The conscience is a gleam of the divine within, prompting us to do good deeds and opposing our inclination to do evil. Buddhism describes this faculty as the “enlightening mind” or “Buddha nature,” which can be uncovered through the eye of wisdom.
Confucianism regards it as the heart of benevolence; this is illustrated by a well-known passage from Mencius about people’s spontaneous reactions to a child falling into a well.
Islam likewise regards the human heart as inherently upright, and St. Paul wrote that the conscience allows even those unschooled in religion to distinguish right from wrong. The conscience operates positively, encouraging self-betterment and the idealistic search for a better society.
It also operates negatively, scolding and admonishing us for acting selfishly and hurting others. In this regard, Father Moon speaks of the conscience as a “precious teacher” that knows us better than our parents, our teachers, and even God.
The conscience is God-given, enabling us to improve and ultimately realize our full purpose as God intended. It must constantly struggle, however, against the self-centered desires of the body.
It is possible to speak of a corrupted conscience, because although its essence is God-given, upbringing and education can affect its judgment. To indoctrinate the conscience with false judgments of right and wrong is indeed one of the worst defilements of the human spirit.
Yet there are levels of conscience. The more superficial level of conscience is relative, adhering to a person’s concept of truth. Yet at a deeper level is the Original Mind, which maintains a connection to the absolute God.
Therefore, someone like Saul of Tarsus, who had persecuted Christians in good conscience, could be awakened to a higher vision of truth and change his direction in life to become St. Paul.
This divine quality at the root of the conscience is the basis for Father Moon’s optimistic view that all human beings will ultimately be saved.
1. The Original Mind and Heart—Rooted in Goodness
Gentleness and goodness are the roots of humanity. Book of Ritual 38.18 (Confucianism)
Religion is basically virtue, which is grounded ultimately in the spiritual nature of man. Kundakunda, Pravacanasara 7 (Jainism)
Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17.21
When Gentiles who have not the Law do by nature what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law. They show that what the Law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Romans 2.14-16
Wabisah ibn Ma`bad said, “I went to see the Messenger of God and he said to me, ‘You want to question me on the subject of virtue?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, and he went on, ‘Question your heart.
Virtue is that by which the soul enjoys repose and the heart tranquility. Sin is what introduces trouble into the soul and tumult into man’s bosom—and this despite the religious advice which men may give you.’ ” 40 Hadith of an-Nawawi 27 (Islam)
For him who… knows his own mind and sees intuitively his own nature, he is a Hero, a Teacher of gods and men, a Buddha. Sutra of Hui Neng 1 (Buddhism)
Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound, your body is full of darkness. Therefore, be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light. Luke 11.34-36
The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 132 (Baha’i Faith)
Every being has the Buddha Nature. This is the self. Such a self is, since the very beginning, under the cover of innumerable illusions. That is why a man cannot see it. O good man!
There was a poor woman who had gold hidden somewhere in her house, but no one knew where it was. But there was a stranger who, by expediency, speaks to the poor woman, “I shall employ you to weed the lawn.”
The woman answered, “I cannot do it now, but if you show my son where the gold is hidden, I will work for you.” The man says, “I know the way; I will show it to your son.” The woman replies, “No one in my house, big or small, knows where the gold is hidden. How can you know?”
The man then digs out the hidden gold and shows it to the woman. She is glad, and begins to respect him. O good man! The ame is the case with a man’s Buddha Nature. No one can see it. It is like the gold which the poor woman possessed and yet could not locate.
I now let people see the Buddha Nature which they possess, but which was hidden by illusions. The Tathagata shows all beings the storehouse of enlightenment, which is the cask of true gold—their Buddha Nature.
Mahaparinirvana Sutra 214-15: Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Buddhism)
All men have this heart that, when they see another man suffer, they suffer, too… A man looks out; a child is about to fall into a well. No matter who the man is, his heart will flip, flop, and he will feel the child’s predicament; and not because he expects to get something out of it from the child’s parents, or because he wants praise from his neighbors, associates, or friends, or because he is afraid of a bad name, or anything like that. From this, we can see that it is not human not to have a heart that sympathizes with pain.
