Conscience
“Conscience
is like a guest, a noble guest who comes to your house and you don't
recognize him. You make him very uncomfortable, because he is a very
sensitive guest, and because you don't recognize him you behave in
front of him in a way that is very painful to him. Then a moment
comes when you begin to see that this guest is yourself, and you
begin to feel this discomfort, and you feel ashamed because you've
not treated this guest properly.”
John
G. Bennett (Conscience, Parabola, Spring, 2015)
John
G. Bennett was a British mathematician, scientist, industrialist,
author and teacher. He established the International Academy of
Continuous Education in Gloucestershire, England in 1971. He was also
a student of the spiritual teacher, G.I. Gurdjieff. He liked to
introduce a theme each week for his students to ponder with the focus
on self-observation. When they came together again, he gave a short
presentation and spent the rest of the class responded to the
questions and experiences of his students.
Conscience
is an interesting thing. Unless we are sociopaths, we all have it as
part of our internal infrastructure, but most of the time we treat
it, in fact, like an unwelcome guest. It typically sounds like a voice belonging to someone else, suggesting to us that what we are about to do, or
what we've just done, might not be a good idea. This voice
recommends that we reverse course, or that we undo it by righting the
wrong. But there's another voice inside that argues; that
rationalizes and supports the action as necessary and not
intentionally bad. These two duke it out until one of them has the
last say.
Once
we're aware of these voices, it's fairly easy to see that they
constitute a vestal chorus, always there, chiming in with their
commentary. It is also quickly clear which one usually wins.
Sometimes our inner argument comes from the moral teachings our our
religion. We may have been told that something is inherently wrong,
and that we will suffer “eternity in hell” if we do it. That
voice says, “Thou shalt not!” I hate to say it, but morality
imposed from outside ourselves produces false conscience, based upon
fear of the consequences.
The
voice we must learn to trust is the one within. The one that says,
“You might want to think about that.” or “What do you think
will happen if you do that?” True conscience allows us some
freedom. It encourages us toward moral behavior out of thoughtful
consideration rather than imposed fear. Welcome that guest into your
home and make him comfortable.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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