How to untether your soul

Sailen Routray

I read Michael Singer's 'The Surrender Experiment' first, on a friend's recommendation. And that book led me to the author's 'The untethered soul: the journey beyond yourself.' I like both the books; but 'The untethered soul' is something special.

It starts with something that is common to all of us - the voice inside our heads. For most of our lives, we identify ourselves with this voice. We think that this constant chatter of judgements, likes and dislikes is 'I'. But is that the case?

Singer gently leads us to an awareness of this voice as being an entity separate from ourselves. To do this, he employs a simple Vedantic razor - 'Yat drishtam, tat jadam' - 'whatever can be seen [or by extension, touched, smelt, heard, tasted and thought] is inert or non-consciousness.'

Since through my sense of self-awareness I know that 'I' am conscious - not only that, I know that I know that I am conscious -, therefore, I cannot be anything that can be seen, touched, smelt, tasted, thought, or heard.

I can hear my inner voice. Therefore, I am not the voice inside my head.

Singer says, when we gain this awareness, then we realize that what we in fact have inside our heads is an 'inner roommate' that is pesky and often obnoxious. Then the goal, and for some of us the overwhelming goal, of our lives becomes freedom from this voice.

Reading 'The untethered soul,' and reflecting upon its teachings, is a journey of learning how to become free through a continuous process of letting go, following a strategy a nonresistance to everything that comes one's way.

Singer teaches us some concrete techniques for doing this. One of these is opening our hearts, when we meet anything that produces a so-called 'negative' emotion.

Read 'The untethered soul' if you want to skillfully engage with your inner voice. Read it if you want to become more adept at watching your thoughts and emotions. Read this book, if you want to be free.

Bibliographic Details: Singer, M., 2007. The untethered soul: The journey beyond yourself. New Harbinger Publications.