Want to alieve snakes are generally not dangerous?
No! Those things can kill you! Perhaps I am safe here in Berkeley for the next month or so but back home I expect most of the snakes I encounter to be capable of killing me if they bite me. They aren’t particularly likely to bite me unless I touch them, corner them or stand on them—that’s where the fear comes in handy. It makes me feel uncomfortable when walking through long grass, particularly when wearing light footwear. That way I at least pay attention to movements and sounds and so give the snake a chance to move out of the way before I run on him.
This example was intended as a possible alief you might want to hold, whether it is accurate to your beliefs or not. There are some people who can reasonably expect to never encounter a dangerous snake in the wild who are nonetheless very afraid of them (and all other snakes as well); while respect and fear for dangerous and potentially poisonous animals is worthwhile for some, for others it can be a handicap.
I should also mention (though I took this part out of the article) that there are some situations where one might want to alieve things entirely counter to ones beliefs. The technique allows for cultivation of these types of aliefs as well, and not fearing snakes might be one of them. Other examples could be the alief that cake is not delicious, or that drinking/being drunk is boring and often painful. Note that I do not personally advocate lying to oneself in an overly convincing manner, as that way darkness lies.
No! Those things can kill you! Perhaps I am safe here in Berkeley for the next month or so but back home I expect most of the snakes I encounter to be capable of killing me if they bite me. They aren’t particularly likely to bite me unless I touch them, corner them or stand on them—that’s where the fear comes in handy. It makes me feel uncomfortable when walking through long grass, particularly when wearing light footwear. That way I at least pay attention to movements and sounds and so give the snake a chance to move out of the way before I run on him.
This example was intended as a possible alief you might want to hold, whether it is accurate to your beliefs or not. There are some people who can reasonably expect to never encounter a dangerous snake in the wild who are nonetheless very afraid of them (and all other snakes as well); while respect and fear for dangerous and potentially poisonous animals is worthwhile for some, for others it can be a handicap.
I should also mention (though I took this part out of the article) that there are some situations where one might want to alieve things entirely counter to ones beliefs. The technique allows for cultivation of these types of aliefs as well, and not fearing snakes might be one of them. Other examples could be the alief that cake is not delicious, or that drinking/being drunk is boring and often painful. Note that I do not personally advocate lying to oneself in an overly convincing manner, as that way darkness lies.