40 pages • 1 hour read
Michael A. SingerThe Untethered Soul
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Key Figures
Themes
Index of Terms
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaPart 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: “Experiencing Energy”
Part 2, Chapter 5 Summary: “Infinite Energy”
People have intense amounts of inner energy that they don’t often feel because they block it “by closing [their] heart, by closing [their] mind, and by pulling [themselves] into a restrictive inner space” (43). The energy is still there, but it is inaccessible when you close your heart, which is an important “chakra” or “energy center” (44), a place where internal energy is focused and distributed. People are in the habit of keeping their hearts closed when problems like bad moods or interpersonal drama show up, but it is possible to feel joy, enthusiasm, and love all the time by choosing to stay open no matter what. Singer advises people to never close their hearts and treat life’s good and bad circumstances with an equally open heart to “enjoy all of life” and “become a source of light” (47).
Part 2, Chapter 6 Summary: “The Secrets of the Spiritual Heart”
The heart gets blocked “by stored, unfinished energy patterns from your past” (50), which include all the experiences, positive and negative, that we hold onto and refuse to let go. Living a full life means experiencing the present moment, letting it pass, and then experiencing the next moment. Typically, we get distracted and stuck on various energy patterns that try to pass through us every day. Instead of focusing on the present moment, we are caught up in something that happened earlier in the day or even a blockage from years ago. An unfinished energy pattern is a Samskara, or an “impression” (53) that has the power to determine our whole lives. While the natural state of energy is to flow ceaselessly, a “Samskara is a cycle of stored energy patterns in a state of relative equilibrium” that keeps spinning around itself because of our “resistance to experiencing these patterns” (54). A Samskara can be triggered by something that reminds us of a past experience we never properly processed. Pleasant experiences create “positive Samskaras” (56) that still waste energy because of our clinging to them. A healthy heart is a site of constant energy flow that is achieved by never closing it.
Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary: “Transcending the Tendency to Close”
Since most of our survival needs can be satisfied easily in modern life, “the protective energies” we used to use for the survival instinct “have adapted toward defending the individual psychologically, rather than physiologically” (60). We are shutting down our energy centers in fear when we run away from challenging life experiences. This is a form of self-defense, and most people are so unbalanced that they even overreact to the routine experiences of life. Choosing to protect yourself is a mistake; instead, remain open and just watch “the dance of the psyche” (61) from the seat of consciousness. This is real freedom, and unfortunately, the price of freedom is pain that manifests when we insist on keeping our hearts open and fully experiencing even the most challenging moments of our lives. Singer advises readers to notice every time their chest tightens after a bad experience and to immediately refuse to close their hearts. This takes practice, and the reward is freedom.
Part 2 Analysis
The Untethered Soul presents a point of view in which the individual is responsible for their own happiness. Structural inequality is not presented as a roadblock to the thriving individual, and mental health concerns are never depicted as ever being too serious to overcome. If, Singer believes, somebody is unable to feel the presence of infinite inner energy, this is because “you block it by closing your heart, by closing your mind, and by pulling yourself into a restrictive space inside” (43). The fact that Singer does not address these issues points to the New-Age preoccupation with the self as the seat of both pain and liberation. Such concerns may be beyond the scope of Singer’s work, but a practice concerned with spiritual liberation could touch upon external causes of feelings of hurt and anger, lack of energy, or identification with a chaotic mind.
This oversight is best exemplified in Singer’s declaration that there is a “price for freedom” (62), which is a willingness to experience temporary pain for long-term relief. Singer doesn’t acknowledge that some sources of spiritual or emotional pain can have damaging effects if an individual decides to confront them. Unlocking a childhood trauma, for instance, might require the assistance of an experienced therapist over a number of years, and it could be harmful for someone with severe trauma to choose to experience all their pain at once without the assistance of a professional. The Untethered Soul does not discuss what might happen when the pain, which is the price of freedom, might be too high a cost for certain people at certain stages of life.
The other side of this is the hope implicit in Singer’s message that not only is your happiness your own responsibility, but you have the potential within you to achieve the deepest peace imaginable if you are willing to train your own mind. From the infinite energy described in Chapter 5 to the permanent state of love and letting go resulting from an open heart in Chapter 6, Singer claims to be offering long-term solutions to every problem that an individual could possibly confront in the modern age. Beyond problem-solving, Singer is presenting his audience with a model of what a well-lived life looks like: It is to be centered in conscious awareness no matter what one is experiencing.
