From Becoming Enlightened by HH the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
(2009).
Knowing the Qualifications of a Teacher
In general a teacher is useful for gaining knowledge, and it is
particularly important for a teacher of spiritual topics to be
properly qualified. Chief among the qualifications are expertise in
the spiritual texts and direct experience of what is being taught.
Since the very purpose of Buddhist learning is to discipline the mind,
a teacher of such knowledge could not help tame anyone else's mind
without first having tamed her own. Therefore, a teacher must herself
possess inner qualities of experiential realization and scriptural
understanding surpassing those of her students.
How is that accomplished? Through the three trainings in morality,
meditative concentration, and wisdom. Specifically, whether you have
taken monastic vows or you are a layperson, as a teacher you should
have sufficient training in morality such that your senses are
controlled. Otherwise your senses will be like wild horses, pulling
you into unfit actions. Also, you need to have experience in one-
pointed meditative concentration so that you can overcome distractions
such as external excitation and internal dullness. Furthermore, you
need the wisdom of selflessness, and specifically of the emptiness of
inherent existence, in order to thoroughly pacify counterproductive
emotions that make your mental continuum intractable. At a minimum,
you need some familiarity with selflessness by way of scriptures and
reasoning.
To teach trainees it is necessary to have a wealth of scriptural
knowledge as well as acquaintance with and understanding of a range of
teachings, so that when teamed with skill in techniques of instruction
you can stimulate understanding in students. To accomplish this, you
need to be energetically enthusiastic about improving the welfare of
your students, to have only loving sympathy for them, and to forgo any
personal concern about hardships involved in explaining doctrines over
and over again until they can sink in.
Just as it is important for those who want to be teachers to work at
gaining these qualities, so it is important for students to understand
the attributes of a good spiritual teacher and try to find someone
endowed with them. If you cannot find anyone who has all of these
attributes, at least find someone who has more good qualities than
defects; avoid those whose defects predominate or who are in the same
situation as you.
There are Tibetans in various parts of the world who are attempting to
teach but are not qualified to do so. Student need to take care in
order to avoid such teachers. Rushing headlong into this venture in
inappropriate. Analyze first. Just as a teacher needs the power of
analysis to become learned, so does the student need analysis from the
very start.
