The Gift of Consciousness and Conscience

This series of blogs were originally written in 2010. I have extracted the salient points made then in blue and provided updated commentary, detailing things as I see them today.

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

Albert Einstein

“The paradoxical and tragic situation of man is that his conscience is weakest when he needs it most”

Erich Fromm

Whilst both these quotations suggest that we have not made best use of these two gifts, they clearly allude to the importance both these great thinkers give them. I believe that both consciousness and conscience are unique to humankind; it is their presence in our make-up that gives me hope that we will one day, accept that we must radically change our ways. If it were not for both, I believe that slavery would still be considered an acceptable commercial enterprise.

There is a major error in my thinking here, I am now certain that not only do all organic members of the ecosystem have both consciousness and conscience but so too, do all the inorganic members. This realisation must further our collective resolve to unify and re-enchant the World (Gaia). Imagine the extent of suffering humankind's abuse must have, and be causing, across the system if this assertion is indeed correct. It is small wonder that the World is out of balance and replete with discordant frequencies.

Consciousness gives us our sense of self-awareness and an awareness of how we relate to our wider environment; it also gives us a deeper sense of knowing above and beyond the merely rational. It encourages us to move beyond our basic animal instincts and is the source of our sense of morality. I, like Einstein, believe that our consciousness has become extremely limited and that it is imperative for us to expand it beyond the boundaries of self, family, nation, generation and species. With this greater awareness, we will develop a deeper compassion and empathy for all, and I hope that we will begin to feel more secure in and concerned for, the living creation of which we are but a part.

Can you imagine how it would feel to live in a World where everything in it took this approach? A World where every constituent part was aware of and empathetic towards not only itself and others, but also to the Whole. The possibilities for well-being and happiness would be boundless. What would it take to evidence the truth of this idea? Empathetic and Appreciative Inquiry would certainly help. What might this look like? Why not try it out? If you would like to, then ask something else other than a human, be it organic or otherwise, these three questions:

How does living in this World feel to you?

What do you like most about living?

How can I help you?

This may require you to suspend your dis-belief but if you listen very carefully you will get a reply.

Conscience is the arbiter of our integrity; it lets us know when we are violating our values and morals. Conscience alone however is not enough; we must have the will to act in accordance with it, often in competition with the temptation to ignore it in the pursuit of personal gratification. It seems that we humanoids are often guilty of valuing the wrong things and of defining morals which are far too anthropocentric. As for acting in accordance with our conscience, this seems to be something that most people are all too frequently prepared to sacrifice in exchange for personal gain.

Simply put, we are worse now, in this regard, than at any other time in our history.

SHAME ON US!

Climate change is finally entering our consciousness following decades of warnings from environmental scientists, but this is just the tip of the iceberg, the real threat is Humankind’s excessive growth and unsustainable consumption of natural resources and habitats. Until this becomes part of our consciousness and we have the fortitude to act in accordance with our collective conscience about our responsibility to address this, we will make little or no effective progress in limiting the incalculable and devastating consequences that will ensue.

Whilst in the past 3 years or so, activism around this has increased, in no small part due to the courageous advocacy of Greta Thunberg, Al Gore and others. We are still far from taking any meaningful action. Whilst most national governments seem to be paying a limited amount of lip service to it, the level of global commitment to act has, if anything, fallen since the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997. Perhaps more worrying still, we now have a United States President who has blatantly declared himself to be a Climate Change denier.

SHAME ON HIM AND THOSE WHO WANT HIM TO REMAIN IN OFFICE!

It is time to heed the warning of the Gaian Cassandras lest you fall to the darkness of The Gaian Night’s Knight.