{"collection":"Samyutta Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_sn6.2/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_sn6.2","id":"suttacentral_sn6.2","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/sn6.2/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Samyutta Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time, when he was first awakened, the Buddha was staying in Uruvel\u0101 at the root of the goatherd\u2019s banyan tree on the bank of the Nera\u00f1jar\u0101 River. Then as he was in private retreat this thought came to his mind, \u201cOne without respect and reverence lives in suffering. What ascetic or brahmin should I honor and respect and rely on?\u201d Then it occurred to him: \u201cI\u2019d honor and respect and rely on another ascetic or brahmin so as to complete the entire spectrum of ethics, if it were incomplete. But I don\u2019t see any other ascetic or brahmin in this world\u2014with its gods, M\u0101ras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans\u2014who is more accomplished than myself in ethics, who I should honor and respect and rely on. I\u2019d honor and respect and rely on another ascetic or brahmin so as to complete the entire spectrum of immersion, if it were incomplete. But I don\u2019t see any other ascetic or brahmin \u2026 who is more accomplished than myself in immersion \u2026 I\u2019d honor and respect and rely on another ascetic or brahmin so as to complete the entire spectrum of wisdom, if it were incomplete. But I don\u2019t see any other ascetic or brahmin \u2026 who is more accomplished than myself in wisdom \u2026 I\u2019d honor and respect and rely on another ascetic or brahmin so as to complete the entire spectrum of freedom, if it were incomplete. But I don\u2019t see any other ascetic or brahmin \u2026 who is more accomplished than myself in freedom \u2026 I\u2019d honor and respect and rely on another ascetic or brahmin so as to complete the entire spectrum of the knowledge and vision of freedom, if it were incomplete. But I don\u2019t see any other ascetic or brahmin in this world\u2014with its gods, M\u0101ras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans\u2014who is more accomplished than myself in the knowledge and vision of freedom, who I should honor and respect and rely on. Why don\u2019t I honor and respect and rely on the same Dhamma to which I was awakened?\u201d Then the divinity Sahampati knew the Buddha\u2019s train of thought. As easily as a strong person would extend or contract their arm, he vanished from the realm of divinity and reappeared in front of the Buddha. He arranged his robe over one shoulder, raised his cupped palms toward the Buddha, and said: \u201cThat\u2019s so true, Blessed One! That\u2019s so true, Holy One! All the perfected ones, the fully awakened Buddhas who lived in the past honored and respected and relied on this same teaching. All the perfected ones, the fully awakened Buddhas who will live in the future will honor and respect and rely on this same teaching. May the Blessed One, who is the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha at present, also honor and respect and rely on this same teaching.\u201d That is what the divinity Sahampati said. Then he went on to say: \u201cAll Buddhas in the past, the Buddhas of the future, and the Buddha at present\u2014 destroyer of the sorrows of many\u2014 respecting the true teaching they did live, they do live, and they also will live. This is the nature of the Buddhas. Therefore someone who desires self-knowledge, and aspires to greatness themselves, should respect the true teaching, remembering the instructions of the Buddhas.\u201d","title":"Respect","tradition":"Samyutta Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":573}