This is scary….would you allow it???
Ok get ready and DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME OR ANYWHERE EVER….would you allow this? Would you feel safe? Would you not be worried…could you let this go on?? I read somewhere snakes have no loyalty. They can turn on the person feeding them even after years of care…..Would you do this?? Everything deserves compassion but we still have to be careful…Would you do this?
Tsem Rinpoche
A Cambodian boy and his “sister,” the python When this Cambodian boy was just three months old, his father found a half-meter python in his bed, The father did not kill the reptile, and took the snake back into the jungle, but the next day, the snake crawled in again. The python was taken back to the jungle three times, but he stubbornly came back. “Lucky” grew up to 6 feet and weighs about 100 kg. Python eats only chicken and duck; eats 10 kg per week. The snake can safely eat a boy or a horse — but the boy says he and the python enjoy a “brother-sister” relationship.
(emailed to me by Adelyn Lim and Yenni..thanks)
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Could not imagined that the Cambodia boy named Uorn has made an unlikely friend with a python snake. The snake crawled into their lives as a baby snake , when Uorn was only three months old . Like many children, he has a snake as pet plays around with it, he even kisses and sleeps with it everyday. I have heard and read before that python will kill and eats people. Latest update ,it seem that python was sent to the zoo as the young boy was bitten by his pet. Well luckily nothing serious happened to the boy. Having a snake as pet is scary and I will be screaming for help if I saw one. I remembered few years back when one of my nephew own one as pet and brought it to my house during the Chinese New year which was the year of snake. All of us were screaming then. For me I would not have taken one as pet. The snake lives in the wild should have it free .
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing and thanks to Adelyn Lim and Yenni for those pictures .
Snakes are innately forked tongue and spineless. No matter how much love, kindness and generosity given to them, they will not stopped being a forked tongue and spineless being. Only a true master can handle the job of subduing this venomous animal. Otherwise, it is better for normal people to exercise some wisdom to stay away. After all, even snake masters get bitten sometimes. Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche.
This article brings to mind the same quandary found story of the scorpion and the frog. In short, a scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back as it was vital for the scorpion to cross it. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.” The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp “Why?” Replies the scorpion: “It is my nature…”
On one hand, one should exercise compassion towards all sentient being including snakes but on the other hand, one has to also factor in the limitation in which snakes has for any rationalisation and especially of their predatory killing tendencies. So, to be in such close proximity with a snake still appear to be risky/reckless despite of the strong bond from past life. In any event, one cannot really predict the karma at play and what is to say that things will stay “friendly” or when the killer instinct takes over?
Inclined to think that perhaps better to have a compromise where the friendship with the snake is respected but not at such closeness where literally live and sleep with the snake without any boundaries and also for more caution to be exercised for safety purposes (the kid and others). After all, compassion is meant to go hand in hand with wisdom.
Snake is one animal very few people associate with goodness. Yet there are many snake owners around the world. Many people keep snakes as pets despite its reputation. Perhaps it is a challenge. In this boy case, it seems the snake and him has a unique affinity but whether it is a good one or a bad one, that’s what makes it scary.
I think this quote from the movie “After Earth” is very real here “Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice.”
The danger of keeping the snake as a pet is very real. It can turn on the boy and eat him anytime. The boy obviously does not fear the snake. Perhaps he is too young and ignorant at this time. But fear is perception of our mind. Because of how we associate snake and the information we have about snake, it makes us fear them in general.
As long as I love animals, if I were the child’s father, there’s no way I would allow my child to sleep with a snake. Yes we should be kind towards animals but snakes and dogs or cats are totally different, snakes naturally are predatory animals, it’s their natural instinct, they were born with it so we can’t really blame them.
My mom has a friend who had kept a pet snake for more than 10 years, I forgot what type of snake but it was a huge one. His snake had been acting very weirdly for a period of time, he would always find his pet snake sleeping straight next to him. It’s not like in the picture, his snake does not curl up but instead lies straight next to him. He thought that the snake was sick or something so he called up his friend who’s a snake expert, his friend immediately warned him to release the snake because what his snake has been doing all this while was actually measuring his height to determine if it can swallow supposedly his “owner”. I had goosebumps when I heard the story from my mother, I have always been interesting in snakes but the story really freak me out.
