"From the time when man began to live on the earth, from the time of Adam, there gradually began to be formed in us—with the help of God, of Nature, and of all our surroundings—an organ, whose function is conscience.
"Every man has this organ; and whoever is guided by conscience, automatically lives according to God’s commandments. If our conscience were clear and not buried, there would be no need to speak about morality; for consciously or unconsciously everyone would behave according to the dictates of the inner voice.
"Conscience is not a stick with two ends—it is realization of what is good and what is bad formed in us through the ages. Unfortunately, owing to many reasons, this organ is usually covered up with a kind of crust, which can be pierced only by intense suffering: then conscience speaks. But after a while a man calms down, and once more the organ becomes covered up. A strong shock is needed for this organ to become uncovered automatically.
"For instance, a man’s mother dies; instinctively his conscience begins to speak in him. To love, honor, and cherish one’s mother is the duty of every man. But seldom is a man a good son. When his mother dies a man remembers how he had behaved towards her, and he begins to suffer from remorse. But man is a great swine, and soon forgets, and again lives in the old way.
"He who has no conscience cannot be moral. I can know what I should refrain from doing, but, through weakness, I cannot prevent myself from doing it. I know that coffee is bad for me—the doctor has told me so—but I remember about coffee, and only when I don’t want to drink coffee do I agree with the doctor and refrain from drinking it. When I am full, I can, to a certain extent, be moral.
"You should forget about morality. Conversations about morality at present are simply empty talk. Your aim is inner morality. Your aim is to be Christians; but for this you must be able to do—and this you cannot. When you are able to do you will become Christians.
"External morality is different everywhere. One should behave like others and, as the saying goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do; this is external morality. For internal morality man must be able to do, and for this he must have an “I.” The first thing necessary is to separate inner things from outer, similarly to what I said about internal and external considering."
~ From Gurdjieff's Early Talks
#quotes #soul #spirit 
