We may ask ourselves and others: “What is the sign of well-studied Buddhist practitioner and what is the sign of well-practiced meditator?" It is really difficult to
answer these questions. However, according to the strictly Buddhist point of view, the sign of well-studied practitioner is someone who becomes humbler and more down to earth without pride and arrogance. If these qualities are not present, then anyone who claims to have studied Buddhism for a long time has just learned the words but not the true meaning of Buddhism. Such knowledge is not only less beneficial when not put into practice, but can actually be harmful to oneself and others as it can become a source of pride, jealousy, and arrogance. A practitioner whose negative emotions are reduced and who is not controlled by his or her poisons such as anger, pride, attachment, ignorance and evil intention exhibits the signs of a true meditator. Without these signs, we are just deceiving ourselves, and such an achievement is like water mixed with poison—it is not useful to oneself or others. Therefore, in my opinion, we should investigate deep within and make sure that our knowledge is not mixed with negative emotions. Otherwise these attainments will cause more harm than benefits for oneself and others.
If we do away with pride and greed, then comfort can be achieved even with only a few belongings - otherwise nothing will really satisfy us. Therefore, we should grab every opportunity that comes our way, rather than waiting for something extraordinary, and know that after all it is not as hard as we may have thought
Desire is like a disease, and if we give desire a helping hand, then it will grow within us and eventually we will become the slave of our own desire. When we look deep inside, desire never brings us happiness but only pain. When desire controls us, we have to work very hard to fulfil the demands of our desire whose needs are often impossible to satisfy. For instance, it is like trying to fill up the whole ocean with stones — an impossible task. Therefore, instead of working to satisfy unrealistic goals, in my opinion, we should simply try not to give in to desire, because we cannot really achieve its wishes and in the end we may only experience more misery.