This is an updated version of the article published Feb 07, 2025, no different than its republished form on April 29, 2025. Keeping both published is to preserve restack links.
I am talking to a room full of experts who all think they know much more than I do, but they cannot speak. Only their eyes talk to me and try to guide me. This one word I keep using brings an expression to their eyes of confusion. One by one, as others who speak enter the room, I use the word and they just leave. The look in the non-speakers’ eyes is a combination of I warned you and confusion for not having warned me at all.
The Suneidesis
So, I am going to write the word here at the risk of you closing this article and moving on. It is conscience. Still with me? This English word is a complete farse. So if you thought of leaving, good for you. Before we get started, this is not a religious discussion, but rather one that just uses knowledge in the Bible as condoned by Jesus. For he said that if we do not believe in him, we should at least believe in his works—so that we might get to the meaning behind everything he did.
The Greek word suneidesis1 is translated conscience or consciousness in the Bible because English does not have a single word for suneidesis, which expresses them both as one. A phrase like co-conscientious awareness or co-moral consciousness would work, “co” indicating it is a collective activity.
The word conscience is a farse because it makes us believe that we have awareness that is simply awareness without the conscience or others being involved. But the illusion does give us rest from what the conscience is constantly trying to tell us. Something is missing in our understanding, so we cannot fully interpret what our suneidesis is presenting to us. It is a part of our awareness telling us that we are ignoring a fundamental truth about life.
Thought to be isolated, the conscience of our awareness is like the experts who think they know more than we do but cannot speak about things spiritually, always leaving something out. Our mind was like those who enter the room speaking but leave as soon as the word conscience is spoken. But now we are listening spiritually, for not only is our awareness and conscience in a oneness, the oneness between the suneidesis and mind are the fullness of that oneness. Our awareness of everything always includes conscience and mind, as that is the presence of Name in us through Word between us.
Our mind cannot focus too long on what it does not have the knowledge to understand. So let’s look into the eyes of our mind and suneidesis, mind and co-conscientious awareness, and let them teach us with everyday words that work, not from the everyday meaning of life, but from the fundamental truth about life. It is a life we are unknowingly experiencing without understanding a key part of it.
Blindness in the Suneidesis
The eye of our individual conscientious awareness is single when it does not divide our conscience and awareness. When it is single, we see with the singularity of our combined co-conscientious awareness, and these eyes can tell us the fundamental truth about life because they are part of it. And this brings us to the second word that causes us to leave the room. Blindness. The act of believing that the eyes of our awareness can see without the conscience, together with appearances veiling them, is the act of spiritual blindness. It is why we cannot believe what our eyes are telling us is going on today, cannot understand why some people act the way they do, while saying the same about us or only thinking they know.
Enemies of the Suneidesis
Recognizing what is happening when two or more people or groups are blind and cannot see each other brings us to the third word that causes us to leave the room. Enemy. Blindness is ultimately the only enemy, but since we blind ourselves by choosing not to learn how to see with the eyes of our singularity, we are our own worst enemies.
In our universal blindness, we make each other our enemies by failing to use the essential attribute of life’s fundamental truth, agapé (love). It reveals that the singular light of our suneidesis2 requires that we make each other more important in our world suneidesis without being against ourselves. This is agapé working in the principle. With the principle governing our suneidesis, we do not eclipse each other but see each other in and with our singularity. We see with the light we see, called agapé light, because in our singularity, our positions in the light permeate each other. Without the principle, moral standards govern our suneidesis, causing us to isolate the conscience in our awareness to avoid judgment, in the end, dividing the singularity in our blindness.
When two or more of us are blind to each other and ourselves, by making ourselves more important and eclipsing everyone else, we are enemies of each other’s world suneidesis and our own. Those of us not blind love them as enemies of our own, enemies because they are trying to blind us to the world suneidesis without realizing it. This is the act of loving the enemies of our suneidesis, the principle. We do not call that judgment, it is discernment. By loving them, we keep the singularity of our eyes to see them as part of it, willing to help them see it with the knowledge that brought us out of blindness, Word’s knowledge. This is the means of transforming and saving our democracy from itself. We need to restore the singularity of our world suneidesis as the light of our nation.
National transformation is based on individual transformation. But some of us believe that neither are possible in this world.
