Protecting One’s Own Mind You Protect Others

Monks, once in the past an acrobat set up his bamboo pole and addressed his apprentice Medakathalika thus: ‘Come, dear Medakathalika, climb the bamboo pole and stand on my shoulders.’

Having replied, ‘Yes, teacher’ the apprentice Medakathalika climbed up the bamboo pole and stood on the teacher’s shoulders.

The acrobat then said to the apprentice Medakathalika: ‘You protect me, dear Medakathalika, and I’ll protect you. Thus guarded by one another, protected by one another, we’ll display our skills, collect our fee, and get down safely from the bamboo pole.’

When this was said, the apprentice Medakathalika replied: ‘That’s not the way to do it, teacher. You protect yourself, teacher, and I’ll protect myself. Thus, each self-guarded and self-protected, we’ll display our skills, collect our fee, and get down safely from the bamboo pole.’

That’s the method there, The Perfectly Enlightened One said.

It’s just as the apprentice Medakathalika said to the teacher.

‘I will protect myself’, Monks: thus should The Four Foundations of Mindfulness be practiced. ‘I will protect others’, Monks: thus should The Four Foundations of Mindfulness be practiced.

Protecting one’s own mind, Monks, one protects others; protecting others, one protects one’s own mind.

And how is it, Monks, that by protecting one’s own mind, one protects others?

By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of The Four Foundations of Mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting one’s own mind, one protects others.

And how is it, Monks, that by protecting others, one protects one’s own mind?

By patience, harmlessness, loving-kindness, and compassion. It is in such a way that by protecting others, one protects one’s own mind.

‘I will protect my own mind’, Monks: thus should The Four Foundations of Mindfulness be practiced. ‘I will protect others’, Monks: thus should The Four Foundations of Mindfulness be practiced.

Protecting one’s own mind, Monks, one protects others; protecting others, one protects one’s own mind.

(Reference: SN 47.19)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how The Four Foundations of Mindfulness should be practiced to protect one’s own mind. And, through practicing The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, one not only protects their own mind, but they also protect others.

A Practitioner would be unable to eliminate discontentedness without learning and practicing The Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Through developing awareness of the bodily sensations, feelings, condition of the mind, and mental objects in the mind, a Practitioner can then actively apply effort to eliminate the unwholesomeness that arises in the mind.

Through eliminating one’s own unwholesomeness, it will protect the mind. And in doing so, one protects others in that the unwholesomeness from the mind will not impact others.

It is when The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are fully developed that a Practitioner has full awareness of mind and can observe even the slightest arising of unwholesomeness and then apply effort to cut it off and let it go. In this way, the mind becomes more and more protected from discontentedness and then others will not be impacted by one’s own discontentedness of mind.

The Buddha also explains that how through practicing “patience, harmlessness, loving-kindness, and compassion”, one protects others which results in protecting one’s own mind. When a Practitioner is able to practice “patience, harmlessness, loving-kindness, and compassion” towards others, due to The Natural Law of Kamma, these same qualities will then return to you through others intentions, speech, and actions.

By protecting others from our own unwholesome conduct through our intentions, speech, and actions by practicing “patience, harmlessness, loving-kindness, and compassion”, a Practitioner will observe that individuals choose to practice these same qualities towards you. This does not happen immediately, but through a well developed and long term approach to developing your life practice to be able to regularly and consistently practice these qualities of mind, more and more individuals will have these same qualities of mind with you.

In this way, through protecting others by practicing “patience, harmlessness, loving-kindness, and compassion”, you are not only protecting others but you are also protecting yourself.

Patience the quality and ability of being calm without complaint, loss of temper, frustration, irritation, etc.

Harmlessness not causing or incapable of causing harm.

Loving-kindness (Pāli: mettā) is active goodwill towards all beings without judgment. A genuine interest in seeing all beings be well.

Compassion (Pāli: karuṇā) is concern for the misfortunes of others.