The Simile of the Boil (AN9.15)

Numbered Discourses 9.15

2. The Lion’s Roar

The Simile of the Boil

“Mendicants, suppose there was a boil that was many years old.

And that boil had nine orifices that were continually open wounds.

Whatever oozed out of them

would be filthy, stinking, and disgusting.

Whatever exuded from them

would be filthy, stinking, and disgusting.

‘Boil’ is a term for this body made up of the four principal states, produced by mother and father, built up from rice and porridge, liable to impermanence, to wearing away and erosion, to breaking up and destruction.

And that boil has nine orifices that are continually open wounds.

Whatever oozes out of them

is filthy, stinking, and disgusting.

Whatever exudes from them

is filthy, stinking, and disgusting.

So, mendicants, have no illusion about this body.”