The Untethered Soul

Instead of letting experiences, thoughts, and emotions (positive or negative) pass through us, most people cling or hold on to certain experiences with which we strongly identify. This could be a formative happy experience from one’s childhood, a confusing workplace experience, or anything in between. We build our psyches through the process of clinging to thoughts and feelings that feel personal so that, in the end, these thoughts and feelings end up defining us. When we are not living in centered awareness, we orient to the world from the perspective of a multitude of objects that we have clung to over the course of our lives. The act of clinging helps us to build a “conceptual self,” which gives our lives a sense of “apparent solidity to rest upon” (129). Ultimately, clinging is about living within our comfort zones, and Singer advises we do the opposite of clinging—letting go—to achieve happiness.

Consciousness is the continuous awareness through which we experience the universe. It is a sense of one’s own existence that answers the question “Who am I?” more authentically and more deeply than any label. Most people focus their conscious awareness on their own thoughts, emotions, and daily troubles and never realize that it is possible to spiritually drop these things and take the seat of conscious awareness, a state in which you notice your thoughts and the world passing by but never identify with these things.