The Parable of the Coiling Snake
A hermit who understood the language of animals noticed, as he was doing his prayers, that a small green snake began to coil about him. This went on for several days. Finally the hermit asked the snake,
“What is the reason for your odd behavior?”
The snake replied, “It’s your concentration that is odd, Rishi, if you were aware of my motions during your prayers!”
“Cunning worm,” the hermit responded, “do not judge others by your own measure. First the earthly concentration arises, then the subtle, and then the fiery, which embraces both the heavenly and the earthly.”