The "Linked Discourses with Similes" contains discourses that use vivid similes to illustrate the Buddha's teachings. These similes draw on everyday experiences and natural phenomena to convey profound truths about the nature of reality, the path to liberation, and the qualities of an awakened being. By comparing spiritual principles to familiar objects and situations, these discourses offer accessible and memorable insights into the Dhamma.
Opammavagga - Linked Discourses with Similes
The Buddha uses a simile of a building with the peaked roof to illustrate how all unwholesome qualities have ignorance as their root, converge upon ignorance, and are eradicated with the eradication of ignorance.
Few are the beings who are reborn among humans; far more numerous, however, are the beings who are reborn elsewhere, apart from humans.
The Buddha uses the analogy of a household that is hard to overpower by thieves and burglars to illustrate the importance of developing and cultivating loving-kindness.
The Buddha explains the benefits of cultivating loving-kindness compared to giving donations.
The Buddha uses the analogy of a sharp-bladed spear that cannot be easily grasped, twisted, or rolled back to illustrate the power of loving-kindness in protecting the mind from agitation by non-human beings.
The Buddha uses a simile of a man who can catch the arrows shot by well-trained archers before they touch the ground to illustrate that life-sustaining conditions wear away faster than that.
The Buddha uses a simile of a cracked drum to illustrate that the profound teachings of the Tathāgata will disappear in the future as people lose interest in them.
The Buddha shares an analogy of the Licchavīs to illustrate the importance of diligence and continuous effort in the practice.
The Buddha uses a simile of the bull elephants to illustrate the importance of using acquisitions without being tied to them or fixated on them, while seeing the danger in them, and understanding the escape.
The Buddha uses a simile of a cat and a mouse to illustrate how not setting up mindfulness and being unrestrained in the sense faculties can lead to death or deadly suffering.
The Buddha describes rebirth as a jackal with mange as fortunate for a certain person who claims to be the Buddha's follower. The Buddha then encourages the bhikkhus to train themselves diligently.
The Buddha encourages the bhikkhus to train themselves to be grateful and acknowledge what has been done for them.