This is a partial index of the similes and metaphors that appear in the suttas available at Access to Insight. Only the imagery that illustrates points of Dhamma is included here; imagery that serves primarily a literary or narrative function is not included (e.g., Ambapali's description of her long-lost youthful beauty). The subject of each image is given in the braces {}. The tilde (~) stands for the head-word in a given entry.
Suttas without hyperlinks are those not currently available at Access to Insight; they are included here only for reference.
- Bamboo:
- destroyed by its own fruit {evil}
Dhp 164, Iti 50; spreading {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3
- Bathman or bathman's apprentice:
- {rapture of 1st jhāna} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, MN 119, AN 5.28
- Bandits:
- {external sense media} SN 35.197
- Barley reaper:
- {defilements} Miln II.1.8
- Beast of burden:
- {persistence} Sn 1.4
- Beauty queen:
- {mindfulness} SN 47.20
- Bee gathering nectar:
- {sage} Dhp 49
- Bird:
- escaping from net {rarity of heavenly birth} Dhp 174; leaving no track {arahant} Dhp 92; sighting shore {seeking the Buddha; meaning of Tathagata} DN 11, AN 6.54; spattered with dirt {mindfulness} SN 9.1; with wings as its only burden {contentment} DN 2, DN 11, MN 38,
- Blindness:
- {ignorance} MN 75
- Blind men:
- row of {ignorance} MN 95; and the elephant {ignorance} Ud 6.4
- Boat being bailed out:
- {defilements} Dhp 369
- Bog:
- {sensuality} Sn 4.15
- Boil, festering:
- {the body} AN 9.15
- Boiling the River Ganges:
- {speech} MN 21
- Bones:
- chain or heap {sensuality} MN 54, AN 5.76; mountain {length of samsara} Iti 24
- Bottomless chasm:
- {painful feeling} SN 36.4
- Boulder thrown into lake:
- {kamma} SN 42.6
- Bowl of poison:
- {passion} Thig 14
- Branch, man grasping a:
- {self-view} AN 4.178
- Bubble on water:
- {appropriate attention} SN 22.95
- Bull:
- born into a herd of cattle {arahant} AN 5.179; yoked to a load {endurance} Thag 14.2. See also Cow.
- Burning ghee or oil:
- {meditation on the fire property} Ud 8.9, Ud 8.10
- Burning grass or leaves:
- {not-self} SN 35.101
- Burning refuge:
- {dukkha} Sn 3.8
- Butcher or butcher's apprentice:
- {meditation on the four properties} DN 22, MN 119; {trance of non-breathing} MN 36. See also Bull, Cow.
- Butcher of goats:
- {kamma} AN 3.99
- Butter from water:
- {wrong view} MN 126
- Calf not seeing its mother:
- {change & alteration} SN 22.80. See also Cow.
- Carpenter:
- {wearing down the effluents} SN 22.101; {self-control} Dhp 80, Dhp 145; {applied thought} Miln II.3.13
- Cart wheel:
- {suffering} Dhp 1
- Catching arrows:
- {brevity of life; heedfulness} SN 20.6
- Cave:
- {the body; sensuality} Sn 4.2
- Cesspool difficult to clean:
- {impurities} Sn 2.6
- Chaff:
- {corrupt person} Sn 1.5, Sn 2.6; {dead body} SN 35.69; {others' faults} Dhp 252
- Charcoals:
- {passions} AN 8.28
- Chariot:
- {anger} Dhp 222; {the body} Dhp 151; {concentration} AN 5.28; {mindfulness} MN 119; {world} Dhp 171
- Chariots, relay:
- {stages of insight} MN 24
- Charioteer:
- {sense-restraint} Dhp 94
- Cheater:
- {others' errors} Dhp 252
- Children playing with sand castles:
- {aggregates} SN 23.2
- City of bones:
- {the body} Dhp 150
- City superintendent at a crossroads:
- {consciousness} Miln II.3.12
- Cleansing of the body with scouring balls and bath powder:
- {cleansing the mind} AN 3.70
- Cleansing of the head with paste and clay:
- {cleansing the mind} AN 3.70
- Cliff, frightful:
- {fear of birth, aging, and death} SN 56.42
- Cloth, person covered with white:
- {4th jhāna} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, AN 5.28; soiled {conceit} SN 22.89; to be dyed {defiled and undefiled mind} MN 7, Ud 5.3
- Cock's feather in fire:
- {unattractiveness} AN 7.46
- Conch-trumpet blower:
- {sublime attitudes} SN 42.8
- Constellations:
- {heedfulness} AN 10.15
- Cosmos:
- walking to the end of the {suffering} AN 9.38
- Cotton tuft:
- {rapture} Thag 1.104
- Couple eating their child:
- {purpose of food} SN 12.63
- Cow:
- butchered {meditation on the four properties} DN 22, MN 119; flayed {contact} SN 12.63; led to slaughter {inevitability of death} AN 7.70, Sn 3.8; milked dry {lack of moderation} MN 33, AN 11.18; producing milk, curds, butter, ghee, etc. {practice for oneself and others} AN 4.95; roaming in the mountains {mastery of jhāna} AN 9.35; skinned {sensuality} MN 146; that runs away {fool} SN 11.5; udder {brief time} SN 20.4. See also Bull, Butcher.
