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.
A
- Acrobats {watching after oneself/others} SN XLVII.19
- Ancient city {awakening} SN XII.65
- Animals bound together by a rope {lack of mindfulness} SN XXXV.206
- Archer: {brevity of life; heedfulness} SN XX.6; archer's apprentice {jhana} AN IX.36. See also Arrow, Fletcher.
- Arrow: {dukkha} Sn III.8; poisoned {speculative views} MN 63, {craving} MN 105, {contagiousness of evil} Iti 76; person shot with two ~ {physical and mental pain} SN XXXVI.6; in the heart {sensuality} Sn IV.15; piercing a horsehair {subtlety of Dhamma} SN LVI.45; Thag I.26; removed {greed} SN I.5; shot into the night {bad people} Dhp 304; straightened by a fletcher (see Fletcher). See also Doctor, Fletcher.
B
- Bamboo: destroyed by its own fruit {evil} Dhp 164, Iti 50; spreading {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3
- Bathman or bathman's apprentice {rapture of 1st jhana} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, MN 119, AN V.28
- Bandits {external sense media} SN XXXV.197
- Barley reaper {defilements} Miln II.1.8
- Beast of burden {persistence} Sn I.4
- Beauty queen {mindfulness} SN XLVII.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 VI.54; spattered with dirt {mindfulness} SN IX.1; with wings as its only burden {contentment} DN 2, DN 11
- Blindness {ignorance} MN 75
- Blind men: row of {ignorance} MN 95; and the elephant {ignorance} Ud VI.4
- Blind sea-turtle poking his head up through a yoke {rarity of human birth} MN 129, SN LVI.48
- Boat being bailed out {defilements} Dhp 369
- Bog {sensuality} Sn IV.15
- Boil, festering {the body} AN IX.15
- Boiling the River Ganges {speech} MN 21
- Bones: chain or heap {sensuality} MN 54, AN V.76; mountain {length of samsara} Iti 24
- Bottomless chasm {painful feeling} SN XXXVI.4
- Boulder thrown into lake {kamma} SN XLII.6
- Bowl of poison {passion} Thig XIV
- Branch, man grasping a {self-view} AN IV.178
- Bubble on water {appropriate attention} SN XXII.95
- Bull: born into a herd of cattle {arahant} AN V.179; yoked to a load {endurance} Thag XIV.2. See also Cow.
- Burning ghee or oil {meditation on the fire property} Ud VIII.9, Ud VIII.10
- Burning grass or leaves {not-self} SN XXXV.101
- Burning refuge {dukkha} Sn III.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 III.99
- Butter from water{wrong view} MN 126
C
- Calf not seeing its mother {change & alteration} SN XXII.80. See also Cow.
- Carpenter: {wearing down the effluents} SN XXII.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 XX.6
- Cave {the body; sensuality} Sn IV.2
- Cesspool difficult to clean {impurities} Sn II.6
- Chaff: {corrupt person} Sn I.5, Sn II.6; {dead body} SN XXXV.69; {others' faults} Dhp 252
- Chariot: {anger} Dhp 222; {the body} Dhp 151; {concentration} AN V.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 XXIII.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 III.70
- Cleansing of the head with paste and clay {cleansing the mind} AN III.70
- Cliff, frightful {fear of birth, aging, and death} SN LVI.42
- Cloth: person covered with white {4th jhana} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, AN V.28; soiled {conceit} SN XXII.89; to be dyed {defiled and undefiled mind} MN 7, Ud V.3
- Cock's feather in fire {unattractiveness} AN VII.46
- Conch-trumpet blower {sublime attitudes} SN XLII.8
- Constellations {heedfulness} AN X.15
- Cotton tuft {rapture} Thag I.104
- Couple eating their child {purpose of food} SN XII.63
- Cow: butchered {meditation on the four properties} DN 22, MN 119; flayed {contact} SN XII.63; led to slaughter {inevitability of death} AN VII.70, Sn III.8; milked dry {lack of moderation} MN 33, AN XI.18; producing milk, curds, butter, ghee, etc. {practice for oneself and others} AN IV.95; roaming in the mountains {mastery of jhana} AN IX.35; skinned {sensuality} MN 146; that runs away {fool} SN XI.5; udder {brief time} SN XX.4. See also Bull, Butcher.
