If you don't have merit, the ego will always be on hand to decipher things its way. Even if the master gives you the most important teaching, you will understand it your way.
So,
👉instead of trying to outdo the ego, the most important thing to do is to accumulate merit. How? There are many different ways. You can wear a tie and look handsome, thinking, “This is an offering to the master.”
If you are driving at night, when you see street lights, you can immediately visualize them as lights offered to the guru.
If you can't do it yourself and if you see someone else doing it, at least be happy with what they're doing.
There are many things we can do.
Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche said,
“Accumulating merit is easy, actually much easier than accumulating unwholesome actions.”
– His Holiness Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche