• E29: Beyond Belief: The Path to Direct Spiritual Experience

    Michael Singer — November 27, 2024

    There is a profound relationship between beliefs, faith, and direct spiritual experience. Beliefs are constructs of the human mind and are not truths; they can change. Genuine...

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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

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.

Shelah Marie: Your Mess Is Your Power

Too many Black women are living other people’s stories for their lives, making themselves smaller to serve other people or society’s expectations. Shelah Marie is here to inform us that we can break free from cultural restrictions and our self-imposed barriers and unabashedly be who we really are, including our imperfections, our growth areas, our unacknowledged successes, and everything in between. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Shelah Marie about her new book, Unruly, an empowering work that gives you full permission and practical support in fully being yourself. 

Tune in now as Tami and Shelah discuss: how specificity leads to universality; embracing our inner contradictions; the gifts of self-investigation; how many things can be true at the same time; the practice of writing a self-acceptance letter; ritual and celebration; performing true; “main character” energy; owning your mess; vulnerability and the courage to “show your seams”; becoming friends with yourself; the crooked room metaphor for the experience of being a Black woman; personal accountability and self-compassion; the Serious Daydreaming practice; 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.

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.

Customer Favorites

Dilip Jeste, MD: Wiser, Faster

Dr. Dilip Jeste is a professor of psychiatry and neurosciences and the director of the Center for Healthy Aging at UC San Diego. He’s spent the last 20 years studying aspects of healthy aging and the neurobiological roots of wisdom. With Sounds True, Dr. Jeste has written a new book titled Wiser: The Scientific Roots of Wisdom, Compassion, and What Makes Us Good. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Jeste about wisdom—what it is, how we can cultivate more of it in our own lives, and how we can grow into a wiser society. They explore a new definition of wisdom that incorporates neurobiological and evolutionary components of what makes us wise, as well as the social and cultural ones we might be more familiar with. Dr. Jeste and Tami also discuss the future of wisdom, including the potential of a metaphorical “wisdom pill.” Finally, they speak on the importance of helping our society become wiser, faster.

Embracing Pleasure, Fractal Responsibility, and the Po...

adrienne maree brown is a social justice facilitator and the bestselling author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good; Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds;  and We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice. She cohosts the How to Survive the End of the World and Octavia’s Parables podcasts. In this episode of Insights at the Edge (which first aired as part of our Walking Together series), Tami Simon speaks with adrienne about the concept of “fractal responsibility” and how the world changes as we change ourselves; engaging in “critical relationships” and finding the courage to hold ourselves accountable; cultivating 1,000 percent honesty and trust; figuring out your right work—or what adrienne calls “your most elegant next step”; pleasure activism and “reclaiming your erotic yes”; holding the grief and suffering that seem beyond our capacity; and imagining a future that works for the majority of us.

S1 E1: Ceasing to Be Caught in the Waters of Mind

The natural state of the mind is like calm, still water, teaches Michael Singer. The practice of spiritual surrender—to “relax and release” our resistance to whatever arises in our experience—is the pathway to enjoying serenity of mind no matter what the universe throws your way. In this podcast, Michael Singer uses the analogy of an aquatic bird maintaining its balance on rough water to illustrate what to do and what not to do if we want to stay poised and upright when life gets turbulent.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.
© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

Timeless Classics

Kristin Neff: The Liberating Power of Self-Compassion

Dr. Kristin Neff is a professor of human development and culture at the University of Texas and a practitioner of Buddhist meditation. The book and documentary The Horse Boy chronicle Kristin and her family’s extraordinary journey to help her autistic son. With Sounds True, Kristin has created the audio program Self-Compassion Step by Step, which includes clinical evidence of the importance of self-compassion along with techniques and exercises for cultivating this pivotal quality. In this interview, Tami Simon and Kristin talk about the vital distinction between self-esteem and self-compassion, three pillars of self-compassion, ‘self-compassion breaks,’ and the importance of recognizing our common humanity during difficulties that feel unique and isolating. (68 minutes)

Tami’s Takeaway
In any moment of self-criticism or self-blame, a “go-to move” that is immediately effective and state-changing is to gently touch your arm, stroke your face, or place your hand on your heart (any form of soothing touch). This activates our mammalian “tend and befriend” system, releases oxytocin, and shifts us out of the threat-defense system. Try it next time you feel self-critical. Gently touching your body can shift your state of mind—fast!