- Cowherd: competent {skillfulness} MN 33, AN XI.18; counting another's cattle {heedlessness} Dhp 19; driving cattle {aging and death} Dhp 135; incompetent {unskillfulness} MN 33, AN XI.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 III.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 III.15
- Cymbals striking together {contact} Miln II.3.8
D
- Darkness, intergalactic {fear of birth, aging, and death} SN LVI.46
- Debt {conviction} AN VI.45
- Deer that wanders in the wilderness {solitude} Sn I.3
- Dewdrop on tip of grass blade {brevity of life} AN VII.70
- Digging in earth {speech} MN 21
- Dirt-washer {purifying the mind} AN III.100 (i-x)
- Doctor {the Buddha} MN 63, MN 105. See also Arrow.
- Dog: chasing swine {gratitude} SN VII.14; gnawing on a chain of bones {sensuality} MN 54; tied to a post {self-view} SN XXII.99, SN XXII.100.
- Donkey that thinks it's a cow {insincerity with regard to the Dhamma} AN III.81
- Drawing pictures in space {speech} MN 21
- Dream, waking from: {sensuality} MN 54; {death} Sn IV.6
- Drinking water {subduing hatred}: from a clear pool AN V.162; from a dirty pool AN V.162; from a puddle in a hoofprint AN V.162
- Drum peg {listening to Dhamma} SN XX.7
- Dry piece of wood {mindfulness} MN 119
- Dung beetle {pride} SN XVII.5
- Dust: on a fingertip {dukkha} SN XIII.1, {rarity of human birth} SN XX.2; thrown into wind {evil} Dhp 125
- Dusty road {household life} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 36, MN 125
E
- Earth {arahant} Dhp 95
- Elephant: and the blind men {ignorance} Ud VI.4; footprint {four noble truths} MN 28, {heedfulness} SN III.17, AN X.15; in battle {patient endurance} Dhp 320, Thag III.8; in battle {sensual passion} AN V.139, {sense-restraint} AN V.140; in rut {self-control} Dhp 324, Dhp 326; in the wild {mature companion} Sn I.3; relieves an itch {solitude in the wilderness} AN IX.40; renouncing its herd {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3; snared {attachments} MN 66; stuck in mud {heedfulness} Dhp 327; tamable {factors for exertion} MN 90; tamed {self-training} Dhp 322
- Elephant-tamer {renunciation} MN 125
- Embers in a pit {passion} Thig XIV
- Empty water pot {mindfulness} MN 119
- Executioner: five {aggregates} SN XXXV.197; sixth {passion/delight} SN XXXV.197
- Eyes, man opening and closing his {faculties} MN 152
F
- False path in the forest {wrong eightfold path} MN 19
- Farmer's urgent duties {self-training} AN III.91
- Field: neglecting one's own {teaching Dhamma} DN 12; spoiled by weeds {passion} Dhp 356
- Fire: {clinging} SN XII.52, SN XXXV.28, SN XLIV.9; {heedfulness} Dhp 31; {passion} Dhp 251; {discernment} Thag I.3; fire's destination {nibbana} Ud VIII.10; fire not returning {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3; hidden in ashes {unskillful action} Dhp 71
- Fire-stick {sensuality} MN 36; {feeling} SN XLVIII.39
- Firebrand with excrement: {practicing Dhamma for no one's benefit} AN IV.95; {failing to practice Dhamma} SN XXII.80, Iti 91
- Fish: caught in net {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3, {sensuality} Thag IV.8; caught in trap {sensuality} Ud VII.4; caught on a hook {six senses} SN XXXV.189; in dried-up puddle {self-view} Sn IV.2, SN V.10; flip-flapping on dry land {unsteady mind} Dhp 34; rising through the water {recognizing a wise person} AN IV.192; rotten and wrapped in grass {associating with fools} Iti 76; struggling in water {quarreling} Sn IV.15
- Fisherman {Mara} SN XXXV.189
- Flame: overthrown by wind {arahant} Sn V.6; passed from one lamp to another {rebirth} Miln III.5.5; unbinding of {nibbana} Thig V.10;
- Fletcher straightening an arrow: {exertion} MN 101; {training the mind} Dhp 33, Thag I.29; {restraint} Dhp 145, Dhp 80. See also Arrow.
