Do not believe in anyone without seeing any reason for one to accept, to believe

But the devotion that is unified with wisdom is even more important. Therefore, believing in real teaching of Buddha is very important. Do not believe in anyone without seeing any reason for one to accept, to believe. Nowadays people do not know something very well but they still somehow put some belief in, so by that people make mistakes. Therefore, Buddha often said to study first, to think carefully first and then you put your devotion in it. Still there are people who do not know Buddha’s teachings, do not train themselves very well, they do not study much, they do not have background but people still believe in [them], without studying, learning, knowing well. This kind of situation can be dangerous, too.

Those essential things that I mentioned earlier are very important for Dharma practitioners, very necessary conditions. So please remember and try to understand very well their meanings: faith, devotion. There are many levels of devotion, levels of faith. The faith we want to practice is the faith that is really based on good understanding, good learning. That faith is very reliable, very stable. We have this faith because we have good reasons.

Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche,“There is Still Harmony – the Community Still Continues”