Discourse sn.47.19 - buddha.co.za

Sedaka

On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Sumbhas, where there was a town of the Sumbhas named Sedaka. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus:

“Bhikkhus, once in the past an acrobat set up his bamboo pole and addressed his apprentice Medakathalika thus: ‘Come, dear Medakathalika, climb the bamboo pole and stand on my shoulders.’ Having replied, ‘Yes, teacher,’ the apprentice Medakathalika climbed up the bamboo pole and stood on the teacher’s shoulders. The acrobat then said to the apprentice Medakathalika: ‘You protect me, dear Medakathalika, and I’ll protect you. Thus guarded by one another, protected by one another, we’ll display our skills, collect our fee, and get down safely from the bamboo pole.’ When this was said, the apprentice Medakathalika replied: ‘That’s not the way to do it, teacher. You protect yourself, teacher, and I’ll protect myself. Thus, each self-guarded and self-protected, we’ll display our skills, collect our fee, and get down safely from the bamboo pole.’

“That’s the method there,” the Blessed One said. “It’s just as the apprentice Medakathalika said to the teacher. ‘I will protect myself,’ bhikkhus: thus should the establishments of mindfulness be practised. ‘I will protect others,’ bhikkhus: thus should the establishments of mindfulness be practised. Protecting oneself, bhikkhus, one protects others; protecting others, one protects oneself.

“And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

“And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, lovingkindness, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

“‘I will protect myself,’ bhikkhus: thus should the establishments of mindfulness be practised. ‘I will protect others,’ bhikkhus: thus should the establishments of mindfulness be practised. Protecting oneself, bhikkhus, one protects others; protecting others, one protects oneself.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

At Sedaka

At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sumbhas, near the town of the Sumbhas called Sedaka.
There the Buddha addressed the mendicants:
“Once upon a time, mendicants, an acrobat set up his bamboo pole and said to his apprentice Medakathālikā,
‘Come now, dear Medakathālikā, climb up the bamboo pole and stand on my shoulders.’
‘Yes, teacher,’ she replied. She climbed up the bamboo pole and stood on her teacher’s shoulders.
Then the acrobat said to Medakathālikā,
‘You look after me, dear Medakathālikā, and I’ll look after you.
That’s how, guarding and looking after each other, we’ll display our skill, collect our fee, and get down safely from the bamboo pole.’
When he said this, Medakathālikā said to her teacher,
‘That’s not how it is, teacher!
You should look after yourself, and I’ll look after myself.
That’s how, guarding and looking after ourselves, we’ll display our skill, collect our fee, and get down safely from the bamboo pole.’
That’s the way,” said the Buddha. “It’s just as Medakathālikā said to her teacher.
Thinking ‘I’ll look after myself,’ you should cultivate mindfulness meditation.
Thinking ‘I’ll look after others,’ you should cultivate mindfulness meditation.
Looking after yourself, you look after others; and looking after others, you look after yourself.
And how do you look after others by looking after yourself?
By development, cultivation, and practice of meditation.

And how do you look after yourself by looking after others?
By acceptance, harmlessness, love, and sympathy.

Thinking ‘I’ll look after myself,’ you should cultivate mindfulness meditation.
Thinking ‘I’ll look after others,’ you should cultivate mindfulness meditation.
Looking after yourself, you look after others; and looking after others, you look after yourself.”

sn.47.19 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Sedaka

At Sedaka