I was meditating on one of the "nude beaches" located between Monterey bay and Half-Moon Bay on the California coast. I was in the "gay" section because they always build the cutest sun-bathing/privacy shelters and haul out all of their garbage.
I was having a very sublime experience, I became aware of movement around me and when I opened my eyes I saw that I was surrounded by hundreds of garter snakes - all squirming and writhing in a mass. I was like "wow that's cool"! and ofcourse went back to the mantra as instructed. When I ended my meditation, I opened my eyes and they all slowly departed into the adjacent bushes. It seemed like they were relishing the bliss too, and left when it ended. A year later I was in an outdoor restaurant in northern Thailand (eating the best pork ever). I was conveying this exact experience to a friend, when he suddenly said: "Marty look behind you!" Sure enough, a cobra was slithering through the establishment. I took it as a validation of the intuitions I had about the prior experience. What was most surprising to me was the fact that none of the Thai locals even stopped eating - the pork was just that good!
