The Valuable Lesson Michael Singer Learned About Dealing With the Mind in His Early Years on the Path
It’s indispensable for your own growth.
A couple weeks ago I wrote an article where I recounted a life-altering conversation the eminent spiritual teacher Mickey Singer had with his then brother-in-law way back in 1971.
They were chatting on the couch when there was a lull in the conversation…
Then--
Mickey: “Do you have a voice inside your head that constantly talks?”
Brother-in-law: “Yes! Mine talks all the time!”
That conversation led Mickey to embark on a mission to figure out what this voice in the head was and, most important, how to get it to stop talking.
He was getting his Phd at the University of Florida in Gainesville. But this obsession with the voice in the head led him to chuck the academic life and move out to the woods.
Mickey’s move to the woods
The woods? Really? Yes.
He bought a few acres of land dirt cheap in the woods outside of Alachua, about fifteen miles north of Gainesville. His “house” was his Volkswagen van.
Today Mickey uses his experiences in those first few years in the woods in his teachings. Those teachings aren’t about what to do. They’re about what not to do.