The Simile of the Bowl of Oil

Monks, suppose that on hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl of the land! The most beautiful girl of the land!’ a great crowd of people would assemble. Now that most beautiful girl of the land would dance exquisitely and sing exquisitely. On hearing, ‘The most beautiful girl of the land is dancing! The most beautiful girl of the land is singing!’ an even larger crowd of people would assemble. Then a man would come along, aspiring to live, not aspiring to die, aspiring for peacefulness, uninterested in discontentedness. Someone would say to him:

Good man, you must carry around this bowl of oil filled to the brim between the crowd and the most beautiful girl of the land. A man with a drawn sword will be following right behind you, and wherever you spill even a little of it, right there he will cut off your head.

What do you think, Monks, would that man stop attending to that bowl of oil and out of negligence turn his attention outwards?

‘No, Venerable Sir.’

I have made up this simile, Monks, in order to convey a meaning. This here is the meaning: The bowl of oil filled to the brim: this is a designation for mindfulness directed to the body.

Therefore, Monks, you should train yourselves thus: We will develop and cultivate mindfulness directed to the body, make it our vehicle, make it our basis, stabilize it, exercise ourselves in it, and fully perfect it.

Thus, Monks, should you train yourselves.

Monks, those who do not take part in mindfulness directed to the body do not take part in the deathless (Enlightenment). Those who take part in mindfulness directed to the body they take part in the deathless.

Monks, those who are unattentive about mindfulness directed to the body are unattentive about the deathless. Those who are attentive about mindfulness directed to the body are attentive about the deathless (Enlightenment).

(Reference: SN 47.20)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares a simile to help Practitioners understand the importance in establishing mindfulness of bodily sensations or “mindfulness directed to the body”.

He is explaining how the mind needs to be restrained from the tendency for the eye to pull towards the direction of “the most beautiful girl of the land” and the ear to pull in the direction of “crowd of people” with excitement.

Applying this to your daily life, as you are in situations where the mind wants to pull in the direction of pleasant feelings to experience happiness, excitement, elation, thrill, exhilaration, euphoria, etc., imagine a man walking right behind you with a sword about to cut off the head should the mind pull in the direction of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind (i.e. The Six Sense Bases).

Instead, stabilize the mind and fully perfect restraining the mind from being pulled towards agreeable contact and being repulsed by disagreeable contact. The mind can develop the ability to guard the six doorways to discontentedness so that it can reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently.