The Ship

‘Venerable Nāgasena, those three qualities of the ship that you say he ought to take, which are they?’
‘Just, O king, as a ship, by the combination of the quantity of the different kinds of timber of which it is composed, conveys many folk across; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, cross the whole world of existence, whether in heaven, or on earth, by the combination of a number of qualities arising out of good conduct, righteousness, virtue, and the performance of duty. This, O king, is the first of the qualities of a ship he ought to have.
‘And again, O king, just as a ship can bear the onslaught of various thundering waves and of far-reaching whirlpools; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be able to bear the onslaught of the waves of various evil inclinations, and the onslaught of the waves of varied evils—veneration and contempt, support and honour, praise and exaltation, offerings and homage, blame and commendation in families not his own. This, O king, is the second of the qualities of the ship he ought to have.
‘And again, O king, as the ship journeys over the great ocean, immeasurable and infinite though it be, without a further shore, unshaken in its depths, roaring with a mighty noise, and filled with crowds of fish and monsters and dragons of all sorts; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, make his mind journey through to penetration into the four Truths in their triple order, in their twelvefold form. This, O king, is the third of the qualities of the ship he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods, in the most excellent Saṃyutta Nikāya, in the Saṃyutta on the Truths:
“Whenever you are thinking, O Bhikkhus, you should think: ‘Such is sorrow,’—you should think ‘Such is the origin of sorrow,’—you should think: ‘Such is the end of sorrow,’—you should think: ‘Such is the path that leads to the end of sorrow.’”’