- Flies' eggs {sensuality} MN 33, AN XI.18
- Flood {craving, sensuality, becoming, ignorance} SN I.1, SN XLV.171; {greed} Sn IV.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} Dhp 46
- Fords {asking questions} MN 33, AN XI.18
- Forest: {desire} Dhp 283; {Dhamma} Sn II.1
- Fort {mind} Dhp 40
- Fragrances {heedfulness}: flower AN X.15; root AN X.15; wood AN X.15
- Frontier fortress: {the body} SN XXXV.204; {seven skillful qualities} AN VII.63; {liberation is not for everyone} AN X.95; {guarding oneself} Dhp 315, Thag XIV.1; foundation post {conviction} AN VII.63; moat {shame} AN VII.63; encircling road {concern} AN VII.63; weapons {learning} AN VII.63; army {persistence} AN VII.63; gate-keeper {mindfulness} AN VII.63; ramparts {discernment} AN VII.63; stores of grass {1st jhana} AN VII.63; stores of rice {2nd jhana} AN VII.63; stores of sesame {3rd jhana} AN VII.63; stores of tonics {4th jhana} AN VII.63
- Fruit, ripe {death} Sn III.8
- Full moon {discernment} Thig I.3. See Moon.
- Full water pot {mindfulness} MN 119
- Fumigation {teaching Dhamma} MN 33, AN XI.18
G
- Gem with colored thread inside {clear seeing} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12
- Gift of food {good will} SN XX.4
- Goat butcher {kamma} AN III.99
- Gold: coins raining {sensuality} Dhp 186; disappearance of {disappearance of Dhamma} SN XVI.13; ingot {discernment and virtue} Dhp 229; mountain {sensuality} SN IV.20; ornament {arahant} AN IV.28
- Goldsmith: purifying gold {purifying the mind} AN III.100 (i-x), AN III.100 (xi-xv); crafting any kind of article {supranormla powers} DN 2, DN 11
- Gong {applied and sustained thought} Miln II.3.14
- Gourds in autumn {bones} Dhp 149
- Grass: with sharp blades {wrong practice} Dhp 311; wild grass after rain {dukkha} Dhp 335
- Green reed cut down {foolish person} SN I.10
- Ground far from the sky {foolish person} SN V.10
- Guest house {feelings in the body} SN XXXVI.14
- Guest refusing the host's food {insulting behavior} SN VII.2
H
- Handful of leaves {Dhamma} SN LVI.31
- Hands clapping {contact} Miln II.3.8
- Hawk attacking quail {mindfulness} SN XLVII.6
- Head of snake {sensuality} Sn IV.1
- Head on fire: See Turban on fire
- Head sliced open with sword {pain} MN 36
- Hell, saved from {Dhamma} DN 12
- Hen covering her eggs {virtue, etc.} MN 53, SN XXII.101
- Herd of cattle {arahant} AN III.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 XXXV.189
- Horse: awakened by the whip {conscience} SN I.18; deprived of fodder {father of fools} SN VII.14; fast {wise person} Dhp 29; stallion {self-training} Dhp 94, Dhp 144, Dhp 380; stirred by a goad-stick {trainable person} AN IV.113; tamed {self-tamed person} Dhp 322; thoroughbred {arahant} Thag II.27, Thig V.10; thoroughbred {jhana} AN XI.10; thoroughbred {qualities of a consummate monk} AN III.94, AN VIII.13; unbroken colt {jhana} AN XI.10
- Horsetrainer {trainable person} AN IV.111
- House: built from the bottom up {four noble truths} SN LVI.44; fireproof {mindfulness/awareness} SN XXXV.202; flammable {mindfulness/awareness} SN XXXV.202; on fire {the body} SN I.41; with poor roof {unguarded mind} AN III.105.
I
- 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 III.130
- Insects falling into flame {ignorance} Ud VI.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 XLVII.13, Dhp 25, Dhp 236, Dhp 238, Sn V.10
- Ivory carver or his assistant {supranormal powers} DN 2, DN 11
J
K
L
- 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 V.10; spring-fed {jhana} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, MN 119, AN V.28; unruffled by wind {arahant} Iti 92.
- Lamp: 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 IV.1
- Leaves: blown from a tree {unwholesome states} Thag XVII.2; handful of {Dhamma} SN LVI.31
- Leper covered with sores {sensuality} MN 75
- Lily crushed in hand {self-view} Dhp 285
- Limb falling from tree {nibbana} SN XLVII.13
- Linchpin in a moving cart {generosity and kindness} AN IV.32
- Lion: in the wild {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3, Sn III.1; unstartled by sounds {wise person} Sn I.3, Sn I.12
- Line drawn on water {brevity of life} AN VII.70
- Loan, man taking out a {hindrances} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Log in a stream {path of practice} SN XXXV.200. See also Stream.
