Second Dhyana Certification

Question: 

Ven. Master:

I read the post on Ven. XianJie. It says that he certified to Second Dhyana. How does he know? I have often heard that if we knew we should not even say it because it would cause a loss of merit and virtue and would easily bring forth the mind of arrogance.

Please kindly instruct and forgive my shallow understanding.

Thank you,

ALL

Answer:

​I certified his attaining Second Dhyana. Since then he advanced to even higher realms. Why should he even become arrogant when our goals are much higher, as we aspire to reach the destination realms where arrogance is non-existent? Furthermore, he has no reason to be arrogant since his co-cultivators who cultivated longer under me have reached even higher grounds.
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Oh, over the years people often asked me questions such as “How would you know? Are you making such statements with ulterior motives, etc…” My usual reply is “I know what I know because I need to guide my disciples toward enlightenment.” Instead, you should ask yourself why you don’t know instead of why I know.