Nāvāsutta
“Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, sāmuddikāya nāvāya vettabandhanabandhāya cha māsāni udake pariyādāya hemantikena thalaṁ ukkhittāya vātātapaparetāni bandhanāni tāni pāvussakena meghena abhippavuṭṭhāni appakasireneva paṭippassambhanti, pūtikāni bhavanti; evameva kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bhāvayato ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bahulīkaroto appakasireneva saṁyojanāni paṭippassambhanti, pūtikāni bhavanti. Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bhāvayato ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bahulīkaroto appakasireneva saṁyojanāni paṭippassambhanti, pūtikāni bhavanti? Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sammādiṭṭhiṁ bhāveti …pe… sammāsamādhiṁ bhāveti vivekanissitaṁ virāganissitaṁ nirodhanissitaṁ vossaggapariṇāmiṁ … evaṁ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bhāvayato ariyaṁ aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ bahulīkaroto appakasireneva saṁyojanāni paṭippassambhanti, pūtikāni bhavantī”ti.
A Ship
“Mendicants, suppose there was a sea-faring ship bound together with ropes. For six months they deteriorated in the water. Then in the cold season it was hauled up on dry land, where the ropes were weathered by wind and sun. When the monsoon clouds soaked it with rain, the ropes would readily collapse and rot away. In the same way, when a mendicant develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path their fetters readily collapse and rot away. And how do they develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path so that their fetters readily collapse and rot away? It’s when a mendicant develops right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go. That’s how they develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path so that their fetters readily collapse and rot away.”