# The Untethered Soul - *** ## title: Literature Notes: The Untethered Soul - As the name suggests this book is about freeing your soul from the shackles of the mind. A practical guide on how to slowly identify with the soul and move away from identifying with the mind. The mind is a tool that aims to help you survive. It puts you in constant fear so that you can be alert against any danger so that you can survive. As you can see the word fear, you need to grow courage to move into unknown territory. - Awakening consciousness (ATMA) collapsed:: true - Ch 1 - the voice inside your head - if he's the one talking and he's the one listening, what exactly is the point. Does he know what the voice is going to say before it says it. - The only way to stop the voice is to stop differentiating from what it says. If you are hearing it talk, its obviously not you. So you are not the voice. You are the one hearing it and this is very important to realize for growth - Most of the talking is just a waste of time and energy. The truth is that most of the life will unfold in accordance with forces far outside your control. - In fact, your thoughts have far less impact on the world that you would like to think. If you are willing to be objective and watch all your thoughts, you will see that the vast majority of them have no relevance. They have no effect on anything on anybody, except you. They are simply making you feel better or worse about what is going on now, what has gone on in the past or going to happen in the future. Your thoughts don't change anything. You will someday realize that there is no use for the incessant internal chatter, and there is no reason to constantly attempt to figure out everything. **Eventually you will see that the real cause of problems is not life itself. Its the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes problems** - So why does this voice exist. If you watch it closely, you will see that when there's a build up of nervous, fearful or desire based energies inside, the voice becomes extremely active. Talking releases the energy build up - You will also notice that it keeps talking even when you are not bothered by anything. It is narrating the world for you. - By verbalizing it mentally, you brought that initial direct experience of the world into the realm of your thoughts. There it becomes integrated with your other thoughts, such as those making up your value system and historical experiences. This inner world is an alternate environment that is under your control. What you end up experiencing is the is a personal presentation of the world. Your consciousness is actually experiencing your mental model of reality, and not reality itself. - If you cant get the world the way you like it, you internally verbalize it, judge it, complain about it, and then decide what to do about it. When your body experiences cold, there is may be nothing you can do to affect the temperature. But when your mind verbalizes it, "It's cold" you can say "We'are almost home, just a few more minutes". Now you feel better. In the thought world there's always something you can do to control the experience. - Basically you create your own version of reality, and live inside that cocoon. If the mind stops talking you will be exposed to reality naked , without protection. True personal growth is about transcending the need for protection and starting to let the consciouness face true reality. - Be aware that the voice is not you. Dont differentiate what it is saying. True growth begins when you need no protection from reality. Let your consciouness be exposed to naked reality - Takeaway - You gave your mind a job to protect you and it is doing it by creating its own reality (its cold, we are almost home) ((63043f6c-48dc-459c-9aa4-443742ffe818)) . True growth is transcending the part of you that is not okay and needs protection. And face the reality. That is the way out. Constant voice talking is because of energy build up and job of protection given to mind. - Ch 2 - Your inner roommate - You will never be free of problems, the only way to be free of problems is to detach from inner voice or the part of you that has these problems. You will realize that it is a part of your that has the problem. Ask what part of me has this problem - Your inner growth is completely based on the realization that the only way to find peace and contentment is to stop thinking about yourself. You are ready to grow when you realize that the "I" who is always talking inside will always have a problem. When was the last you were never bothered by anything. - When you have a problem. You should not ask "What should I do about it" you should ask "What part of me is having this problem". - Once you ask what should you do about it , you have already fallen into believing that there really is a problem outside that you must deal with. - If you want to achieve peace in the face of your problems, you must understand why you perceive a particular situation as a problem. If you are feeling jealous, instead of trying to see how you can protect yourself, just, ask "What part of me is jealous?" That will cause you to look inside and see that there's a part of you that's having a problem with jealousy - Once you clearly see the disturbed part, then ask, "Who is it that sees this? Who notices this inner disturbance?" The very fact that you can see the disturbance means that you are not it. - This act of maintaining objective awareness of the inner problem is always better than losing yourself in the outer situation. Worldly means you think that the solution to your inner problems is in the outside world. You think that if you change things outside you'll be okay. But nobody has ever truly become okay by changing things outside. There's always a next problem - The only real solution is to take the seat of witness consciousness and completely change your frame of reference. - Change from outer solution consciouness to inner solution consciousness. Break the habit of thinking that the solution to your problems is to rearrange things outside. - If you would like to meet your rommmate, just try to sit inside yourself for a while in complete solitude and silence. You will hear a voice, that is your inner roommate. It just talks and talks. - There are two distinct aspects of your inner being. The first is you, the awareness, the witness, the center of your willful intentions, and the other is that which you watch. The problem is it never shuts up. If you could get rid of it even for a moment, the peace and serenity would be the nicest vacation you've ever had. - If your inner roommate was your friend IRL what would you do to that friend? ignore it? - Wouldnt you fire your relationship advisor who creates anxiety issues like "Your wife doesnt care for your anymore" where as she was planning a surprise for your and thats why she was late. - If you want to free yourself, you must first become conscious enough to understand your unpleasant situation. Then you must commit yourself to the inner work of freedom. You do this as though your life depended on it. As it is right now, your life is not your own; it belongs to your inner roommate (your psyche). Stand firm in the seat of witness. - When you have a problem, if you ask how to solve it, you have fallen into the trap that your roommate set for you. Instead ask which part of you has the problem. Immediately that transforms you seeking a inner solution from an outer solution. Asking that makes you realizes which part of you wants a solution. Clear that out and face the reality. - Ch 3 - Who are you? - Subject object relationship. Its clear to you that you are not the objects outside. You exist even when objects outside dont exist. - You observed your body when you were only 10 years old. Now you are an adult, and your body has changed. But the observer has not changed. There is continuity in being, hence your body is not you. - There have been times when you are emotionless, and are at peace. So you are not your emotions - There have been moments then you cease to have thoughts, you are in deep meditative state etc. You are not your thoughts. - So you are not the objects outside, nor your body, nor your emotions or thoughts. But are sitting in the seat of consciousness, deep within. This is called Self, or Atma, or Soul. - Ch 4 - Lucid Self - A lucid dream is a dream in which you are aware that you are dreaming. A Lucid self is a state where you are aware that you are the awareness which is witnessing the 5 senses; thoughts and emotions of the human form - Consciousness has the ability to focus. Imagine you are watching a movie, your eyes and ears are now in sync at one point, and the consciousness is focussed on that point. Now imagine a advanced movie in which all the 5 senses, eyes ears smell touch and taste are all in sync, you will get more sucked into the movie. - Now imagine a movie which can also control your emotions and thoughts along with 5 senses. Once the character says "Should i ask her to marry me", suddenly you feel scared and various insecure thoughts arise. As soon as the movie is able to capture your thoughts. Its over. There is no "you" in there saying "I dont like this movie. I want to leave". There is no independant thought, because the movie has taken over. You are lost. This is your predicament in life. The inner voice would take over your thoughts, and the world would take over your senses. The lost soul gets sucked into all this, as all these 5 things are in sync. When the consciousness gets sucked in, it no longer knows itself. - The only difference between a centered person is that the focus of consciouness for a non centered person is on the objects and on the sync points of these senses and thoughts. For a centered person the focus is on the awareness that is aware. - This is the deepest meditation, you medidate on the awareness itself. - Once you become conscious of the consciousness itself, you grow into a totally different state. You are now aware of who you are. You have become an awakened being. - As you pull back into the consciousness, this world ceases to be a problem. It's just something you are watching. It keeps changing, but it is no more a problem. the more you are willing to let the world be something you are aware of, the more it will let you be who you are. The awareness. - You can choose the focus of your consciousness, and make it large. You can choose the TV, to the human form, to the finite to the infinite. This is what all texts says. Keep asking the question who am i . intensely. And you will get the answer. - Choose the seat of consciousness and watch the world. Dont get sucked into the movie or the advanced movie of life directed by your inner room mate. - Experiencing Energy - Ch 5 - infinite energy - When you break up with your love, you are depressed and you barely have energy to do anything. When the same person calls you up and wants to patch up, you fly high and you have energy do do anything. This energy you are talking about is energy from within you. Internal Energy (shakthi). At any moment you can draw upon it. When it is flowing strongly you feel like you can take on the world. - The only reason you dont feel this energy all the time, is because you block it. These energy centers are chakras; - We are trained to close based upon our past experiences(as a means of protection). If you have a life full of enthu, and excitement never allow yourself to close. Make a commitment to enthusiasm and never close the heart. - The only thing we want from life is one full of enthu, excitement and energy and joy and love. - As long as you define what you like and don’t like you will open and close. Don’t create limits. Don’t create triggers for your mind to close and open. Let go of all likes and dislikes. Dare to be different. Enjoy all of life. - The more you stay open, the more energy flow can build. At some point, so much energy comes into you that it starts flowing out of you. People can pick up on your energy. This can even heal diseases. - The most important thing in life is this energy. If you are always tired ; then life is no fun. If you are always inspired and filed with energy; then life is an exciting experience. - - Ch 6 - the secrets of the spiritual heart - Life is living a moment fully, and then the next. When you resist life , you are fighting with it. When you live life without fighting with it or clinging on to your like, and let energy flow by you, you will be moved to the depth of your being. This is the highest form of life, and is the secret of a spiritual heart. - the heart is where you feel life. When it opens you are in love, when it is hurt you are angry, when it does not feel you are empty. - Your senses convert everything to a form of energy, and most things pass through you. A few things which you like or dislike are unable; their energy patters are unable to flow through you. They get stored deep down within you. This stored energy tries to release itself first through the mind (thats why a restless mind). If it cannot, it tries to release through the heart(emotions), If not it gets stored deep within you. When a few patterns get stored like this , it is called samskara. Blockages. Their resist the life energies to flow easily through you. - Energy is everything. And it is always moving. When it is stored, it is moving in circles (like in atoms). The energy is moving in circles within you. When these senses go through a similar situation (like your ex gf in blue mustang), these energies comes to the forefront again. If at time, you smile and accept. Then these energies release themselves out of you. - When you like somehting a lot, you cling to it, and the energy is stored within you creating blockages. - It is important to live a centered life; accepting everything that life throws at you with a open heart. That is way you go to a deeper seat in your being. And let the energy flow within you fully. This way you are aware of every moment fully, without fighting your blockages. - The flow of energy like this within you is what sustains you. You keep doing this, and it will become the norm. Everything will pass by you, and you will get into a deeper state. - This is living in love. This will strengthen and feed you. - Ch 7 - transcending the tendency to close -