The Snake And The Rope - A Buddhist Tale

Suppose we are walking down the country road at night. We look down at the ground and suddenly we see a snake and become frightened. Then we turn our flashlight on it. We look again and we see that there is only a rope, no snake. The rope was there all along, never a snake, but the rope appeared to us to be a snake because our sight was obscured by the darkness, because we did not focus our light on it. As a result of seeing a snake we became filled with fear and worry. When we found that it was only a rope, the appearance of the snake dissolved.

Thought this story may inspire some people.

Thanks - Perception is reality isn't it or almost. I'll ponder this one.

thanks, that is so true about perceptions and misconceptions........xoxoxo pat

Hi Rainbowzz,

I had forgotten about this tale. Thank you for posting it. May our inner lights stay lit and shine with might.

Hugs. ~ Bee

Note to Self: Buy a flashlight - or a miner's cap.

Thanks for sharing your tale with us.

I think our perception makes our reality, but it might not be the divine truth/reality. What makes things difficult is when we say it's a snake and no one believes us, and yet we are expected to change our perception without the light.

In the old Kung Fu television series with David Carradine, young Caine is asked to walk on a narrow plank over a deep, steaming pit of acid in a dark room, as a test of his courage, by the elder priest.
His fear gets the better of him and he falls off the plank into the pit. But the "pit" is only 1 foot deep and the steaming acid is just warm water. Relieved and embarrassed to find out the truth, Caine now walks back and forth over the plank with ease, now that his fear has gone. Nothing has changed except his knowledge of the unknown and his fear.
We create our own realities, don't we?

i was sitting in a pasture in Yellowstone Park, back to back with a friend. Yellowstone is full of grizzlies.

we were there to listen to the elk bugling. all at once D.J. and i heard something walking closer and closer through the tall grass. he was smoking a rank cigar to "scare" "things" away.....

we sat there as long as we could.....knowing we were going to be devoured by a bear. (a French photographer had been eaten alive about a month before)....

D.J. got his pistol ready and said "i'm turning on the light"......it was a young elk sneaking upon us to "sniff" those two weird things sitting there........another time when your fear gets the best of you because you haven't turned your light on........xoxoxo pat

all very true and great thoughts guys!

R.I.P. to David Carradine, who lost his battle with depression last night.

I've heard this story many times. It's taught to underscore the point that all of us are reacting to filters in our experience and we don't see things clearly.

This is all human beings--all sentient beings. If we are separated from awareness we think we are merely human--and miss the truth of our essence nature.