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The Sedaka Discourses: Protecting Oneself Protects Others
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The Sedaka Discourses: Protecting Oneself Protects Others

Sedakasuttaṃ

A bamboo acrobat tells his apprentice, "You look after me and I'll look after you," but the apprentice replies, "Each of us should look after ourselves." The Buddha says the apprentice is right: protecting oneself one protects others, and protecting others one protects oneself. A companion discourse compares mindfulness of the body to carrying a bowl brimming with oil.

6 points

In the Sedaka Sutta of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, Connected Discourses on the Establishments of Mindfulness, the Buddha is staying at Sedaka, a town of the Sumbhas. He tells of a bamboo acrobat who set up a bamboo pole and had his apprentice Medakathālikā climb up and stand on his shoulders. The master said: you look after me and I'll look after you; that way we'll show our skill, earn our fee, and come down the pole safely.

The apprentice replied: it isn't so, master. You look after yourself and I'll look after myself; that way we'll show our skill and come down safely. The Buddha says the right method is just as the apprentice said, and concludes: protecting oneself, one protects others; protecting others, one protects oneself.

In the second Sedaka Sutta, taught at the same place, he compares mindfulness of the body to a man who must carry a bowl brimming with oil between a great crowd and the most beautiful girl of the land as she dances and sings, with a man holding a raised sword following behind: if he spills even a drop, his head will fall.

  1. 1

    You look after me, I look after you Tvaṃ maṃ rakkha ahaṃ taṃ rakkhissāmi

    The acrobat has his apprentice stand on his shoulders and says each should guard the other, so they can show their skill, earn their fee and come down the bamboo safely. It sounds like cooperation, but each person's safety is left in the other's hands.

    Applying it in daily life

    Notice how often we think, "If they treat me well, then I'll treat them well." Our peace ends up always depending on someone else.

  2. 2

    Each looks after themselves Attānaṃ rakkhissāmi

    The apprentice answers that the master should look after himself and he will look after himself; only when each keeps their own balance will they come down safely. The Buddha says the right method is just as the apprentice said.

    Applying it in daily life

    In a team or family, if each person first keeps their own emotions and responsibilities steady, everyone around them is safer too.

  3. 3

    Protecting oneself, one protects others Attānaṃ rakkhanto paraṃ rakkhati

    One who protects oneself protects others by pursuing, developing and cultivating. The Buddha teaches the monks to practise the establishments of mindfulness with the thought, "I will protect myself."

    Applying it in daily life

    Daily mindfulness practice isn't selfish. Someone whose mind is steady won't explode at the people they love, and that already protects them.

  4. 4

    Protecting others, one protects oneself Paraṃ rakkhanto attānaṃ rakkhati

    One who protects others protects oneself through patience, harmlessness, a mind of loving-kindness, and sympathy. The Buddha teaches practising the establishments of mindfulness with the thought, "I will protect others," as well.

    Applying it in daily life

    When you bear harsh words without retaliating, it isn't only the other person who is spared. Your own mind stays cool, with nothing to regret later.

  5. 5

    The crowd and the beauty of the land Janapadakalyāṇī

    In the second Sedaka Sutta, the Buddha describes a great crowd gathering beyond measure on hearing that the most beautiful girl of the land will dance and sing. A man who wants to live is told to carry a bowl brimming with oil between the crowd and the girl, with a man holding a raised sword following behind: if he spills even a little, his head will fall.

    Applying it in daily life

    Life today is full of things designed to catch the eye. Knowing what you are carrying in your hands lets you walk through without spilling.

  6. 6

    The bowl of oil is mindfulness of the body Kāyagatāya etaṃ satiyā adhivacanaṃ

    The monks agree that the man would not neglect the bowl of oil and become heedless of things outside. The Buddha says the bowl brimming with oil stands for mindfulness directed to the body, and that one should train to develop it much, make it a vehicle and a basis, and practise it unceasingly.

    Applying it in daily life

    When walking through a crowded place or opening your news feed, rest your awareness on your stepping feet or the hand holding your phone, as if carrying that bowl of oil.

Try it in daily life

The acrobat story corrects a common misunderstanding in relationships: entrusting our safety to the other person's looking after us, when what each of us can truly control is our own balance.

Yet the discourse doesn't teach everyone to go their own way. The second half says that protecting others through patience, harmlessness, loving-kindness and sympathy also protects oneself. The two sides go together.

The bowl-of-oil simile fits a life surrounded by constant stimuli. There is so much to catch our interest, but if the mind slips from what it is carrying, something important is lost.

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