What is conscience?

73 posts · 9 participants · started Aug 5, 2016, 9:00 PM

1. B

   BradlyParticipant
   Aug 12, 2016, 9:49 PM

   Arrrgghhhh….apologies then to Mara….it was topical but tangential without tying it all together.

   We are taught to balance quantity and quality.  I can really appreciate Bonita’s take on our instruction to make every day’s daily tasks a way to experience and express the religious life and the spirit led path to discovery and experience.  The little things are not so small to properly motivated and focused tadpole.  Life is wonderful….even a bird’s song, hot shower, and steaming mug of coffee can lift one to wonder at that beautiful cloud formation….marvelous.

   (1210.1) 110:6.6 Every decision you make either impedes or facilitates the function of the Adjuster; likewise do these very decisions determine your advancement in the circles of human achievement. It is true that the supremacy of a decision, its crisis relationship, has a great deal to do with its circle-making influence; nevertheless, numbers of decisions, frequent repetitions, persistent repetitions, are also essential to the habit-forming certainty of such reactions.

   (1119.8) 102:2.3 It is difficult to identify and analyze the factors of a religious experience, but it is not difficult to observe that such religious practitioners live and carry on as if already in the presence of the Eternal. Believers react to this temporal life as if immortality already were within their grasp. In the lives of such mortals there is a valid originality and a spontaneity of expression that forever segregate them from those of their fellows who have imbibed only the wisdom of the world. Religionists seem to live in effective emancipation from harrying haste and the painful stress of the vicissitudes inherent in the temporal currents of time; they exhibit a stabilization of personality and a tranquillity of character not explained by the laws of physiology, psychology, and sociology.

   = )

   "Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."

2. A

   AnonymousInactive
   Aug 12, 2016, 10:11 PM

   Bonita wrote:

   Bradly wrote: . . . it is not the speed but the direction of progress which matter I think.

   Right on!

   147:5.7 That same evening Jesus made the long-to-be-remembered address to the apostles regarding the relative value of status with God and progress in the eternal ascent to Paradise. Said Jesus: “My children, if there exists a true and living connection between the child and the Father, the child is certain to progress continuously toward the Father’s ideals. True, the child may at first make slow progress, but the progress is none the less sure. The important thing is not the rapidity of your progress but rather its certainty. Your actual achievement is not so important as the fact that the direction of your progress is Godward. What you are becoming day by day is of infinitely more importance than what you are today.

   And a slowly progressing child is also a slowly progressing tadpole. But it’s not about the speed of progress, it’s about the certainty. Have you made a commitment, have you consecrated your will? If so, you’re right on target and it’s sure to happen.

   Granted, the speed of progression, matters not, as long as there is progression.  And, even when progression seems stagnant, while in the flesh, for some, may be due to other disabilities, or other issues?  Nevertheless, it would seem that many feel that presentations in the UB of Mansion World progression is the same as current progression, maybe it is, but as is mentioned in the UB quote above, the reference to “ascent to Paradise” can also be acquired while in the flesh, here now, but would this not depend on one’s attitude to progression, if one thinks that there is time, to do as one pleases, because there will be time to make changes after death?  It is easy for those who are considered normal minded, to understand that “it’s sure to happen”, but for those who have been born with less than a normal mind, because of things beyond their control, may not think that “it’s sure to happen.”  Are they not our brothers and sisters too?

3. B

   BonitaParticipant
   Aug 12, 2016, 10:48 PM
   CLARIFICATION ALERT:  The ascent to Paradise cannot be acquired while “in the flesh”.

   We are not called ascending sons until after fusion. There is no way to fuse and remain “in the flesh”.  While “in the flesh”, we are called faith-sons, or planetary sons, or tadpoles.

   40.6.1  6. THE FAITH SONS OF GOD The mortal races stand as the representatives of the lowest order of intelligent and personal creation. You mortals are divinely beloved, and every one of you may choose to accept the certain destiny of a glorious experience, but you are not yet by nature of the divine order; you are wholly mortal. You will be reckoned as ascending sons the instant fusion takes place, but the status of the mortals of time and space is that of faith sons prior to the event of the final amalgamation of the surviving mortal soul with some type of eternal and immortal spirit.

