The Profound Consciousness-Only Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (31)

When sentient beings have not yet opened the eye of the Path, they often take the false as true and the true as false, becoming inverted and confused. Or they only recognize famous teachers, not knowing that there is a great difference between a famous teacher and a teacher of true insight: one may possess the Path without fame, and one may have fame without possessing the Path. Only by clearly distinguishing a famous teacher from a teacher of true insight can one rely on the Dharma rather than on the person. The merit of propagating the true Dharma is very great, but if one propagates it wrongly, the erroneous seeds planted in sentient beings' minds will sprout badly and bear bad fruit life after life; even when a true teacher (kalyāṇamitra) comes, it is very difficult to correct, because sentient beings are all governed by first impressions. Moreover, the true Buddha-Dharma is difficult to resonate with sentient beings: when it differs from what sentient beings generally recognize as familiar matters and principles, they will develop rejection, and their minds are hard to turn around. One cannot be too careful in propagating the Dharma.