Buddhist Parables: A Ship to Wisdom

The Buddha is a masterful storyteller, skilled in teaching through parables. He offers guidance to sentient beings according to their individual capacities and needs. Through these parables, he leads all beings to understand the meaning of the Dharma and realize the true essence of Buddhism, thereby transforming delusion into awakening and moving steadily toward the ultimate liberation of life.

■ Shi Yanxiao 釋演曉
One day, the Buddha was teaching the monks in the forest outside Rajgir. He picked up a handful of leaves and said, "The Dharma I have taught is like the handful of leaves in my hand: it supports pure practice and leads to Nirvana. The Dharma I have not taught is like the countless leaves in the forest: it does not aid practice and does not lead to Nirvana."(Saṃyukta Āgama, Volume 15, Sutra 404) This skillful and insightful parable immediately helped the disciples understand that their effort should be devoted to practicing the teachings that truly support right conduct, brahmacarya, and the path leading to Nirvana.
 
The Wise Understand the Dharma Through Parables

The parable, known as avadāna in Sanskrit and apadāna in Pāli, is sometimes translated into Chinese as "sunrise." It is one of the twelve traditional genre divisions of the Buddhist canon and among the Buddha's most common methods of teaching.
In the Buddha's time, Brahmins and lay followers often praised him as “a master of parable and profound realization.” Whenever his disciples faced doubts in life or in spiritual practice that they could not resolve, they would ask the Buddha, “Could you tell us a parable?” They hoped the Buddha would use a parable to help them understand the profound meaning of the Dharma.
 
For this reason, Buddhist scriptures often include expressions such as “for instance…, in that case…,” or “Having given the parable, I will now explain its meaning.” Through the rhetorical method of “using one thing to represent another,” the Buddha used similarities between things as a bridge—that is, explaining the profound with the simple, and the distant through what is near. He employed concrete stories and vivid analogies to convey teachings that might otherwise seem abstract or difficult to grasp, thus allowing his listeners to glimpse the deeper truths of the Dharma.
 
The Buddha often said, “Now listen as I speak by way of a parable; the wise understand through parables.” In other words, he offered concrete examples so that those with rich knowledge could grasp the true meaning through them.
 
Retired professor Ting Min (丁敏) of the Department of Chinese Literature at National Chengchi University explains in her book A Study of Buddhist Parable Literature that parables have three progressive levels of function.
 
(1) Helping Focus the Mind and Inspiring Motivation to Learn

The book gives an example of how the Buddha used a hypothetical scenario to help his listeners focus and awaken their motivation to learn. He asked, “If someone were holding a sharp blade, could even a strong man break it apart with his bare hands?” As the monks concentrated on this question, the Buddha explained, “When one practices loving-kindness, it is like holding a sharp blade; no evil spirits or harmful forces can harm them.” By creating such a vivid image, the Buddha drew his listeners into the scene, helping them focus their minds and engage deeply with the teaching. When examples are drawn from everyday life, the lesson becomes even more effective and relatable.
 
(2) Explaining the Profound through the Simple and the Abstract through the Concrete

As Professor Ting Min points out, concepts such as “emptiness” (śūnyatā) are abstract and difficult to understand. To help his followers understand, the Buddha used familiar and vivid images as metaphors. He used an illusion, a flame, the moon reflected in water, hollowness, an echo, a mirage city, a dream, a shadow, a reflection in a mirror, and even a magical transformation to convey the nature of emptiness. He also used the example of a banana tree to illustrate the conditioned nature of all phenomena: when one peels away its layers, nothing solid remains.

(3) Using Metaphors to Represent Stages of Cultivation

According to the Sutra on Upāsaka Precepts, there is a parable of a rabbit, a horse, and an elephant crossing a river, used to illustrate different levels of spiritual practice among the śrāvaka (voice-hearer), pratyekabuddha (one awakened by conditions), and bodhisattva. These three animals differ in strength: the rabbit and the horse are weaker than the elephant. Although they can all reach the opposite shore, only the elephant can touch the riverbed as it crosses; the rabbit and the horse cannot. In this metaphor, the river represents the law of dependent origination. The understanding of the śrāvaka is the shallowest, that of the pratyekabuddha is deeper, and that of the bodhisattva is the deepest. Using such metaphors and parables helps listeners form mental connections, enabling them to understand and remember the teachings more deeply.
 