   40.7.2  Your own races of surviving mortals belong to this group of the ascending Sons of God. You are now planetary sons, evolutionary creatures derived from the Life Carrier implantations and modified by the Adamic-life infusion, hardly yet ascending sons; but you are indeed sons of ascension potential — even to the highest heights of glory and divinity attainment — and this spiritual status of ascending sonship you may attain by faith and by freewill co-operation with the spiritualizing activities of the indwelling Adjuster. When you and your Adjusters are finally and forever fused, when you two are made one, even as in Christ Michael the Son of God and the Son of Man are one, then in fact have you become the ascending sons of God.

4. A

   AnonymousInactive
   Aug 13, 2016, 12:11 AM

   (1176.3) 107:0.3 God, having commanded man to be perfect, even as he is perfect, has descended as the Adjuster to become man’s experiential partner in the achievement of the supernal destiny which has been thus ordained. The fragment of God which indwells the mind of man is the absolute and unqualified assurance that man can find the Universal Father in association with this divine Adjuster, which came forth from God to find man and sonship him even in the days of the flesh.

   (1176.4) 107:0.4 Any mortal who has seen a Creator Son has seen the Universal Father, and he who is indwelt by a divine Adjuster is indwelt by the Paradise Father. Every mortal who is consciously or unconsciously following the leading of his indwelling Adjuster is living in accordance with the will of God. Consciousness of Adjuster presence is consciousness of God’s presence. Eternal fusion of the Adjuster with the evolutionary soul of man is the factual experience of eternal union with God as a universe associate of Deity.

   (1176.5) 107:0.5 It is the Adjuster who creates within man that unquenchable yearning and incessant longing to be like God, to attain Paradise, and there before the actual person of Deity to worship the infinite source of the divine gift. The Adjuster is the living presence which actually links the mortal son with his Paradise Father and draws him nearer and nearer to the Father. The Adjuster is our compensatory equalization of the enormous universe tension which is created by the distance of man’s removal from God and by the degree of his partiality in contrast with the universality of the eternal Father.

   (1176.6) 107:0.6 The Adjuster is an absolute essence of an infinite being imprisoned within the mind of a finite creature which, depending on the choosing of such a mortal, can eventually consummate this temporary union of God and man and veritably actualize a new order of being for unending universe service. The Adjuster is the divine universe reality which factualizes the truth that God is man’s Father. The Adjuster is man’s infallible cosmic compass, always and unerringly pointing the soul Godward.

   (1177.1) 107:0.7 On the evolutionary worlds, will creatures traverse three general developmental stages of being: From the arrival of the Adjuster to comparative full growth, about twenty years of age on Urantia, the Monitors are sometimes designated Thought Changers. From this time to the attainment of the age of discretion, about forty years, the Mystery Monitors are called Thought Adjusters. From the attainment of discretion to deliverance from the flesh, they are often referred to as Thought Controllers. These three phases of mortal life have no connection with the three stages of Adjuster progress in mind duplication and soul evolution.

5. A

   AndréParticipant
   Aug 13, 2016, 8:56 AM

   Dear all,

   … on the quest to settled conscience

   Here’s a little schema I draw …

   Attachments:

   You must be logged in to view attached files.
6. A

   AndréParticipant
   Aug 13, 2016, 9:01 AM

   Dear all,

   On the quest to ”located” conscience …

   Here’s a little schema I draw ….

   Before, Mara … an explanation …. would like to hear from the “brotherhood”.

   BROTHERHOOD ALERT:

   Defuse/deflate or praise/exalt ….

   André

   Attachments:

   You must be logged in to view attached files.
7. B

   BonitaParticipant
   Aug 13, 2016, 12:36 PM

   Bradly wrote: My point on procrastination is that in myself it tends to create a sense of guilt and irresponsibility until I actually deal with whatever I am avoiding.

