Sariputta said to the Lord: “I believe that there has never been, there will not be in the future, nor is there now a monk or brahmin who is better or more enlightened than the Lord.”
The Lord replied: “Sariputta, you have boldly spoken, you have roared with the confidence of a lion. But why? Do you know the minds of the noble Buddhas of the past, their virtue, their teaching, their wisdom or their liberation?”
"No, Lord.”
“Do you know the minds of all the noble Buddhas in the future?”
“No, Lord.”
“Then what of me? Do you know even my mind, my virtue, my teaching, my wisdom or my liberation?”
"No, Lord”
"So, Sariputta, you do not know the minds of the Buddhas of the past, the future or even the present. Why then have you spoken so boldly? Why have you roared with the confidence of a lion?”
“Lord, I know not the minds of the Buddhas of the past, the future or the present. But the ways of the Dharma, that I do know. Imagine a walled town with strong foundation and towers and a single gate. At the gate a watcher who is clever and alert who lets in known people and keeps out strangers. As he patrols the walls he would not see a hole in the wall big enough for even a cat to slip through. And therefore he would know that whatever creatures big or small enter or leave the town, they all do so by the gate. And it seems to me that the Dhamma is the same. All those noble Buddhas of the past who attained full enlightenment did so by abandoning the five hindrances, defilements that weaken understanding, by firmly establishing the four foundations of mindfulness, and by realizing the seven factors of enlightenment as they really are. All the noble Buddhas of the future will do the same, and you, Lord, who are now a Noble One, a fully enlightened Buddha, have done the same.”
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