K 's Key Ideas from The Untethered Soul
by Michael A. Singer

For example, a build-up of nerves, fear or desire will increase the voice’s activity in your head. This internal narration helps you analyze the world around you and re-create this world inside yourself. This can lead you to live in your own mind. 

The key to avoiding living in your mind is overcoming the part of you that needs protection. You can do this by constantly reminding yourself that you aren’t your voice. You are just an individual noticing this internal voice.

Many of us live our lives as if we were in a dream. In dreams, we simply accept what is happening and don't question whether we are actually in a dream. We fly over our house without even questioning the legitimacy of our experiences. Singer describes this as a lost state and explains that we often move into this state while awake, for e.g: when we are fully absorbed in our thoughts, feelings, and senses. Focusing on these features prevents us from understanding the context of our experiences. This is the difference between being aware that you are aware and not being aware that you are aware.

It’s easier to get lost when several senses overload you. Your experience absorbs you. A perfect example of this is when you watch a fascinating movie. For two hours, you are immersed in your sensory experience. You must learn to pull yourself back from autopilot when engaging in these activities so that you can experience everything. This practice will help you pull away from your inner roommate.

Sometimes external problems are so insignificant that you can choose to avoid the thorn. That said, there will be occasions where external problems negatively affect your inner voice. On these occasions, you must decide to remove this inner thorn. The question is not how to get rid of the problem, but how to protect yourself from reacting negatively to this problem. Singer repeats here that the best approach is understanding how you want to respond to these problems, and that your inner voice’s negative perceptions aren’t coming from you.

Although energy is physical, your mental approach also influences it. The author uses the example of when you fall in love with someone. This experience inspires you about other things in your life and fills you with energy. On the flip side, you may feel demotivated and drained of energy after a breakup. The Chinese call this Chi, but Singer calls this infinite energy. This storyshot merely highlights that external forces influence energy. Still, you can regain control by not letting the voice inside take over during difficult times.

Singer believes that a healthy heart’s natural state will allow energy to flow, encouraging inspiration, love, and openness. Your heart helps you research your highest state, which is simply the result of being completely open. So, don’t sell yourself short by neglecting your heart and closing up. Your heart is the antidote to your mind. At some point in your journey, you will be guided by your heart rather than worrying about your mind. Your mind will merely follow your heart. That said, as with your mind, you are also not your heart. You are the experiencer of your heart.

Staying open is the key to happiness and love. Remaining open will lead to waves of uplifting energy filling your heart. Energy is so essential that you should never leave it to chance. You will receive more energy if you stay open, so Singer suggests practicing opening by not closing. Once you have practiced enough, you can stay open no matter what. At this point, your energy will affect other people. They can pick up on your energy, and they will start to open up too.

Freedom and liberation are the keys to avoiding a closed mind. Singer describes liberation as committing to your inner work and subsequently finding yourself. You can then untether yourself so that you can steal freedom for your soul. You achieve this liberation by not protecting your psyche. Everything will be okay as soon as you are okay with everything.

We are all constantly suffering because we focus our mental and emotional energy on being liked by others. But, as these emotions are so prevalent, we don’t even notice them. Singer explains that your mind is a highly effective computer tool. We should use it to ponder noble thoughts, solve problems, and serve humanity rather than worry about what others think. Moving away from the lost state mentioned earlier will help you stop focusing on external problems and start focusing on internal problems.

True spiritual growth and transformation won't be pain-free. You have to learn to come to peace with pain. Most people try to avoid pain, but this means pain is running their lives. Years of attempting to avoid pain will have created layers of deep sensitivity to external events. This is because the pain is still being processed, just deeper down. These deep processes will build a whole structure around this pain and create closed energy that influences your decisions. Dealing with pain is the core of spiritual work. Once you accept pain, you will start to have more beautiful experiences.

As you take down the walls and go deeper into yourself, you will realize a never-changing part of yourself. This is your sense of awareness. This is your consciousness. This part of you is aware of your thoughts, experiences, and emotions. So, your consciousness is the root of your “Self.”

Letting go is always a positive action. It’s a deep inner release that is a spiritual path in and of itself. Once you learn to let go of false solidity, you will experience permanent peace, joy, and happiness. Even after letting go, you will still have thoughts, emotions, and a self-concept. But, they will be merely one small part of what you experience rather than the entirety of your experience. After letting go, you will not identify with anything outside your sense of Self.

Singer explains that our usual responses to “Who are you?” are incorrect. Most people respond to this question by describing where they grew up and what their parents were like. This is not who you are. This is what has happened since you were born, rather than your character. 

Deciding you’re going to be happy will also help you become enlightened. Enlightenment is not about learning Sanskrit or renouncing the world. The key to true enlightenment is to be happy. People can quickly become burdened by the many choices in their lives. Singer reminds us that there is only one question that truly matters: whether you want to be happy or not. Committing yourself to unconditional happiness will teach you everything you need to learn about yourself, others, and the nature of life.

Deciding you’re going to be happy will also help you become enlightened. Enlightenment is not about learning Sanskrit or renouncing the world. The key to true enlightenment is to be happy. People can quickly become burdened by the many choices in their lives. Singer reminds us that there is only one question that truly matters: whether you want to be happy or not. Committing yourself to unconditional happiness will teach you everything you need to learn about yourself, others, and the nature of life.

The path to unconditional happiness depends on your ability to understand your inner energies. If you think deeply, you will notice that happiness is associated with an open heart and a rush of energy. 

As humans, we try to stay within our comfort zone. This zone confines us to specific experiences and takes away our freedom. To go beyond this comfort zone, you have to start letting go of the effort to keep things within your defined limits. Once you have awoken spiritually, you will realize you’re caged. You will better understand your comfort zone’s limits and that your fear of discomfort creates the cage.

Singer suggests you go far beyond your comfort zone. There should be no cage, and your soul should be infinite.

Every day will feel like a vacation once you learn to never worry about what will happen in your day. You will wake up excited about the day and let go of everything when you go to bed at night. If you can do this, you’ll start living life rather than fearing or fighting it. If you want to be content and enjoy your work, you have to let go of yourself and let events flow through you. Your real work is what is left to do after all else passes through. 

Most people try to avoid thoughts of their own death. But Singer believes contemplating death teaches us several lessons that will improve our lives. Here are five lessons you should learn about contemplating death:

1. Don’t wait until the last moment for death to be your teacher.
2. A wise person realizes that when you breathe out, you may not breathe in again.
3. Any time you are struggling with something, think of death.
4. Whatever you are doing right now, someone was doing that when they died.
5. No matter what you’re doing, you can be sure someone died that way.