What is the Subconscious Mind and How Does It Shape Your Reality

We often hear about the subconscious mind in psychology, spirituality, and even self-help books. But what does it really mean? How does it work, and more importantly, how does it shape the way we live, think, and feel?

To understand this, we first need to explore the three layers of the mind – the conscious, the subconscious, and the superconscious.

The Three Layers of the Mind

1. The Conscious Mind

The conscious mind is the part of your mind you are aware of right now while reading this article.

• It is logical, analytical, and operates in the present moment.

• When you are taking input from your 5 senses – you are using your conscious mind.

Example: When you are learning to drive a car for the FIRST time, your conscious mind is active – focusing on the gears, brakes, mirrors, and signals.

2. The Subconscious Mind

The subconscious is like a vast storage room of memories, habits, and impressions (sanskaras). It silently influences your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors without you even realizing it.

• It stores your past experiences from childhood, and even impressions from previous lives.

• It is emotional, habitual, and repetitive in nature.

• Much of what you do on autopilot – like brushing your teeth, reacting to criticism, or feeling anxious in certain situations – comes from the subconscious.

Example: If as a child you were scolded for speaking up, as an adult you may subconsciously fear expressing yourself in meetings even when it is not needed now and has become a huddle in your growth.

3. The Superconscious Mind

The superconscious is the higher aspect of mind – the source of intuition, creativity, and spiritual wisdom. It connects us with divine intelligence.

• Artists tap into it when they feel “in the flow.”

• Yogis and meditators experience it in deep states of meditation.

• It is beyond logic and past conditioning – it is pure awareness.

Example: When you suddenly find clarity about a life decision without any logical reasoning, it is often a glimpse from the superconscious.

Awareness: The Key to Understanding the Mind

It is important to remember: It is not the mind that wanders, but awareness that moves from one area of the mind to another.

• When you recall a memory, your awareness has shifted into the subconscious.

• When you are in a highly meditative state, your awareness is in the superconscious.

• When you are looking around, awareness is in the conscious mind.

By training awareness, we gain mastery over the mind. Our aim is to take control of the awareness and keep it under our control at all times.

The Subconscious & Your Reality

The subconscious plays the biggest role in shaping your reality. Why? Because it holds sanskaras – impressions from both this life and past lives.

• These impressions influence your likes, dislikes, fears, habits, and even the people you attract.

• For example, someone who has deep fear of abandonment may find themselves repeatedly in relationships where they feel abandoned. This is the subconscious replaying its old patterns.

Your reality is, in many ways, a projection of your subconscious conditioning.

Practical Ways to Work with the Subconscious

1. Mindfulness Practice

The simplest tool is mindfulness. By bringing awareness to the present, you interrupt the autopilot of the subconscious.

• Practice to bring awareness under control by learning to focus.

• Notice your emotions as they arise.

• Observe your reactions before acting.

Over time, mindfulness helps you recognize old patterns and create new, conscious choices. This is also reprogramming your subconscious mind.

2. Reflective Inner Work

Another way is to gently go into your memories and reflect upon them.

• Ask yourself: When have I felt this emotion before?

• Trace it back to an earlier event.

• Allow yourself to release the energy stored there, through awareness, journaling, or guided regression therapy. Or just write and burn down the paper (Vasana Daha Tantra). Each memory you heal frees up your subconscious.

Tools can be many but ultimate aim is to clear the subconscious patterns which are unhelpful so that awareness can freely travel to the superconscious mind.

3. Surrender to God

The ultimate path is surrender. When you trust in a higher power, you no longer struggle with the mind.

But here lies the irony: we humans are so intelligent that we doubt God’s ability to help us. That’s why we seek other tools. Yet, when we deeply surrender, we realize that nothing – neither good nor bad – can disturb us.

Example: A devotee so absorbed in chanting God’s name may remain unshaken in joy or sorrow. Their awareness is fixed on the Divine, beyond the fluctuations of the subconscious.

Becoming the Master of Your Mind

There are two ways to deal with the subconscious:

1. Work through it step by step – becoming aware of what makes you feel bad, resolving it, and releasing old energies.

2. Go beyond it altogether – by anchoring your awareness in God in loving devotion, and where neither pain nor pleasure can disturb you. He will guide you in your path. Become accepting of all that is coming your way be it good or bad, just focus on him and do your duty without attaching to the results.

All the ways are valid. All of them lead to freedom. The choice depends on where you are in your journey and what resonates with you the most.

Final Thoughts

Your subconscious mind is not your enemy – it is simply a record keeper of your past experiences and impressions. By practicing mindfulness, reflection, and surrender, you can gradually reprogram it and keep the awareness in the superconscious area of the mind.

When awareness is trained, you stop being a prisoner of your subconscious and step into mastery. You begin to live consciously, purposefully, and peacefully.

The ultimate aim is not to be attached with either areas of the mind, it is to become one with divine consciousness where you are just an instrument in his hands and you allow him to take care of you while you keeping your awareness upon him and still doing the work.