Likewise, not to have a heart that is repelled by vice: that is not human, either. Not to have a heart that is willing to defer: that’s not human. And not to have a heart that discriminates between true and false is not human, either. What is the foundation of natural human feeling for others (jen)?
The heart that sympathizes with pain. What is the foundation of a commitment to the common good (i)? The heart that is repelled by vice. What is the foundation of respect for social and religious forms (li)? The heart that is willing to defer. And what is the foundation for a liberal education (chih)? The heart that can tell true from false. People have these four foundations like they have four limbs.
A man who says he cannot practice them is calling himself a criminal. A man who says the ruler cannot practice that is calling the ruler a criminal. Everybody has these four foundations in himself. If these four foundations can be filled in on a broad scale, it will be like a fire starting up, it will be like a spring bursting through. If they can be filled in, it will be enough to create and preserve the world order. Leave them unfilled, it will be impossible for a man to take care of his father and mother.Mencius II.A.6 (Confucianism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The human conscience is the faculty of mind that represents God. It does not exist for personal benefit, but for the righteousness of Heaven. It always strives for goodness. (219:118, August 28, 1991)
The Buddha said that all beings have a Buddha-mind. What is this Buddha-mind? It refers to the pure, original mind. (33:45; August 2, 1970)
Your attitude should be: “God is the source of my mind. I am God’s object partner who strives to move according to God’s mind.” (162:40, March 22, 1987)
Human morals and ethics should develop on the right path to Heaven, and this is motivated by the conscience. Your conscience is striving to develop toward an ideal world, higher than the world of today. (90:161, December 26, 1976)
As we human beings strive to follow moral laws, there is a mind that tries to protect us from falling into ruin. This mind was with God from the very beginning, before human beings were created. It is called the conscience. The conscience is not a self-made law.
When I justify what I do, will my conscience accept my arguments? Will it be convinced by my speech? Although we do not clearly know the source of the conscience, clearly it is not from human beings, but from elsewhere.
Our conscience ever discerns whether our lives are public or private.
(31:241, June 4, 1970)
All people, in all ages and places, including even the most evil, have an original mind which inclines them to repel evil and seek goodness. People’s intellectual understanding of what goodness is and how goodness is achieved has differed according to time, place, and individual viewpoint; this has been a source of the conflicts which have made history.
Nevertheless, everyone cherishes the same fundamental goal of finding and establishing goodness. Why does the original mind irrepressibly induce people of every age and every place to do what is good? God, the Subject of goodness, created human beings as His good and worthy object partners to fulfill the purpose of the good.
Despite Satan’s crippling efforts, which have rendered fallen human beings incapable of leading a life of total goodness, the original mind remains intact within them and prompts them toward goodness. Hence, the ultimate desire of the ages is to attain a world of goodness. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 2.3)
All people have a conscience, something we cannot deny even though we may doubt the existence of God. If we assume that God exists and that He created human beings, He must have provided a way that creatures and Creator can form a union, that is, to present a common purpose.
This required that God place within them a faculty whose action enables His creatures to accord with His intended purpose for them. This original foundation, by which we human beings can unite with God the Absolute Being, is none other than the conscience…
2. Struggling with One’s Conscience
Keep your conscience clear. 1 Peter 3.16
You may not see yourself growing up, but you definitely know it when you are sinning. Akan Proverb (African Traditional Religions)
The mind is said to be twofold: The pure and also the impure; Impure—by union with desire; pure—from desire, completely free.
