• E103: From Preference to Presence: The Journey Beyond the Mind

    Michael Singer — August 13, 2025

    We create tremendous suffering by shrinking our world to the narrow confines of our personal preferences. They have the effect of locking us in a house of our own...

  • The Michael Singer Podcast

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    Tami Simon’s in-depth audio podcast interviews with leading spiritual teachers and luminaries. Listen in as they explore their latest challenges and breakthroughs - the leading edge of their work.

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Subscribe to The Michael Singer Podcast

Join the New York Times bestselling author of The Untethered Soul, The Surrender Experiment, and Living Untethered for this free series of curated teaching sessions, recorded at his Temple of the Universe yoga and meditation center.

Meet Your Host Michael Singer

Michael A. Singer is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Untethered Soul, The Surrender Experiment, Living Untethered, and several popular Sounds True programs, including the Living from a Place of Surrender online course. In 1971, while pursuing his doctoral work in economics, he experienced a deep inner awakening and went into seclusion to focus on yoga and meditation. In 1975, he founded Temple of the Universe, a yoga and meditation center where people of any religion or set of beliefs can come together to experience inner peace. Through the years, he has made major contributions in the areas of business, the arts, education, health care, and environmental protection. Author photo © Timothy Davis

Most Recent

E78: Understanding Shakti: The Flow of Conscious Energ...

Shakti is the universal life energy that flows through the body, mind, and heart, and its flow is the basis of all emotional and physical experiences. Blockages created from suppressed past experiences distort this flow, leading to mental, emotional, and physical suffering. Instead of releasing these blockages, most people try to manipulate the external world to avoid triggering them. True spiritual growth is the art of letting go of these blockages and allowing Shakti to flow freely. Ultimately, this leads to a life filled with love, joy, and Self-Realization.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E77: The Journey from Intellectual to Experiential Tru...

There is a fundamental difference between knowing something intellectually and experiencing it directly. In spiritual practice, realization arises not from thinking or believing but from resting in the seat of consciousness and ceasing to be distracted by thoughts, emotions, and ego. The ultimate path to enlightenment involves letting go of identification with the personal self and returning to the direct, experiential awareness of one’s divine nature. God-realization is not a belief, it is a lived experience of merging back into the ocean of universal consciousness.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

Rha Goddess: True Ambition: Shine Bright. Stand Tall.

What comes up for you when someone calls you ambitious? Are you offended? Appreciative? A little of both? What about the word “sacrifice”? Whether it’s in your career or your personal life, where do you draw the line when it comes to deferring your own wants, needs, and desires in service of someone else’s agenda? In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with author and entrepreneurial soul coach Rha Goddess about her new book, Intentional Ambition, addressing these life-changing questions. 

Tune in for an inspiring, provocative, and in many ways healing conversation that digs into: a more balanced definition of “success”; wounded ambition and the fear of taking risks; how our resistance to disappointment creates disappointment; the dilemma of “living on halftime”; restoration after a breakdown; distorted determination; sacrifice and suffering; reconnecting with our humanity and building a society where everyone thrives; the “belly full” personality type; the five ways ambition can be wounded—and the five healing “redemptions”; systemic roadblocks and overcoming that which thwarts us on our path; reclaiming—the first step in renegotiation; refusing to buy into the “scare of scarcity”; embracing the truth of our wholeness and worthiness; rewriting your inner narrative; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Customer Favorites

Erica Ariel Fox: What if the Problem Is You? How to Wi...

Erica Ariel Fox is the author of the New York Times bestseller Winning from Within: A Breakthrough Method for Leading, Living, and Lasting Change. She is a negotiation lecturer at Harvard Law School and a senior advisor to Fortune 500 companies. Erica is a featured presenter in Sounds True’s Inner MBA program. In this podcast, she speaks with Tami Simon about her revolutionary approach to conflict resolution, how she defines “winning from within,” working with your “top team” of inner advisors, and much more. 

Karla McLaren:Making Friends with Anxiety … and All ...

Karla McLaren is an award-winning author, social science researcher, and empathy pioneer. Her work focuses on a “grand unified theory of emotions,” in which she moves us beyond looking at some emotions as negative and some as positive, and instead helps people see the genius that lives inside every single emotion. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Karla about managing the multiple emotions that many of us are experiencing as we navigate both a pandemic and a time of societal transformation. Tami and Karla also discuss the importance of creating a community that shares an “emotional vocabulary,” the four keys to unlocking the wisdom of our emotions, and much more.