- Cowherd:
- competent {skillfulness} MN 33, AN 11.18; counting another's cattle {heedlessness} Dhp 19; driving cattle {aging and death} Dhp 135; incompetent {unskillfulness} MN 33, AN 11.18; mindful of his cows {skillfulness} MN 19; prodding and poking his cows {skillfulness} MN 19; reflecting on the places his cattle have wandered {uposatha} AN 3.70. See also Bull, Cow.
- Crafts, Trades, and Professions.:
- See Archer, Bathman, Butcher, Carpenter, Charioteer, Cowherd, Doctor, Elephant tamer, Fletcher, Goldsmith, Horsetrainer, Irrigator, Ivory carver, King, Magician, Potter, Silversmith, Trader, Turner, Warrior, Weigher.
- Creeper pod:
- {future dangers} MN 45
- Crooked chariot wheels:
- {faults} AN 3.15
- Cymbals striking together:
- {contact} Miln II.3.8
- Darkness, intergalactic:
- {fear of birth, aging, and death} SN 56.46
- Debt:
- {conviction} AN 6.45
- Deer that wanders in the wilderness:
- {solitude} Sn 1.3
- Dewdrop on tip of grass blade:
- {brevity of life} AN 7.70
- Digging in earth:
- {speech} MN 21
- Dirt-washer:
- {purifying the mind} AN 3.100 (i-x)
- Doctor:
- {the Buddha} MN 63, MN 105. See also Arrow.
- Dog:
- chasing swine {gratitude} SN 7.14; gnawing on a chain of bones {sensuality} MN 54; tied to a post {self-view} SN 22.99, SN 22.100.
- Donkey that thinks it's a cow:
- {insincerity with regard to the Dhamma} AN 3.81
- Drawing pictures in space:
- {speech} MN 21
- Dream, waking from:
- {sensuality} MN 54; {death} Sn 4.6
- Drinking water:
- {subduing hatred} from a clear pool AN 5.162; from a dirty pool AN 5.162; from a puddle in a hoofprint AN 5.162
- Drum peg:
- {listening to Dhamma} SN 20.7
- Dry piece of wood:
- {mindfulness} MN 119
- Dung beetle:
- {pride} SN 17.5
- Dust:
- on a fingertip {dukkha} SN 13.1, {rarity of human birth} SN 20.2; thrown into wind {evil} Dhp 125
- Dusty road:
- {household life} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 36, MN 125
- False path in the forest:
- {wrong eightfold path} MN 19
- Farmer's urgent duties:
- {self-training} AN 3.91
- Field:
- neglecting one's own {teaching Dhamma} DN 12; spoiled by weeds {passion} Dhp 356
- Fire:
- {clinging} SN 12.52, SN 35.28, SN 44.9;
{discernment} Thag 1.3;
{heedfulness} Dhp 31;
{passion} Dhp 251;
{restlessness} SN 46.53;
{sluggishness} SN 46.53;
fire's destination {nibbana} Ud 8.10; fire not returning {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3;
hidden in ashes {unskillful action} Dhp 71;
different types of fire {classes of consciousness} MN 38;
different types of fire {virtue and results thereof} MN 93
- Fire-stick:
- {sensuality} MN 36; {feeling} SN 48.39
- Firebrand with excrement:
- {practicing Dhamma for no one's benefit} AN 4.95; {failing to practice Dhamma} SN 22.80, Iti 91
- Fish:
- caught in net {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3, {sensuality} Thag 4.8; caught in trap {sensuality} Ud 7.4; caught on a hook {six senses} SN 35.189; in dried-up puddle {self-view} Sn 4.2, SN 5.10; flip-flapping on dry land {unsteady mind} Dhp 34; rising through the water {recognizing a wise person} AN 4.192; rotten and wrapped in grass {associating with fools} Iti 76; struggling in water {quarreling} Sn 4.15
- Fisherman:
- {Māra} SN 35.189
- Flame:
- overthrown by wind{arahant} Sn 5.6; passed from one lamp to another {rebirth} Miln III.5.5; unbinding of {nibbana} Thig 5.10;
- Fletcher straightening an arrow:
- {exertion} MN 101; {training the mind} Dhp 33, Thag 1.29; {restraint} Dhp 145, Dhp 80. See also Arrow.
