Living Untethered

Beyond the Human Predicament

By Michael A. Singer

Category: Motivation & Inspiration | Reading Duration: 20 min | Rating: 4.4/5 (384 ratings)

About the Book

Living Untethered (2022) is your guide to finding self-realization and unconditional happiness. It provides practical guidance on moving beyond your thoughts, feeling, and emotions and will help you to stop struggling and start experiencing life to its fullest.

Who Should Read This?

Spiritual-guidance seekers
Anyone who wants to understand who they really are
People experiencing anxiety or tension who want to learn how to let go

What’s in it for me? Learn how to let go and live an “untethered” life.

When everything is going just swimmingly, life is a beautiful adventure. But the ride can also be pretty bumpy. When things don’t go our way, resistance can make us tense and anxious and, as a result, our experiences turn sour. Life can even become a bit of a burden.But what actually is life? In essence, for its entirety, your life consists of your experience of three “objects of consciousness” – the outer world, your thoughts, and your emotions. These things change constantly. But you, do not. You are a persistent being that experiences these changes.In this Blink to Michael A. Singer’s Living Untethered, you’ll learn who you really are and how your journey to acceptance – nonresistance to reality – can help you achieve freedom, peace, and inner enlightenment. Along the way, you’re going to find out about who you are, what the outside world is, and why and how your thoughts and emotions change. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to accept reality and surrender to the flow. In other words, how to let go and live your life “untethered.”In this Blink, you’ll also discover - the real nature of you;

the difference between wilful and automatic thought; and
three powerful techniques to help you let go.

Chapter 1: Knowing who you are is fundamental to spiritual growth.

Let’s kick things off with a little experiment. If you can do this right now, find a mirror or a reflective surface, or use the selfie camera on your phone to look at yourself. Obviously, if you’re driving, or doing something else that needs your full attention, this can wait until you’re ready.So, looking at that image, how does it compare with the way you looked when you were ten, or 20 years old? No doubt you looked different then. Now imagine you’re doing the same exercise 20 or even 30 years in the future. Different again, right? But that’s just what you see. The real you is the same. You aren’t the image you see, you are the one who is doing the seeing – the perceiver – the one who’s in there looking out the whole time. Now think about the differences between you in the past, how you are now, and the future you. Don’t think about your body and ask yourself this question: How old am I in here? You don’t need to answer that right now, just think about it deeply. Now, let’s kick this thought experiment up a notch or two. Imagine you’ve just come out of the shower and you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. What you see reflected is the opposite sex to you, and your skin color has changed too! You’d be pretty shocked, right? But would that change you in there? Sure, you’d wonder what on earth had happened, but you would still, fundamentally, be you!Yes, you’re aware of the male or female shape of your body, its age, and its skin color. But, that’s just it – you’re aware of these aspects – but you who notices these things have no body parts, no gender, no age, and no skin color. These things are irrelevant to you in there. Put simply, you are not your body, you are the conscious awareness that notices things about your body.Once you accept that you are in there, always have been, and now you know you are in there, the question becomes: What’s it like?If we’re being honest with ourselves, it isn’t always great. It can be pretty tough going. But it can be great in there – always – like the nicest it’s ever been, and even greater. And if things are messed up in there right now, it can be made beautiful again – just like an abandoned house that needs working on.We all want it to be nice, but often we approach things in the wrong way. We ask how can I make it nice – we seek out exciting experiences, drink or take drugs to take the edge off things, or look for new relationships, for example. But really what we should be asking is: Why isn’t it nice? That way we can get rid of those things. Instead of trying to use the outside to fix what’s wrong inside, we need to explore why it’s not nice to begin with.Knowing that you are in there and that you know it’s not always nice in there is fundamental to exploring your self and achieving acceptance. To take things a step further, we need to look at what it is that you really experience. In fact, there are only three things: the outside world; your thoughts; and your feelings or emotions. In the next two chapters, we’ll touch on all three.

Chapter 2: The outside world.

