Jan 27, 2021 Heidi The Reader rated it really liked it

Shelves: self-help, non-fiction, spiritual-studies, know-thyself

Michael Singer reminds readers that we are not the thoughts that we habitually think or the bodies that we walk around in. He gives multiple tips on how to access the spiritual strength inside ourselves and how to view life through the wide lens of this non-attached perspective.

Singer writes that it is through this new way of looking at life that one can find enlightenment.

The ideas that are shared in Untethered Soul can be found in countless other books on spiritual studies. This isn't new info ...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Laurie rated it it was amazing

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time and will be added to my stack of all time favorites. Michael Singer reminds us that the voice inside that is always chattering away is not us. He encourages us to get to the place where we can be the "observer" and watch that voice.

It sounds easy, but it is not. It is very easy to as my friend Maryann Pomegranate said "to get caught up in our own movie". Singer says:

"When a problem is disturbing you, don't ask "What should I do about it?" ...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Charla rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fave-reads

I couldn't put this book down. And it couldn't have come to me at a better time & I will often refer back to it for guidance. This books has helped me realize how much destruction I am creating for myself by the walls I have built around me and the resistance I have for obstacles in life. In addition to learning about the barriers I have created for myself, I feel so equipped to deal with all future road blocks. The author helps you work through pain, both past, present, & future. Ultimately thi ...more

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Oct 29, 2019 da AL rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, non-fiction

Engaging, thoughtful, and intelligent discussion of life and living. Audiobook performer Peter Berkrot does a great job.

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Jul 01, 2013 Esterina Ganija rated it it was amazing

I didn't expect to find such a compelling and illuminating read when I first picked up this book. The whole mindfulness and awareness thing seems to have been flogged almost to death in recent years with everyone pontificating their views and their tales of enlightenment. So it was with a degree of trepidation and reserved cynicism that I began to read, needless to say my negativity was dissolved in the first chapter and this book has had a profound impact on my psyche.

Would you like to be free ...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Mary rated it it was amazing

Excellent book. I read it at about the same time as I read The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and I found to have very similar themes - so if you enjoyed The New Earth you will enjoy this one too. Very deeply spirtual book with very heavy Buddhist leanings but I think that they are principles that could be applied within any religion. I think it's one of those books you would want to keep on hand and it could have different meanings for you each time you read and depending on where you are in your l ...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Jennifer rated it really liked it

This book is psychological bootcamp. Its purpose is quite literally to eradicate you. If the principles of this piece are bought and practiced for a person's lifetime, then this book does have the power to change who you think you are and even where you are. To go into great detail on anything spiritual would be difficult for any review. Instead I'll bring up the parts of this work that I found relevant in hopes of you reading further into it beyond this review.

Singer's main premise is what our This book is psychological bootcamp. Its purpose is quite literally to eradicate you. If the principles of this piece are bought and practiced for a person's lifetime, then this book does have the power to change who you think you are and even where you are. To go into great detail on anything spiritual would be difficult for any review. Instead I'll bring up the parts of this work that I found relevant in hopes of you reading further into it beyond this review.

Singer's main premise is what our Self is not. Our self, who we are, is not our thoughts or feelings. These are merely reactions to external events. If you ask most people to explain who they are, you'll get a slew of facts like "asl" in a chat conversation. This is not who that person is. Instead, the definition of Self is just the "one who is aware that it is aware." It doesn't have a body, it's neither sex. It's just aware. Everything that happens externally or internally is energy. It's the Self's job to watch the energy flow in and out of us and not try to focus specifically on any of it. If your Self focuses too closely on anything, even a positive experience, you become blocked and your ability to experience the smooth flow of other energies in and out of you won't be as smooth.

Next Singer presents the idea that because of our Self focusing in on specifics, those specifics become something important to the Self. Because the Self is so busy focusing on the specifics of that thing, it loses out on the chance it has every single minute to live in the minute. This is not good. Further, the more focused our Self becomes on specifics, the less quiet the mind and heart are. The mind and heart lead one to confusion as suddenly their job becomes protecting that specific from other energy flows that may pass through us and bump up against it. We create walls and in doing so, our Self becomes lost behind them and all the noise of the heart and mind. People will create elaborate definitions of who they are from how they have crafted together the workings of confused minds and hearts.

According to Singer, the best way to eliminate all problems in this world is simply to not view anything as a problem. We're here on the planet just to experience life, that's it. Where we get into problems is when we try to change the external world to protect the walls we've put up inside ourselves. In the end we're all scared shitless and just about everything we say or feel comes directly from fear. He asks us to Stop. Acknowledge the constant inner voice that plays, acknowledge emotions but don't engage with them other than to relax through them as you're having them and let them go. Sounds simple, right? Some stranger just called you fat on the street. Never mind that the stranger was drunk, you immediately remember being harassed as a child for being fat. That stranger has ruined your day. Or did he? You're the one who allowed your thoughts of being called in fat in childhood to remain with you all those years. In fact, you didn't even allow them to stay, your mind and heart (which is not you) did. All the guy said was the word fat. If you'd just let that childhood disturbance go then, you would have had a normal day.

It gets a little tricky beyond this point. To be constantly reminding yourself that nothing you think or feel is you, and you are just the one who watches what's thought and felt, can be a little Out There to most. I know for me my first thought upon reading this was panic. Wait. You mean that everything I say is not me? So why talk?! What's the purpose in communication if everyone is just protecting his inner fears? If all you're talking to is walls, how can you ever know anybody? That's where my mind went with it. It only got harder the more I read.

