8.
The Second Discourse on the Ocean
81.
He was dwelling at Sāvatthī, etc.
"Just as, monks, the great ocean would be eliminated and brought to an end, except for two or three drops of water.
What do you think, monks, which is more, the water in the great ocean that has been eliminated and brought to an end, or the two or three drops of water remaining?"
"This indeed, venerable sir, is more, the water in the great ocean, that is to say, what has been eliminated and brought to an end; the two or three drops of water remaining are trifling. They do not amount to a hundredth fraction, they do not amount to a thousandth fraction, they do not amount to a hundred-thousandth fraction - compared with the water in the great ocean that has been eliminated and brought to an end, the two or three drops of water remaining." "So too, monks, etc. the attainment of the eye of the teaching." The eighth.