Re: Verification: SN45.2

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Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling among the Sakyans where there was a town of the Sakyans named Nagaraka. Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he paid homage to the Blessed One, sat down to one side, and said to him:

“Venerable sir, this is half of the holy life, that is, good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship.”

“Not so, Ānanda! Not so, Ānanda! This is the entire holy life, Ānanda, that is, good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship. When a bhikkhu has a good friend, a good companion, a good comrade, it is to be expected that he will develop and cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path.”

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That is the teaching of the Buddha.

"Not so, Ānanda! Not so, Ānanda!" is amusing to us here, but as usual, the Buddha was not content with merely telling a joke - he also had to finish the teaching at hand.

Come to think of it, the Buddha might have had some lingering suffering from not having access to an interplanetary network of Aleph Null Class data.