The Surrender Experiment Book Summary, by Michael A. Singer

Want to learn the ideas in The Surrender Experiment better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of The Surrender Experiment

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on The Surrender Experiment, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Michael A. Singer.

1-Page Summary of The Surrender Experiment

Overview

There’s a lot of noise in the world. People are stressed out and there are many conventional ideas about living life that get in the way.

Have you ever given in to life? Have you simply surrendered to the flow of things and let them happen? If not, you should! It might be a good idea. The author challenges people to give up control and live more freely. He shares his own story about letting go and how it has helped him with spirituality and success.

The world is full of interesting ideas. Some are revolutionary, some are evolutionary, but all have one thing in common—they’re worth talking about. Here we showcase the very best TED talks on business topics that will help your career soar like an eagle.

In this passage, you’ll learn how to quiet your mind; how surrendering to the flow of life can result in a successful business; and about the random events that led to the author’s first spiritual insight.

Big Idea #1: Quieting the mind is one of the main goals of spiritual practice.

You know that awkward feeling when you’re talking with someone and you suddenly run out of things to say? You shift anxiously, frantically searching your mind for possible conversation topics. Well, not to worry—there are times like this where spiritual awakening can begin!

These situations offer a perfect moment for you to notice your anxious mind. This is what led the author to his first spiritual insight. He realized that he could observe his thoughts and emotions, instead of getting entangled in them as they occurred. Slowly, he realized that there was a distinction between himself (his consciousness) and his thoughts and emotions (which he called “the anxious mind”).

But how exactly can you avoid getting distracted by the constant chatter of your anxious mind? One way is to practice meditation.

Meditation is a great tool for quieting your thoughts and focusing on one thing at a time.

When the author’s mind was going wild, he picked up a book on Zen meditation. This type of meditation is quieting and involves sitting in a quiet spot, focusing your breath, and repeating the sound “Mu.” With some effort on your part, you’ll experience complete silence.

The author went on a trip with his friends, and he wanted to meditate. He set up camp in the woods, determined to stay there until he achieved spiritual awakening. As he was drifting in and out of meditation, a loud voice kept reminding him that it wasn’t about him; it was all about looking beyond himself. Eventually, he relaxed into deep meditation and let go of everything except for what made sense at the moment.

Big Idea #2: Surrendering to the flow of life calms the mind.

When you wake up and look outside, you can tell that it’s going to be a gloomy day. You feel miserable about this because of your resistance. When something like the weather happens that you have no control over, it’s easy for your mind to start thinking negatively.

When a peer of the author encouraged him to finish his economics degree and take his final exams, he initially put up a lot of resistance. Just as we put up a fight against bad weather, he didn’t want to complete his course and instead wanted to withdraw from the world and meditate. But the author realized that his resistance was making him agitated. He was frenetically trying to find excuses not to sit the exams and constantly trying to come to the best decision.