Seniority in Dhamma

When the Blessed One had stayed at Vesālī as long as he chose, he set out to wander by stages to Sāvatthī. Now on that occasion the followers of the bhikkhus belonging to a certain clique of six went ahead of the Sangha of bhikkhus headed by the Buddha, and they took over lodgings and beds thus: “This will be for our preceptors, this will be for our teachers, this will be for us.” When the venerable Sāriputta arrived after the Sangha of bhikkhus headed by the Buddha, the lodgings and beds had all been taken over. Finding no bed, he went and sat down at the root of a tree. When the night was ending and it was near dawn, the Blessed One got up, and he coughed. The venerable Sāriputta also coughed.

“Who is there?”

“It is I, Sāriputta, Blessed One.”

“Why are you sitting there, Sāriputta?”

Then the venerable Sāriputta told what had happened. The Blessed One made this the reason to call the bhikkhus together, and he asked them if it was true. They said that it was. He administered a rebuke: “Bhikkhus, this does not rouse faith in the faithless or increase faith in the faithful; rather it keeps the faithless without faith and harms some of the faithful.”

After he had administered the rebuke and given a talk on the Dhamma, he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus, who is worthy of the best seat, the best water, the best almsfood?”

Some bhikkhus said that it was one gone forth from a warrior-noble family; others that it was one gone forth from a brahman family … from a householder family; others that it was one who specialized in recitation of Discourses, in recitation of the Discipline, who preached the Dhamma … who had obtained the first meditation … the second meditation … the third meditation … the fourth meditation … that it was a stream-enterer … a once-returner … a non-returner … an accomplished Arahant … that it was one who had the three true knowledges; still others said that it was one who had the six kinds of direct knowledge. Then the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus:

“Once, bhikkhus, somewhere in the Himalayas there was a huge banyan tree, under which three companions lived. They were a partridge, a monkey and an elephant. They were often rude and disrespectful, and they lived without consideration for one another. They thought: ‘If only we could find out which of us is the oldest,  then we could honour, respect, revere and venerate him and follow his advice.’

“The partridge and the monkey asked the elephant: ‘How far back can you remember?’

“ ‘When I was a calf, I used to walk over this banyan tree so that it passed between my legs and its topmost branch scratched my stomach.’

“Then the partridge and the elephant asked the monkey: ‘How far back can you remember?’

“ ‘When I was a baby, I used to sit on the ground and nibble the topmost shoots of this banyan tree.’

“Then the monkey and the elephant asked the partridge: ‘How far back can you remember?’

“ ‘In a certain place there was a big banyan tree. I ate one of its seeds and voided it in this place, and this banyan tree grew from that seed. So I am older than you.’

“Then the monkey and the elephant said to the partridge: ‘You are older than us. We will honour, respect, revere and venerate you and follow your advice.’ After that the partridge made the monkey and the elephant undertake the five precepts of virtue, and he undertook them himself. And they were courteous and respectful to one another and lived with mutual consideration. On the dissolution of the body, after death, they appeared in a happy destination, in the heavenly world. So that came to be called ‘the partridge’s holy life.’

Those that reverence an elder
Are reckoned skillful in the Dhamma,
For they have both praise here and now
And a happy destiny beyond.

“Now, bhikkhus, these animals could be courteous and respectful to each other and live with mutual consideration. Try and copy them. That you should be rude and disrespectful and live without mutual consideration under a Dhamma and Discipline as well proclaimed as this, does not rouse faith in the faithless or increase faith in the faithful; rather it keeps the faithless without faith and harms some of the faithful.” Vin. Cv. 6:5
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Nanavira Thera:

The difficulty with the Venerable Objector is that we have to live with him, whereas you don’t. We are obliged to pay him respect on account of his seniority, and this is quite as it should be; but it tends to be accepted as a homage to his superior wisdom, which is a debatable inference. The consequence is, however, that if his wisdom is questioned, even by implication, it is immediately interpreted as disrespect.