Then, how do we classify beginners? Simply speaking, if someone, after swallowing poison that can otherwise kill an ordinary person instantly, is able to easily transform that poison into something harmless with nothing but one’s own power of meditation practice, one is said to have graduated from the class of beginners. We can all measure our own state of practice against this criterion. If we fail to reach this level with our practice, we must be very vigilant with our actions.

- Quote from Gateway to the Vajrayana Path, "The Parable of a Black Snake"