Question

What questions do you ask of teachers when testing their abilities and wisdom?

Answer

We have two very set questions. We ask them what is the importance of compassion in the practice. There are a lot of cold, indifferent teachers out there, and this immediately separates them. What is the importance of compassion in the practice? Then we ask them what are the eight worldly dhammas, or eight worldly conditions - praise and blame, gain and loss, fame and obscurity, pleasure and pain. We ask them about it, and we ask them to explain it. A lot of teachers don't know about them and a lot of teachers get them confused. Especially fame and obscurity, it often comes out only as a modified praise and blame. They actually don't know obscurity for what it is, not being famous in anybody's eyes. It is very interesting with those two questions, we are often able to very quickly see the wisdom level of the teachers.

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