the simile of the snake
alagaddūpama-sutta
Majjhima Nikāya 22 of 152
Translated by: Rupert Gethin
Read by: Roland Kitchen
Description
The sutta falls into two parts. The first part concerns the monk Arittha who has wrong views concerning the teaching. The Buddha reprimands Arittha and gives two similes (of the snake and raft) which illustrate different ways in which someone might miss the point of his teachings. The second part of the sutta details issues connected with views of the self.