Should Bear/Shall Bear
Many of us who see Name as God believe that what I am calling our singularity is heaven and that only at the Resurrection can we go through the transformation to enter it. And this is only if we believe in Word as Christ, with or without loving our enemies. There are verses in the Bible to support what they believe, as well as ones supporting those of us who believe what I am saying here. So that we do not question each other’s beliefs or judge, I turn to a verse concerning when we can enter the singularity/heaven. It has two legitimate meanings, one for each of us.
“Just as we have bore the image of [Word] made of dust, we also should bear/shall bear the heavenly image of [Word].” Many ancient Greek manuscripts say should bear as many say shall bear. This is not error. It is the wisdom of Name. Shall bear refers to the future, interpreted by some to mean after death and at the Resurrection. Should bear refers to the present, interpreted by some to mean that we have the opportunity right now to enter it, the singularity of our world conscience. We do so by being transformed by the renewing of our minds—through the knowledge of the truth. No actual death is required, only the death of blindness.
Soulish and Spiritual Bodies
To prove by reason that there is no need for physical death, consider the word natural in the verse prior to the one quoted above.
“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual one.”
According to Greek, natural should be translated soulish. The word natural is associated with the physical body, leading one to conclude that the spiritual body cannot exist without a physical death first occurring. But it actually states,
“It is sown a soulish body; it is raised a spiritual body.”
Previous verses state that the soulish body is associated with corruption, dishonor and weakness, referring to our blindness to the agapé light of Name in our singularity. The spiritual body is associated with incorruptibility, honor, and power, referring to vision of Word in our singularity, in our world suneidesis. It all takes place while our physical body is breathing on earth and after.
Neither side can claim that what the other believes is wrong, so those of us who respect the writings of the Bible should respect each other and consider how democracy protects us both. It also protects those of us who do not believe in Word as Christ, whether we have chosen to follow the principle or not. Nonetheless, the knowledge needed to transform us individually and save our democracy requires only that we follow the principle.
Starting the Transformation
Listen to the experts of the principle. Start honoring the agapé that everyone has within the democratic boundaries of our national suneidesis. It works within family, friends, communities, political parties, religions and so forth. It is the same agapé that exists in the singularity of our suneidesis, but many of us limit it to such boundaries. And that creates agapé stronger than death for our group—that turns into hatred stronger than death for anyone or any group that threatens our loved ones. It is limited agapé stronger than death. Blind to the world suneidesis in our singularity, we are our own worst enemies and enemies of our democracy—by not having learned how to love the enemies of our loved ones with unlimited agapé stronger than death.
In other words, by blinding ourselves with hatred, we tear at the singularity of our nation to protect our loved ones. But by setting up good boundaries in our world suneidesis, through the principle, we mature agapé within our groups and between them, loving the enemies of our suneidesis. Our agapé is equally as strong as mature hatred but with eyes that see and see with the singularity of our world and national suneidesis. There is no better way to protect our loved ones and our democracy, with the hope of bringing back the eyes of the enemies into our singularity.
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The Eyes of Democracy (Introduction and Index of Articles)
Suneidesis is pronounced soon-eye-day-sis. Using this foreign word regularly in discussions helps us get accustomed to experiencing something new and positive in our awareness. When the word conscience is used, it will refer to the aspect of suneidesis that involves right and wrong, but this aspect cannot be separated from our co-conscientious awareness of all things.
If I understand that my awareness of something as simple as a cup includes co-conscientiousness, I do not allow myself to get blinded by the cup alone but know it as part of all creation at the hands of the Creator or the universe, depending on one’s beliefs. Spiritual maturity does this naturally.
The repetition of suneidesis is meant to challenge you to consider this dimension in your awareness. Apologies, but it will only be a necessary annoyance until it becomes natural.
Suneidesis - thank you @George Allen - for introducing me to this word! A phrase like conscientious awareness or moral consciousness. Coming from the world of psychoanalysis, I often distinguish the two. But perhaps to do this blindness ensues therein.
Being transformed by the renewing of our minds - yes, this is what I use as part of my personal wellbeing equation of living - and as you relay, I think?, mature(ing) of the agape (or I often us ego - but prefer agape) helps in the living?
Thank you for that beautiful word and concept