It is very difficult to tell whether or not someone is a good practitioner, but we can certainly see some signs in how a person behaves when she or he faces
critical moments. For instance, when someone makes us angry or jealous and if we are not affected by it, then this shows that our practice is working. However, if our emotions grow during such situations, then this is a bad sign and it shows that we still need to do our homework. It is only we ourselves who will know where we are in our practice. If we pretend in front of others to be a good practitioner, then it is self-deceiving. Therefore, we need inner transformation, not outer transformation. As simply changing our appearances does not make us a good practitioner, but only a good artist.
It is hard to feel the pain and hunger of others because we are often not directly affected by their miseries. In my opinion, one of the best ways to understand the pain of others is to relate it to our own hunger and pain, which we know directly. It is important to try to relate to the feelings of others because by understanding others' pain, we not only will be able to appreciate how lucky we are, but we will also be able to truly help others from the depths of our hearts.
We keep asking ourselves, if we have accumulated so much merit and done so many good things, why are we not enjoying the results or the fruit? The simple reason is that we are either misusing our hard-earned merit or we are lavishly spending more than we have managed to cultivate. Merit is like money, and if we spend it unwisely, then our joy will be short lived.