Good podcast partner Reelika Jeferjev got me thinking recently in a comment on one of my previous posts. She shared her observation that conscience can be a double-edged sword. That there is a moral conscience – the inner voice of societal norms, beliefs and childhood expectations.
And then there is the spiritual conscience – a quieter but clearer sense that speaks of a deeper truth, even if it does not match the expectations of the outside world.
This thought stuck in my head. Just recently, to continue the theme, during a training session, a participant raised the question of morality. And I responded, through experience as theory, that morality is not always a matter of reason. That what we think of as “morality” may not always be consistent with the heart. Sometimes our sense of morality keeps us stuck in a rut and prevents us from being free. It doesn’t let us be in the flow, it lets us be in seeming noble and giving the right answers.
But what’s the moral, then, in academic terms?
📘 Morality is an understanding of what is right and wrong, good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. It is based on the norms of society, the influence of upbringing and religion, and a cultural convention that tells us how things should be.
Perhaps morality is not just a personal feeling, but a normative system that tells us what to do, what is right, what is wrong and exactly how things should be. Morality motivates one to do the “right thing”, often even when it is not in accordance with one’s own truth, gut feeling, intuition, the nature of the soul – you name it.
🎠But the conscience of the soul is not trying to prove anything or give the right and expected learning response. It does not speak the language of fear or guilt. It simply says:
“This is my way.” Or “This is not my way!” And in doing so, it may not be at all logical, analytically explicable or even reasonable.
May we each have the skill and courage to distinguish between a life guided by a moral compass and a life guided by spiritual clarity.
Where is your conscience today?
In the service of morality or the soul?
