Unmask the thief

"You say such clever things to people, but don't apply them to yourself; The faults within you are the ones to be exposed."


You may have received numerous teachings and know, in theory, how to progress and to avoid obstacles. Nevertheless, if you do not apply these instructions to yourself, your knowledge will remain sterile, like the wealth of a rich miser who deprives himself of food and starves to death.

If you sincerely want to progress, open your eyes to your own defects. It is your own mind that you must examine, as if in a mirror. To maintain a conceited opinion of yourself, seeing defects only in others and regarding your own flaws as good qualities, will certainly prevent you from making any progress. The best teachings expose our hidden faults. To unmask a hitherto unsuspected thief effectively puts an end to his doings.  

- The Hundred Verses of Advice of Padampa Sangye (Explained by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche).