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 Spiritual Community of The True
Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed Noble Awakened One The
Tathagata, “Spiritual Community of The True Followers of The Path Shown
by The Blessed Noble Awakened One The Tathagata!”
“Yes, lord,” the Spiritual Community of The
True Followers of The Path Shown by The Blessed Noble Awakened One The
Tathagata responded.
The Blessed One said, “Once upon a time,
Spiritual Community of The True Followers of The Path Shown by The
Blessed Noble Awakened One The Tathagata, 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.
“Spiritual Community of The True Followers of
The Path Shown by The Blessed Noble Awakened One The Tathagata, 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.”
