How Can One Achieve Relying on the Dharma Rather Than on Persons?

Dharma is the truth of facts, and all learners must rely on the truth of facts. If you yourself do not know what the truth of facts is, first, you may choose to remain silent—not commenting, not evaluating, not taking a stance of yes or no. Second, you should strive to seek and discover the truth of facts, striving to verify whether a certain dharma truly is the truth of facts; before there is evidence to prove it, choose silence.

In this way, the phenomenon of blindly relying on persons can be avoided. As long as anyone is not a Buddha, the dharma they teach will certainly have flaws and shortcomings. If one chooses to rely on the person, then one also relies on those flaws and shortcomings, and the consequences will not be optimistic. Even with the dharma taught by the Buddha, as long as one does not hear it face to face, and it is passed down through intermediaries, there may be parts transmitted incorrectly, with phenomena of erroneous transmission. As a Buddhist disciple, one should also try one's best to personally realize and verify it, to see whether the dharma passed down through intermediaries is truly real and reasonable; and before genuine wisdom has arisen, one should not casually evaluate it either.