Michael A. Singer: The Pain That Ends All Pain

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July 21, 2026

Michael A. Singer: The Pain That Ends All Pain

Michael Singer — July 21, 2026


What if the pain you’ve been avoiding is actually the thing that could set you free?

This week, Tami Simon speaks with Michael A. Singer, beloved wisdom teacher, founder of the Temple of the Universe, and author of The Untethered Soul, The Surrender Experiment, Living Untethered, and his newest book, Wisdom Untethered: The Time for Questions. Drawn from 1,200 reader questions distilled into 200 essential ones, the conversation keeps returning to a single teaching Michael once received from a saint: “It’s the pain that ends all pain.”

Join Tami and Michael to explore:

  • Why “letting go” is an inner practice, not spiritual bypassing or passivity
  • What samskaras are, and why blocked energy, not memory, is the real source of inner darkness
  • Why the willingness to feel disturbance, rather than suppress it, is the actual path of purification
  • The practice of “falling behind” resistance, and other techniques for letting stuck energy move and release
  • The difference between preferences and fears, and why the Buddha named preference as the root of suffering
  • How to face real-world injustice with clarity instead of ego-driven reactivity
  • Why the true motive of spiritual practice is simply to let go of what’s in the way

Whether you’ve read The Untethered Soul a dozen times or are new to Michael’s teachings, this conversation offers both the practical tools and the felt experience of what it means to stop blocking the shakti that’s already flowing within you.

Listen now, and discover why the pain you’ve been running from might be exactly what ends it. →

This conversation offers genuine transmission, not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together, and originally aired on Sounds True One.

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Michael A. Singer is author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Untethered Soul and the New York Times bestsellers The Surrender Experiment and Living Untethered, all of which are published worldwide. He had a deep inner awakening in 1971 while working on his doctorate in economics and went into seclusion to focus on yoga and meditation. In 1975, he founded Temple of the Universe, a now long-established yoga and meditation center where people of any religion or set of beliefs can come together to experience inner peace. Along with his nearly five decades of spiritual teaching, Singer has made major contributions in the areas of business, education, health care, and environmental protection. Discover more here.

Author photo © Timothy Davis

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E227: You Are Not the Doer

You think of yourself as the doer, responsible for making life unfold as you want, yet nearly everything that makes your life possible happens outside your control. Your heart beats, your breath flows, and events throughout the universe unfold without you doing a thing. The fact is, you are simply aware of the tiny portion of life passing before you. When you get caught clinging to pleasant experiences or resisting painful ones, you hold impressions in the mind that build a false sense of self. A wise person participates in life without demanding that everything conform to their preferences. Consciousness is then free to expand beyond the small sense of “I am the doer.”

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2026 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E226: From Fleeting Pleasure to Lasting Joy

Pleasurable experiences can open you and awaken a beautiful flow of energy, but if that energy flow depends on particular conditions, it will fade over time. That does not mean you have to reject love, success, or other positive experiences; you can enjoy them, learn from them, and let them pass without clinging. When you stop closing your heart whenever life differs from your expectations, you become open to the unconditional well-being that was within you all along.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2026 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

E225: Becoming Comfortable with Discomfort

You are not your heart or mind but the conscious being who is experiencing them. Psychological disturbance results from resisting uncomfortable experiences and storing those impressions inside. Rather than asking the disturbed mind to solve the problems it created, learn through meditation and daily practice to step back, allow thoughts and feelings to pass through, and become comfortable with temporary discomfort. By practicing with life’s small frustrations and gradually embracing greater challenges, you clear the mind, open the heart, and discover that you can peacefully handle whatever reality brings.

© Sounds True Inc. Episodes: © 2026 Michael A. Singer. All Rights Reserved.

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