By sister initiate Aler, Miaoli, Formosa

I live each day like a fairy in the mountains, surrounded by singing birds and fragrant flowers. In this mountainous setting, besides many lovely animals, there are also numerous snakes. In the beginning when I saw them, I would become frightened. But after a while I got used to them, and would simply let them pass by without trouble. Nonetheless, in my heart, I was still afraid of snakes.

One day, while talking to a friend, I mentioned that after following Master and practicing spirituality for a few years, I had improved in many ways, becoming more confident, steady and fearless. Then I added, “However, I am still very much afraid of snakes.”

On returning home that day, I found a small poisonous snake on the stone wall outside my door. I immediately became frightened, ran into my house, and dared not try to catch it, for fear of being bitten. I hoped it would go away by itself, but when I had to leave, I found that it was still there. Then, a few hours later when I returned, the snake was still on the wall. That evening, I almost dared not go back home to sleep, but at last forced myself to take action, and procured a sack and small bamboo stick to catch the snake, if necessary. (The way to catch a snake is to pick it up with a long, narrow stick or rod, put it into a sack and then take it somewhere to release it.) Luckily, however, the snake was already gone when I returned.

On another occasion, I was living temporarily in a house on a different mountain. One night when I entered my room and turned on the light, I found two little poisonous snakes inside. There was a channel for water pipes in the wall, next to the mountain slope, and a hole through which I could see the pipes. The hole looked ugly, so I covered it with a thin wooden board that did not completely seal it. That day, a snake came in through the opening near the board. When I entered, it tried to crawl back out, but could not because the board could only be pushed in from outside, but not the other way around. Then, behind the board, I saw the tail of another snake, perhaps trying to help its buddy escape. I broke into a cold sweat out of fear, and was beside myself. I then quickly packed some luggage and ran away to sleep somewhere else.

The next day the snakes seemed to be gone, and my neighbor came around to search the house to make sure the snakes had left. Wearing rubber gloves and plastic shoes and carrying a small twig, she meticulously examined the whole place, turning over all the cabinets and tables to make sure that the snakes had departed. Finally, she lifted a corner of the thin wooden board that covered the hole and found a snake curled up inside, flashing its tongue at us! My neighbor was very brave and moved the board, and then calmly looked at it, as I stood by, scared out of my wits. Next my friend suggested that I seal the hole snugly, since there were still other possible entrances for the snake around the edges of the board. So she helped me nail the board in place and then sealed it tightly with glue. My friend’s calm manner was an inspiration for me. I think that her innate attention to details made her so courageous.

Later I moved back to my original house, and for a while saw no signs of the snake that had appeared at my door. Once when I was out of town, I mentioned the snake to my friends and wondered if it was still living there. A few days later when I returned home, I was surprised to find a snakeskin on the wall outside. Perhaps the snake had heard my question and answered me with its action. It was marvelous!

When I examined the area around my home, I found that the rain had created many holes on the nearby mud retaining wall. These openings were ideal homes for snakes, so I decided to plug them with cement. But first I spread lime in the holes, so that if any little animals were living inside, they would move away. Indeed, that night I found a small green snake next to a tub outside my door. When I saw its tail, I ran into the house, put my computer near the screen door, and played Master’s teachings on an MP3 for the snake.

When I woke up a few hours later, I switched on the light and found the snake still outside the door, with its head tilted toward my computer, near the amplifier. It was lying stretched out and motionless. At that time, the computer was playing a Buddhist chant sung by Master and disciples at the Yilan seven-day retreat. For a long time, the snake remained motionless, and I wondered if it was dead because a live one would have slithered away at the sight of light or humans. Then the chanting ended, and fellow initiates began to report their personal experiences. Only then did the snake move away, and I knew that it was not dead, but only in samadhi upon hearing the Buddha’s chanting. I suddenly realized that snakes are also very lovely and spiritual!

I was really surprised! These snakes seemed to possess telepathy and knew what I was talking about even when I was far away. Whenever I mentioned them, they would appear. It never failed! Master once said that animals are also God’s tools to help us improve ourselves. I really feel that this is true. My experience with the snakes taught me how to deal with things that I fear.

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