The outside world. Whatever there is around you – pleasant or unpleasant – you experience through your senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. There are so many things, it’s no wonder you barely have any time to spend time concentrating on your own consciousness.But what is it that you actually experience?Let’s take sight as an example. When you look at an object, the scientific reality is, that you’re not even “seeing” that object directly. Rays of light bounce off molecules in the object and the reflected rays hit photoreceptors in your eyes. They then relay messages to your brain which makes sense of these signals internally to “see” the object. So, in a way, it’s like you’re actually inside looking at this external object on a monitor. And this applies to your other senses, too.And what about how you experience any given moment? Well, although you may find it difficult to agree, the moment in front of you right now has nothing to do with you.Try looking at that moment. Don’t try to do anything with it. Don’t meditate on it. Just notice it. Check out what’s to your right. Now to your left. Different moments. They were there before you looked and they’ll still be there when you stop. There are so many moments in the world, in the universe many more, that you’re not looking at right now – and none of them have anything to do with you. The moment in front of you also exists whether you’re looking at it or not. It really does have nothing to do with you.It doesn’t feel that way, though, right? You see it as very personal. But actually, it’s very impersonal. It’s you inside who makes any impersonal moment seem personal.You’ve probably made a big deal about moments in front of you throughout your life. Yet billions of other people in the world aren’t bothered about that moment at all. In fact, when you’re done with any particular moment, it probably won’t bother you either – you’ll have moved on to the next. So, that moment that you think is bothering you actually isn’t – it’s you who are bothering yourself about it. It’s you who makes it personal.

Chapter 3: Thoughts and emotions.

As we alluded to earlier, your awareness isn’t only limited to what you perceive of the outside world through your senses. You also experience other things: your thoughts, and your emotions. The combination of your thoughts and emotions can be considered to be your psyche – your personal self. Let’s take a deeper look at what thoughts and emotions actually are.Where thoughts come from and why they exist is something that scientists are unable to answer. But we can differentiate the mind from thoughts. You can consider your mind as a field of energy where your thoughts exist – just like clouds exist in the sky.It’s time for a little test. Try saying “Hello” in your mind right now. And now do it again. And again. It’s there because you deliberately chose to think it. You can do this visually too. Try visualizing a small car in your head, perhaps a Volkswagen Beetle, then imagine a bigger car, perhaps a Rolls Royce or a Bentley. Clearly, you have the ability to create willful thoughts.But, there are other thoughts in your head, too: automatic thoughts. They’re actually in the majority. These pop into your head and you may, or may not, decide to do anything with them – but you didn’t choose to create them. Try observing them when you’re in the shower or taking a break from work, for example. You’ll see your mind is forever creating these thoughts.But, where do these automatic thoughts come from? Well, they originate from what are called samskaras – unfinished mental or emotional patterns.This is probably best explained through an example. Consider if you encountered a rattlesnake, you’d probably find the experience unnerving. You’d most likely focus entirely on the rattlesnake and everything else around it would simply pass unnoticed. But you resist letting the experience of the rattlesnake enter you fully, trying to keep it at a distance in your mind. Imagine that after the rattlesnake comes a butterfly, and it’s so beautiful that when it flies away, you don’t want it to go. Instead, you cling to the mental thought pattern of the butterfly and push the experience of the rattlesnake further away. Consequently, you don’t let either of the images finish their journey through your mind.Now let’s turn to your emotions. As we’ve seen, your thoughts are presented verbally or visually. But you feel emotions. They can flow over you like waves, flushing through your aura – your energy body. When you experience emotions, what you’re actually feeling is a change in your energy. You only notice your emotional energy when it changes, and only talk about it when it’s extreme.Energy, or shakti – the traditional yogic term – flows through you constantly, but it fluctuates as a result of the samskaras you have inside you. They block the energy flow. When a life experience hits one of these blockages, it’s activated and you feel the emotions and think the thoughts associated with that past experience. These activated samskaras can take over your life, dominating your present decisions and determining your future.When you’re constantly distracted by these samskaras, you won’t ever experience who you really are. And you have so many conflicting samskaras in there that it’s unclear what you should do. But remember, you – your consciousness – are the one noticing all these thoughts and emotions. When you become a witness to them, watching their conflicting patterns, you can become free of them. You are the one experiencing thoughts and emotions, but you are absolutely not those shifting patterns of energy.Not letting go of experiences that bother you creates anxiety, tension, and even psychological disturbances within you. So, in the next chapter we’ll explore three powerful techniques that will help set you free.

Chapter 4: Letting go.