We need to be very careful because animals are still animals, most of them are unpredictable and therefore we should be more aware and not out ourselves in danger.
maybe this snake means no harm and they were friends in their past lives. It is a bit peculiar that a snake wants to be with this boy, but it doesn’t seem to do any harm so i would allow it but watch them. thank you for sharing Rinpoche.
somethings are just meant to be, I personally like pythons, if there wasn’t a threat and hasn’t been any sign I would allow it, but I have had lotsa different animals
Errrmmm no thank you. This is really really strange and weird. But when you think about it, the python and the little sure does have some very strong “karmic” connection. Acknowledging there is reincarnation, I think this snake is probably a relative of this boy or someone who use to be very close to him in his previous life, maybe lovers in the past? Who knows… hence the snake keeps returning back to the boy even after being sent back to the jungle three times. So yeah perhaps there is some strong connection between them, otherwise what logic could this be? But no thank you, I would definitely be a no no for me.
This sound familiar to me if you has listen some Thai buddhism story about LP Thuad. That was a snake around at LP Thuad body when he was a baby and after the snake left, stay behind the red diamond near to LP Thuad body.
Could this boy will be another great master born?
That is scary. I think I would not have a wild animal for a pet. I don’t think snakes are very cuddly 🙂
Brave kid to dare to sleep with a python. I am sure they have a karmic connection from previous lives to enjoy a close relationship now.
I don’t think I will be able to live with a snake like this little boy. I believe he does not have the fear because he has been with the snake since he was very young. He is conditioned to believe snake is not dangerous. For us, we have been conditioned since very young that snake is dangerous, it kills, therefore we have this fear in us.
There is love between them from previous lives, you can feel it in the pictures.
I have mixed feelings when I see this. Yes, there is a lovely friendship between boy and python that is touching to see. There is a sense of strong affinity. Yet, the python has a potential to harm and ,as is said in the Lamrim, animals(unfortunately) are characterized by benighted ignorance. So this python has the potential to turn on the boy one day and squeeze him to death. The father should remove the python and take it somewhere far away to a place which is a natural home to it, a corner in a jungle away from all.
Its cool that he has a best friend that is a large python.because snakes have feelings too.if I had a snake as a best friend I would treasure him\her for all my life.i am born in the year of the snake in 2002 but I am born before Chinese new year on January 17 so I am not a horse. Thank you rinpoche for this blog post. :).
This is really scary!!! The python is 5 times the size of this boy, and could gobble him up anytime!
But what I like about it is that from the photos you can see that there is something special between the boy and the python, like a kind of friendship, and both are so comfortable with one another. The smile on the boy’s face melts my heart.
This is really freaky and scary too.
I believe there must be some karmic connection between 2 of them but I also believe the trust in them is very strong and it is built throughout the time.
However, I dare not try it at home. Still do not have the compassion at Buddha’s level yet. :p
This is incredible. When treated with love and respect, even a snake is able to recognize family. True show that compassion and love can tame the wildest of beasts.
Snakes and pythons are nice specimens, but are not humans. Their brains are not wired to receive and reciprocate human sentiments. Sentiments are completely human created and only humans should carry its dead weight. Many people project their own sentiments, hopes, fears, desire for love or affection onto animals and look forward to receiving it back from the animal. I think this behavior is incorrect and only shows human un-fulfillment. It works with somewhat sentimental animals like dogs or apes, but still only goes so far.
And when it comes to behaviors as above, it is a ticking time bomb. The snake is probably well fed and recognizes the boys smell. The day it is little hungry and the boy is within its reach, well …..
… and then these very people who have publicized these photographs as some sort of achievement, will go after the snakes head. We must love animals as they are. Animal psychology is fascinating but most animals are not humans. A few like dogs and apes can get close, but that’s it. See the world as it is, not as we want it to be. We should not make animals bear the weight of our sentimentalism.
Python it seems can most easily be tamed and reluctant to bite. A small cat could deliver a much more serious bite than an adult python. Can live for over 25 years in captivity. Males may reach 14ft while females over 20ft. Not a threat to people in their native range, and not prone to attack humans unless molested or grabbed, said Mr. Shawn Heflick, President, CentralFlorida Herpetrologists Society. Though as rule, never allow it to form a full circle around your neck as they are extremely strong and may unconsciously grab your neck for stability, excerting more than enough pressure to choke you to death accidently. Therefore, its better to take precaution, rather than “too late or never”.
