The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

by Michael A. Singer

There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind—you are the one who hears it.

The truth is that most of life will unfold in accordance with forces far outside your control, regardless of what your mind says about it.

Eventually you will see that the real cause of problems is not life itself. It’s the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes problems.

in some cases the mental voice talks for the same reason that a teakettle whistles. That is, there’s a buildup of energy inside that needs to be released. If you watch objectively, you will see that when there’s a buildup of nervous, fearful, or desire-based energies inside, the voice becomes extremely active.

What you’ll see, if you study this carefully, is that the narration makes you feel more comfortable with the world around you. Like backseat driving, it makes you feel as though things are more in your control. You actually feel like you have some relationship with them.

This inner world is an alternate environment that is under your control.

The outside world, however, marches to its own laws.

This mental manipulation of the outer experience allows you to buffer reality as it comes in.

The ones you discuss in your mind are the ones that matter to you.

Your consciousness is actually experiencing your mental model of reality, not reality itself.

You re-create the world within your mind because you can control your mind whereas you can’t control the world.

That is why you mentally talk about it.

In the thought world there’s always something

you can do to control the experience.

Reality is just too real for most of us, so we temper it with the mind.

You use it as a protection mechanism, a form of defense.

As long as that’s what you want, you will be forced to constantly use your mind to buffer yourself from life, instead of living it.

True personal growth is about transcending the part of you that is not okay and needs protection.

To be aware that you are watching the voice talk is to stand on the threshold of a fantastic inner journey.

Come to know the one who watches the voice, and you will come to know one of the great mysteries of creation.

Your inner growth is completely dependent upon the realization that the only way to find peace and contentment is to stop thinking about yourself.

Before you had your current problem, there was a different problem. And if you’re wise, you will realize that after this one’s gone, there will be another one.

The only real solution is to take the seat of witness consciousness and completely change your frame of reference.

To attain true inner freedom, you must be able to objectively watch your problems instead of being lost in them.

You will not be able to solve anything outside until you own how the situation affects you inside.

You have to break the habit of thinking that the solution to your problems is to rearrange things outside.

The only permanent solution to your problems is to go inside and let go of the part of you that seems to have

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