Andrew Holecek: Reverse Meditation

Your mindfulness practice worked! You calmed your mind and felt the deep, inner bliss that meditation brings. But, asks Andrew Holecek, what do you do with these beatific states when your world is falling apart? Where’s your meditation practice then? 

In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Holecek about his new book, Reverse Meditation, and how we can move toward a more complete spirituality that welcomes all of our experience. Illuminating the four steps of reverse meditation and much more, their conversation explores: how pain and hardship can accelerate the spiritual journey; why mindfulness “sedates but doesn’t liberate”; the cultivation of “industrial-strength” meditation; repairing an adverse relationship to unwanted experiences; the practice of open awareness; bringing the unconscious into the light of consciousness; investigating our personal “super-contractors” such as anger, fear, or anxiety; shifting from reactivity to responsiveness; the OBEY acronym of reverse meditation: observe, be, examine, yoke; three attitudes for practice: kindness, patience, and curiosity; establishing the right view; the anti-complaint meditation; and productive thinking.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Timeless Classics

Most Recent

E25: The Ego and the Self: Navigating the Inner World

A spiritual person recognizes that they are not their thoughts, but the awareness observing the thoughts. While the impersonal mind is a powerful tool for intellectual and creative tasks, the ego mind is merely a mental construct that constantly seeks validation and control. By practicing witness consciousness and letting go of the ego, one can transcend mental noise and experience inner peace and spiritual fulfillment.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E24: From Resistance to Service: A Journey Toward Spir...

The essence of a spiritual life involves embracing both acceptance and service. Most of our suffering comes from resisting reality and trying to control life’s outcomes. In truth, we have very little control over essential aspects of our lives. By accepting life as it unfolds, we free ourselves from unnecessary stress and anxiety. This acceptance is not passive; it leads to the ability to serve life in meaningful ways, bringing love, peace, and compassion into the world.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E23: The Journey from Fear to Freedom

Your life here on Earth is limited to the time between your birth and death. What do you want to do with that time? Do you want to live a life based on mental fears and emotional insecurities? People spend tremendous energy trying to protect themselves from psychological discomfort and rejection. You do not have to live that life—you can live a life of acceptance, where external circumstances no longer have the power to control your mental or emotional state.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E22: Finding Peace Through Truth and Acceptance

Embracing deep truth involves being willing to look at human existence in relation to the universe—we are all on a small planet in the middle of nowhere for a brief moment in time. To avoid facing this truth, we make up personal beliefs and create a self-concept (ego) that leads to tremendous suffering and conflict. The key to living truthfully is to let go of the ego, embrace the vast reality of life, and focus on serving life instead of serving yourself.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E21: The Art of Being Done: A Life Without the Struggl...

What if the secret to happiness is not being somebody, but being willing to be nobody? Imagine living without the need to prove or protect yourself, without the constant drive for acceptance or the fear of failure. What if you could just be real? Life would become effortless, free from judgment, and full of peace. True liberation isn’t about escaping the world—it’s freeing yourself to live in harmony with it. Be done with ego and discover true peace.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E20: Turning Daily Life into a Spiritual Practice

Spiritual growth comes from treating daily life and spiritual practices as one and the same. To do this requires accepting reality and responding to life’s events with calm awareness rather than reacting out of desire or fear. By surrendering to the present moment and acting without personal motive, one can achieve true spiritual evolution and live in harmony with life as it unfolds.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

Listener Favorites

E52: The Mind Is Not the Problem: Identifying with It ...

Spirituality is about recognizing that you are a conscious being, separate from your thoughts, emotions, and external experiences. You suffer because you identify with the past experiences that have molded your preferences and desires. True spiritual awakening occurs when your consciousness ceases to be distracted by the ego, permitting thoughts and emotions to pass through without clinging to them. This allows the shift inward to the infinite consciousness that lies beyond personal identity.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E61: The Nature of Suffering: How to Let Go and Find P...

Pain is a physical sensation, while suffering is a psychological struggle created by resisting reality and holding onto past experiences. By learning to relax and allow emotions to pass through without attachment, you can reduce suffering and open yourself to joy and inner peace. True freedom comes from learning to let go of preferences and expectations and embracing life as it unfolds rather than always resisting it. Learning to first accept reality and then working to raise it leads to a state of inner peace, fulfillment, and Self-Realization.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E51: Waking Up: How to Stop Living in the Past and Fin...