Mary O’Malley: What’s in the Way Is the Way

Mary O’Malley is an author, counselor, and acknowledged leader in the field of spiritual awakening. With Sounds True, Mary has published What’s in the Way Is the Way: A Practical Guide for Waking Up to Life. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Mary discuss the eight “spells” that keep us feeling separate from life—as well as the remedies that bring us more fully into the energetic flow of existence. They speak on the need for curiosity and the role it plays in uniting our attention with our present-moment experience. Finally, Mary explains her understanding of the awakening process and the skills one can cultivate to come into a robust and joyous alignment with life itself. (60 minutes)

Tami’s Takeaway
One of the worst feelings for me is helplessness. Mary teaches that “life is destined to bring up what is bound up.” This podcast brought up for me how I push away feelings of helplessness. According to Mary, “what’s in the way is the way,” and we can become what she calls “tightness detectives” to see how we clamp down in certain situations and resist what we don’t want to feel. When instead we meet our feelings with curiosity and spaciousness, we discover the free flow of aliveness and the absolute trustworthiness in every experience.

Zainab Salbi: Wielding Our Sword of Truth

Zainab Salbi is an author, humanitarian, and media commentator who founded the nonprofit organization Women for Women International when she was only 23 years old. With Sounds True, she has published the book Freedom Is an Inside Job: Owning Our Darkness and Our Light to Heal Ourselves and the World. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Zainab discuss what it means to be an agent of social change while also navigating the everyday journey of being human. They talk about why it’s necessary to let go of what no longer works in our lives in order to embrace our most deeply held truths. As an Iraqi-American, Zainab speaks on engaging with people whose values oppose ours—especially those who currently oppose Muslim immigration to the United States. Finally, Zainab and Tami talk about the healing power of making amends and what “freedom” really means. (83 minutes)

Tami’s Takeaway
Zainab teaches how we can befriend people who hold opposing views not through debate, but through embrace and a strong, open stance that is curious about the other person’s underlying needs and emotions. I believe this skill—truly understanding people who disagree with us and feel “other”—is one of the most important skills we need to be peacemakers and bringers of love in all of our interactions.

Most Recent

E11: Transforming the Lower Self into Spiritual Libera...

True spiritual maturity is not about seeking momentary highs but about dealing with the lows that inhibit one’s spiritual ascent. The real obstacles to spiritual fulfillment come in the form of emotional blockages and self-imposed personal limitations. By focusing on letting go of these internal tethers, we can naturally rise to higher states of consciousness without forcing the process.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E10: Overcoming Lower Vibrations and Embracing Spiritu...

Human consciousness is often distracted by lower vibrations like fear and insecurity, which prevent us from experiencing higher energies such as love and joy. Spiritual growth is a constant process of learning to handle reality’s vibrations without being pulled down. By mastering how we react to reality, we can experience higher states of being and, ultimately, serve others through love and compassion.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E9: Embracing Life as Your Teacher

The meaning of life is to experience divine ecstasy. How? By allowing consciousness to flow through all experiences without resistance. The problem is that we often get lost in our preferences, attachments, and aversions, which creates a false sense of self and leads to suffering. True spiritual growth involves letting go of past psychological blockages by facing life’s challenges without inner resistance. This means learning to use every moment as an opportunity for purification and self-realization—in essence, to use life as your guru.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 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.

E7: Freedom: Letting It All Pass Through

Understanding your mind is a lifelong journey where you learn that thoughts are just like waves in the ocean that come and go. This involves recognizing that thoughts and feelings, whether positive or negative, arise from deeper patterns formed by past experiences. By aligning more closely with our true spiritual nature, we can experience a deeper sense of peace, free from the ups and downs of life.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E6: The Spiritual Path: A Long and Winding Road

The spiritual path is not solely about positive experiences like love and light. It involves confronting and overcoming internal blockages formed from past experiences we’ve resisted or suppressed. True spirituality involves continuously working through these obstacles, which leads to a beautiful inner state.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

Listener Favorites

E2: Cultivating the Discipline to Free Yourself

Once we realize that the higher self lies beyond our thoughts and emotions, we’ve taken an important first step. But anyone who’s had this insight knows that the journey has just begun. “If you think you can quickly free yourself from the power of the mind and the heart,” Michael Singer teaches, “you are in for a surprise.” Here, he guides us into the work of freeing ourselves through our choices and our continual commitment to spiritual practice.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com

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

E3: The Yoga of Letting Go – Staying True to You...

