346. At that time, the Lord said to the monks: “Once upon a time, a bamboo acrobat set up his pole and called to his pupil and said to him: ‘Now my boy, climb the pole and stand on my shoulders.’ ‘Alright, master,’ said the pupil, and he did as he was told. Then the master said: ‘Now my boy, you protect me and I will protect you, and protected and watched by each other we will do our act, get a good fee, and come down safely from the bamboo pole.’ But the pupil said: ‘No master, no! That will not do. You look after yourself, and I will look after myself and thus watched and guarded each by ourselves, we will do our act, get a good fee, and come down safe and sound from the bamboo pole. That is the way to do it’.”
Then the Lord said: “Just as the pupil said to the master: ‘I will protect myself’ so should you practice the four foundations of mindfulness, which means at the same time, ‘I will protect others.’ Because by protecting oneself, one protects others and by protecting others, one protects oneself. And how does one protect others by protecting oneself? It is by the repeated and frequent practice of meditation. And how does one protect oneself by protecting others? It is by practicing patience, forbearance, harmlessness, love and compassion.”
S.V,169 (SN 47.19)