We firmly believe that we’re a single individual, but we’re actually a multiplicity. We do not possess a definitive individuality, but we are a psychological multiplicity. Our subconscious mind is not a single entity, but rather a sum of many psychological aspects or “psychic aggregates”. We rarely find ourselves as a single individual. Our personality is constantly shifting and moving as various aspects of our psychology express themselves.
We could say that within each of us there are many different people. We’re not the same person that we are at work as we are at home. You’re not the same person as you are with your significant other as you are with your in-laws or as you are with your kids or as you are with your friends. That’s what we do as humans. We’re like chameleons, constantly changing our colors to adapt to various circumstances.
We have different moods, behaving differently in different circumstances and situations, and around different people. The whole concept of a “mood” is just describing a particular aspect of our psychology. “I was in a really bad mood yesterday.” What that really means is “I was exhibiting a certain aspect of my subconscious” such as anger, frustration, depression or whatever.
We’ve all done something bad and looked back on it embarrassed, wondering why we did it. It could be getting angry and lashing out at somebody or doing something very silly or irresponsible. For example, we quit our job because of anger and regret it later when the anger is replaced by embarrassment.
Later you look back on it thinking “Why did I do that? What was I thinking?” The answer is the “you” at the time is not the same “you” that later looked back on it feeling ashamed and embarrassed. The fact is it was a different aspect of your psychology that was exhibiting itself.
When we identify with anger we get angry and act based on that anger, which means we lash out or we say hurtful things or throw things or punch holes in walls. When that aspect of our psyche is gone, it’s replaced by a different aspect that’s now ashamed and embarrassed of what’s it’s done.
Because of this concept we are always indecisive and changing our mind. For example, this may be a reason why a lot of couple’s “fall out of love”. One day we’re madly in love with somebody. This was “the one”, but the next thing we know we’re over that person and now love somebody else. Every time we change our mind that’s one aspect of our psyche replacing itself with another.
Another classic example is going to the fridge for a snack and reaching for a chocolate cake, and then something else comes to your mind saying “I could really go for a bag of chips right now”. Then you can’t decide between the cake and the chips. This is an example of 2 opposing aspects of our psyche. We’ve all done stuff like that before.
The idea of being hypocritical and contradictory is another aspect this concept. When we judge someone else and say “I would never do that” and then the next thing we know, we find ourselves doing just that. Perhaps in high school we criticized someone we knew for doing drugs or drinking underage. Then sometime later we ended up giving into peer pressure and did drugs at a party. That was one aspect of our psyche that said “no, I would never do that” and another aspect that said “screw that, I’m doing this!”
Each aspect of our psychology essentially operates with a “mind of their own.” Each one of our thoughts is directed from one particular aspect of our psyche in an attempt to get us to identify with it. Whenever we react to a circumstance, that’s just one aspect of our psyche manifesting itself.
Each aspect of our psychology fights for supremacy and wants to be in control. That’s why we see our personality as such a dynamic and shifting thing. If there were a hundred people in a car all fighting for the steering wheel, what kind of course do you think that car would take? It would just drive all over the place, kind of like our thought process.
We get angry and we identify with anger. Now anger gets control of the car and is steering it where it wants to go. When anger gets bored and says “I’m outta here” and leaves the car stranded somewhere else and we realize “where am I? How did I get here?” Then another aspect of our subconscious comes forward and takes the car and steers it somewhere else. The consciousness should have control of the wheel, but it’s stuck at the back sleeping. It’s the various aspects of our subconscious that direct the course of our life.
That’s the whole concept of the Plurality of the Subconscious. The entire time that process is going on the consciousness remains asleep. We instead identify with the various aspects of our subconscious and let them direct the course of our life.