- Lost caravan leader {virtue} Snp IV.13
- Lotus: pond {jhana} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39, MN 119, AN V.28; pond {the world} MN 26; rising above the water {Tathagata} AN X.81; scent of {self-view} SN XXII.89; unsmeared by water {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3, Sn I.12; unsmeared by water {sensuality} Sn IV.9. See also Flower, Water on a lotus.
- Lute, disassembled {not-self} SN XXXV.205
M
- Magic show {the body} Thig XIV
- Magician {consciousness} SN XXII.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 Buddha} MN 18, MN 138; seeking heartwood {appropriate attention} SN XXII.95; seeking heartwood {not-self} SN XXXV.193; with borrowed goods {sensuality} MN 54;
- Man & woman in love {desire}": MN 101
- Meat thrown into a fire {brevity of life} AN VII.70
- Merchant with caravan {avoiding evil} Dhp 123
- Middle of the sea {stillness of mind} Sn IV.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 XIV; {perception} SN XXII.95
- Mire, person stuck in the {ignorance} MN 8
- Mirror of the Dhamma {stream-entry} DN 16
- Money {uposatha observance} AN X.46
- Monkey: caught in tar trap {mindfulness} SN XLVII.7; in forest {heedlessness} Dhp 334; swinging from branch to branch {untrained in Dhamma; inconstancy of mind} SN XII.61, Sn IV.4
- Moon: {arahant} Dhp 413; {good will} Iti 27 (a), (b); {heedfulness} AN X.15; {jhana} Dhp 387; full {arahant} Thig I.3; set free from a cloud {heedfulness, skillfulness} Dhp 172, Dhp 382, Iti 74; waning {unvirtuous person} DN 31, SN V.10; waxing {virtuous person} DN 31;
- Morning star {good will} Iti 27
- Mother risking life for child {good will} Sn I.8
- Mountain: of gold {sensuality} SN IV.20; of solid rock {arahant} Ud III.4, Thag XIV.1 of solid rock {imperturbability} AN VI.55; of solid rock {restraint} Dhp 7;
- Mountains crushing in from all directions {brevity of life} SN III.25
- Mules, tamed {self-tamed person} Dhp 322
- Muñja grass {resolve and determination} Sn III.2
- Mural painted on wall {the body} Thig XIV
- Murderer with sword: {disenchantment} AN VI.103; {heedfulness} AN VII.46
- Mustard seed: {passion} Dhp 407; {sensuality} Dhp 401. (Note: the famous parable in which the Buddha instructs a grieving Kisa Gotami to fetch a mustard seed from the first household she can find that has never known death is found in the Commentaries to Thig X.1 (ThigA X.1) and Dhp 114.)
N
- Noise from a soft catskin bag {speech} MN 21
O
- Ocean: an abode for mighty creatures {Dhamma-vinaya} Ud V.5; crossing over the {arahant} Iti 69; slope of ~ floor {progress of Dhamma practice} Ud V.5; greatness of {stream-entry} SN XIII.8; intolerance to dead bodies {unvirtuous person} Ud V.5; many treasures of {37 wings to awakening} Ud V.5; middle of ~ is calm {stillness of mind} Sn IV.14; polluted by a pot of poison {abuse towards the Tathagata} Iti 89; salty taste of {release} Ud V.5; stability of {restraint of the Vinaya} Ud V.5; steady level of {nibbana} Ud V.5. See also Flood.
- Oil from gravel {wrong view} MN 126
- Oil lamp: depends on wick and fuel {feeling} SN XXXVI.7; flickering of {six senses} MN 146
- Ornament of gold {arahant} AN IV.28
- Ox: {suffering} Dhp 1; {person who doesn't listen} Dhp 152; eating corn {sensuality} SN XXXV.205; joined by a single yoke {sense-bases and their objects} SN XXXV.191
P
- Painting of a woman or man: {not-self} SN XXII.100; {nutriment} SN XII.64
- Palm leaf dropping away {aversion}: Iti 88
- Palm tree: with top cut off {awakening} MN 105; uprooted {awakening} SN XXII.3, SN XLI.7, SN XLIV.1.
