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- Samyutta Nikaya XLVII.19
- Sedaka Sutta
- At Sedaka
- For free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was living among the Sumbhas.
Now there is a Sumbhan town named Sedaka. There the Blessed One
addressed the monks, "Monks!"
"Yes, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said, "Once upon a time, monks, a bamboo
acrobat, having erected a bamboo pole, addressed his assistant, Frying Pan: 'Come, my dear
Frying Pan. Climb up the bamboo pole and stand on my shoulders.'
"'As you say, Master,' Frying Pan answered the bamboo acrobat and, climbing the
bamboo pole, stood on his shoulders.
"So then the bamboo acrobat said to his assistant, 'Now you watch after me, my
dear Frying Pan, and I'll watch after you. Thus, protecting one another, watching after
one another, we'll show off our skill, receive our reward, and come down safely from the
bamboo pole.'
"When he had said this, Frying Pan said to him, 'But that won't do at all, Master.
You watch after yourself, and I'll watch after myself, and thus with each of us protecting
ourselves, watching after ourselves, we'll show off our skill, receive our reward, and
come down safely from the bamboo pole.'
"What Frying Pan, the assistant, said to her Master was the right way in that
case.
"Monks, a frame of reference is to be practiced with the thought, 'I'll watch
after myself.' A frame of reference is to be practiced with the thought, 'I'll watch after
others.' When watching after oneself, one watches after others. When watching after
others, one watches after oneself.
"And how does one, when watching after oneself, watch after others? Through
pursuing [the practice], through developing it, through devoting oneself to it. This is
how one, when watching after oneself, watches after others.
"And how does one, when watching after others, watch after oneself? Through
endurance, through harmlessness, and through a mind of kindness & sympathy. This is
how one, when watching after others, watches after oneself.
"A frame of reference is to be practiced with the thought, 'I'll watch after
myself.' A frame of reference is to be practiced with the thought, 'I'll watch after
others.' When watching after oneself, one watches after others. When watching after
others, one watches after oneself."