- Flies' eggs:
- {sensuality} MN 33, AN 11.18
- Flood:
- {craving, sensuality, becoming, ignorance} SN 1.1, SN 45.171; {greed} Sn 4.15; sweeping away a sleeping village {death} Dhp 47, Dhp 286. See also River, Ocean.
- Flower:
- blossom {speech} Dhp 51; heap {skillfulness} Dhp 53; scent {integrity} Dhp 54. See also Lotus.
- Flower-arranger:
- {Dhamma follower} Dhp 44
- Foam:
- {the body/form} SN 22.95, Dhp 46
- Fords:
- {asking questions} MN 33, AN 11.18
- Forest:
- {desire} Dhp 283; {Dhamma} Sn 2.1
- Fort:
- {mind} Dhp 40
- Fragrances:
- {heedfulness} flower AN 10.15; root AN 10.15; wood AN 10.15
- Frontier fortress:
- {the body} SN 35.204; {seven skillful qualities} AN 7.63; {liberation is not for everyone} AN 10.95; {guarding oneself} Dhp 315, Thag 14.1; foundation post {conviction} AN 7.63; moat {shame} AN 7.63; encircling road {concern} AN 7.63; weapons {learning} AN 7.63; army {persistence} AN 7.63; gate-keeper {mindfulness} AN 7.63; ramparts {discernment} AN 7.63; stores of grass {1st jhāna} AN 7.63; stores of rice {2nd jhāna} AN 7.63; stores of sesame {3rd jhāna} AN 7.63; stores of tonics {4th jhāna} AN 7.63
- Fruit, ripe:
- {death} Sn 3.8
- Full moon:
- {discernment} Thig 1.3. See Moon.
- Full water pot:
- {mindfulness} MN 119
- Fumigation:
- {teaching Dhamma} MN 33, AN 11.18
- Handful of leaves:
- {Dhamma} SN 56.31
- Hands clapping:
- {contact} Miln II.3.8
- Hawk attacking quail:
- {mindfulness} SN 47.6
- Head of snake:
- {sensuality} Sn 4.1
- Head on fire:
- See Turban on fire
- Head sliced open with sword:
- {pain} MN 36
- Heartwood:
-
{goal of the Dhamma} MN 29, MN 30, MN 35; {the Buddha} MN 18, MN 138;
{appropriate attention} SN 22.95; {not-self} SN 35.193
- Hell, saved from:
- {Dhamma} DN 12
- Hen covering her eggs:
- {virtue, etc.} MN 53, SN 22.101
- Herd of cattle:
- {arahant} AN 3.57
- Herons wasting away:
- {falling short of celibacy} Dhp 155
- Himalayas:
- {good people} Dhp 304
- Hog, fat and lazy:
- {foolish person} Dhp 325
- Honey ball:
- {flavor of Dhamma} MN 18
- Hooks:
- {six senses} SN 35.189
- Horse:
- awakened by the whip {conscience} SN 1.18; deprived of fodder {father of fools} SN 7.14; fast {wise person} Dhp 29; stallion {self-training} Dhp 94, Dhp 144, Dhp 380; stirred by a goad-stick {trainable person} AN 4.113; tamed {self-tamed person} Dhp 322; thoroughbred {arahant} Thag 2.27, Thig 5.10; thoroughbred {jhāna} AN 11.10; thoroughbred {qualities of a consummate monk} AN 3.94, AN 8.13; unbroken colt {jhāna} AN 11.10
- Horsetrainer:
- {trainable person} AN 4.111
- House:
- built from the bottom up {four noble truths} SN 56.44;
fireproof {mindfulness/awareness} SN 35.202;
flammable {mindfulness/awareness} SN 35.202;
on fire {the body} SN 1.41; with poor roof {unguarded mind} AN 3.105.
