Dharma is not just a toy to play with, it’s not just a position from which to show your power, it’s not a joke with which to tease people

Anyone who wants to be a dharma follower, must understand they are responsible for their future lives. Dharma is not just a toy to play with, it’s not just a position from which to show your power, it’s not a joke with which to tease people. Dharma is the path to liberation, the path from which you escape your bad karma. Using dharma in the correct way is amrita that destroys one’s depression and negative emotions. Dharma used incorrectly is poison that destroys one’s happiness and positive things. Because of that, everyone has to try sincerely and correctly.

It’s important for a dharma teacher to have a good life history and an unbroken and clean lineage. That is because those conditions constitute a source of very reliable information that can help one evaluate a teacher and determine if that person will be a good teacher. All the Budhas, bodhisattvas and great masters have good life stories and clean lineages.

Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche, “History of the Winter Retreat and Other Related Matters of Longngon Monastery”