   Yeah, definitely. Guilt is the tool the conscience uses to motivate.  It’s not the best motivator though.  Love is.  Love is the soul’s motivator.  When you have an absence of guilt, unless you’re a totally immoral individual, chances are you’re being soul motivated.  Guilt is self imposed punishment for something the conscience perceives to be wrong.  We’re not supposed to punish ourselves, but instead, do what we can to make things right.  Guilt comes from a failure to adequately resolve moral issues and that is the inner conflict that forces the mind to look for ways to end it.  A well balanced personality will look both ways, to the subconscious for human or material answers and to the superconscious for divine answers, aka prayer.  Either way, the conflict of guilt is unsettling to the personality until the problem is fixed.  It’s the like the serving two masters dilemma.

   91:3.5 Prayer induces the human ego to look both ways for help: for material aid to the subconscious reservoir of mortal experience, for inspiration and guidance to the superconscious borders of the contact of the material with the spiritual, with the Mystery Monitor.

   Mara wrote: Does time consciousness go hand-in-hand with conscience?

   Interesting question.  The conscience is part of mind and mind is conscious of time, so I don’t see how they can be separated.  We are given mind to work with within time and space.  Mind is partially time-bound and wholly space-pound.  Our problems must be solved within time and space.  Our conscience is on loan from the adjutant mind ministry to urge us spirtward (new word), and all this occurs within time. But maybe I misunderstand the question?

   Incidentally, the personality also has its own sense of time, which I think transcends the mind’s consciousness of time, but I’m conjecturing on that. I think this is part of the mechanism by which the personality transfers its identity, with a unique sense of the relation between present time and eternity. As an aside, I’m wondering why the word “reality” is capitalized in this quote?

   12:5.9 3. Personality creates a unique time sense out of insight into Reality plus a consciousness of presence and an awareness of duration.

8. G

   GeneParticipant
   Aug 13, 2016, 2:40 PM

   i see conscience as a word that describes mortal mind function. If there is any value to the function the personality would somehow recognize that some amount of truth beauty or goodness is permeating the growing soul. As mentioned – the process of personality transfer to the soul happens.

   I got a new word: personalitytransferase.

9. M

   MaraParticipant
   Aug 13, 2016, 4:36 PM

   andré wrote:

   Here’s a little schema I draw ….

   Thanks andré.  Would you describe for us the meaning of the parts your schema shows, regarding conscience?

    

10. M

    MaraParticipant
    Aug 13, 2016, 5:26 PM

    MidiChlorian wrote:

    . . . if one thinks that there is time, to do as one pleases, because there will be time to make changes after death?

    Thanks Midi.  This brings to mind one of those animal vestigial traits – ease-seeking. And these interesting remarks of Jesus.

    178:1:10  “Under the soon-coming persecutions by those who hate this gospel of joy and liberty, you will thrive and the kingdom will prosper. But you will stand in grave danger in subsequent times when most men will speak well of kingdom believers and many in high places nominally accept the gospel of the heavenly kingdom. Learn to be faithful to the kingdom even in times of peace and prosperity. Tempt not the angels of your supervision to lead you in troublous ways as a loving discipline designed to save your ease–drifting souls.“

    Conscience might chastise a person to do better next time, but if the person who knows better gets too comfortable or lackadaisical, the angel/s of supervision might somehow play a part in getting the person’s attention to get out of the rut and back on the trail.

    I’d like to add something positive about “normal” mind vs mind that is not normal.  Mind is a temporary intellect system.  It’s the arena of choice.  It is where we discover, recognize, interpret and choose.  It is the gateway to one’s spiritual nature, the gateway to the soul. (152:6:4)  Mind is all one has of universe reality that is subject to one’s will.  I do not venture into speculation about mind that is not normal.

