Feb. 1, 2026
The Nature of the Subconscient
reference: Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 5, Physical Consciousness — Subconscient — Sleep and Dream — Illness, pp. 87-88This episode is also available as a blog post at https://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/the-nature-of-the-subconscient-3/
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 #subconscient #Jung #Freud #dream #transformation of human nature
1
00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,320
CG Jung described what he called
the collective unconscious, a
2
00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,880
repository of archetypal images
and experiences that are
3
00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,960
universal to humanity.
Sigmund Freud explored the
4
00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:17,000
subconscious realms of the
individual and how they impacted
5
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,160
the lives and responses of those
individuals.
6
00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,520
The understanding they gained
and shared is the first opening
7
00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,080
in Western psychology to the
deeper implications of the
8
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,560
working of consciousness, which
is both a unified field of
9
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:37,520
oneness and an individual
experience factor built into
10
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,840
each person's own unique
interactions with that universal
11
00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,120
reality.
When an individual remembers a
12
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:50,000
dream, he frequently finds that
it contains images, movements,
13
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,760
individuals that provide a
meaning, a warning, or an
14
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,680
insight.
In some cases, the undigested
15
00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,880
images received by the waking
consciousness, but not directly
16
00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:07,600
perceived or addressed at that
time, reappear in the dream
17
00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,600
state.
There are also cases of an
18
00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:15,080
individual seeing something that
made no sense until sometime in
19
00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,840
the future, when he met the
individual he had seen in dream
20
00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,600
and recognized the connection.
This illustrates both the
21
00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,240
universal and the individual
aspects of the functioning of
22
00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,160
the subconscious.
Experiments in the use of
23
00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,720
hypnotism provide us further
insights.
24
00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,880
In some cases, people have
voluntarily undergone hypnotic
25
00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,760
trance and are then asked to
recall details of certain
26
00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,760
incidents.
They are able to report small
27
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,480
details that they had not
actually noticed with their
28
00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,880
conscious minds, perceptions
which were kept and stored by
29
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,560
the subconscious without active
recognition in the waking state.
30
00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:03,000
This has helped solve certain
mysteries, cases of crime or
31
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,760
tracking down and missing
individuals, etcetera.
32
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,360
At a still deeper level, it must
be recognized that all kinds of
33
00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,840
embedded habits, instincts,
behaviours that developed in
34
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:20,040
earlier stages of the
evolutionary process, actually
35
00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,640
are not part of our conscious
being, but reside in the
36
00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:28,960
subconscious and act from there
essentially automatically when
37
00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,120
anything triggers them.
Many such behaviours and ways of
38
00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,920
doing things are so deeply
entrenched that they are able to
39
00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:41,960
defeat the conscious mind and
will consistently and thus
40
00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:47,280
provide in some cases, a very
much unwanted continuity of
41
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,400
processes that we would like to
change.
42
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,240
Fiora Bindo has addressed this
concern by his recognition that
43
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,720
human nature is not to be
transformed solely by the action
44
00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,920
of the mind and the willpower.
It takes the instrumentality of
45
00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:08,280
a yet higher force acting
directly upon the subcontinent
46
00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,840
to effectuate and solidify this
type of transformative change.
47
00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:20,480
Fiora Bindo notes quote The
subconscient is universal as
48
00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,840
well as individual like all the
other main parts of the nature,
49
00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,520
but there are different parts or
planes of the subconscient.
50
00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,000
All upon earth is based on the
inconscient as it is called,
51
00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,880
though it is not really
inconscient at all, but rather a
52
00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,160
complete subconscience, A
suppressed or involved
53
00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,640
consciousness in which there is
everything but nothing is
54
00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,240
formulated or expressed.
The subconscient lies between
55
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,200
this inconscient and the
conscious mind, life and body.
56
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,720
It contains the potentiality of
all the primitive reactions to
57
00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,560
life which struggle out to the
surface from the dull and inert
58
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,680
strands of matter and formed by
a constant development, a slowly
59
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,640
evolving and self formulating
consciousness.
60
00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:15,560
It contains them not as ideas,
perceptions or conscious
61
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,560
reactions, but as fluid
substance of these things.
62
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,760
But also all that is consciously
experienced sinks down into the
63
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:30,320
subconscious, not as precise,
though submerged memories, but
64
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,480
as obscure yet obstinate
impressions of experience.
65
00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,160
And these can come up at any
time as dreams, as mechanical
66
00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:44,040
repetitions of past thought,
feelings, actions, etcetera,
67
00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,520
etcetera.
The subconscient is the main
68
00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,480
cause why all things repeat
themselves and nothing ever gets
69
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,960
changed except in appearance.
It is the cause why people say
70
00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,560
character cannot be changed.
The cause also of the constant
71
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,880
return of things one hoped to
have got rid of forever.
72
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:09,400
All seeds are there and all
samskaras of the mind vital in
73
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,000
body.
It is the main support of death
74
00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,000
and disease, and the last
fortress, seemingly impregnable
75
00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,680
of the ignorance.
All two that is suppressed
76
00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,680
without being wholly got rid of
sinks down there and remains as
77
00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:31,000
seed, ready to surge up or
sprout up at any moment.
78
00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:36,840
End Quote reference.
Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga,
79
00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,880
Chapter 5.