- Illness, man recovering from:
- {hindrances} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Incense wrapped in leaf:
- {associating with people of integrity} Iti 76
- Indra's pillar:
- {arahant} Dhp 95
- Inscription in rock or water:
- {anger} AN 3.130
- Insects falling into flame:
- {ignorance} Ud 6.9
- Iron ball aflame, eating or swallowing an:
- {restraint} Dhp 307, Iti 48, Iti 91; {sensuality} Dhp 371
- Irrigator:
- {self-control} Dhp 80, Dhp 145
- Island:
- {refuge in Dhamma} DN 16, DN 26, SN 22.43, SN 47.13, Dhp 25, Dhp 236, Dhp 238, Sn 5.10
- Ivory carver or his assistant:
- {supranormal powers} DN 2, DN 11
- Lake:
- deep and calm {wise people} Dhp 82; dried-up {virtue} Dhp 155; free of mud {arahant} Dhp 95; person stranded in the middle {clinging} Sn 5.10; spring-fed {jhāna} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, MN 119, AN 5.28; unruffled by wind {arahant} Iti 92.
- Lamp:
- going out{detachment} SN 54.8;
in a dark house {insight} Miln II.1.14; passing its flame to another {rebirth} Miln III.5.5; in the dark {stock exclamation of appreciation of the Dhamma} — see Uprighting what had been overturned
- Leaf, yellowed:
- {aging} Dhp 235
- Leaky boat:
- {pain} Sn 4.1
- Leaves:
- blown from a tree {unwholesome states} Thag 17.2; handful of {Dhamma} SN 56.31
- Leper covered with sores:
- {sensuality} MN 75
- Lily/lotus crushed in hand:
- {self-view} Dhp 285
- Limb falling from tree:
- {nibbana} SN 47.13
- Linchpin in a moving cart:
- {generosity and kindness} AN 4.32
- Lion:
- in the wild {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3, Sn 3.1; unstartled by sounds {wise person} Sn 1.3, Sn 1.12
- Line drawn on water:
- {brevity of life} AN 7.70
- Loan, man taking out a:
- {hindrances} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Log in a stream:
- {path of practice} SN 35.200. See also Stream.
- Lost caravan leader:
- {virtue} Sn 4.13
- Lotus:
- crushed in the hand {self-view} Dhp 285;
pond {jhāna} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, MN 119, AN 5.28;
pond {the world} MN 26; rising above the water {Tathagata} AN 10.81; scent of {self-view} SN 22.89; unsmeared by water {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3, Sn 1.12; unsmeared by water {sensuality} Sn 4.9. See also Flower, Water on a lotus.
- Lute, disassembled:
- {not-self} SN 35.205
- Magic show:
- {the body} Thig 14
- Magician:
- {consciousness} SN 22.95
- Man:
- burning different kinds of wood {persistence and exertion} MN 90; carrying burning grass torch {sensuality} MN 54; pursuing a woman {unworthy teacher} DN 12; repaid by king {feeling} Miln II.3.9; returning home after long absence {kamma} Dhp 219; seeking heartwood {seeking the goal of the Dhamma} MN 29, MN 30, MN 35;
seeking heartwood {seeking the Buddha} MN 18, MN 138; seeking heartwood {appropriate attention} SN 22.95; seeking heartwood {not-self} SN 35.193; with borrowed goods {sensuality} MN 54;
- Man & woman in love {desire}":
- MN 101
- Meat thrown into a fire:
- {brevity of life} AN 7.70
- Merchant with caravan:
- {avoiding evil} Dhp 123
- Middle of the sea:
- {stillness of mind} Sn 4.14
- Milk:
- {evil deed} Dhp 71; from a cow {self-view} DN 9; from a cow's horn {wrong view} MN 126. See also Cow.
- Mirage:
- {the body} Dhp 46, Thig 14; {perception} SN 22.95
- Mire, person stuck in the:
- {ignorance} MN 8
- Mirror of the Dhamma:
- {stream-entry} DN 16
- Money:
- {uposatha observance} AN 10.46
- Monkey:
- caught in tar trap {mindfulness} SN 47.7; in forest {heedlessness} Dhp 334; swinging from branch to branch {untrained in Dhamma; inconstancy of mind} SN 12.61, Sn 4.4
- Moon:
- {arahant} Dhp 413; {good will} Iti 27 (a), (b); {heedfulness} AN 10.15; {jhāna} Dhp 387; full {arahant} Thig 1.3; set free from a cloud {heedfulness, skillfulness} Dhp 172, Dhp 382, Iti 74; waning {unvirtuous person} DN 31, SN 5.10; waxing {virtuous person} DN 31;
- Morning star:
- {good will} Iti 27
- Mother risking life for child:
- {good will} Sn 1.8
- Mountain:
- of gold {sensuality} SN 4.20; of solid rock {arahant} Ud 3.4, Thag 14.1 of solid rock {imperturbability} AN 6.55; of solid rock {restraint} Dhp 7;
- Mountains crushing in from all directions:
- {brevity of life} SN 3.25
- Mules, tamed:
- {self-tamed person} Dhp 322
- Muñja grass:
- {resolve and determination} Sn 3.2
- Mural painted on wall:
- {the body} Thig 14
- Murderer with sword:
- {disenchantment} AN 6.103; {heedfulness} AN 7.46
- Mustard seed:
- {passion} Dhp 407; {sensuality} Dhp 401. (Note: the famous parable in which the Buddha challenges a grieving Kisa Gotami to fetch a mustard seed from any household that has never known death is found in the Commentaries to Thig 10.1 (ThigA X.1) and Dhp 114.)
- Noise from a soft catskin bag:
- {speech} MN 21
- Ocean:
- an abode for mighty creatures {Dhamma-vinaya} Ud 5.5; crossing over the {arahant} SN 35.187, Iti 69; slope of ~ floor {progress of Dhamma practice} Ud 5.5; greatness of {stream-entry} SN 13.8; intolerance to dead bodies {unvirtuous person} Ud 5.5; many treasures of {37 wings to awakening} Ud 5.5; middle of ~ is calm {stillness of mind} Sn 4.14; polluted by a pot of poison {abuse towards the Tathagata} Iti 89; salty taste of {release} Ud 5.5; stability of {restraint of the Vinaya} Ud 5.5; steady level of {nibbana} Ud 5.5. See also Flood.
- Oil from gravel:
- {wrong view} MN 126
- Oil lamp:
- depends on wick and fuel {feeling} SN 36.7; flickering of {six senses} MN 146
- Ornament of gold:
- {arahant} AN 4.28
- Ox:
- {suffering} Dhp 1; {person who doesn't listen} Dhp 152; eating corn {sensuality} SN 35.205; joined by a single yoke {sense-bases and their objects} SN 35.191
- Painting of a woman or man:
- {not-self} SN 22.100; {nutriment} SN 12.64
- Palm leaf dropping away:
- {aversion} Iti 88
- Palm tree:
- with top cut off {awakening} MN 105; uprooted {awakening} MN 49, SN 22.3, SN 41.7, SN 44.1.
- Pastures:
- {mindfulness} MN 33, AN 11.18
- Path, man showing the:
- {Tathagata} SN 22.84
- Peacock:
- {jhāna} Sn 1.12
- Peg in drum:
- {listening to Dhamma} SN 20.7
- Person looking down from a rocky crag:
- {wise person} Iti 38
- Person reflecting on another:
- {higher knowledges} AN 5.28
- Person riding a small wooden plank in the great ocean:
- {laziness} Iti 78
- Pillar at a bathing ford:
- {wise person} Sn 1.12
- Pit of embers:
- {intellectual intention} SN 12.63; {sensuality} MN 54, Thig 14
- Plow:
- {discernment} Sn 1.4. See also Yokes.
