The Butt-End of Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy (alternately spelled hypocricy in American English), is acting in a manner contradictory to one’s professed beliefs and feelings, or conversely, expressing false beliefs and opinions in order to conceal one’s real feelings or motives.

Here is a personal story how I came to understand the important and proper relationship between thoughts and actions.

He led me up Wilber Hill from Wilber Park below, through the trees and over the steep incline to the large overhanging rock near the top of the hill. This dark, large boulder worn smooth from receding glaciers ten millennia ago juts out from the damp soil. Once buried in ice it’s now covered in life of green moss and lichen.

The boulders large size protruding from the hilltop provides a shallow shelter under it seating six people or so. Charcoal and partially burnt wood are contained in several small circles of rocks. Above those circles dark, soft soot has spread over the solid rock ceiling. Graffiti appears in other locations inside the rock shelter. We sat down on the dry ground under the rock shelter trying to peer down the hill slope for a view to the park below, but the young, thin tress and leaves obscured our view. So my friend began telling me about the last time he was here. A story that taught me that actions must be aligned with beliefs.

After a day at work I stood outside in the drizzle smoking a clove cigarette. A bearded man asked me if the Durry Street Cafe I exited served good coffee. “Of course” I said, “I work there.” And so he thanked me and walked into the cafe.

I was around 18 years old when I met him. The details of how we met and the subjects of our conversations are a little blurry, but the ending message he shared is clear. That message is what I will share with you today.

First, let me describe him. His name I have forgotten. Maybe it was our first meeting while standing outside that he shared a yellow curry and rice dish with me. Along with that dish was a white bread biscuit which he dipped in the curry sauce. I had a bite. He explained that a vegan diet the practice of a passive and peaceful existence, concepts I didn’t quite understand at the time.

He looked like a white, Indian Guru. He stood a good several inches taller that me. He wore a bland, large green jacket and a donned a large, full beard that extended past his neck. He may have smelled of patchouli ;) On his head was a hat with colors and some design of sorts. There was not a single sign of material wealth on him. His eyes showed a warmth and depth that only comes from a full heart and worn feet. This man was not from this area; he was a traveler passing through from one town to the next searching for something or perhaps offering himself as a friend. I know not how he impacted other people in his travels, but I do know how he touched mine.

We spoke a few times in a local park a few blocks down from the cafe I worked. We would sit on a park bench and share food. I found his diet interesting. He would comment on mine. At the time I believe I was eating salami in which he pointed out several interesting facts about that tasty, hard processed food. We would talk about big things like Where did we come from? What are we doing here? Where are we going? Things like purpose, dharma, or the higher truth. Thoughts which left me awake at night starring at the ceiling wondering what this all means. Wondering why an stranger from another place opened up to me, sharing his big ideas of purpose and virtue with me on a humble city park bench.

Several days passed. I did not see him. I wondered if he left. Somehow, we ran into each other somewhere, perhaps at the coffee shop. We went for a walk back to the park in the afternoon, back to the same metal park bench we sat before. Then he told me that he met some cool locals who were vegetarians or vegans, animal lovers, pagans types, protectors of mother earth or Gaea, people who claimed to share similar beliefs and values. They offered to take him into the woods to a small cave to hang out and smoke pot which he accepted a few days prior. Never hearing of a local, small cave in the area I pressed him for details of it’s location. He offered to take me to there. And so we went to the rock shelter up on Wilbur Hill.

We sat together on the dry earth under the large, overhanging rock. Those cool people he came up here with several days before apparently weren’t so cool after all. They sat together smoking and sharing ideas about protecting nature, plants and animals. They talked about protecting Mother Earth, national parks and Alaska. They discussed ways to live more conscientiously by using less resources and biking to work instead of driving and burning fossil fuels. Then, one by one, they all flicked their cigarette butts into the woods.

I walked several feet from the shelter and found several fresh cigarette butts among the leaf litter and fallen twigs. I placed them in my pocket.

After, my jacket stunk like an ashtray.

From then on for years I never littered with my cigarette butts. I kept them in my pocket. At one point I carried a small plastic bag to carry my cigarette butts in. Sometimes I would hold on to the butts till I found a public garbage can. Sometimes I would drop the butts in empty soda cans then properly dispose of the metal can by returning it for five cents, for example. Eventually I stopped smoking and no longer have to worry about polluting the environment with my cigarette butt litter.

Do you act in accordance with your beliefs?

I am not talking about casual slip ups here and there, for we all make mistakes. Instead, I am referring to large, daily inconsistencies between how you live and the beliefs you hold deep in your heart. So, do you act in accordance with your beliefs?

If your beliefs do not align with your actions then adjustments must be made to eliminate this contradiction. The wrong way to go about this is to change your beliefs to match your actions. The correct way is to change your actions to align with your beliefs. This may take a little trial and error and discipline. Perhaps even a deep exploration and assessment of your beliefs is required to avoid being a hypocrite and start living your live more authentically.

It is our goal to act in accordance with our beliefs. In this way, we will begin to live the life we believe in. It may take strength, it may take saying no to peer pressure, but living a life where your actions are truthful expressions of your internal beliefs is a life worth living.

Now make a stand and start saying no to your hypocrisy today! ;)