YOU ARE ALL MY OWN

YOU ARE ALL MY OWN

The Yogi looked so serene and inviting, that the snake wanted to pour his heart out. All he could utter, was, “I am known to bite even those who feed me, so no one accepts me anymore.”
“Come! Wrap yourself around my neck in embrace”, said the Yogi. “I am known to accept those who are shunned”.
“You ask for me to embrace you simply on the premise that I feel shunned?” asked the snake.
“Yes, I ask everyone to embrace me”, said the Yogi. “Everyone is shunned by someone else. The poor, for example, are shunned by the rich. The rich by the religious, some people shun themselves; even the spiritual are shunned by many. I am a lover of all”.
“But I may not be able to guarantee my nature”, said the snake, sliding up to the Yogi, “I may still bite”.
“Not sure of yourself”, said the Yogi, “ but it is no matter, I am used to swallowing venom created by others. Don’t worry about your bites, they shall enable me to test my own nature from time to time”.
“You are all my own” , he continued, “snakes, pups, men, all.

{The Yogi and the snake,first printed 1995}