Bodhidharma was once asked: “Who can be called a smart student and who can be called a stupid student?”
Bodhidharma replied: “The intelligent student is not attached to the words of the teacher, he uses his own experience to find the Truth. A stupid student expects that understanding will gradually come to him through the words of the teacher. The teacher has two types of students: those who listen to the words of the teacher, without clinging to the material or immaterial, without being attached to form and the absence of form, without thinking about living and non-living things - these are smart students. Others who crave understanding by accumulating knowledge and mixing good and evil are foolish students.
A smart student understands instantly: he does not use the lower mind when he listens to the teaching, but he does not follow the mind of the wise, he transcends both wisdom and ignorance.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru