‘The Untethered Soul’ Breakdown | Part 1, Awakening Conscious
Because no one ever actually reads a book when I recommend it, here’s a breakdown of all the things I wish they would read.
The Introduction
‘To thine ownself be true’, Shakespeare wrote. But, which one?
Is it the one that shows up when we’re in a bad mood, or when we’re embarrassed about a mistake? Is it the one who spews nonsense and poison when we’re depressed? Or is it the one that takes over in those fleeting moments where we seem to be walking on air, light and free as ever?
From this train of thought, the question turns to something even more relatable—are all of my different personalities all equally “me,” or do I have to pick one? And if so, how do I know which is the right path?
To reach the conclusion that all of our mainstream “coming-of-age” movies never bothered to teach us, we need only uncover the intuitive experience of what it is like to be you. Not your opinions, collected knowledge, likes and dislikes, passions or fears. These next chapters are going to guide you through the process of taking an honest, natural, intuitive look at what it means to be You.
Once refocused and centered, you will have a decision to make; either free yourself from the confines of how you’re taught to understand your consciousness, or don’t. The point is though, there will be no more confusion, no more helplessness, no more projecting blame. In place of inner turmoil and uncertainty, you will develop a tremendous sense of respect and understanding for who you really are.
Then and only then, will you be able to fully appreciate “this above all, to thine ownself be true.”
Part 1 | Awakening Consciousness
Chapter 1, the voice inside your head
Have you ever wondered why you have a constant dialogue running through your head all day long? How does it decide what to say and when to say it? And how much of what it says turns out to be true or even helpful?
If you take a moment to step back and simply observe the voice, you’ll notice that it always takes both sides of the conversation. In fact, it doesn’t care which side it’s on as long as it gets to keep talking. It never shuts up.
In an attempt to find a comfortable place to rest, it will jump back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.
And even when it discovers “the answer,” it still won’t quiet down.
The best way to escape the cyclic inner dialogue is to step back and view the voice objectively. Don’t think about it, just notice it. You are not the voice, you are the one who hears the voice.
Now, stop feeling that one thing it says is you and the other thing it says is not you. Don’t differentiate, don’t cling, don’t claim. You are the one who hears the voice, you are not the voice.
People want to discover which aspects of this voice is who they really are. But the answer is simple: none of them.
The truth is, life will continue to unfold as it does regardless of what your mind has to say about it. Your thoughts have no effect on anything or anybody except you. And even at that, they can only make you feel better or worse about whatever is happening now, what happened in the past, or what might happen in the future.
If you want to spend your time hoping it doesn’t rain tomorrow, be my guest— just know that it’s a waste.
There is no use for a constant internal chatter. There is no reason to constantly attempt to figure everything out. Eventually you will come to terms with the simple fact that the real cause of your problems is not life itself, it’s the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes all of your problems.
The simple truth is, the voice won’t stop talking because you’re not okay inside, and talking releases energy. It establishes an illusion of control. But allowing this tampers with your reality. What you end up experiencing is a personalized presentation of the world according to your voice, rather than the stark, unfiltered experience of what is really out there.
If the world isn’t how you like it, you internally verbalize it, judge it, complain about it, then try to figure out what you can do about it. Unfiltered reality is often too real for most of us, so we temper it with the mind’s internal dialogue.
You will come to see that the mind talks all the time because you gave it a job to do—you use it as a form of defense from the world, a buffer from unfiltered life, a security blanket. The truth is, the world is unfolding and truly has very little to do with you or your thoughts.
True personal growth is about transcending the part of you that feels it needs this protection.
Chapter 2, your inner roommate
The bottom line is, you’ll never be free of problems until you are free from the part within you that has so many problems. Rather than asking yourself “What should I do about it?” when faced with a problem, let go of the impulse to protect yourself from the discomfort and ask yourself “What part of me is disturbed?”
Maintaining objective awareness of the inner disturbance is always better than losing yourself in the outward situation. The first thing you should always deal with is your own reaction, while understanding that there is a clear distinction between you and the reaction your mind is conjuring.
There are two distinct aspects of your inner being. The first is you, the awareness, the witness, the center of your intentions. The other is that which you watch, this is your inner roommate.