Physical consciousness,
80
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,200
subconscious sleep and dream
illness.
81
00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,480
Pages 87 to 88.
00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,320
CG Jung described what he called
the collective unconscious, a
2
00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,880
repository of archetypal images
and experiences that are
3
00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,960
universal to humanity.
Sigmund Freud explored the
4
00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:17,000
subconscious realms of the
individual and how they impacted
5
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,160
the lives and responses of those
individuals.
6
00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,520
The understanding they gained
and shared is the first opening
7
00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,080
in Western psychology to the
deeper implications of the
8
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,560
working of consciousness, which
is both a unified field of
9
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:37,520
oneness and an individual
experience factor built into
10
00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,840
each person's own unique
interactions with that universal
11
00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,120
reality.
When an individual remembers a
12
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:50,000
dream, he frequently finds that
it contains images, movements,
13
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,760
individuals that provide a
meaning, a warning, or an
14
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,680
insight.
In some cases, the undigested
15
00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,880
images received by the waking
consciousness, but not directly
16
00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:07,600
perceived or addressed at that
time, reappear in the dream
17
00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,600
state.
There are also cases of an
18
00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:15,080
individual seeing something that
made no sense until sometime in
19
00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,840
the future, when he met the
individual he had seen in dream
20
00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,600
and recognized the connection.
This illustrates both the
21
00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,240
universal and the individual
aspects of the functioning of
22
00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:32,160
the subconscious.
Experiments in the use of
23
00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,720
hypnotism provide us further
insights.
24
00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,880
In some cases, people have
voluntarily undergone hypnotic
25
00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,760
trance and are then asked to
recall details of certain
26
00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,760
incidents.
They are able to report small
27
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,480
details that they had not
actually noticed with their
28
00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,880
conscious minds, perceptions
which were kept and stored by
29
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,560
the subconscious without active
recognition in the waking state.
30
00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:03,000
This has helped solve certain
mysteries, cases of crime or
31
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,760
tracking down and missing
individuals, etcetera.
32
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,360
At a still deeper level, it must
be recognized that all kinds of
33
00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,840
embedded habits, instincts,
behaviours that developed in
34
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:20,040
earlier stages of the
evolutionary process, actually
35
00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,640
are not part of our conscious
being, but reside in the
36
00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:28,960
subconscious and act from there
essentially automatically when
37
00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:33,120
anything triggers them.
Many such behaviours and ways of
38
00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,920
doing things are so deeply
entrenched that they are able to
39
00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:41,960
defeat the conscious mind and
will consistently and thus
40
00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:47,280
provide in some cases, a very
much unwanted continuity of
41
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,400
processes that we would like to
change.
42
00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,240
Fiora Bindo has addressed this
concern by his recognition that
43
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,720
human nature is not to be
transformed solely by the action
44
00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,920
of the mind and the willpower.
It takes the instrumentality of
45
00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:08,280
a yet higher force acting
directly upon the subcontinent
46
00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,840
to effectuate and solidify this
type of transformative change.
47
00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:20,480
Fiora Bindo notes quote The
subconscient is universal as
48
00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,840
well as individual like all the
other main parts of the nature,
49
00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,520
but there are different parts or
planes of the subconscient.
50
00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,000
All upon earth is based on the
inconscient as it is called,
51
00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,880
though it is not really
inconscient at all, but rather a
52
00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,160
complete subconscience, A
suppressed or involved
53
00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,640
consciousness in which there is
everything but nothing is
54
00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,240
formulated or expressed.
The subconscient lies between
55
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,200
this inconscient and the
conscious mind, life and body.
56
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,720
It contains the potentiality of
all the primitive reactions to
57
00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,560
life which struggle out to the
surface from the dull and inert
58
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:07,680
strands of matter and formed by
a constant development, a slowly
59
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,640
evolving and self formulating
consciousness.
60
00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:15,560
It contains them not as ideas,
perceptions or conscious
61
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,560
reactions, but as fluid
substance of these things.
62
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,760
But also all that is consciously
experienced sinks down into the
63
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:30,320
subconscious, not as precise,
though submerged memories, but
64
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,480
as obscure yet obstinate
impressions of experience.
65
00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,160
And these can come up at any
time as dreams, as mechanical
66
00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:44,040
repetitions of past thought,
feelings, actions, etcetera,
67
00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,520
etcetera.
The subconscient is the main
68
00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,480
cause why all things repeat
themselves and nothing ever gets
69
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,960
changed except in appearance.
It is the cause why people say
70
00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,560
character cannot be changed.
The cause also of the constant
71
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,880
return of things one hoped to
have got rid of forever.
72
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:09,400
All seeds are there and all
samskaras of the mind vital in
73
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,000
body.
It is the main support of death
74
00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:18,000
and disease, and the last
fortress, seemingly impregnable
75
00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,680
of the ignorance.
All two that is suppressed
76
00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,680
without being wholly got rid of
sinks down there and remains as
77
00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:31,000
seed, ready to surge up or
sprout up at any moment.
78
00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:36,840
End Quote reference.
Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga,
79
00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,880
Chapter 5.
Physical consciousness,
80
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,200
subconscious sleep and dream
illness.
81
00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:45,480
Pages 87 to 88.
