"Дхарма, которую будды хранят в тайне" и другие неудобные вопросы для махаяны со стороны тхеравады

захочет вдруг изложить Дхамму другими понятиями и адаптировать в соответствии с социальными изменениями, то он, скорее всего, Дхамму только испортит

Дхарма не является словами. "Увы".

A teacher should be able to teach according to what is asked of them. I don’t mean yogis who sit an hour or two  a day. Yogis who honestly train many hours a day, maybe twenty hours. A yogi who trains in this way comes daily to ask questions from the teacher, and the teacher should be able to communicate with the yogi in a  pleasant way and teach what the yogi wants to know. On a daily basis.

And usually, two or three minutes is enough to get across the main points of what needs to be taught. When the  yogi comes like that, the teacher knows what is going on with the yogi. The teacher knows the yogi’s state of  training. The teacher knows what happened the previous day, what is happening that day and what is going to  happen the following day. The teacher has a good idea of all that. When the yogi sees this, he or she gets more confidence in the teacher.
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I remember one elderly man who exerted a lot of effort and gained strong concentration. He had a positive  influence on the much younger yogis. When young yogis saw this old man training properly, the young yogis  were energized. I got a clear insight. This elderly man wasn’t strongly immersed in views or clinging to any  system, and consequently teachable. He was easy to teach. He was also the exception, and the opposite of my  father. With many strongly held views, my father ― impossible.

There was also an old woman from Ambalangoda whose occupation was crushing coconut husks. This is hard  work, and in her advanced age was bent in two with the work. She had no formal education. Very poor.  Working in the hot sun, she had become black. It was with great pleasure that I taught her. Still, now more than fifty years later, thinking of this elderly woman’s practice brings me joy. She was about seventy years of age.  She could hear alright. Whatever teachings I gave, she understood quickly, and progressed. She progressed very  quickly. Her grandchildren started coming for teachings when I was in Colombo.

You can’t reject people thinking they are too old or too weak or too poor. Or not educated. Many good yogis do not know the suttas. They don’t know Abhidhamma. Some don’t even know how to read or write. These are not  obstructions to progress. They may have never looked at a book on meditation. This old woman from Ambalangoda was very quick to grasp, despite her hard life.

With lots of experience teaching the elderly, I saw potential and introduced her to Sumathipāla Na Himi. He  told her to come every day, and was also pleased with her progress. She didn’t even have proper white clothes.  We provided her with proper clothing. Rarely do you come across somebody like this.

David: What are you trying to say?

There’s a difference in knowledge and wisdom among people. Our Ambalangoda grandmother had a good  degree of wisdom. Also in the Buddha’s time, many ordinary men and women of all ages were wise. They went about the training and progressed.
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David: I won’t be training any twenty hours a day. How important is a teacher?

A teacher is important. When teachings work to the maximum, yogis attain path knowledge. Many people in the  Buddha's time simply heard teachings and immediately attained path. The teachings of the Buddha are found in  countless books and yogis use books for the preliminary stages of training. To go beyond preliminaries, it is essential for yogis to study with a good teacher.

David: Where are the good teachers?

There are good teachers to be found. Many teachers have a thorough knowledge and grammar of the suttas. By  repeating what the Buddha said, they teach in a general and clear way about what is good and what is bad.  There are also teachers who understand subtle aspects of dhamma, and go beyond repeating suttas. It’s not  exactly temple teachings. With sensitivity, they take the necessary time to assess each yogi’s unique character  and tailor teachings correctly.

A yogi working with these two types of teachers learns in a broad and useful way a great deal about reducing hindrances and defilements. Learns about developing spiritual faculties. These two types of teachers are  common enough and easily found. Teachers of a third type, who recognize a yogi’s nimitta and respond to it in  the best possible way, are of course rare. These teachers know the yogi’s precise level of practice and give the  most worthwhile teachings.

A tree bearing fruit, you can throw stones at it. The stone may strike and something may fall, but it may not  strike.

Many teachers have a thorough knowledge and grammar of the suttas. By  repeating what the Buddha said, they teach in a general and clear way about what is good and what is bad.
There are also teachers who understand subtle aspects of dhamma, and go beyond repeating suttas. It’s not  exactly temple teachings. With sensitivity, they take the necessary time to assess each yogi’s unique character and tailor teachings correctly.

Teachers of a third type, who recognize a yogi’s nimitta and respond to it in  the best possible way, are of course rare. These teachers know the yogi’s precise level of practice and give the  most worthwhile teachings.