The Surface Consciousness and the Subliminal

Human awareness can be compared to an iceberg on the physical plane. The iceberg appears small and insignificant above the surface of the ocean, yet it is massive below the surface, as was found out by the ‘unsinkable’ cruise ship, the Titanic during its maiden voyage. Similarly, the awareness we have on the surface, that deals with relationships with the outer world, perceptions, impressions, actions, events and the development of our plans for responding to these things, is a very small part of total consciousness. This means that while we take cognizance of just a subset of the actual influences that impinge upon us, we are very deeply impacted by those that influence us subliminally, that is, below our threshold of perception.

We must clear up first the potential confusion between the subconscious and the sublminal. The subconscious levels define what falls below our consciousness of mind, life and body. Many perceptions, events, traumas get embedded in the subconscious, only to rise up when triggered by particular sense perceptions, events or circumstances.

The subliminal on the other hand represents the larger mind-forces, life-forces and physical-forces (as well as the forces of the subconscient and superconscient levels) that extend out far beyond the small amount that we actually become consciously aware about, but which act on what we may call our ‘inner being’ as opposed to our surface being. When we step back from the surface consciousness and take a step inward, we can become aware of the action of these subliminal forces and their impact on the way we act and react. This inner being is both more subtle and more capable of capturing the vibrations of these various planes of consciousness and becoming aware of their action.

Sri Aurobindo writes: “There is an inner as well as an outer consciousness all through our being, upon all its levels. The ordinary man is aware only of his surface self and quite unaware of all that is concealed by the surface. And yet what is on the surface, what we know or think we know of ourselves and even believe that this is all we are, is only a small part of our being and by far the larger part of us is below the surface. Or more accurately, it is behind the frontal consciousness, behind the veil, occult and known only by an occult knowledge. Modern psychology and psychic science have begun to perceive this truth just a little. Materialistic psychology calls this hidden part the Inconscient, although practically admitting that it is far greater, more powerful and profound than the surface conscious self, — very much as the Upanishads call the superconscient in us the Sleep-self, although this Sleep-self is said to be an infinitely greater Intelligence, omniscient, omnipotent, Prajna, the Ishwara. Psychic science calls this hidden consciousness the subliminal self, and here too it is seen that this subliminal self has more powers, more knowledge, a freer field of movement than the smaller self that is on the surface. But the truth is that all this that is behind, this sea of which our waking consciousness is only a wave or series of waves, cannot be described by any one term, for it is very complex. Part of it is subconscient, lower than our waking consciousness, part of it is on a level with it but behind and much larger than it; part is above and superconscient to us. What we call our mind is only an outer mind, a surface mental action, instrumental for the partial expression of a larger mind behind of which we are not ordinarily aware and can only know by going inside ourselves. So too what we know of the vital in us is only the outer vital, a surface activity partially expressing a larger secret vital which we can only know by going within. Equally, what we call o ur physical being is only a visible projection of a greater and subtler invisible physical consciousness which is much more complex, much more aware, much wider in its receptiveness, much more open and plastic and free.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Our Many Selves: Practical Yogic Psychology, Chapter 2, Planes and Parts of the Being, pp. 61-62