A Map of the Inner World
This diagram to the right represents the inner hierarchy of awareness and being, as seen through Michael Singer’s teachings. At the very bottom is "External Events / Life Itself," which includes everything that happens around you—other people, circumstances, and the unfolding world. These events are filtered through your senses in the block called "Perception and Sensory Input." This is where your eyes, ears, and other senses transmit raw data inward.
Next comes "The Mind," where thoughts, interpretations, memories, and judgments are generated. This is the voice in your head that constantly talks about what’s going on, tries to make sense of it, and often reacts out of habit or fear.
Moving upward, you enter the layer of "Emotions and Energetic Reactions." Here you feel the physical sensations and emotional responses that events trigger, such as anxiety, joy, anger, or love. These are linked to past experiences and internal impressions.
Above emotions is the "Ego," which is your constructed identity—the mental image you’ve built over time based on what you’ve done, what you fear, what you want, and how you see yourself in the world. The ego constantly tries to maintain control and protect itself by manipulating the layers below.
Next is the "Soul," described here as a subtle spiritual identity. This is not your personality, but a deeper sense of being—a loving, wise presence that feels like the true inner you. It doesn’t fight life, it accepts it. It exists beyond thought and emotion, and it resonates with peace.
At the very top of the ladder is "Pure Consciousness / God / Source." This is the formless, infinite awareness from which everything flows. It is not a being with a voice or opinion, but a presence that simply is. It is eternal stillness and pure knowing. It is the light that shines through all the other levels.
To raise yourself up this inner ladder, begin by becoming aware of the voice in your head and choosing not to engage with it. Instead of getting lost in thoughts or reacting to every emotion, take a step back and observe.
This simple act of witnessing moves you out of the lower levels of reactivity and into the seat of awareness. As you practice letting go—of needing to be right, of clinging to pleasure, of resisting discomfort—you start to reside more steadily in the observer.
When you no longer identify with the ego’s fears and desires, you naturally rise to the level of the soul, where love and clarity begin to guide your actions. Through continued surrender, you touch the stillness and spaciousness of pure consciousness.
This ascent is not about going anywhere physically—it’s a shift in identity from the outermost layers of personality to the innermost truth of who you are. The journey upward is a process of relaxing into the present moment, letting go of inner resistance, and trusting the flow of life itself.
The Computer Within: A New Way to Understand Opening and Closing
An analogy can be made between your body and mind and a beautifully complex computer.
At the center of computer system is the Operating System—not seen,
not often noticed, yet quietly essential..
Like Windows or macOS, it doesn’t announce itself. It simply allows
all the processes to function. You don’t particularly notice the
operating system very much, but without it, nothing works.
Consciousness is our operating system. Consciousness keeps all our upper processes working together. Consciousness is always there, but exists in the silent background. By itself doesn’t judge or speak. It just is. We can control our consciousness as we will see.
Just as a computer requires energy to function we also need energy, actually two types of energy, physical energy we get from food, and physic energy. We can feel the physic energy we get when we fall in love, and also the lack of energy when we break up with someone.
We open up when we have a lot of physic energy. Our energy flows naturally and we think think clearly and more positive when we are in love. The feeling is deep. Things are easy. We act with ease and grace.
But just like in a computer, your code can get corrupt. When a relationship go bad, it gets corrupt and does not work very well. The energy flow seems to be blocked and things can go downhill.
In your life, when you encounter pain, fear, or trauma—moments you couldn’t fully experience or accept—those moments can be strongly emotionally remembered. They are quickly stored and are more difficult to erase as time goes on. These deeply stored emotional traumas are called samskaras.
A samskara is akin to a computer malware program. This memory is not good for you and can make you have psychological problems. .
You cannot not see a samskara and its power, as it lies dormant
below the surface, but it’s there—draining
resources, interfering with your flow, waiting for the right condition
to cause problems that seem to come out of nowhere.
A samskara can be triggered by a tone of voice or a familiar face. A small insignificant little thing can cause a person to feel rage and suddenly, your system slows down. You can’t think clearly. Your emotions surge. The whole system seems compromised.
This is no different than a computer doing something wrong because a background process has been triggered—a line of corrupted code can cause all sorts of problems. .
Most people respond by trying to forcing the reaction to stop. They push it down. They close down.
They might blame someone else or they might curl up in a ball and shut down. If a person yanks out the power cord from the wall when a computer does something wrong, the computer when restarted will have additional problems. When a person shuts down, or acts out, additional problems are created.
Like fixing a computer, one has to take intelligent steps. A person who shuts down or has other problems should not keep shutting down, but open up. A person who shuts down often will become depressed. A person who is active can stop being depressed. Opening up means doing good stuff.
One a person who is closed can open up again by simply letting go. When they do they can again witness what is going on. When a person fixes a computer, they witness the computer and then use their intelligence to try various things. They keep watching.
When we let go, it is like erasing bad code or data in a computer. To fix a computer, it is important to observe, and narrow down the problem .
In a way it is easier to fix a human problem. You just let go.
Imagine life is a movie. If we don't get so involved in our movie, we can stand back and take a deep breath and things usually get better.
You have to stay open to the process. You observe. You breathe. You allow. You keep checking if something goes wrong.
In most popular computers an anti-malware programs runs all the time. This is how a computer protects itself.
As humans we need to continuously monitor ourselves too. This process is call mindfulness. Here you are aware of what you are doing. You remember where you put your keys or wallet. You remember to treat other people nicely. If someone is misbehaving, you simply walk away.
Your inner system—this brain, this body, this mind—is made of trillions of processes, constantly in motion. But all of it rests on something deeper: awareness. That is your stabilizer. This stabilizer is another word for spirit.