Non-violence

A snake in the village had bitten so many people that few dared go into the fields. Such was the Master's holiness that he was said to have tamed the snake and persuaded it to practice the discipline of nonviolence.

It did not take long for the villager to discover that the snake had become harmless. They took to hurling stones at it and dragging it about by its tail.

The badly battered snake crawled into the Master's house one night to complain. Said the Master, "Friend, you have stopped frightening people

- - that's bad!"

"But it was you who taught me to practice the discipline of nonviolence!"

"I told you to stop hurting -- not to stop hissing!"

-Anthony de Mello, SJ