To best appreciate this perspective, find complete solitude and silence, and try to sit inside yourself for a moment. It’s your inner domain, get comfortable.
Instead of finding silence though, you’ll come face to face with incessant chatter. That is your roommate. You have a clear intention to be quiet inside, but your roommate won’t cooperate. And it’s not only when you’re searching for silence, it has something to say about everything you experience.
“I like it. I don’t like it. This is good. This is bad.” It just talks and talks and talks and talks and talks and talks and talks. Basically, you’re not alone in there.
Now, imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have to bring this roommate along everywhere you go.
The solution is to simply watch. Every time the phone rings, every time you sit down to eat, every time you shower, just watch what the voice has to say. You’ll be shocked to see it jump from one subject to the next, neurotically trying to grab your attention, saying whatever it can to pull you in.
Personify the voice, imagine them in the room with you. Then watch.
Now, answer this—how would you feel if someone outside really started talking to you the way your inner voice does? How would you feel spending all of your time around someone who opened their mouth to say everything your inner voice says?
If someone outside of you said all of that, you’d ignore them. But for whatever reason, you feel you owe this voice an answer.
But after seeing how often this roommate changes their mind, how conflicted they are on so many subjects, and how emotionally reactive they tend to be, would you ever go to them for advice?
And when the voice has done you wrong in the past, have you ever held it responsible for the trouble it has caused? If you had, you would’ve kicked this roommate out a long time ago.
So now the question becomes, how do we get rid of this trouble maker?
First understand that all of the techniques and mantras in the world won’t help you until you have watched your inner voice long enough to truly understand the predicament you’re in. Once you’ve made the decision to release all of the mental melodrama, you are ready for teachings and techniques.
Chapter 3, who are you?
Who am I? Who sees when I see? Who hears when I hear? Who knows that I am aware? Who am I?
To answer this query, let go of all your experiences, emotions, thoughts, opinions, fears, dreams, relationships — you are the one aware of these facets of your life, you are not your experiences. So let go of it all, and notice who is left.
When you focus on something without creating thoughts, your consciousness is still effortlessly aware of, and fully comprehends, all that it sees.
I am the one who sees. From back in here somewhere, I look out, and I am aware of the events, thoughts, and emotions that pass before me.
This is where the authentic You lives — in the seat of consciousness, awareness. At each stage of your life you have seen different thoughts, emotions, and objects pass before you. But you have always been the conscious receiver of all that was, not the experiences themselves.
Chapter 4, the lucid self
When you begin walking through life as an aware being, you no longer become immersed in the events around you. Instead of getting lost in it all— clinging to emotional phases, analyzing past traumas, struggling to crawl out of the hole you’ve got yourself into—you simply watch. You are aware of life happening around you, but you are not being swept along with it.
This perspective towards life does not require that you spend the next 10 years of your life holed up in a monastery. All it takes is focus.
Your consciousness has the ability to focus your awareness. Someone calls for your attention, and you’re zeroed in. How did you know how to do that? No one taught you the art of focusing your awareness, you’ve just always known.
When lost, the focus of your consciousness is pulled in every direction (usually by that pesky inner roommate). You become totally absorbed in the thoughts, feelings, and senses around you, no longer aware of your separateness from these objects. A life of unfocused awareness teaches you that you are the sum of your learned experiences, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you were to pull back into the consciousness, the world would cease to be a problem. It’s just something you’re watching. The more you are willing to just let the world be something you’re aware of, just watching, the more it will let you be who you are.
Think of it like this: when you’re watching TV it can feel like there’s nothing else going on in the world. You’re enthralled in catching every frame, feeling every tug at your heart strings, running down rabbit holes to figure out where the story is going. However, if you pull your focus back from the TV, you can see the whole room, and the TV is just another thing to watch. You’re no longer enthralled and affected by it, you’re just watching.
Likewise, instead of focusing so intently on your constantly changing thoughts, emotions, and sensory input, you can pull back and simply watch.
Part 2 is coming, liking this article & following my profile will make my inner voice pester me to write faster. If you can’t wait, just Buy the Book!
