When we are awake in our choices, we are guided by the values and intelligence of Being. Living the truth we know rather than blindly submitting to—or unconsciously reacting against—the conventional truth handed down to us is a form of conscience, but it is not the punitive, critical conscience of the superego. A real conscience does not operate by rote; it responds with awareness and sensitivity to the true need at hand and considers the bigger picture. – Karen Johnson, The Jeweled Path: The Biography of the Diamond Approach to Inner Realization, Ch. 19