5.6 Confucius dislikes hypocrisy

子曰、巧言令色、足恭、左丘明恥之、丘亦恥之、匿怨而友其人、 左丘明恥之、丘亦恥之。

The Master said, ‘Fine words, an insinuating appearance, and excessive respect;– Zuo Qiuming [Tso Ch’iu-ming] was ashamed of them. I also am ashamed of them. To conceal resentment against a person, and appear friendly with him;– Zuo Qiuming was ashamed of such conduct. I also am ashamed of it.’

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People thinks a saint or an enlightened master has no dislike.  Yet Jesus was angry when seeing merchants yelling in the sacred temple.  And similarly, Confucius did not like people who pretend to be saintly on the outer appearance but have hidden agenda inside.   This illustrates our nature of being a human:  While we share the same origin of united reality, as separated beings we are subjected to our animal natures and emotions.  Buddhists say the same.  The meaning of a Bodhisattva (enlightened being who remains in the world for service after liberation) is:  aware and be loving-kindness, not departing from the world and perceiving nothing.  Therefore, on the pathway of spiritual cultivation, if we are proceeding properly, we should be getting a clearer and clearer understanding about ourselves,  including our body, emotions, thoughts, and consciousness, and not ignorance and oblivious of them.   Understanding one self, therefore, is an important and inevitable step in spiritual cultivation.