How to Discern Between Virtuous and Non-Virtuous Friends

One should not use the term "evil spiritual guide" to describe a monastic master or teacher. True evil, as the term implies, should refer to the intent of someone like Mara, who deliberately misleads sentient beings, preventing them from following the correct path to liberation. When ordinary people expound the Dharma, it is merely due to insufficient wisdom and limited cultivation and realization; they do not intentionally lead sentient beings astray onto wrong paths. They harbor no malicious intent. The only one who is truly evil is the demon king Mara, who fears and hates those who liberate sentient beings and those who have the potential to attain liberation. Some people, lacking wisdom yet fond of teaching the Dharma, act out of afflictions in their own minds, seeking to prove their own capability and make sentient beings admire and worship them. Many others, however, seeing the suffering of sentient beings, resolve to help them overcome afflictions. Yet, due to limited wisdom and lacking personal realization themselves, they are unable to guide sentient beings to cultivate according to the truth.

As long as the motivation is not evil, one should not be labeled an evil spiritual guide. Most people who teach the Dharma are still able to benefit sentient beings in various ways. Although they have not yet awakened to the mind and attained enlightenment, the foundational Buddhist teachings still rely on such individuals for transmission. In the Saha world, there are not so many truly awakened and enlightened Bodhisattvas who start from the basics to teach sentient beings step by step. Bodhisattvas of great wisdom do not have the energy or patience for this; they must liberate sentient beings who have reached a considerable level of attainment. Bodhisattvas of different levels of realization liberate sentient beings of different capacities. The number of Bodhisattvas is inherently very small; it is impossible and wasteful to insist on using such great resources for minor tasks.

Since we have already studied the Buddha Dharma, we should emulate the Buddha and refrain from speaking disrespectfully; we should respect all Dharma teachers and instructors. As for them teaching the Dharma incorrectly, this is unavoidable. Only the Buddha alone teaches the Dharma without error; all Bodhisattvas are potentially capable of teaching the Dharma incorrectly. The wisdom of Bodhisattvas is continuously increasing. The very term "increasing" implies that their wisdom in the past was certainly insufficient; therefore, errors and omissions would inevitably appear in their teaching. If a Bodhisattva, after their wisdom increases, is considered a virtuous spiritual guide, then they were an evil spiritual guide before. Does this imply that all Bodhisattvas, including those at the stage of equal enlightenment, were once evil spiritual guides?

In truth, the only truly evil one is Mara. Mara vowed before the Buddha that during the Dharma Ending Age, he would infiltrate Buddhism to destroy the Dharma, ensuring that sentient beings would not attain liberation. Now Mara has come, disguised as a virtuous spiritual guide, appearing exceptionally kind. Who possesses the discernment to see through Mara’s true form? It seems no one can. Since we cannot recognize Mara, how can we determine whether someone is a virtuous spiritual guide or an evil one?

Sentient beings, since beginningless kalpas, have fallen into the deep abyss of afflictions, unable to extricate themselves. They all rely on the majestic virtue of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for deliverance. If a so-called virtuous spiritual guide not only fails to help sentient beings eliminate afflictions but deliberately increases their afflictions, causing them to ceaselessly crave the mundane, ceaselessly cling to worldly dharmas, ceaselessly grow hatred, and ceaselessly engage in malicious conflicts, the result is that sentient beings sink deeper into the cycle of birth and death, unable to free themselves. Not only can they not transcend the afflictions of the Three Realms, they cannot even eliminate or lessen the afflictions of the desire realm. If someone shows potential to transcend the desire realm, Mara becomes most troubled and cannot rest in his demon palace. He will inevitably devise methods to hinder and obstruct that person, causing them to generate greed, generate hatred, and commit various unwholesome karmas. Consequently, that person will remain in the desire realm or even fall into the three evil destinies, under Mara’s control. Therefore, one criterion for judging whether someone is a virtuous or evil spiritual guide is to see if they deliberately instill greed, hatred, and delusion in sentient beings, causing them to extensively create unwholesome karmic conditions and become entangled in unwholesome karmas. This makes it impossible for them to escape the desire realm and the three evil destinies. Mara’s descendants will then increase, not decrease.

Evil spiritual guides often seek to fundamentally destroy the Three Jewels, disrupt the Buddhist teachings, and uproot the Three Jewels entirely, preventing sentient beings from relying on the genuine Three Jewels. Mara skillfully destroys the image of the Three Jewels in the minds of sentient beings, subtly diminishing the image of the Buddha and the image of the Sangha. He then devises ways to prevent sentient beings from studying the true Dharma and from engaging in actual cultivation and realization. He skillfully obstructs sentient beings from cultivating the Six Paramitas of the Bodhisattva and from cultivating precepts, concentration, and wisdom, ensuring that all sentient beings are unable to attain genuine realization, cannot truly eradicate the view of self, and cannot truly awaken to the mind. Moreover, he deliberately causes sentient beings to commit the grave karma of false speech, making each one believe they are true Bodhisattvas while others are demons’ spawn. Thus, every sentient being becomes trapped in unwholesome karmas, unable to attain liberation, and Mara becomes satisfied and joyful. For specific details, refer to the section on the fifty skandha-maras in the Shurangama Sutra.