SN
47.19 Sedaka Sutta: The Bamboo Acrobat
translated from the Pali by Andrew Olendzki
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn47/sn47.019.olen.html
[The Buddha addressed the monks:]
Once
upon a time, monks, a bamboo acrobat, setting himself upon his bamboo pole,
addressed his assistant Medakathalika (which literally means "Frying Pan"): "Come you, my dear Medakathalika,
and climbing up the bamboo pole, stand upon my shoulders."
"Okay,
master" the assistant Medakathalika replied to the bamboo acrobat; and
climbing up the bamboo pole she stood on the master's shoulders.
So then the bamboo acrobat said this to his
assistant Medakathalika: "You look after me, my dear Medakathalika, and
I'll look after you. Thus with us looking after one another, guarding one
another, we'll show off our craft, receive some payment, and safely climb down
the bamboo pole."
This being said,
the assistant Medakathalika said this to the bamboo acrobat: "That will
not do at all, master! You look after yourself, master, and I will look after
myself. Thus with each of us looking after ourselves, guarding ourselves, we'll
show off our craft, receive some payment, and safely climb down from the bamboo
pole. That's the right way to do it!"
[The Buddha said:]
Just
like the assistant Medakathalika said to her master: "I will look after
myself," so should you, monks, practice the establishment of mindfulness.
You should (also) practice the establishment of mindfulness (by saying) "I
will look after others." Looking
after oneself, one looks after others. Looking after others, one looks after
oneself. And how does one look after
others by looking after oneself? By practicing (mindfulness), by developing
(it), by doing (it) a lot. And how does one look after oneself by looking after
others? By patience, by non-harming, by lovingkindness, by caring (for others).
(Thus) looking after oneself, one looks after others; and looking after others,
one looks after oneself.
Key Principle:
BY
PROTECTING ONESELF, ONE PROTECTS OTHERS.
Translator’s
Note (by by Andrew Olendzki):
What a vivid image of insight meditation!
The practice of
mindfulness requires the focused attention of an acrobat balancing on a bamboo
pole. One lapse, one moment of distraction or carelessness, and he tumbles to
the ground. The picture is one of intensive inner awareness and concentration —
almost a matter of life and death. [And for alcoholics/addicts it literally can be a matter of life and death. -Walt]
But the Buddha's
parable goes even further, for the safety and well being of the bamboo
acrobat's beloved assistant also hangs upon the master's successful practice of
mindfulness.
The story is telling
us that ultimately we are responsible for our own balance, and would be foolish
to direct our attention to others while neglecting our own inner focus. And yet
others are directly affected by how well we do this. Insight meditation is not
a selfish undertaking, because the quality of our interaction with all those
around us depends on the degree of our own self-understanding and self-control.