- Pastures {mindfulness} MN 33, AN XI.18
- Path, man showing the {Tathagata} SN XXII.84
- Peacock {jhana} Sn I.12
- Peg in drum {listening to Dhamma} SN XX.7
- Person looking down from a rocky crag {wise person} Iti 38
- Person reflecting on another {higher knowledges} AN V.28
- Person riding a small wooden plank in the great ocean {laziness} Iti 78
- Pillar at a bathing ford {wise person} Sn I.12
- Pit of embers: {intellectual intention} SN XII.63; {sensuality} MN 54, Thig XIV
- Plow {discernment} Sn I.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 V.6
- Pond {integrity}: delightful, SN III.19; haunted, SN III.19
- Pool of water: clear or mudddy {mind} AN I.45-46; in a mountain glen {arahant} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Poor person: {fetters} MN 66; {speech} AN X.24
- Pot: flattened metal {nibbana} Dhp 134; of pickled greens {passion} Thig I.1; smashed by stone {delusion} Sn III.2
- Potter or potter's apprentice {supranormal powers} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12
- Potter's clay vessels {inevitability of death} Sn III.8
- Princes of wattle-and-daub towns {heedfulness} AN X.15
- Prison, man released from {hindrances} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Propagation of plants {aggregates} SN XXII.54
Q
- Quail snared by a rotten creeper {attachments} MN 66
R
- Rabbit caught in snare {fetters} Dhp 342
- Raft {eightfold path}: MN 22, SN XXXV.197, Sn I.2
- Rafters of house: {defilements} Dhp 153; {heedfulness} AN X.15
- Rag, saving the good part of a {subduing hatred} AN V.162
- Rain: {austerity} Sn I.4; entering hut {passion} Dhp 13; from a cloud {generosity} Iti 75; from a thunderhead {discernnment} AN IV.102; sent by devas {brevity of life} AN VII.70; stilling a cloud of dust {silencing one's thoughts} Iti 87, Thag XV.1
- Rams butting heads {contact} Miln II.3.8
- Reeds or rushes: destroyed by their own fruit {defilements} SN III.23; drawn from their sheaths{supranormal powers} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12; matted {craving} AN IV.199.
- Reflection of one's face in mirror {mind-reading} DN 2, DN 11 DN 12; {"I am" with possessiveness} SN XXII.83
- Reservoir with four inlets and outlets {virtuous conduct} AN VIII.54
- Rhinoceros horn {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3
- Rich person {speech} AN X.24
- Riddle tree {purity of vision} SN XXXV.204
- Ridge-pole of house {ignorance} Dhp 153
- River: {craving} Dhp 251, Iti 109; flow down to the sea {heedfulness} AN X.15; carrying everything with it {brevity of life} AN VII.70; swift current {hunger} Sn IV.15, {hindrances} AN V.51; gives up its name upon reaching the sea {going-forth} Ud V.5; person swept away by a {not-self} SN XXII.93. See also Flood.
- Road: {eightfold path} MN 33, AN XI.18; dangerous {evil deeds} Dhp 123
- Rock: broken in two {spehere 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
S
- Sack full of grains {the body} DN 22, MN 119
- Salt: in water {evil deed} AN III.99; taste of ocean {Dhamma} Ud V.5
- Sand castles {aggregates} SN XXIII.2
- Saw used by an attacking bandit {patient endurance} MN 21, MN 28
- Seed: {conviction} Sn I.4; bitter {wrong view} AN X.104; capable of sprouting {kamma} AN III.33; mustard ~ {sensuality} Dhp 401; mustard ~ {passion} Dhp 407; rotting in a field: SN V.10; sweet: AN X.104. See also Mustard seed.
- Seedling not watered {change & alteration} SN XXII.80.
- Seizure {anger} Dhp 251
- Servant murdering his master {not-self} SN XXII.85
- Shack, flammable {mindfulness/awareness} SN XXXV.202. See also House.
- Shadow that never leaves {kamma} SN III.4, SN III.20, Dhp 1
- Sheaf of barley thrashed repeatedly {foolish person} SN XXXV.207
- Sheaves of reeds {dependent co-arising} SN XII.67
- Ship left ashore over winter {fetters} SN XXII.101
- Shore: far {nibbana} SN XXXV.197; far {external sense media} SN XXXV.200; near {self-view} SN XXXV.197; near {internal sense media} SN XXXV.200. See also Stream.
- Shot with arrow {craving} Sn II.10, Sn IV.1; {present kamma} MN 101
- Shuttle {wise person} Sn I.12
- Silversmith {purifying the mind} Dhp 239, Sn IV.16
- Sick man, taking pity on a {hatred} AN V.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 I.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 XX.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 XV.9
- Stone ball thrown into wet clay {mindfulness} MN 119
- Storekeeper {perception} Miln II.3.10
- Storm cloud {evil} Thag XIV.1
- Stream: sinking in the middle of {passion} SN XXXV.200; snared by a whirlpool {sensuality} SN XXXV.200; washed up on high ground of {conceit} SN XXXV.200; See also Shore.
