One night, a cobra glided onto the passageway outside the Abode of Still Thoughts. Master Cheng Yen was worried that her disciples might be hurt by the venomous snake, so she closed and locked all the doors and stayed awake the whole night. The next morning, she cautioned everyone to be very careful. After the morning prayers, Master Te Chao took a long bamboo stick to where the cobra was. "You be good now," she said. "There's no need to put up a fight because I'm not going to hurt you. I'll take you to the mountains and set you free."

Incredibly, the cobra coiled itself around the bamboo stick and stayed there tamely until Master Te Chao took it to the mountains and released it there.

All living beings are intelligent--they will not hurt you if you mean no harm to them.