How do we free ourselves from the endless pull of external events and the turmoil of our thoughts and emotions—to return to the seat of the true self? Like a balloonist seeking to rise skyward, the key is to stop fighting the ropes that are holding us down, and to practice the moment-by-moment yoga of letting go. When we do, we cease to be an instrument of the personal self and start being a liberated expression of the divine will.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2024 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.

E4: Finding Peace Beyond Fear and Desire

What creates the inner disturbances that cause us to struggle? At the root, teaches Michael Singer, lie the polarities of desire and fear: the psyche’s need to hold on to what it likes and push away what it doesn’t. In this episode, Michael reveals how inner freedom arises not from struggling with these forces but by allowing their natural flow of coming and going to pass right through us.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E6: The Spiritual Path: A Long and Winding Road

The spiritual path is not solely about positive experiences like love and light. It involves confronting and overcoming internal blockages formed from past experiences we’ve resisted or suppressed. True spirituality involves continuously working through these obstacles, which leads to a beautiful inner state.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E5: Ceasing to Let Your Mind Limit Your Happiness

“In a split second,” teaches Michael Singer, “your mind can make you miserable or ecstatic. All it takes is a thought.” Our hopes, dreams, opinions, and preferences—all of these are constructs that we’ve made up. And they pit us against reality, limiting our contentment and joy. So what can we do about it? In this episode, Michael answers that question.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

Timeless Classics

E26: Why the Outside Affects the Inside: Finding Inner...

If our consciousness dwells inside, why do external circumstances have such a strong effect on our inner well-being? It is attachment to past experiences that creates a mental filter that distorts reality as it comes in. By releasing stored emotions and judgments, we can access a natural state of joy and peace, regardless of external events. The path to self-realization involves continuous self-awareness and letting go of attachments, ultimately leading to a life of authenticity, freedom, and bliss.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E27: The Stages of Spiritual Awakening

The stages of spiritual growth involve moving from attachment to past experiences and preferences to a more open state of appreciation and acceptance. Initially, attachment to past pains and desires creates a self-concept, or “ego,” which drives much of one’s feelings and actions. True spiritual growth requires accepting and serving reality as it unfolds. This gradually leads to a profound sense of unity with the divine, beyond personal suffering and ego.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E28: From Distraction to Liberation

Spiritual growth involves recognizing and releasing the ego, which is a construct of accumulated experiences and unresolved emotions. True liberation comes from allowing life’s events and emotions to flow through without resistance, enabling one to reconnect with pure, universal consciousness. By shedding the ego and embracing this state, individuals can experience a profound sense of unity and peace.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E29: Beyond Belief: The Path to Direct Spiritual Exper...

There is a profound relationship between beliefs, faith, and direct spiritual experience. Beliefs are constructs of the human mind and are not truths; they can change. Genuine spiritual understanding comes from direct experience rather than intellectual belief. Experiencing the relationship between energy and consciousness serves to bridge the gap between modern physics and ancient spiritual teachings. Exploring this involves letting go of the ego, staying open, and directly experiencing the inner energy flow that leads to profound self-realization.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E3: The Yoga of Letting Go – Staying True to You...

How do we free ourselves from the endless pull of external events and the turmoil of our thoughts and emotions—to return to the seat of the true self? Like a balloonist seeking to rise skyward, the key is to stop fighting the ropes that are holding us down, and to practice the moment-by-moment yoga of letting go. When we do, we cease to be an instrument of the personal self and start being a liberated expression of the divine will.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

E4: Finding Peace Beyond Fear and Desire

What creates the inner disturbances that cause us to struggle? At the root, teaches Michael Singer, lie the polarities of desire and fear: the psyche’s need to hold on to what it likes and push away what it doesn’t. In this episode, Michael reveals how inner freedom arises not from struggling with these forces but by allowing their natural flow of coming and going to pass right through us.

For more information, go to michaelsingerpodcast.com.

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

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