sn41.1:4.1 “Sirs, the ‘fetter’ and the ‘things that tighten the fetters’: these things differ in both meaning and phrasing.
sn41.1:4.2 Well then, sirs, I shall give you a simile.
sn41.1:4.3 For by means of a simile some sensible people understand the meaning of what is said.
sn41.1:4.4 Suppose there was a black ox and a white ox yoked by a single harness or yoke.
sn41.1:4.5 Would it be right to say that
sn41.1:4.6 the black ox is the yoke of the white ox, or the white ox is the yoke of the black ox?”
sn41.1:4.7 “No, householder.
sn41.1:4.8 The black ox is not the yoke of the white ox, nor is the white ox the yoke of the black ox.
sn41.1:4.9 The yoke there is the single harness or yoke that they’re yoked by.”
sn41.1:4.10 “In the same way, the eye is not the fetter of sights, nor are sights the fetter of the eye.
sn41.1:4.11 The fetter there is the desire and greed that arises from the pair of them.
sn41.1:4.12 The ear … nose … tongue … body …
sn41.1:4.17 mind is not the fetter of ideas, nor are ideas the fetter of the mind.
sn41.1:4.18 The fetter there is the desire and greed that arises from the pair of them.”
sn41.1:4.19 “You’re fortunate, householder, so very fortunate,
sn41.1:4.20 to traverse the Buddha’s deep teachings with the eye of wisdom.”