What did Buddha mean when he said this?

jll

Ananda: Sir, a good friend is half of the holy life.
Buddha: Do not say so, Ananda.
A good friend is the whole of the holy life.

Vajraheart

Well, first of all, he said that to Ananda.

Other than that? We are supposed to take refuge in the Buddha/Dharma/Sangha.

Jason

I think it means that associating with good people, learning from their examples and emulating their good qualities is of immense importance to staying on the path. As the Buddha explains to Ananda, when one has the proper support (i.e., "admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades"), one "can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path" (SN 45.2 ).

SherabDorje

I think it means that associating with good people, learning from their examples and emulating their good qualities is of immense importance to staying on the path. As the Buddha explains to Ananda, when one has the proper support (i.e., "admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades"), one "can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path" (SN 45.2 ).

What he said.

Jeffrey

He didn't say it was a support. He said it was the whole. Wisdom and compassion imo..

Jason

He didn't say it was a support. He said it was the whole. Wisdom and compassion imo..

I guess it all depends on how you interpret the phrase 'whole of the holy life.' If you take it to mean that you absolutely can't "develop & pursue the noble eightfold path" without admirable friends, then I think you'd be wrong. For example, Dhp 328-30:

If for company you find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, you should, overcoming all impediments, keep his company joyously and mindfully.

If for company you cannot find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, then, like a king who leaves behind a conquered kingdom, or like a lone elephant in the elephant forest, you should go your way alone.

Better it is to live alone; there is no fellowship with a fool. Live alone and do no evil; be carefree like an elephant in the elephant forest.

And a similar verse from Snp 1.3:

If you gain a mature companion, a fellow traveler, right-living & wise, overcoming all dangers go with him, gratified, mindful. If you don't gain a mature companion, a fellow traveler, right-living & wise, wander alone like a king renouncing his kingdom, like the elephant in the Matanga wilds, his herd. We praise companionship — yes! Those on a par, or better, should be chosen as friends. If they're not to be found, living faultlessly, wander alone like a rhinoceros.

Jeffrey

I was interpreting that the question of a support did not apply. The question of wisdom and compassion applied.

Jason

I was interpreting that the question of a support did not apply. The question of wisdom and compassion applied.

I see what you're saying. If you interpret having "admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades" as meaning having wisdom, compassion, etc., then I agree with you. But if talking about actual kalyanamittas, I wouldn't take it so literally.

Jeffrey

I speculate that in the focus of that statement it was a whole separate teaching or samadhi from the rest of the discourse. The rest of the discourse is about creating the conditions for dharma practice. In this context living with fools is not a support. We only get hurt.

But in that statement buddha was encouraging ananda to open his heart. Like metta practice we start with our loved ones as learning experiences. But the metta does not have a recipient truly. It is a quality of the mind. A buddha gives beings a benefit without calculating, but rather by having the love and wisdom, not card tricks or manipulations. He has a real transformative ucovering of clarity and a feeling that is transferred.

Just my spiel hehe, being unbuddha. Try Jeffrey the uncola.

sova

Although it is true that these words were for Ananda, I believe there is Wisdom for all within them. Truly, we (the entirety of sentient life) are all one substance. Despite the tendency to believe we are separated by air, by space, by contrasting views and opinions, we are all striving for the same goal: a lasting happiness.

Even with milk, food, and water, a baby will die without loving embrace. Without love there is no life, in no less than absolute terms. The spiritual journey upon which we all embark is much longer and more arduous than that of life itself; without friends there can be no "within, " why?

One may associate a journey with the road or path through which they travel, but the road is not the journey, the journey is one's collection of feelings, thoughts, aspirations and experiences. This is part of why the Awakened One said "it is better to travel well than to arrive. " Because friends are not just stops along the way, friends Are the way.

DhammaDhatu

...learning from their examples and emulating their good qualities...

It means one hears the True Teaching (AN 10.61) that leads to liberation (rather than leading to sīlabbata-parāmāso)

In the same way, monks, when association with unenlightened people prevails, listening to wrong teachings will prevail... when the five hindrances prevail, ignorance (and craving for existence) will prevail. Such is the nutriment of ignorance (and of craving for existence) and so it prevails.

Hence, when association with enlightened people prevails, it will make prevail the listening to the True Teaching (saddhamma)... When the seven factors of enlightenment prevail, they will make prevail liberation by supreme knowledge. Such is the nutriment of that liberation by supreme knowledge and so it prevails.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel238.html#book-10

somsom

when he says whole i think he meant friends with himself or someone that is
enlightened

NOTaGangsta

Some literature translate it as "Good Dharma Friends". Which makes the phrase to have more sense straight away.

Or "One who possess the right knowledge".