Seeking external solutions to make up for internal issues leads to endless struggles and suffering. But going beyond the limitations of past experiences and attachments leads to inner transformation and spiritual evolution. By releasing attachments and emotional blockages, you can experience a profound state of love, joy, and freedom. Always remember, true fulfillment is not found in external circumstances but in awakening to your higher consciousness.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E30: The Art of Being Present

Spirituality involves recognizing that we are the conscious awareness observing our thoughts, emotions, and experiences, not the experiences themselves. This awareness is part of an infinite, divine force that permeates all of creation. Self-realization involves learning to let go of attachments to past experiences and the ego-driven need for control, which distorts our perception of who we truly are. By embracing and handling each moment as it unfolds, we reconnect with our true, infinite nature, enabling us to live joyfully and serve others selflessly. 

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

 

E79: Beyond the Mind: Escaping the VR of Thoughts and ...

Human beings are living inside a kind of “virtual reality” created by their own minds. This VR is built from thoughts, past experiences, emotions, and beliefs that they hold onto and identify with, forming their egos and self-concepts. Spiritual awakening involves stepping back from this constructed reality, witnessing it without getting lost in it, and ultimately letting it go to merge with a higher, freer state of consciousness. True liberation is compared to taking off the VR goggles and realizing the infinite reality beyond the limited personal world created by these mental constructs.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E76: From Suppression to Surrender: The Journey Home

The root of suffering lies in our stored impressions and unresolved emotional experiences from the past. These form the personal mind and are the foundation of our self-concept. Spiritual growth is about learning to relax through the discomfort of cleansing, rather than having to control life to match our preferences. Liberation happens by becoming a “letting go machine,” which, over time, allows us to align with our natural state—eternal, conscious, blissful being.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

Timeless Classics

E77: The Journey from Intellectual to Experiential Tru...

There is a fundamental difference between knowing something intellectually and experiencing it directly. In spiritual practice, realization arises not from thinking or believing but from resting in the seat of consciousness and ceasing to be distracted by thoughts, emotions, and ego. The ultimate path to enlightenment involves letting go of identification with the personal self and returning to the direct, experiential awareness of one’s divine nature. God-realization is not a belief, it is a lived experience of merging back into the ocean of universal consciousness.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E78: Understanding Shakti: The Flow of Conscious Energ...

Shakti is the universal life energy that flows through the body, mind, and heart, and its flow is the basis of all emotional and physical experiences. Blockages created from suppressed past experiences distort this flow, leading to mental, emotional, and physical suffering. Instead of releasing these blockages, most people try to manipulate the external world to avoid triggering them. True spiritual growth is the art of letting go of these blockages and allowing Shakti to flow freely. Ultimately, this leads to a life filled with love, joy, and Self-Realization.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E79: Beyond the Mind: Escaping the VR of Thoughts and ...

Human beings are living inside a kind of “virtual reality” created by their own minds. This VR is built from thoughts, past experiences, emotions, and beliefs that they hold onto and identify with, forming their egos and self-concepts. Spiritual awakening involves stepping back from this constructed reality, witnessing it without getting lost in it, and ultimately letting it go to merge with a higher, freer state of consciousness. True liberation is compared to taking off the VR goggles and realizing the infinite reality beyond the limited personal world created by these mental constructs.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E8: Achieving Inner Awareness by Letting Go

Life feels complicated only because we become entangled in our thoughts, emotions, and external experiences. Spiritual growth involves recognizing that our conscious awareness, which is transcendent to these phenomena, is the essence of our being. As such, we do not have to become overly identified with these fleeting experiences. By learning to handle all of life’s experiences without reactive resistance, we can maintain inner peace and return to the source of our being.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E80: Wavelets of Consciousness: The Field of Mind Expl...

The mind is a field of infinite energy that generates thoughts like wavelets or ripples in a lake. These wavelets are transient and harmless unless we hold them in place by focusing undue attention on them. Held in place, these wavelets freeze and become the mental patterns of our ego and belief systems, which distort our perception from then on. Liberation comes from learning to relax and not resist energy as it passes through, and by letting go of the older patterns as they arise.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E81: Expanding Beyond the Personal Mind

The mind is not inherently a problem—it becomes one when used to narrowly define reality based on our extremely limited personal experiences. This limited frame of reference leads to suffering, judgment, and a compulsive need to control life to match our preferences. Spiritual freedom comes from recognizing the vastness of existence, surrendering the egoic mind, and appreciating the miraculous nature of reality as it is.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2025 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

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