Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / The Subconscient Is the Repository of Habits and Atavistic Behaviour That Must Be Cleared During the Yogic Process

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The Subconscient Is the Repository of Habits and Atavistic Behaviour That Must Be Cleared During the Yogic Process · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  We bring into this life many propensities as well as genetic
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  tendencies which are compounded and accentuated by early
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  learning that takes place in the family and in the society.
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  Prenatal influences, as well as learning that takes place after
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  the birth process and in the very early childhood years, all
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  help form the individual and his actions and reactions.
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  Many traits are locked in during this period that reverberate
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  throughout the life of the individual as they are stored in
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  the subcontinent waiting for their opportunity to spring up
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  and present themselves. We find, therefore, that certain
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  tendencies tend to carry through from one generation to the next,
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  such as tendency toward addiction, bullying behavior,
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  attitudes towards others that lead to prejudice or misogyny,
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  et cetera. Much of this is not a conscious
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  process, but simply impressions that are imbibed and stored.
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  For most people, these things represent the legacy of the past
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  and bring continuity from one generation to the next.
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  It can go much further back, however, as there are inbred,
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  atavistic behaviors that stretch back into the evolution of the
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  animal consciousness in nature. Fight or flight reactions are an
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  example. As the individual takes up the
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  practice of yoga, he begins to confront these deeply embedded
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  tendencies and behaviors and finds that suppression does not
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  eliminate them. They must be painstakingly
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  examined, understood, and the knot of the complex unravelled
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  in order to truly free the being from these things.
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  This is why simply rooting around in the subconscient and
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  allowing these things to rise up is not effective.
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  There must be a controlling and understanding light of
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  consciousness that can master these impulses and apply
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  appropriate means to dissolve or transform them, the mother
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  writes. Quote One is born with a slew to
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  clean before 1 begins to live, and once you have made a good
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  start on the way to the inner transformation and you go down
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  to the subconcient root of the being that exactly which comes
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  from parents, from atavism, well, you do see what it is and
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  all. Almost all difficulties are
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  there. There are very few things added
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  to existence after the first years of life.
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  This happens at any odd moment. If you keep bad company or read
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  bad books, the poison may enter you.
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  But there are all the imprints deep rooted in the subconscious,
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  The Dirty habits you have and against which you struggle.
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  For instance, there are people who can't open their mouth
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  without telling a lie, and they don't always do this
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  deliberately, that is the worst of it.
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  Or people who can't come in touch with others without
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  quarrelling all sorts of stupidities.
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  They are there in the subconscient, deeply rooted.
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  Now, when you have a goodwill externally, you do your best to
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  avoid all that, to correct it if possible.
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  You work, you fight, then become aware that this thing always
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  keeps coming up. It comes up from some part which
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  escapes your control. But if you enter this
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  subconscious, if you let your consciousness infiltrate it and
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  look carefully, gradually you will discover all the sources,
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  all the origins of all your difficulties.
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  Then you will begin to understand what your father's
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  and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers were.
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  And if at a certain moment you are unable to control yourself,
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  you will understand. I am like that because they were
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  like that. End Quote Reference Sri
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  Aurobindo and the Mother, The Hidden Forces of Life, Chapter
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  2. Hidden Forces within pages 40 to
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  41.