On the Joy of a Good Conscience

Thomas à Kempis

Have a good conscience, and you will ever have joy.  A clear conscience can bear exceedingly much and is joyful amid adversities; a muddy conscience is ever fearful and unquiet.  You shall rest sweetly if you do not judge yourself harshly.  Never rejoice unless when you've done your best.  The wicked never experience true joy, nor feel internal peace, for there is no peace for the wicked (Isaiah lvii. 21).  And if the wicked say, "we are in peace, and no harm shall come to us, and who shall dare to do us hurt?" believe them not, for suddenly their deeds shall be brought to naught, and their thoughts shall perish.

The glory of the good is in your conscience and not in the report of men.  He who desires true and eternal glory cares not for that which is temporal, and he who seeks worldly glory is proved to bear little love for that which is heavenly.  He who cares for neither praises nor reproaches has perfect tranquillity of heart.

You will easily be contented and filled with peace when your conscience is pure.  You would be none the holier if thou are praised, nor the viler if you are reproached.  You are what you are.  If you consider what you are inwardly, you will not care what others say about you.  Persons look only on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart: (1 Samuel xvi. 7). Men look at their deeds, but God also considers the intent.  It is the token of a humble spirit to do well and set little by oneself.  Not to look for consolation from any created thing is a sign of great inward faithfulness.

To walk inwardly with God and not to be held by any outer affections is the state of a spiritual person.

David Langiulli

We seem to live in an amoral age, where "God is dead" (Nietzsche, 1882).

"Morality," if ever discussed, is a word uttered with contempt at cocktail parties of the elite.

There is very little talk in modern mass media (or elsewhere) about "conscience." Because of this, you might be pressed to ask, "Conscience?  What is it, and what purpose does it serve?

So let's start with a definition. I like what Wikipedia has to say about it:

"Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system.  It is often described as leading to feelings of remorse when a person commits an act that conflicts with their moral values."

Conscience features prominently in the Buddhist tradition.  In the Pali scriptures, the positive aspect of conscience is linked to a calm, well-directed mind.  It is also associated with compassion for those who suffer and the practice of perfecting virtues such as generosity and courage.  Ultimately conscience manifests in Buddhism as unselfish love for all living beings.

That would be consistent with Jesus' teaching on loving your neighbor as yourself.

And herein lies a bit of a rub.

How can we love our neighbor (and all sentient beings) as ourselves when our inner critic (sometimes disguising itself as our conscience) shames, blames, and judges us harshly?

The short answer is: we cannot. The inner critic is neither rational nor helpful. It is certainly NOT the voice of the conscience.

The still small voice of the conscience comes through as "blameless discernment." It notices when our actions or speech are skillful or unskillful, and it encourages us to clean up messes when we are unskillful.

Thomas à Kempis was a medieval monk and author of The Imitation of Christ.

David Langiulli is an Author, Philosopher, and Executive Coach. This essay is an excerpt from his forthcoming book: Wisdom from the Middle Ages for Living in Modern Times.