Eventually Singer introduces the idea that to be truly free of all disturbance your Self must stop being aware that it is aware. We know that our thoughts and heart aren't us, but now we must face the possibility of our Self's not even being us. Once we let go of that we're sucked up into the Divine Force and can experience God. Through all this Singer claims that by letting go you will be peaceful and full of joy, but he also said something I'm still struggling with and that's that God is only interested in being hang out buddies with those people who are already happy and find everything in his creation beautiful. Um..Huh? The next chapter Singer states that God has no judgment and is just in Ecstasy, but you might want to read that God is for the Happys chapter on your own to figure that out.

Look, I'm not a religious person. I don't know if I believe in God or If I believe that other people believe in God either. What I do believe in is the fact that thoughts and emotions are pretty treacherous waters to navigate at times, and for that reason I recommend anyone of any beliefs to take this book for a test drive. I'm sure I won't become enlightened tomorrow morning, but at least it's given me a place to start should I ever want to start on that path.

I gave this only four stars for I felt at times it was written too simply. Where I wanted to see metaphors there were none, where I didn't need one, there were. That and he kept repeating "It really is that simple" which if heard enough can be patronizing over reassuring.

...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Bev Siddons rated it it was amazing

Shelves: spirtuality

Singer's Untethered Soul carries with it an insight into our spirituality and relationship with God. I found it a greatly inspirational read. While Singer does not spout Bible verses, he draws from the words of Christ as well as other great religious leaders from all cultures. The similarities of our world's religions have always intrigued me, and I believe Singer put his finger on the largest one: love. "You can't offend the Divine One; its very nature is light, love, compassion, protection, an ...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Deone rated it it was amazing

The most enlightening book on spirituality I've EVER read in MY LIFE! It completely opened me up to a new way of looking at EVERYTHING... Including, myself. It gave me a new outlook on purpose and assisted me in beginning to understand this on-growing hunger I have to learn more about who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose and how will I achieve that life mission?

Michael A. Singer made this a incredibly simple read, on what seems to be a very complex and opinionated topic. He teaches us ho ...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Judith Symonds rated it it was amazing

I had several of my biggest breakthroughs ever while I was studying this book. I found the true meaning of meditation and self and I learnt the significance of opening the heart and living life as a wonderful experience. If you seek true freedom and happiness, then this book is worth the read. I borrowed my copy, and I am putting this book on my list of purchases for my bookshelf.

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Feb 23, 2013 Marcus rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, self-development, eastern

The idea that I like the most from Eastern style thought is that resisting the way things are is crazy. There's a voice in my, and probably everyone else's, head that never shuts up. I'm fine with that and don't feel a huge need to silence it, but a lot of the time what it's saying (what I'm saying to myself?) is pretty dumb.

The voice constantly explains and reframes what I experience to make it feel safer or more comprehensible. It resists what it doesn't understand and tries to explain it awa The idea that I like the most from Eastern style thought is that resisting the way things are is crazy. There's a voice in my, and probably everyone else's, head that never shuts up. I'm fine with that and don't feel a huge need to silence it, but a lot of the time what it's saying (what I'm saying to myself?) is pretty dumb.

The voice constantly explains and reframes what I experience to make it feel safer or more comprehensible. It resists what it doesn't understand and tries to explain it away or come up with elaborate justifications for why stuff doesn't fit in with The Way Things Should Be. It demands resolution to anything that doesn't fit my mental model and it creates areas in my mind that are forbidden or painful to visit then tries to push those areas away so they'll be uncovered as seldom as possible.

All these elaborate thought tricks work sometimes, but the idea of The Untethered Soul (and similar books) is that the tricks are unnecessary and detrimental to finding peace. Maybe if I let the voice inside my head keep up its constant chatter, but choose to just recognize what it's saying without either rejecting it or mentally canonizing it, I can be okay with what's happening even without understanding and categorizing every bit of it.

I feel like that way of looking at my thoughts lets me experience both negative emotions like anger and hate as well as positive emotions in a way that doesn't have side effects like anxiety or attachment. It keeps me focused on what I'm doing which results in me doing things better. It helps me deal with situations that I don't like by freeing up mental energy that would normally be spent resisting the problem and letting me instead use that energy to resolve it.

Even though I like the idea, I still mostly don't think this way. I tell and re-tell myself the story of how things are and why they're that way and how I'm going to fix them later and forget where I am and what I'm doing. That's why I read books like this, to remind me that there is a better way. ...more

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Jan 10, 2018 Darius Murretti rated it really liked it

Shelves: audible

NOTE TO SELF : I own this audio books and it is extremely well done and worth listening to again and again as I do farm work as an alternative to pulp fiction

GOOD POINTS :
1) talks about Going beyond thought to the unlimited freedom and bliss of freedom pure consciousness .

2) It tells us of the futility of seeking happiness in outside circumstances that we have no control over such as other peoples behavior and tells us that we can always be happy regardless of how other act towards us if we s ...more

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Dec 27, 2017 Travel Writing rated it it was amazing

Shelves: holy-shit-amazing-stuff, spiritual, awesome-sauce, self-help, right-in-the-feeeeels

Only took 6 years, but today I finished The Untethered Soul.

In 2012, my brother was dying. Someone had suggested The Untethered Soul as place of refuge in my grief.

I tried valiantly to read it.
I hated it.
I hated this simpering, drivel filled, pretentious shit house book with all of my heart.

One day, I had super-duper had it, and actually yelled at the book, as it sat blithely on my coffee table, "Oh go eat an entire bag of camel dicks, Michael Singer."

Then I dumped the book in a Little Free ...more

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About Michael A. Singer

Michael A. Singer

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Michael A. Singer is the author of the highly successful The Untethered Soul, which has also been published in Turkey, Brazil (in Portuguese), Switzerland (in German), Spain, Japan, China, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Poland, and Italy.

Singer received a master's degree in economics from the University of Florida in 1971. During his doctoral work, he had a deep inner awakening and went into s ...more