Find fault with yourself
for always finding fault with others.— Shilashanti (Part 1)
How should we advise those who keep finding fault with many so-called ‘Buddhist teachers’? Provided that their assessments of those ‘teachers’ are correct, you can ask who are the teacher/s, whom they can access personally, that they recommend. These teacher/s should be able to offer the essential Right Dharma (正法) according with the Buddha’s teachings accurately, be reachable to ask questions, and able to offer adequate answers. Again, if their assessments of these teachers are correct, encourage focus to keep learning from them, and to stop frequenting the others.
To put it more buntly, they should not keep idealistically expecting ‘wormlessness’ in partially or totally ‘rotting’ bad apples. Why personally seek afflictions (自寻烦恼) by looking for more and more ‘worms’, while missing the necessary nutrients? Why not just support the growth of good apples and partake of them? Life is way too short to not choose and focus well. What we focus on grows. If we rant on, we will only become more negative, with no good arising from this. We should water the right seeds for the flowering of good fruits, not the weeds that will only disappoint.
While bad ‘teachers’ proven not amendable despite sincere and sound suggestions for corrections should be dropped, good teachers should be treasured. They can be supported by attending and promoting their Dharma activities, as all good teachers wish is that their students learn and practise well, with their primary concern being to guide more towards the swiftest path to Buddhahood. With Dharma propagation requiring various practical forms of support, with that offered by students able to, they will be able to keep offering the Right Dharma, to as many as possible.
As taught by Śākyamuni Buddha (释迦牟尼佛) in Brahmā Net Sūtra’s Bodhisattva Precepts’ Text’s《梵网经菩萨戒本》final precept, ‘Like worms within a lion’s body, personally eating the lion’s flesh, this is not by other external worms done. Of such Buddha’s ‘disciples’ [with evil views, words and deeds], they will personally destroy the Buddha’s teachings, that are not by external paths and celestial demons [who deviate from the Buddha’s teachings] able to be destroyed. If there are those who have received the Buddha’s precepts, they should protect the Buddha’s precepts [by upholding them well], like being mindful of their only child, like serving their fathers and mothers, they must not be destroyed and broken.’ (如师子身中虫，自食师子肉，非余外虫。如是佛子自破佛法，非外道天魔能破。若受佛戒者，应护佛戒，如念一子，如事父母，不可毁破。) Not only must we not be such worms, we must not support them too.
Find fault with yourself
for never finding fault with yourself.— Shilashanti (Part 2)
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