- Poison:
- {evil deeds} Dhp 123
- Poison, man drinking:
- {restraint} MN 105; {volition} Miln II.3.11
- Polished shell:
- {life as a bhikkhu} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 36, MN 125, Ud 5.6
- Pond:
- {integrity} delightful, SN 3.19; haunted, SN 3.19
- Pool of water:
- clear or muddy {mind} AN 1.45-46;
in a mountain glen {arahant} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Poor person:
- {fetters} MN 66; {speech} AN 10.24
- Pot:
- flattened metal {nibbana} Dhp 134; of pickled greens {passion} Thig 1.1; smashed by stone {delusion} Sn 3.2
- Potter or potter's apprentice:
- {supranormal powers} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12
- Potter's clay vessels:
- {inevitability of death} Sn 3.8
- Princes of wattle-and-daub towns:
- {heedfulness} AN 10.15
- Prison, man released from:
- {hindrances} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Propagation of plants:
- {aggregates} SN 22.54
- Quail snared by a rotten creeper:
- {attachments} MN 66
- Rabbit caught in snare:
- {fetters} Dhp 342
- Raft:
- {eightfold path} MN 22, SN 35.197, Sn 1.2
- Rafters of house:
- {defilements} Dhp 153; {heedfulness} AN 10.15
- Rag, saving the good part of a:
- {subduing hatred} AN 5.162
- Rain:
- {austerity} Sn 1.4; entering hut {passion} Dhp 13; from a cloud {generosity} Iti 75; from a cloud {concentration} SN 54.9; from a thunderhead {discernment} AN 4.102; sent by devas {brevity of life} AN 7.70; stilling a cloud of dust {silencing one's thoughts} Iti 87, Thag 15.1
- Rams butting heads:
- {contact} Miln II.3.8
- Reeds or rushes:
- destroyed by their own fruit {defilements} SN 3.23; drawn from their sheaths{supranormal powers} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12; matted {craving} AN 4.199.
- Reflection of one's face in mirror:
- {mind-reading} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, AN 10.54; {"I am" with possessiveness} SN 22.83
- Reservoir with four inlets and outlets:
- {virtuous conduct} AN 8.54
- Rhinoceros:
- {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3
- Rich person:
- {speech} AN 10.24
- Riddle tree:
- {purity of vision} SN 35.204
- Ridge-pole of house:
- {ignorance} Dhp 153
- River:
- {craving} Dhp 251, Iti 109; flow down to the sea {heedfulness} AN 10.15; carrying everything with it {brevity of life} AN 7.70; swift current {hunger} Sn 4.15, {hindrances} AN 5.51; gives up its name upon reaching the sea {going-forth} Ud 5.5; person swept away by a {not-self} SN 22.93. See also Flood.
- Road:
- {eightfold path} MN 33, AN 11.18; dangerous {evil deeds} Dhp 123
- Rock:
- broken in two {sphere of nothingness} MN 105; in wind {wise person} Dhp 81
- Roots, medicinal:
- {craving} Dhp 337
- Rubbish pile with lotus:
- {Buddha} Dhp 58
- Rust eating iron:
- {evil deeds} Dhp 240
- Sack full of grains:
- {the body} DN 22, MN 119
- Salt:
- in water {evil deed} AN 3.99; taste of ocean {Dhamma} Ud 5.5
- Sand castles:
- {aggregates} SN 23.2
- Saw used by an attacking bandit:
- {patient endurance} MN 21, MN 28
- Seed:
- {conviction} Sn 1.4; bitter {wrong view} AN 10.104; capable of sprouting {kamma} AN 3.33; mustard ~ {sensuality} Dhp 401; mustard ~ {passion} Dhp 407; rotting in a field: SN 5.10; sweet: AN 10.104. See also Mustard seed.
- Seedling not watered:
- {change & alteration} SN 22.80.