- String, ball of {craving} AN IV.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 IV.8; extending his arm {appearance/disappearance of devas} DN 20, SN VI.1, SN VI.2; extending his arm {equanimity} MN 152;
- Suckling calf going to its mother {desire} Dhp 284, Ud VII.4. See also Cow.
- Sun: dispelling the dark {absence of delusion} Iti 88; filling the sky {heedfulness} AN X.15; filling the sky {awakening} Ud I.3; speed of {death} SN XX.6
- Sunlight: {merit} Iti 27; {virtue/concentration/discernment} Iti 59; not landing on ground {consciousness} SN XII.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 XXXV.204
- Sword drawn from its scabbard {mind-made body} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12
T
- Tall building in central square {passing away and re-appearance of beings} DN 2, DN 11, DN 12, MN 39
- Tangle: SN VII.6
- Tangled skein {craving} AN IV.199
- Tank filled with water {supranormal powers} AN V.28
- Tendon in fire {perception of the unattractive} AN VII.46
- Thief shot with spears {consciousness} SN XII.63
- Thoroughbred. See Horse.
- Thundercloud: {conviction} SN III.24; {discernment} AN IV.102
- Tortoise evading a jackal {sense-restraint} SN XXXV.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 vilage 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 XI.17
- Tree: changing {inconstancy} MN 146; gold {the body} Thig XIV; growing back after having been cut {craving} Dhp 338; growing on mountain {craving} AN III.48; haven for birds {conviction} AN V.38; killed by vine {vice} Dhp 162, {three unskillful roots} AN III.69; leaning to the east {virtue} SN LV.22; overcome by wind {restraint} Dhp 7; pliant {the mind} AN I.47; shedding its leaves {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3 (a, b); with delicious fruit {sensuality} MN 54; with roots cut {aggregates} Thig V.8
- Tuning a stringed instrument {right effort} AN VI.55
- Turban or head on fire, person with {aroused persistence} AN VI.20 (a, b), AN X.51, Thag I.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 XVII.3
- Tusker: see Elephant.
U
- 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 III.1, SN VII.2, SN VII.6, SN VII.14, SN VII.17, SN XII.48, SN XXXV.127, SN XLII.2, SN XLII.3, SN XLII.6, SN XLII.8, SN XLII.9, SN LI.15, AN III.65, AN III.72, AN IV.111, AN IV.184, AN X.176, AN X.177, Ud V.3
V
- Village: empty {internal sense media} SN XXXV.197; leaving one's {jhana} MN 105
- Vine: creeping {craving} Dhp 334; killing a tree {vice} Dhp 162
- Vipers {elements} SN XXXV.197
- Vomit, person eating his or her own {fetters} MN 105
- Vulture forced to drop his prey {sensuality} MN 54
W
- Warrior: {celibacy} AN V.75, AN V.76; {Buddha} Dhp 387; untrained {hindrances} SN III.24, {worthy monk} AN IV.181
- Waste-water pool {ignorance} AN IV.178
- Water: container filled to brim {mindfulness} MN 119 (a, b); drawn from a pond {stream-entry} SN XIII.2; drops in a hot pan {mindfulness} MN 66, {equanimity} MN 152; filling a jar {evil} Dhp 121; person sinking in {factors of awakening} AN VII.15; ripples {preoccupations} Sn IV.15; rolling off a lotus leaf {equanimity} MN 152, {dukkha} Sn IV.6, Dhp 336, {sensuality} Dhp 401, {greed} Iti 88;
- Weigher holding a scale {virtuous conduct} AN VIII.54
- Well in desert {nibbana} SN XII.68
- Wet piece of wood {mindfulness} MN 119
- Wheels: four {prosperity} AN IV.31; of cart {kamma} Dhp 1
- Wild deer: {arahant} Ud II.10, {sensuality} MN 26
- Wind: blowing across the sky {feeling} SN XXXVI.12; blowing cotton fluff {dukkha} Sn III.8; blowing leaves from a tree {awakening} Thag XVII.2; coming out of bellows {exertion} MN 36; overcoming a tree {restraint} Dhp 7; unsnared by a net {solitude in the wilderness} Sn I.3, {wise person} Sn I.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 XXXV.206
- Wounds, dressing {restraint} MN 33, AN XI.18