The Principle
“Conscience”

In The Principle (§6.3.3 The Spirit Mind, The Physical Mind And Their Relationship In The Human Mind) there is a very important explanation of the human conscience which is often missed or overlooked. The passages are on pages 50–51:

The human mind consists of the spirit mind and physical mind. The relationship between these two minds is like that between internal nature and external form. When they become one through give and take action with God as their center, they form a united functioning entity which guides the spirit self and physical self to become harmonious and progress toward the purpose of creation. This united entity is the mind of a human being.

The conscience is that faculty of the human mind which, by virtue of its inborn nature, always directs us toward what we think is good. However, due to the Fall, human beings have become ignorant of God and thus ignorant of the absolute standard of goodness. For this reason, we are unable to set the proper standard of judgment for our conscience. As the standard of goodness varies, the standard of our conscience also fluctuates; this causes frequent contention even among those who advocate a conscientious life.

Please note the highlighted parts! The critical point is that—after the Fall—the conscience is shaped by whatever the prevailing views of a society happen to be, whatever is fashionable or politically correct at that particular time! And this is where IMO our community is so easily misled when pundits or teachers appeal to our conscience.

The Principle then goes on to explain the most true faculty of the human mind:

The original mind is that faculty of the human mind which pursues absolute goodness. It relates to the conscience as internal nature to external form. A person’s conscience directs him to pursue goodness according to the standard which he has set up in ignorance, even though it may differ from the original standard. However, the original mind, being sensitive to the proper direction, repels this faulty standard and works to correct the conscience.

This is the very reason why we need to be self-disciplined to intentionally nurture ourselves with life elements, i.e., the Word of God. If we don’t, and we rely only on our conscience, then we will be ignorant of the original standard and easily led away from it.

The section (§6.3.3) closes with this:

As long as our spirit mind and physical mind are under the bondage of Satan, the functioning entity they form through their give and take action is called the evil mind. The evil mind continually drives people to do evil. Our original mind and conscience direct us to repel the evil mind. They guide us in desperate efforts to reject evil desires and cling to goodness by breaking our ties with Satan and turning to face God.

So it is absolutely essential to understand that relying on conscience alone is absolutely insufficient. The original mind is and must be subject over the conscience; it is a matter of internal over external; a matter of spiritual health and even spiritual survival.

And that paragraph closes not only the section, but the entire Principle of Creation. So IMO, it is critical that we get this concept clearly across, or else understandings vary too widely and confusion and disunity spread in the community—which effectively weakens the community’s foundation of substance.

To confirm this, here’s the very essential understanding that Mrs. Eu elicited when she heard Father Moon speak about the conscience.

Father Moon
“Conscience” clarified

From the book A Testimony to God’s Word in Regard to the Divine Principle

In Mrs. Eu’s book, she offers an important clarification about Father Moon’s use of the word “conscience” in speeches such as True Family and I:

Father spoke while putting conscience in the highest position. He said, “Conscience comes before God, before teachers, and even before Parents.” So, I asked Father, “I think the conscience spoken here is different from the conscience explained in the Principle. In the Principle, isn’t conscience explained as susceptible to being persuaded by human policies and thoughts?”
Father quickly caught on and answered, “Yes. Will the people of this world understand what original mind and spirit mind are? So we have to call them conscience!”

• A Testimony to God’s Word, Gil Sa Ja Eu, p. 419

In conclusion then, this is some very critical information that doesn’t seem to be widely understood about the Principle. But because of Mrs. Eu’s earnest devotion to HP, TP and the Word, she was able to provide this critical clarification for us.