    111:1:5  Mortal mind is a temporary intellect system loaned to human beings for use during a material lifetime, and as they use this mind, they are either accepting or rejecting the potential of eternal existence. Mind is about all you have of universe reality that is subject to your will, and the soul — the morontia self — will faithfully portray the harvest of the temporal decisions which the mortal self is making. Human consciousness rests gently upon the electrochemical mechanism below and delicately touches the spirit-morontia energy system above. Of neither of these two systems is the human being ever completely conscious in his mortal life; therefore must he work in mind, of which he is conscious. And it is not so much what mind comprehends as what mind desires to comprehend that insures survival; it is not so much what mind is like as what mind is striving to be like that constitutes spirit identification. It is not so much that man is conscious of God as that man yearns for God that results in universe ascension. What you are today is not so important as what you are becoming day by day and in eternity.

    
11. M

    MaraParticipant
    Aug 16, 2016, 3:34 PM

    I’m trying to figure out the best way to ask my next question which has to do with similarities and/or differences between moral conscience and ethical conscience.  I could be wrong, but I’m inclined to think that moral conscience has to do with the individual and is personal. And ethical conscience has to do with group-think.  Dictionary definitions confuse me/us.  We’re reading Paper 101 in study group and stopped to look up ethics and morals to discern the definitions, but we were not satisfied.  Here is the paragraph that stopped us.

    101:3:1  Religion is so vital that it persists in the absence of learning. It lives in spite of its contamination with erroneous cosmologies and false philosophies; it survives even the confusion of metaphysics. In and through all the historic vicissitudes of religion there ever persists that which is indispensable to human progress and survival: the ethical conscience and the moral consciousness.

    And here is a contrasting reference.

    52:6:5  3. Ethical awakening. Only ethical consciousness can unmask the immorality of human intolerance and the sinfulness of fratricidal strife. Only a moral conscience can condemn the evils of national envy and racial jealousy. Only moral beings will ever seek for that spiritual insight which is essential to living the golden rule.

    Maybe the similarities/differences have to do the the part and the whole – as moves the part, so moves the whole.
12. G

    GeneParticipant
    Aug 16, 2016, 5:04 PM

    My first impression comes from the word “fratricidal”

    it implies family or organizational issues and is used with ethical conscience in the quote.

    while moral conscience is used or directed in your quote more toward the individual.

    Facts, meanings and values are pounded into our heads in so many different ways I believe this may fit in there somewhere.

    ---

13. B

    BonitaParticipant
    Aug 16, 2016, 5:27 PM

    Conscience includes both moral and ethical content and the two are pretty much inseparable.  Conscience is defined:

    92:2.6 It is merely the sum total of the moral and ethical content of the mores of any current stage of existence; it simply represents the humanly conceived ideal of reaction in any given set of circumstances.

    This is the way I understand it: Morals are the principles which guide ethical action.  Morality is the individual’s inner judgment between right and wrong; ethics is the application of moral judgment into outer conduct or right behavior.  I think ethics is ideal action in relation to the group after due consideration by individual inner moral judgment.

    This is where it gets confusing because it seems backwards: A group of people with similar individual moral judgments establish accepted ethical behaviors which become the mores, or cultural norms.  Ethos is the moral principles or beliefs which form the foundation for the mores.

    196:3.25 Morality is equivalent to the recognition of duty, the realization of the existence of right and wrong.

    102:8.4 Ethics is the external social or racial mirror which faithfully reflects the otherwise unobservable progress of internal spiritual and religious developments.

    The mores of society are always a bit behind technological and other advances because the group has to agree to change the underlying ethos.  Each individual must come to terms with his moral conscience and judge what is right before ethics can dictate a new group custom or norm for behavior. There are those whose moral compass cannot or will not move, probably due to learned guilt from the conscience. So, guilt can slow down progress. We’re seeing that play out now with gay marriage and gender identity issues where government has gotten impatient with waiting for the mores to change and has started to try to legislate morality.  It makes for a hot mess. Can’t be done.

    89:7.4 The mores always drag behind in the evolutionary advance of civilization, thus providing sanction for the earlier and more savage like sex practices of the evolving races.

    89:10.3 The sense or feeling of guilt is the consciousness of the violation of the mores; it is not necessarily sin

Reply on the current forum