Conscience Vs Consciousness.

Conscience Vs Consciousness.

Conscience is the innermost deep feeling ( Bhav ) of having a sense of right or wrong.

Consciousness is the clearest of the clear mirror, providing us the ultimate purity against which we judge ourselves.

Consciousness just IS.

It does not offer any options of right or wrong.

It is always right.

It is not going anywhere.
It is here to stay, forever.

Conscience that develops after self-realization has the flavor of originality.

But conscience can also be influenced and developed by Sansar.

For example, if a child has been told in childhood that eating meat is wrong.

He will grow up with that parameter and will not eat meat; his conscience will hurt if he does.

Vs. if someone is raised believing that eating meat is necessary and part of a natural cycle. Higher life forms always eat the lower life forms.

His conscience will not be hurt by eating meat.

So, conscience is a deep-seated inner feeling, true, but what is its basis? What is its parameter?

Sansar or consciousness?

If it is Sansar, then spiritually, it has no value.

They are Sanskaras ( impressions, mental conditionings ) only.

Eating meat or not eating meat are only beliefs.

Not all meat eaters will go to hell, and not all non-meat eaters in heaven.

Beliefs by themselves do not take you to self-realization.

I’m not saying we should eat meat.

But suppose that decision is taken by a person himself, AFTER REALIZING that at the soul level, we all are the same and are connected, leading to an authentic avoidance of meat to prevent animal cruelty. In that case, it has a heavenly fragrance that can transform the world.

Imagine the mental state of Mahavir, when he realized this connectedness ( Advait – non-dual ) and gave a doctrine of non-violence, despite his background of being a Kshatriya and the age when meat eating was a norm.

His doctrine is still ringing in today’s age as veganism.

In other words, after self-realization, Sansar does not modulate your conscience, the consciousness becomes your conscience ( the highest one available to us ).