PureInsight | May 16, 2005
[PureInsight.org] The world is burst with people after fame and wealth. As a result, there are now a lot of celebrities in all walks of life. Those who seek fame and wealth are the very prisoners of fame and wealth. They are unable to surpass fame and wealth or be impervious to any threat to their fame and wealth. Their minds are like water that constantly wrinkles and stirs up the mud at the bottom. Teacher said, "A well-known person does not necessarily know things well." (From "The Issue of Pursuit" in Lecture Two of Zhuan Falun.) Even in the profession of teachers, it is more difficult to find a true good teacher who knows things well than to find a well-known teacher.
Lao Zi said, "A man who understands the World is learned; a man who understands the Self is enlightened." (From Chapter 33 of The Book of Tao and Virtue or Tao Te Ching.) When a man is consumed by his attachments to fame and wealth, he may be a celebrity in his professional arena, but he lacks the wisdom to truly understand himself. To attain the wisdom to know oneself, one must first cultivate oneself and reach enlightenment. The Chinese character for enlightenment is 悟, which is made of two Chinese characters. The character on the left means "heart" and the character on the right means "I." It means enlightenment is about knowing our hearts. One must first have a true understanding of one's inner self first to attain the wisdom to know oneself. This is the reason why there are a lot of celebrities in this world, but there are few enlightened men. As a result, it is even harder to find a true good teacher in this secular world.
As a teacher, he must have the ability to teach his students morality and knowledge and he must be able to answer all of his students' questions. Otherwise, he is considered a fraud. According to the ancient Chinese values, there are three levels of teachers. A high-level teacher teaches the Tao. A middle-level teacher teaches morality. A low-level teacher teaches skills. The ability to teach Tao and to lead his students to the Tao makes a high-level teacher. That is a true good teacher. A middle-level teacher reveres morality and preaches to his students on morality. That is also a good teacher. A low-level teacher teaches nothing but skills to market his school and satisfy his students' secular interests. He will eventually lead his students to vice. Such values are bad for him as well as his students. Since I started to receive education, I have called at least one hundred people teacher, but they taught me nothing but their scientific knowledge. They had never taught me morality or addressed my questions about life.
My graduate school advisor was my first mentor. Although he appeared to value morality, he was unable to answer my question about the meaning of life. He told me, "In order to become a truly profoundly knowledgeable scholar, you must be willing to travel around the country to learn from your own and other people's experiences of life." I decided to follow his advice. From then on, I started traveling all over China. I met Taoist cultivators on Mount Hua and Mount Lao, as well as Buddhist cultivators on Mount Wutai. All of these so-called cultivators have been formed by the Chinese Communist Party's atheistic "education" and confessed that they are merely Buddhists or Taoists by profession to make ends meet. They don't know any Buddha Fa or Tao to teach me. When I asked them the way to cultivation practice, nearly all of them sneered at me. Only a Taoist I met on Mount Hua were slightly friendlier. When he saw that I was truly anxious to pursue cultivation practice, he tried to give me the best answer he could offer. "Traveling one thousand miles is more enlightening than studying one thousand books. Meeting one thousand people is more enlightening than traveling one thousand miles. A true good teacher is more enlightening than meeting one thousand people. Finding your own way to reach enlightenment is more enlightening than having a true good teacher." After I had traveled way over one thousand miles all around China and met over one thousand people, a true good teacher was still nowhere to be found.
It was not until Teacher started spreading Falun Gong, the great Buddha of the universe that I found the true good Teacher. Most fortunate I am to have obtained a copy of Teacher's Zhuan Falun. The immensely profound Buddha Fa in the book answered all of my questions about life and more. The true Buddha Fa has led me to a journey to return to my true self. I have finally found the true good teacher I have dreamed about. After a long journey of searching for a true good teacher of cultivation practice, I feel immensely gratified. My heart is often overwhelmed with joy now that I have finally walked out of the darkness. For those who are still wandering about in the darkness for the true way home, I would like to give you a heartfelt advice: A true good teacher is like an incandescent lantern in the darkness. Only when you find a true good teacher will you be able to walk out of the darkness.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/5/6/32235.html