- Seizure:
- {anger} Dhp 251
- Servant murdering his master:
- {not-self} SN 22.85
- Shack, flammable:
- {mindfulness/awareness} SN 35.202. See also House.
- Shadow that never leaves:
- {kamma} SN 3.4, SN 3.20, Dhp 1
- Sheaf of barley thrashed repeatedly:
- {foolish person} SN 35.207
- Sheaves of reeds:
- {dependent co-arising} SN 12.67
- Ship left ashore over winter:
- {fetters} SN 22.101
- Shore:
- far {nibbana} SN 35.197; far {external sense media} SN 35.200; near {self-view} SN 35.197; near {internal sense media} SN 35.200. See also Stream.
- Shot with arrow:
- {craving} Sn 2.10, Sn 4.1; {present kamma} MN 101
- Shuttle:
- {wise person} Sn 1.12
- Silversmith:
- {purifying the mind} Dhp 239, Sn 4.16
- Sick man, taking pity on a:
- {hatred} AN 5.162
- Slavery, man freed from:
- {hindrances} DN 2, DN 11 DN 12, MN 39
- Snake:
- giving one's hand to a poisonous ~ {sense-restraint} MN 105; pulled from its slough {mind-made body} DN 2, DN 11; shedding its skin {defilements} Sn 1.1; water-snake bites man {wrong grasp of Dhamma} MN 22
- Snapping one's fingers:
- {equanimity} MN 152
- Snare:
- {delusion} Dhp 251
- Sound of drums:
- {clairaudience} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12
- Soup tasted by ladle:
- {wise person and fool} Dhp 64
- Space gathered under the term "house":
- {form} MN 28
- Spear:
- {good-will} SN 20.5
- Spider snared in its own web:
- {passion} Dhp 347
- Spitting:
- {equanimity} MN 152
- Spring-fed lake:
- See Lake.
- Staircase build at a crossroads:
- {wrong view} DN 9
- Stallion.:
- See Horse.
- Stick thrown up into the air:
- {rebirth} SN 15.9
- Stone ball thrown into wet clay:
- {mindfulness} MN 119
- Storekeeper:
- {perception} Miln II.3.10
- Storm cloud:
- {evil} Thag 14.1
- Stream:
- sinking in the middle of {passion} SN 35.200; snared by a whirlpool {sensuality} SN 35.200; washed up on high ground of {conceit} SN 35.200; See also Shore.
- String, ball of:
- {craving} AN 4.199; thrown against a door {mindfulness} MN 119; unwinding to its end {end of suffering} DN 2.
- Strong man:
- nourished on royal food {foolish person} Sn 4.8; extending his arm {appearance/disappearance of devas} DN 20, SN 6.1, SN 6.2; extending his arm {equanimity} MN 152;
- Suckling calf going to its mother:
- {desire} Dhp 284, Ud 7.4. See also Cow.
- Sun:
- dispelling the dark {absence of delusion} Iti 88; filling the sky {heedfulness} AN 10.15; filling the sky {awakening} Ud 1.3; speed of {death} SN 20.6
- Sunlight:
- {merit} Iti 27; {virtue/concentration/discernment} Iti 59; not landing on ground {consciousness} SN 12.64
- Surgeon:
- see Doctor
- Swans:
- flying {enlightened ones} Dhp 175; taking off from a lake {mindful ones} Dhp 91.
- Swift pair of messengers:
- {samatha-vipassana} SN 35.204
- Sword drawn from its scabbard:
- {mind-made body} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12
- Tall building in central square:
- {passing away and re-appearance of beings} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Tangle:
- SN 7.6
- Tangled skein:
- {craving} AN 4.199
- Tank filled with water:
- {supranormal powers} AN 5.28
- Tendon in fire:
- {perception of the unattractive} AN 7.46
- Thief shot with spears:
- {consciousness} SN 12.63
- Thoroughbred.:
- See Horse.
- Thundercloud:
- {conviction} SN 3.24; {discernment} AN 4.102
- Tortoise evading a jackal:
- {sense-restraint} SN 35.199
- Track of ox:
- {kamma} Dhp 1
- Trades.:
- See Crafts and Trades.
