A Podcast Featuring Sri Aurobindo Studies
Feb. 8, 2026

The Light Is Needed to Clear the Subconscient of Undesired Responses

The Light Is Needed to Clear the Subconscient of Undesired Responses

reference: Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 5, Physical Consciousness — Subconscient — Sleep and Dream — Illness, pg. 91

This episode is also available as a blog post at https://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2026/02/06/the-light-is-needed-to-clear-the-subconscient-of-undesired-responses/

Video presentations, interviews and podcast episodes are allavailable on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@santoshkrinsky871

More information about Sri Aurobindo can be found at www.aurobindo.net

The US editions and links to e-book editions of SriAurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com

#Sri Aurobindo #yoga #integral yoga #spirituality #Rig Veda #Indra #Panis #Sarama #subconscient

1
00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:03,720
In the Rig Veda there is a
legend about a cave of the

2
00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:08,280
Panis, which Sri Aurobindo has
explained as a description of

3
00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,640
how the subconscient captures
and holds the higher divine

4
00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,440
light and encloses it away in
the darkness.

5
00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:20,560
The illumined mind and the
higher powers of awareness break

6
00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,640
open this subconscient level and
free the light from that

7
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,920
encompassing darkness.
In The Secret of the Veda, Sri

8
00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:35,280
Robindo describes the meaning of
Indra Sarama, the cows

9
00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:40,080
representing the rays of light,
the battle of light against the

10
00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:45,360
darkness, and the significance
of freeing these ray cows from

11
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,240
the subconscious.
With this context, we can then

12
00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,600
appreciate the need for the
spiritual aspirant to bring down

13
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,840
the light, to transform the
subconscient and overcome the

14
00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,840
powers that reside there and
pull down the consciousness

15
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:06,560
toward darkness and dullness.
Forces and directions no longer

16
00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:11,160
accepted by the conscious waking
mind may still act through vital

17
00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,720
acceptance.
When the vital no longer accepts

18
00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,760
these forces, they go down into
the physical and the

19
00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,320
subconscient, where they are
embedded and ready to spring up

20
00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,800
whenever something triggers
their release, potentially

21
00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,560
overpowering the conscious mind
and focused vital nature.

22
00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:36,360
If the uprising is extremely
intense and abrupt, the seeds

23
00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,280
described by Sri Robindo
represent the potential, the

24
00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:45,480
latent tendencies, the embedded
or encapsulated force that can

25
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,720
be triggered by some
circumstance, perception,

26
00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:55,080
sensation, event or person.
Until these seeds are removed or

27
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,960
sterilized, they can sprout up
just about any time.

28
00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:03,640
Once they are neutralized one
way or the other, the

29
00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,640
subconscious is cleared and the
forces that had a foothold in

30
00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,040
the external nature through the
subconscious are relegated to

31
00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:17,080
the environmental consciousness
and if push away from there they

32
00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,760
reside in general nature waiting
to act upon any who remain

33
00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,400
receptive to them, Sriorvinda
writes Quote.

34
00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,840
You do not realize how much of
the ordinary natural being lives

35
00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,880
in the subconscious physical.
It is there that habitual

36
00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:39,840
movements, mental and vital, are
stored, and from there they come

37
00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:44,240
up into the waking mind, driven
out of the upper consciousness.

38
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,680
It is in this cavern of the
Panis that they take refuge.

39
00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,440
No longer allowed to emerge
freely in the waking state, they

40
00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,720
come up in sleep as dreams.
It is when they are cleared out

41
00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,120
of the subconscient, their very
seeds killed by the enlightening

42
00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,600
of these hidden layers, that
they cease for good.

43
00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,320
As your consciousness deepens
inwardly and the higher light

44
00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,880
comes down into those inferior
covered parts, the things that

45
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,040
now recur in this way will
disappear.

46
00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,840
End Quote.
Reference Sri Robindo, Bases of

47
00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,960
Yoga, Chapter 5.
Physical consciousness,

48
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,080
subconscious sleep and dream
illness.

49
00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:31,600
Page 91.