Hypocrisy
A hypocrite is a person who pretends to have desirable or publicly approved attitudes, beliefs, principals, etc. he does not actually possess. As I think about what I am trying to do with my writing and this website, I wonder: Am I a hypocrite?
Through both experience and study, I have constructed a Pyramid consisting of the following eleven Virtues as a test for me to follow. These are: Love, Faith, Charity, Purity, Non-Judgment, Patience, Truthfulness, Strength, Temperance, Poverty of Spirit, and Humility.
At the bottom of my pyramid I placed the four virtues which I feel are purely individual in nature. These virtues are solely personal and have nothing to do with others. These consist of: (1) Strength; (2) Temperance; (3) Poverty of Spirit; and (4) Humility.
On the second layer of my pyramid I placed the four virtues which I believe can be both individual and interactive (i.e. having to do with others) in nature. These are: (1) Purity, the ability to see God in all; (2) Non-Judgment; (3) Patience or Peacefulness; and (4) Truthfulness.
On the third layer of my pyramid I placed what many people agree are the two highest commandments of Divine law: (1) Faith, or a love of God (the Divine) with everything within one’s power; and (2) Charity, or to love thy neighbor as oneself (the ethic of reciprocity).
Finally, on the top of my pyramid I have placed Love. In effect I agree with Swami Vivekananda that Love is the Highest Knowledge. Although all the other virtues are important, Love stands above them all.
Coming to know the virtues is only half the battle. Living the virtues is the other half.
The standards seem so high, and so many times I seem so weak. So I pray for Strength, the cornerstone of my pyramid, to see me through.
Am I a hypocrite? Who is the judge? Who am I to judge?