Dharma teacher has to have a good history – a long history of studying, history of practice, history of good conduct and a history of good realization

Everyone knows that a teacher, any kind of teacher, has to have good qualities and be well-learned, otherwise [he] cannot teach the students. It’s the same in the Dharma. Dharma teacher has to have a good history – a long history of studying, history of practice, history of good conduct and a history of good realization. When there are none of these conditions for a person to be Dharma practitioner, then that’s a bad teacher.

We have a saying in Tibet:” It’s easy to pretend to have a high view, and easy to pretend not to have any money”, because you can hide money somewhere and to be like a beggar. And it’s easy for you to [pretend to] be very high being: “I have realized emptiness!”. And people get confused: “Oh, that’s a realized person. It must be because he said so.” That’s the confusion and that’s why we need to be smart.

 Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche, “GURU YOGA: Bless Me So That Delusion on The Path Will Cease”