It is incorrect to think that just because a master has learned a great dharma or calls himself or herself a Buddha or Bodhisattva that he or she is a worthy master. You must also look at how they behave and what they say and do. They must not speak falsely even if they say they are using skillful or expedient means. They must abide by the precepts. Their conduct must match their words.
Evil View No. 28: Acknowledging that a master who has learned a great dharma must be one of great holiness.
Some people think that because a certain master received a great initiation or learned a great dharma, he must be a person of great holiness. That is incorrect. If you have such a view, you have fallen into evil ways. A master who learned a great dharma has not necessarily succeeded in his practice of that great dharma. A master who learned a great dharma does not necessarily abide by the precepts according to the dharma. You must determine whether this master follows any of these 128 evil and erroneous views. Therefore, you should not think that someone who learned a great dharma is definitely a person of great holiness. One becomes a person of great holiness through one’s own concrete cultivation.
Evil View No. 30: Acknowledging a master who speaks falsely and deceives living beings. Some masters speak falsely to deceive living beings and their disciples. They say that in so doing they are using skillful or expedient means. However, masters who do this follow an evil view. Those who think such conduct is acceptable likewise harbor an evil view.
Evil View No. 33: A cknowledging as dharma teachers, rinpoches, and lay persons those who do not follow the precepts. There are rinpoches, dharma teachers, and laypersons who have never received any precepts. There are even such people who have received precepts but who do not abide by the precepts they received. They are false rinpoches, false dharma teachers, or false laypersons who appear to be what they in fact are not. Therefore, every rinpoche, dharma teacher, or layperson must receive precepts corresponding to him or her and must abide by those precepts in accordance with the dharma.
Evil View No. 38: Acknowledging as legitimate one who proclaims oneself to be a Buddha or Bodhisattva to one’s disciples. One who, in front of his disciples, claims to be a reincarnation of a certain greatly virtuous being, a certain Buddha or Bodhisattva, or person of great holiness is a deceiver. However, if he has a recognition certificate recognizing his identity and that certificate was made in accordance with the dharma, then he is of course who the recognition certificate says he is. However, he must still have a heart of humility and must not boast. Otherwise, he, too, will have the mentality of an ordinary being. If one does not have a certificate of recognition made in accordance with the dharma, he should all the more not recklessly boast of himself. That would create the dark karma that leads to a rebirth in one of the three lower realms. Such a person who recklessly boasts of himself will experience huge and horrible karmic retribution. One should never do that.
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