I remember reading from a sutta where the Buddha tells the other person how to tell if he is practicing the path correctly: It’s when you can look at a desirable object, hear a desirable sound, taste a desirable food, etc. and not be swayed by sensuality; if there is still desire felt, then there the yogi has not let it go and is still attached.
I thought it was in the Bahiya sutta, Kesamutti sutta, Salha sutta, or Nava sutta and now I’ve forgotten where it was. I don’t recall there being any simile being used, but rather was very literal like: if your mind still has desires for sights, tastes, sounds, etc. then you are still attached to them.
"As for the qualities of which you may know, “These qualities lead
to dispassion, not to passion;
to being unfettered, not to being fettered;
to shedding, not to accumulating;
to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement;
to contentment, not to discontent;
to seclusion, not to entanglement;
to aroused persistence, not to laziness;
to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome”:
You may categorically hold, “This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.”