- Trader watching over a fine steed:
- {self-training} Dhp 380
- Trail in space:
- {arahant} Dhp 254
- Travel:
- from village to village {recollection of past lives} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39; in desolate country {hindrances} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Treasure, doorways leading to:
- {doors to the Deathless} MN 52, AN 11.17
- Tree:
- changing {inconstancy} MN 146;
gold {the body} Thig 14;
growing back after having been cut {craving} Dhp 338;
growing on mountain {craving} AN 3.48;
haven for birds {conviction} AN 5.38;
killed by vine {vice} Dhp 162, {three unskillful roots} AN 3.69;
leaning to the east {virtue} SN 55.22;
overcome by wind {restraint} Dhp 7;
pliant {the mind} AN 1.47;
shedding its leaves {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3 (a, b);
with delicious fruit {sensuality} MN 54;
with roots cut {aggregates} Thig 5.8
- Tuning a stringed instrument:
- {right effort} AN 6.55
- Turban or head on fire, person with:
- {aroused persistence} AN 6.20 (a, b), AN 10.51, AN 10.54, Thag 1.39
- Turban tightening around one's head:
- {pain} MN 36
- Turner or turner's apprentice:
- {mindfulness} DN 22
- Turtle:
- lanced by harpoon {the perils of fame} SN 17.3; blind sea turtle poking its head up through a yoke {rarity of human birth} MN 129, SN 56.48
- Tusker:
- see Elephant.
- Uprighting what had been overturned:
- {stock exclamation of appreciation of the Dhamma} DN 2, DN 12, DN 16, DN 31, MN 4, MN 41, MN 57, MN 58, MN 72, MN 75, MN 107, MN 135, SN 3.1, SN 7.2, SN 7.6, SN 7.14, SN 7.17, SN 12.48, SN 35.127, SN 42.2, SN 42.3, SN 42.6, SN 42.8, SN 42.9, SN 51.15, AN 3.65, AN 3.72, AN 4.111, AN 4.184, AN 10.176, AN 10.177, Ud 5.3
- Village:
- empty {internal sense media} SN 35.197; leaving one's {jhāna} MN 105
- Vine:
- creeping {craving} Dhp 334; killing a tree {vice} Dhp 162
- Vipers:
- {elements} SN 35.197
- Vomit, person eating his or her own:
- {fetters} MN 105
- Vulture forced to drop his prey:
- {sensuality} MN 54
- Warrior:
- {celibacy} AN 5.75, AN 5.76; {Buddha} Dhp 387; untrained {hindrances} SN 3.24, {worthy monk} AN 4.181
- Waste-water pool:
- {ignorance} AN 4.178
- Water:
- container filled to brim {mindfulness} MN 119 (a, b); drawn from a pond {stream-entry} SN 13.2; drops in a hot pan {mindfulness} MN 66, SN 35.203, {equanimity} MN 152; filling a jar {evil} Dhp 121; person sinking in {factors of awakening} AN 7.15; ripples {preoccupations} Sn 4.15; rolling off a lotus leaf {equanimity} MN 152, {dukkha} Sn 4.6, Dhp 336, {sensuality} Dhp 401, {greed} Iti 88;
- Weigher holding a scale:
- {virtuous conduct} AN 8.54
- Well in desert:
- {nibbana} SN 12.68
- Wet piece of wood:
- {mindfulness} MN 119
- Wheels:
- four {prosperity} AN 4.31; of cart {kamma} Dhp 1
- Wild deer:
- {arahant} Ud 2.10, {sensuality} MN 26
- Wind:
- blowing across the sky {feeling} SN 36.12; blowing cotton fluff {dukkha} Sn 3.8; blowing leaves from a tree {awakening} Thag 17.2; coming out of bellows {exertion} MN 36; overcoming a tree {restraint} Dhp 7; unsnared by a net {solitude in the wilderness} Sn 1.3, {wise person} Sn 1.12
- Winnowing:
- {faults of others} Dhp 252
- Woman meeting her father-in-law:
- {urgency} MN 28
- Wood scrap:
- {the body} Dhp 41
- Wounded man wandering in jungle:
- {restraint} SN 35.206
- Wounds, dressing:
- {restraint} MN 33, AN 11.18