The three essential qualities that make one a very good Dharma teacher

A good dharma teacher means very knowledgeable, good conduct and good experienced. Those three qualities make one a very good Dharma teacher. Without having these qualities, it’s difficult to be a good teacher. Without having good instructors, it’s difficult to follow a correct path. Therefore, it’s very important for a Dharma practitioner to have good teachers.

Knowledge is a good quality to be a Dharma teacher, especially for teacher to lead practitioners on the path. Therefore, knowledge is very important. When someone is not knowledgeable on teaching, so how to teach, how to lead, then that’s very bad.

But that’s not only condition to be a good teacher. As I mentioned earlier having good conducts is very important, even more important than proper knowledge. Sometimes, knowledgeable or smart people can make troubles. [They] can lie people and cheat people because they are smart, while their conduct is not good. Good conduct means honest and bad conduct means dishonest. Therefore, good conduct, good discipline is even more important than knowledge.

And then experience is very important, because when someone is knowledgeable and good conduct but does not practice enough, then one does not have any experience. Then, no experience on the path, on the teachings, it means the mind is still empty, not powerful. [Then] the mind does not reach to the point of Dharma. Dharma is far away from one’s mind, Dharma is not working, training the mind; the mind is still empty or the mind is still very wild, though one can have good conducts and good knowledge.

 Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche, “Three Qualities a Dharma Master Should Have (Part I)”