Well actually the most important thing when looking for teachers is how you and they work together rather than what their qualities are. You might find the most compassionate teacher in the world, but it could be that what you need right now is an abrasive teacher who helps you learn patience, or cuts through nonsense so you start actually connecting to the truth. The path of the Buddha is connecting to the truth whatever it is. There’s a good passage in this translator’s introduction to the Kalama sutra - the sutra itself is rather long and easily misunderstood.
“ Although this discourse is often cited as the Buddha's carte blanche for following one's own sense of right and wrong, it actually says something much more rigorous than that. Traditions are not to be followed simply because they are traditions. Reports (such as historical accounts or news) are not to be followed simply because the source seems reliable. One's own preferences are not to be followed simply because they seem logical or resonate with one's feelings. Instead, any view or belief must be tested by the results it yields when put into practice; and — to guard against the possibility of any bias or limitations in one's understanding of those results — they must further be checked against the experience of people who are wise. The ability to question and test one's beliefs in an appropriate way is called appropriate attention. The ability to recognize and choose wise people as mentors is called having admirable friends. According to Iti 16-17, these are, respectively, the most important internal and external factors for attaining the goal of the practice. “
So the interesting thing there is - that you test them by the results they yield when put into practice. That’s about any teachings, including also teachers too. And not based on whether they seem logical or resonate with one’s feelngs.
“One's own preferences are not to be followed simply because they seem logical or resonate with one's feelings. “
So if you are working with a teacher, and you feel that it is leading you towards the truth, understanding, compassion, well then that teaching is working for you. Maybe everyone else says they are an awful teacher. Maybe they have a bad reputation. Maybe they have even done things that are against the law, or breaking the Buddhist precepts. Maybe your teacher isn’t a Buddhist - there’s no reason why they have to be, that you are on the Buddhist path, doesn’t mean that your teachers have to be Buddhists. Because Buddha gave this advice to look for teachings anywhere where it helps you. At some point the whole world may be your teacher, always bringing the messages of the dharma.
That’s also why nobody else can say to you “I am your teacher” in this sense. They may feel they are doing just great, teaching you what you need, but if you don’t have that connection from your side, if they are not giving you a connection to truth, to compassion, loving kindness, to wisdom, not in the intellectual sense but in the sense of a grounding, connection to truth, opening out to possibilities, not easily deluded - if they aren’t connecting you to all that then - though they may be giving you a connection with the words of the Buddha, they are not really truly teaching you Buddha’s teachings.
And your true teachers may never know that they were your teachers either. There are plenty of stories of that type.
So, - it really doesn’t matter if your teacher appears to be the most compassionate person in the world or to lack compassion completely. What matters is whether you feel that you are making a connection with compassion as a result of working with them. This is where beginner meditators looking for a good teacher often go wrong. They go around looking for a teacher who seems compassionate, has a good reputation, lots of students, and who gives them rare and unusual teachings. They never stop to think and examine what effect all of this is having on themselves and whether this is someone who is teaching in a way that actually helps them to connect to compassion, or wisdom or to be grounded in the truth. That’s especially true in the “Guru” traditions like Tibetan Buddhism for instance.
That doesn’t mean though that you try to find a teacher who is doing crazy things. That may be what suits a few people, but that’s an unusual path to follow and many people won’t connect to it at all. And for each genuine “crazy yogin” such as many think Trungpa Rinpoche was, there are probably a dozen or so who think they are “crazy yogins” but are just “crazy”.
You’ll get lots of advice from people saying that “so and so” is the best, you must go to them. And maybe they are right, but maybe “so and so” is not the one for you.
The Buddhist path is a little different from most religions because Buddha when he died said not to take anyone else on as the Buddhist head, so though there are organizational structures, there’s no overall leading figure or pope or anything like that in any of the main authentic traditions - the ones that treat the sutras as the authentic teachings of the Buddha. There can’t be because Buddha said not to do that. But what we do have to ground us are Buddha’s teachings themselves in the sutras.
So, you can find teachers that are recognized as qualified to teach on a scholarly level. And you can also find teachers that have been recognized by their own teachers, and back and back in a lineage which they often say goes back to Buddha himself, who may not always be scholars, but are recognized as being able to transmit the teachings, as having a connection with the inspiration of the Buddha and passing that on to their students. It doesn’t mean they are Buddha or realized or enlightened. But they have the blessing of their lineage.
At any rate that gives something you can use as a basis to decide if they are a genuine teacher. While someone who has repudiated their own lineage or whose teacher doesn’t support them - they may be best avoided. I think that’s about the main thing. It’s going to make things complicated for you, if you connect to someone like that, but then that also can be a teaching of course.
However, you can have anyone as a teacher, doesn’t have to be a Buddhist, doesn’t have to be human, or even a living creature, eventually then your whole life can become your teacher, connecting you to compassion, grounding you when you go floating off on a cloud of daydream, waking you up in many ways, connecting you to stability and wisdom in this sense of connecting to truth.
Here I’m not talking about looking for a guru in the sense of a Tibetan guru, say. Very few people ever follow that path, and those few that do will often spend many years evaluating their teacher and vice versa before committing to a path like that. I’m talking here just about looking for someone to teach you in the ordinary sense. And most of us have many teachers along the path.
That said, that’s not to say you just go and take anyone on as a teacher, at random, not paying any attention to what everyone says about them etc. Compassion is very important. It’s just that it’s not really the teacher’s compassion that’s important - how can you evaluate that anyway? It’s your own compassion you need to look at, is this teacher connecting you to compassion, wisdom, loving kindness, patience, and the other qualities of the Buddhist path? Or are they just connecting you to them as words? If so, they are maybe giving you some kind of blessing connection to the teachings, but you may need to look elsewhere eventually to get that real connection to the path. And meanwhile someone else may find that this teacher is exactly what they need, they are just not for you, or not just now.
A flower is always happy because it is beautiful.
Bees sing their song of loneliness and weep.
A waterfall is busy hurrying to the ocean.
A poet is blown by the wind.A friend without inside or outside
And a rock that is not happy or sad
Are watching the winter crescent moon
Suffering from the bitter wind.
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