Protection Through Satipatthana

　　by

　　Nyanaponika Thera

　　© 1994

　　Once the Buddha told his monks the following story (Satipatthana Samyutta, No. 19):

　　There was once a pair of jugglers who performed their acrobatic feats on a bamboo pole. One day the master said to his apprentice: "Now get on my shoulders and climb up the bamboo pole." When the apprentice had done so, the master said: "Now protect me well and I shall protect you! By protecting and watching each other in that way, we shall be able to show our skill, make a good profit and safely get down from the bamboo pole." But the apprentice said: "Not so, master! You, O master, should protect yourself, and I too shall protect myself. Thus self-protected and self-guarded we shall safely do our feats."

　　This is the right way," said the Blessed One and spoke further as follows:

　　"It is just as the apprentice said: ”I shall protect myself” — in that way the foundations of mindfulness (satipatthana) should be practiced. ”I shall protect others” — in that way the foundations of mindfulness should be practiced. Protecting oneself, one protects others; protecting others, one protects oneself.

　　"And how does one, in protecting oneself, protect others

　　 By the repeated and frequent practice of meditation (asevanaya bhavanaya bahulikammena).

　　"And how does one, in protecting others, protect oneself

　　 By patience and forbearance, by a non-violent and harmless life, by loving kindness and compassion."

　　This sutta belongs to the considerable number of important and eminently practical teachings of the Buddha which are still hidden like buried treasure, unknown and unused. Yet this text has an important message for us, and the fact that it is stamped with the royal seal of satipatthana gives it an additional claim to our attention.

　　Inpidual and Society

　　The sutta deals with the relations between ourselves and our fellow beings, between inpidual and society. It sums up in a succinct way the Buddhist attitude to the problems of inpidual and social ethics, of egoism and altruism. The gist of it is contained in those two concise sentences:

　　"Protecting oneself, one protects others." (Attanam rakkhanto param rakkhati.)

　　"Protecting others, one protects oneself." (Param rakkhanto attanam rakkhati.)

　　These two sentences are supplementary and should not be taken or quoted separately. Nowadays, when social service is so greatly stressed, people may be tempted to support their ideas by quoting only the second sentence. But any such one-sided quotation would misrepresent the Buddha”s standpoint. It has to be remembered that in our story the Buddha expressly approved the words of the apprentice, that one has first to watch carefully one”s own steps if one wishes to protect others from harm. He who himself is sunk in the mud cannot help others out of it. In that sense, self-protection forms the indispensable basis for the protection and help given to others. But self-protection is not selfish protection. It is self-control, ethical and spiritual self-development.

　　There are some great truths which are so comprehensive and profound that they seem to have an ever-expanding range of significance that grows with one”s own range of understanding and practicing them. Such truths are applicable on various levels of understanding, and are valid in various contexts of our life. After reaching the first or second level, one will be surprised that again and again new vistas open themselves to our understanding, illumined by that same truth. This also holds for the great twin truths of our text which we shall consider now in some detail.

　　"Protecting oneself, one protects others" — the truth of this statement begins at a very simple and practical level. This first material level of the truth is so se…

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