Story of the Snake

In Complete Enlightenment, Master Sheng Yen remarks about a man who performed certain bad actions after which he became a snake. He lived a very miserable life, since it turned out that he had a voracious appetite, and he was not very good at hunting. He found a way to die by going to a city gate and waiting for people to spot him, whereupon they started throwing things at him, causing him to die. The snake mistakenly believes that he is now liberated from his karmic retribution, only to find himself reborn as a snake yet again! When he is informed that he is reborn as a snake again as karmic retribution for his unpaid debts, he decides to fully accept the consequences of being a snake, whereupon he is reborn as a human. Master Sheng Yen remarks, in regards to this story, “[I]f we face dangers and difficulties as they arise, accepting them and dealing with them, then they will no longer be perceived as dangers and difficulties” (p.149).

For some time, I have thought about the import of this story. For me, the wish to die is like trying to kill one’s thoughts: I replace one thought with what I think is a more “savory” or “pure” thought, only to find that an even greater retribution awaits me. If I come to realize that the thought is the result of the perfect previous conditions, then I don’t try to feed my vexations by adding another thought to correct it. Rather, I accept that the thought is already arisen, and one can only accept with a mind that is not seeking another thought in turn. I am also reminded from this story that the desire to end suffering and desire is also itself a desire, which is subject to the same suffering as other desires. Although it seems more pure to want to end suffering than to perpetuate desire after desire, there is still an impure mentality in wanting to escape from it. That impurity is distinguishing between the “I” in this world and the desirable “Pure” world where there is no desire.

Even more profound about this story is Master Sheng Yen’s later conclusion: “if we accept our bodies and everything in our environment as being no different from eternal, unchanging nature, then we are one with enlightenment” (p.150). It’s so profound to reflect that the body and everything in it is already the eternal nature. But like the snake, I am afraid that there are times when I think this life is imperfect, and I long for a more “Perfected” one. This is for sure the root of vexations, to think in this way.

Shengyen (1997). Complete Enlightenment: Translation and Commentary on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment. Elmhurst, NY: Dharma Drum Publications.