Those blockages make life difficult. Your commitment to letting go and your desire to become free are more important than any techniques you use. But there are three techniques which are traditionally used to become free from your everyday life.The first technique is positive thinking – replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. For example, if you’re stuck in traffic, don’t get angry with the person in front of you for driving too slowly, instead, think about the time you now have to relax, calm down, and perhaps even catch up with those chapters you’ve been meaning to listen to!The second is to use a mantra – repeating a simple phrase or word until it sticks in your mind. You don’t have to repeat a traditional mantra like Om Mani Padme Hum, but instead, it could be a name or a word such as God, Jesus, or Allah. And if you prefer something nonreligious, you could try repeating “I’m always fine.” Your mantra offers your mind somewhere to rest – a safe and balanced space. Instead of fighting negative thoughts – your samskaras – you can shift your attention to your mantra.The third is much deeper than the previous two. When you use witness consciousness, you simply observe your thoughts and emotions. Don’t interact with them, just be aware of them. Simply let them be.Easier said than done, huh? So try this. Look in front of you. Don’t think about what’s there, just see it. You’ll probably have thoughts about what you see. You might even experience some emotions. That’s fine. But don’t do anything about them. Simply notice them. That’s the essence of witness consciousness.If you find yourself wanting to do something – and this may seem counterintuitive – just relax. Don’t struggle against your thoughts and emotions. Relax your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your torso . . . By relaxing, you make space for your samskaras to be released.Once you have learned these techniques, practice them. Start with letting go of low-hanging fruit – simple things like the weather. First try some positive thinking: instead of complaining that it’s too hot and you can’t handle the heat, for example, remind yourself that the heat is coming from the sun – a star that’s 93 million miles away from you. Appreciate the reality of this amazing fact rather than complaining about it.And when you’ve mastered that, go further and try some witness consciousness to relax and release. You, the you inside you, are, after all, only experiencing the body getting hot. You don’t get hot at all. Relax and release away from the complaining part of you.Once you’ve got the hang of the low-hanging fruit it’s time to move on to another category that’s likely to continue to disturb you: the past.It’s inevitable, the song that’s playing on the radio, an ad on a billboard, or a chance encounter reminds you of something that troubled you years ago. Your day is ruined. And how exactly does that help you? Whatever it was really shouldn’t still be bothering you anymore, yet it brings mental, emotional, and sometimes physical pain. You need to learn to let go. But how?Whenever you feel a past event coming up, let it. Don’t block it. The experience was probably uncomfortable when it happened and it’ll probably be uncomfortable when it comes up again. Don’t push it back down for another ten years. The very moment you feel it bothering you, get to work on yourself: relax and surrender to letting go.There are many other practices that will help you on your spiritual journey including weekend retreats, therapy, and meditation. The key thing is, if they help you open up, release, and let go, then do them.Learning to let go is what your spiritual path is all about. Keep at it. Let go of your samskaras and they’ll no longer influence how you live. And you’ll be free of your past. As Singer says: “This is what living untethered means.”

What happens next?

The most important thing going forward from here is:Your spiritual path is about letting go – working on releasing blockages. Understanding your real nature is fundamental to letting go – the you that’s inside you experiencing the outside world, your thoughts, and your emotions. Practice the three techniques – positive thinking, using a mantra, and witness consciousness – to release your samskaras. Start with the low-hanging fruit, and then work on your past.And, when you really reach inner clarity, there’ll be nothing personal about the world around you anymore. It will exist and you will exist – in perfect harmony.And here’s some more actionable advice:Meditate.Meditation exists in many forms, but the basic idea is to let go of your thoughts. Focusing on breathing, counting, repeating your mantra – whatever it is, it shifts your focus away from the thoughts arising in your mind.If you don’t already have a meditation routine, try committing to sitting down twice per day at a regular time – perhaps 15 minutes in the morning, and again in the evening. Observe your thoughts and emotions as they happen. Simply be aware, and be at peace.As you practice meditation more, you can focus on your breath. Don’t get distracted by your thoughts, just concentrate on those breaths – in and out, in and out. And if you do get distracted, don’t beat yourself up about it – just start watching your breath again. Counting your breaths will also help you focus. In and out, one; In and out, two . . . Count to 25 and then start again at one. Give it a go!

About the Author

Michael A. Singer is a spiritual teacher. His two previous books – The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment – are New York Times best sellers. In 1975, he founded the Temple of the Universe – a meditation and yoga center for people of all faiths and beliefs – near Gainesville, Florida. He’s also the founding CEO of a billion-dollar company and the creator of a medical practice management software package.