Using Everyday Metaphors Adapted to the Audience

As a master of parables, the Buddha paid close attention to addressing the practical problems of everyday life. Those who sought the Dharma from him included not only monastic disciples but also lay Buddhists, kings, ministers, Brahmins, non-Buddhist ascetics, and even gods and spirits from various heavens. According to each person’s social status, occupation, and disposition, the Buddha offered guidance suited to their needs.
The early Buddhist scriptures, the Āgamas, record numerous examples of the Buddha skillfully explaining the Dharma and methods of practice through customized parables. To encourage diligence in cultivation, he drew metaphors from farming, tuning a lute, or refining gold. To illustrate the causes and conditions that sustain the cycle of birth and death, he used images such as planting trees, an oil lamp, or a poisonous snake—depicting how greed nourishes samsaric existence and revealing the reality of its continuation or cessation.
In another example, he said to the monks “A bee gathers nectar and departs without disturbing the color or fragrance of the flowers,” reminding them that as they enter a village for alms, they should walk with mindfulness, free from distraction or judgment.
Each of these vivid metaphors not only reflects the realities of daily life but also reveals the Buddha’s deep insight into the workings of the world. Through such dialogues and examples, we see how attentively he observed human experience and natural laws, offering teachings that were practical, precise, and well-suited to his audience.
 
The Popularity and Influence of Buddhist Parable Literature

According to Professor Liang Liling (梁麗玲) of the Department of Applied Chinese at Ming Chuan University, early avadānas were scattered throughout the four Agamas and the Vinaya texts. The primary purpose was to record the conduct and exemplary deeds of the Buddha, his disciples, and lay followers. Over time, these stories began to incorporate the doctrine of karma, emphasizing causality and the cycle of karmic rebirth.
As Buddhist teachings spread, avadānas gradually developed into a specialized discipline. Some collections centered on scriptural doctrine and Vinaya teachings, such as the Avadānaśataka, the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, and the Dhammapada. Others drew mainly from Indian fables and folk tales, including the Storehouse of Sundry Valuables, the Sutra of a Hundred Parables, and the Old Sutra of Parables.
 
There is a famous Buddhist painting that depicts a man clinging to a vine at the edge of a cliff while savoring a drop of honey dripping from a hive. The scene tells of a traveler who, when chased by a hungry tiger, is forced to the edge of a cliff. Below him yawns a bottomless abyss where three venomous dragons churn the waters into violent waves with bloodthirsty jaws.
In desperation, the traveler grabs a vine and begins climbing down the cliff, narrowly escaping the tiger’s pursuit. But soon he notices two mice—one white and one black—emerging from nowhere and gnawing at the very vine that is keeping him alive.
At that critical moment, he spots a bee making honey. Overcome by the urge to taste its sweetness, he sticks out his tongue, closes his eyes, and savors a tiny drop of honey—completely forgetting the danger that surrounds him.
 
This story comes from the Sutra in Which the Buddha Speaks of Analogies. In the parable, the Buddha uses the tiger to symbolize death; the venomous dragons to represent the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion; the black and white mice to signify day and night, or the ceaseless passage of time; and the honey to represent the five desires and the six sense objects of the world.
When brought to life through the artist’s painting, the scene becomes vivid and striking, illustrating the impermanence of life, the force of our afflictions, and the suffering driven by desire. It evokes a deep awareness of the inherent suffering within existence. Only by recognizing the true nature of impermanence and understanding that all people, events, and things are fleeting can we cultivate right insight and settle the afflictions of the mind. In doing so, we learn to live with freedom and ease.
 
Once Meaning Is Grasped, Forget the Words; Once the Fish Are Caught, Forget the Trap

Parables are a skillful means the Buddha used to teach the Dharma, tailored to the capacities of different beings. They are not the Dharma itself, nor do they represent the actual stages of practice or realization. A parable is like a ladder, helping practitioners ascend to the deeper halls of the Dharma—or like bitter medicine coated in honey, making it easier to take.
As the Sutra of Great Nirvana states: “Good son! One should not mistake the parable for true liberation; parables are given merely to guide sentient beings.” Hence, when we encounter the many brilliant parables in the scriptures, we must look beyond the story to grasp the principle it illustrates, understand the true meaning of the teaching, and joyfully put it into practice.
Just as one leaves the boat behind after crossing a river, we should remember: once the meaning is grasped, forget the words; once the fish are caught, forget the trap. This, ultimately, is the highest aim of the Buddha’s parable teaching.