Understanding the Influence of the Subconscient on Our Conscious Experience

While we tend to believe that our consciousness is centered in the region of the brain, or in some cases, the heart, there is really a much broader framework for consciousness. There are different forms that consciousness takes. These forms vibrate at different frequencies and are then taken up and processed by the various subtle energy centers aligned along the spine, based on which vibratory pattern and frequency can be picked up by these centres or chakras, as they are called. Thus, vibrations that occur at a level that we call ‘mental’, i.e. thoughts, perceptions, etc. are processed through centers in the brain, while those that characterize various vital activities are processed through the centers in the sacral, solar plexus and the heart area primarily, and those that deal with pure physical energies are primarily processed through the first chakra, called the Muladhara.

Just as we now recognize that the electro-magnetic spectrum is far broader than our senses can perceive and process, that is, there are colors and sounds, for example, that are in ranges both above and below those that our senses capture, so also there are ranges of consciousness both above and below those normally captured within the subtle energy centers that process the vibrations that define what we call the human consciousness.

The forces vibrating either above or below our level of perception still impact us. For example, Ultraviolet (UV) can cause blindness even if not directly seen, and Infra-red causes heating and burns, again without being directly seen. Similarly, forces of consciousness above the vibratory pattern captured by the 7 primary chakras, or below them, also impact human consciousness, which provides us with an understanding of how various lower vibrational forces can drag us down in our energies, feelings, emotions and thoughts; or how various higher vibrational forces can uplift and energize us.

Sri Aurobindo observes: “The Muladhar is the centre of the physical consciousness proper, and all below in the body is the sheer physical, which as it goes downward becomes increasingly subconscient, but the real seat of the subconscient is below the body, as the real seat of the higher consciousness (superconscient) is above the body. At the same time, the subconscient can be felt anywhere, felt as something below the movement of the consciousness and, in a way, supporting it from beneath or else drawing the consciousness down towards itself. The subconscient is the main support of all habitual movements, especially the physical and lower vital movements. When something is thrown out of the vital or physical, it very usually goes down into the subconscient and remains there as if in seed and comes up again when it can. That is the reason why it is so difficult to get rid of habitual vital movements or to change the character; for, supported or refreshed from this source, preserved in this matrix, your vital movements, even when suppressed or repressed, surge up again and recur. The action of the subconscient is irrational, mechanical, repetitive. It does not listen to reason or the mental will. It is only by bringing the higher Light and Force into it that it can change.”

Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 5, Physical Consciousness — Subconscient — Sleep and Dream — Illness, pp. 86-87