This is not completely correct as the word tame is misapplied. Burmese pythons are one of the most aggressive of all snake species. Well fed python will not attack a known feeder, but you never know. There have been many cases of grown up men owners being attacked and killed by pet pythons. Just google it. As I said, keeping pets itself is not a good thing to do and animals are not the means to download our own human frustrations. Dogs and cats cannot survive without humans, so they are an exception. But I don’t see why anything else should be made pets. If we like animals let us support conservation.
wah.. freaky….. definitely would not do this at home / keep snake as a pet.. but perhaps this boy really does have a special connection with the snake.. if people can have special bonding with dogs, cats, horses.. why not snake? it is rare but not impossible
Definitely I wouldnt try this at home. What an odd combination! They must have some karmic affinity to meet up again in this live. Look how comfortable they are with each other.
The boy has no fear for the snake. He is not judging him / her to be bad, ugly, good or friendly. He is coming from compassion and love. His innocence is the key. The big baby probably picked up on the vibrations radiating from the boy and so he does not see a need to attack the boy. The snake feels safe and calm when being with the boy. I am not saying we should try this, but it does portray the conditioning we have received as we are growing up.
And translating this to our everyday situations, we are all conditioned to believe that this religion is right and that is wrong. This race is awful and that one is superior. And we fight and compete and hurt others just to be “right”. Thus, Buddhism on a whole shows to us these conditioning and teaches a way for us to transform our mind.
Little snippets like these (boy and snake relationship) help us to break away from our conditioning and hopefully lead us a step closer to mind-transformation.
Thank you, Rinpoche. I am sorry, I don’t think I can be friends with snakes at the moment, but I am working hard at it. 🙂
No way I would like to try this! It would be so creepy and slimy I believe. The boy and his ‘sister’ surely has close connection perhaps coming from their previous life time. This would explain why the snake never went away even disposing it into the jungle for the third time.
Amazing story. Nothing could explain why the boy could have this kind of relationship with the snake and the snake would not harm the boy. Must be a connection that exist before. MAybe a past life buddy or past life siblings. Would this mean reincarnation exist?
I think the rule with snakes is that they must be well fed and never go hungry, for as soon as they are hungry, everything in their way looks like food… cold blooded animals need food quickly if hungry, as the snake does not look very thin, it must be well fed so far and therefore can be safe enough for the moment, but only if it is not allowed to go hungry… but still the children should perhaps learn to play with other children 🙂
I think adults simply think too much. And a boy just want a simple friendship. Snake presented greedy in three poison. Like we play with fire. If we are not mindful or careless, we might get hurt in return. That could be also a karmic relationship within this boy and big python.. Do more dhamar & good things, hope i will never end up with this kind of situation in next life.
I can’t believe this… we were told by snake charmer that unlike mammal, reptile cannot be trained. Snake is ‘cold blooded’, they don’t have ‘companionship’ with us like dog, cat, horse etc… I wonder how this particular snake can have such a close relationship with the boy… I think the only explanation is their past karma connections. Perhaps this snake was the boy’s previous life mother…
Yes It’s freaky, and it’s huge. Wah, personally I would not dare to try it out. I wonder also may be the boy and the snake have special connection since past live times, they know each other long time ago…
I do not like reptile, definitely not this giant thingy.
From the pics can tell they live happily together.
Thank you for this amazing story Rinpoche.
The first thought when i see this post and those pictures is, Wow..this is just too amazing!!! Because i will not do this, keeping a python as a pet is a big NO, its dangerous!!! But in the pictures, the relationship between them is very pure and real!!It must be their unfinished karmic relationship in their past life. The python return to this family for so many times. The connection between them must be very strong. From the picture, they are both very happy to have each other! 🙂
Its very touching to see this unusual story. It may be scary but sweet!!
This looked very scary! I agreed with DR that they must have strong karmic link in their previous lives and unfinished karma,how could a boy and a python can play and sleep together since the child was only 3 months old.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thanks for the little surprise! Hmmm, I do not think I will try this at home.
However, seeing the boy with the snake did not ignite negative emotions. In fact, like Dato Ruby shared, the thought of past life / karmic connection was the first thought that came to mind.
Subsequently, I felt that it was fortunate that the parents or adults did not adamantly stop this karmic link from developing. Imagine a gigantic snake curling itself around a child. Most adults would react naturally and prevent any connection between the child and reptile. You know, just in case something bad happens. In this case, the relationship was permitted to open and develop.