Maitri Upanishad 6.34 (Hinduism)
And I do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit. Qur’an 75.2
A certain person has done no lovely deed, has done no profitable deed, has given no shelter to the timid; he has done evil, cruel, wrongful deeds. At the thought, “I have done no lovely deed,” he is tormented. At the thought, “I have done evil,” he is tormented. These two thoughts sear the conscience. Itivuttaka 25 (Buddhism)
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, And every tongue brings in a several tale, And every tale condemns me for a villain. William Shakespeare, Richard III Every judgment of conscience, be it right or wrong, be it about things evil in themselves or morally indifferent, is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins. St. Thomas Aquinas (Christianity)
If a superior gives any order to one who is under him which is against that man’s conscience, although he does not obey it, yet he shall not be dismissed. Saint Francis of Assisi, Third Admonition of the Order (Christianity)
To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted. Titus 1.15
The glory of a good man is the testimony of a good conscience. Therefore, keep your conscience good and you will always enjoy happiness, for a good conscience can bear a great deal and can bring joy even in the midst of adversity. But an evil conscience is ever restive and fearful. Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ (Christianity)
Is it not the fact that there is in the body a clot of blood which, if it is in good condition, the whole body is, too; and if it is in rotten condition, so too is the whole body? Is not this the heart? 40 Hadith of an-Nawawi 6 (Islam)
I myself had reason for confidence… as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Philippians 3.4-8
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
As he pursues his life’s course, a person must attend his own deep mind. This is an ironclad rule of Heaven. Heaven will punish a person who fails to follow his original mind’s order. (4:260, August 8, 1958)
A guilty conscience is evidence that you have broken the heavenly law. (17:36, November 6, 1966)
No one can help me be reconciled with my conscience; it is up to me, to each individual. For instance, if I wronged my brother, I would be ashamed to go near him. Even if he doesn’t know that I wronged him, my conscience already knows it.
Because I feel pangs of conscience, I keep myself at a distance, feeling all the while that I should go to him and confess. That is how the principle of heaven and earth operates. Due to the Human Fall, we were desensitized, but anyone whose sensitivity is keen and sharp already knows it. (400:382, January 11, 2003)
Every human being, throughout his life, has a most precious teacher within himself. Yet we do not treat this teacher well. We mistreat it, trample on it, and abuse it. That teacher is the human conscience. Our conscience always gives us helpful words of advice, trying to connect us to true love.
Like a parent, our conscience urges us to be good, unselfish people, and guides us to do the Will of God. But within each person, there is also a rebel who always goes against the conscience. That rebel is the physical body. The body tramples and abuses the conscience miserably.
Knowing this, how can you continue to side with your body, the enemy of your conscience, as it weakens your character and damages your life? Your conscience should be your constant internal teacher and parent, leading you to complete unity with the ultimate Parent of humankind, God.
Your conscience is the agent of God within you. Do you think you should indulge and go along with your body, the enemy of the conscience? Or should you control and restrain your body and vindicate your conscience?
Your body seeks only carnal desire. It always seeks for comfort, and wants to take advantage of others. To conquer the realm of the body is an awesome responsibility, which every person must undertake. (201:208, April 10, 1990)
God is the great King of wisdom. He did not place the path to perfection in some far-off place. Instead, He prepared it in the place that is nearest to us, the place that is most private and safe— your conscience.
Ladies and gentlemen, your conscience is your master. It is your teacher. It stands in the place of your parents. Your conscience is the first to know everything about you. Your conscience knows all your thoughts. It knows before your teacher, your parents or even God knows.
Think about how much advice your conscience gives you over your lifetime. Day and night, every time you have an evil thought, it scolds you, saying, “Hey, you!” It never grows tired as it works constantly to pull you over rivers and mountains. The conscience always stands as the true master, protecting you and trying to help you.
Yet, how often have you betrayed your own conscience? What should be done about your body, which has thoroughly mistreated this precious, irreplaceable teacher that the universe bequeathed to you?
Do you intend to idle your life away, clinging to your physical body and enslaved by its desires while it continues to brutally trample your conscience? Don’t you realize that your conscience was given to you as the representative of your heavenly Parent, to enable you to inherit His original love? (May 1, 2004)
You say that you are people of good character. You are self-satisfied and believe that there is nothing wrong with your conscience. However, your conscience is asleep… Let’s wake up our sleeping conscience.
Let’s wake up the conscience of the nation that sleeps in ignorance of God’s heart. Let’s wake up the conscience of humanity around the world that sleeps in ignorance of God’s heart.
Let’s wake up the conscience of people, who cannot avoid their fated encounter with the Last Days, that they might act in obedience to the Will of God, who seeks to embrace heaven and earth and build one united world. Is the religion we follow today capable of awakening humanity’s sleeping conscience?
Do we have a philosophy that possesses such content? When the conscience is awakened, the shock, determination, and resolve that rush in must be so strong that in an instant, it can properly rearrange everything in the world.
It has no fear of the sword or of death. Who will dare to stand in the way of the power rising up from our conscience? No one can block it.
(10:284, November 6, 1960)