The Related Suttas Collection 55.38

4. Overflowing Merit

Rain

“Bhikkhus, suppose it rains heavily on a mountain top, and the water flows downhill to fill the hollows, crevices, and creeks. As they become full, they fill up the pools. The pools fill up the lakes, the lakes fill up the streams, and the streams fill up the rivers. And as the rivers become full, they fill up the ocean. In the same way, a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha, and the ethics loved by the noble ones. These things flow onwards; and, after crossing to the far shore, they lead to the ending of defilements.”