In reflection, I thought of our natural inclinations which, based on the belief that we each have our Buddha within, is to be beneficial. We should, also allow the goodness within us to flourish and not “prevent” it with the belief that we are protecting ourselves from the “big bad world” and the “in case something bad happens”. Most of the time, it is the “bad” things in our lives that brought us the most benefit on hind sight if we apply the teachings of Buddhadharma.
Thank you Rinpoche for this mind opening post.
Hi Rinpoche,
Actually we were wondering about the karma that led to this point for the boy and the snake too.
Hope You can comment and enlighten us further.
Thank you Rinpoche
It’s the parents. Kids know no better. If the parents allowed it, the kid would think it’s ok. The parents’ influence on a child’s behaviour and attitude is significant at that age as a child’s world revolves around the parents or whoever they grow up with.
I hope the boys’ parents did not allow him to sleep with the python! The girth of the python is bigger than the both the boy’s thighs, I think it could easily constrict and swallow the boy. They may have a sister-brother relationship now but one never knows. Better to be safe than real sorry.
No, I would never allow this. Heck, I would not do what the boy is doing.
OMB ! ! !
You know what it can be a weird relationship but sometime this kind of reptile can have compassion feeling too. I have personal experienced and seen with my own eye, I have a girlfriend who has a python name “gregory” as a pet. There are time I went to her house and her pet like to hide under the blanket whereby i accidentally touch it. At first I thought it will bite me but it really friendly. Even though at that split second I have different views for snakes but it is still a unlikely friendship and freaky as quoted by Jamie.
I cannot feel very comfortable looking at the pictures. First thing that came to mind was a snake that is playing with his food. But then I have to make allowance for things we don’t know and understand. After all this relationship has been through a few years and perhaps even a few hungry moments. Remnants of karmic ties I guess.
Imagine, in the endless cycle of deaths and reincarnations, that snake was once my mother.
: O
It really is an odd companionship especially the companion is a super long and HUGE python. It came to me that perhaps the Cambodian boy has never heard of snakes could bite, eat or kill humans. With no fear, the boy probably approached the python with a genuine heart of having a good friend to play with. And the python reciprocated with no defense and got along like honey and bee.
When beings come together with no fear of hurting or being hurt, the relationship gels so well. It is amazing to see this!
@Margaretlee: I was wondering if you read the above story of how the snake came to the boy in his crib as a baby snake…the snake was drawn to the boy not the other way around…They grew up together…
Seem they have karmic relationship. Imagine, some one you love before rebirth as animal. What will happened? This is real scary…
Seriously don’t try this at home 🙂
but what if the phyton one days does not like what the boy is doing, then it gets dangerous……
What a wonderful story!It is amazing! I had once such a similar relationship, but with a lizard for many years when I was a teenager. The lizard was wild, lived at the land property of my grandparents. I loved to catch lizards since I was small. One of them was very special: had a turquise colored stomach. That lizard loved to sit on my shoulder and was not running away. He loved when I was singing, then he closed his eyes. I always let him free.And catched him again when I saw him. After around 2 years the connection got that kind that when he saw me he was running to me. I have also a picture of him and some other lizards, how they are sitting on me.
errrgh. Snakes freak me out the most.
I think the boy and the giant snake were good friends since past life maybe?
On the onset, it looks freaky; human and huge reptile. Its not exactly a cuddly bear. But these two beings must have had a very close connection in their previous live with an unfinished karma. Otherwise how can boy take a liking to a slimy monster and vice versa???
Definitely a past life connection between them. The snake kamma wasn’t enough to be reborn as a human. It will be a sad day when they have to part ways. May they be well & happy.
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Nice thoughts and kind good wishes for the snake and his boy.
When Rinpoche sent the email to check out this link, I thought ok let’s see what exciting news there is on the blog… Like Jamie puts it, “This is really freaky”. When I continued reading the post despite my fear and ‘goose pimple” feel about snakes, I find myself thinking that it is pretty amazing that such a “relationship” has developed between this young Cambodian boy and the python. Their previous lives must have been connected. It does give me a different perspective on snakes. BUT, I do not think I will be encouraging my sons to have a python as a “sibling”…. The python is HUGE…
In their body language, I think you can see they are both really happy.
🙂
The snake is helping him and the boy is happy.
This is wonderful!
So great, thank you for this story!
okay that is really freaky, but I guess snakes have feelings too and would enjoy companionship? A very unlikely friendship though! Or perhaps he’s getting friendly with his new prey before he has the little boy for a tea snack