A Whale of a Tale by Kathleen Sutherland

The other night I dreamed I was riding a small whale.  We were close to the surface of the ocean, so that I was only waist deep in water.  We were speeding along at a good clip, about 30 mph.

The next day in session with Fred, as we explored our true nature, he asked me, “What evidence do you have that you have a body?” We concluded that it was only sensation that led to the conviction that I had a body, and the same would be true of the remaining content of my life and this world. And as sensation arises in consciousness, and not “out there” somewhere, there is no evidence to support the existence of a solid, separate person or world.  It must be a dream.

As I contemplated this throughout the day, the same old thought, “But it seems so real!” persisted.  Then I remembered the previous night’s dream: “Well, that seemed very real, too.”

If I had had the presence of mind to inquire while in my dream, I would have noticed some anomalies.  What was I doing on a whale in the first place?  The scene had no back story.  Where were we headed?  None of this was explained nor questioned in the dream.  It all seemed very natural to the dream character Kathleen.  And although I was in the water, I did not feel wet or the sensation of the water’s pressure or flow.  I did feel the sense of speed as we moved along, but it was at a rate which should have swept me off the whale’s back.  A little inquiry would have quickly dispelled the dream illusion.

Few of us have the lucidity to question the content of our sleeping dreams.  But we have learned through this teaching to question this waking dream.  So I reminded myself to take full advantage of it. Something fishy is going on here!  What doesn’t quite hang together?  We have all had strange experiences that hinted of the dreamlike nature of this waking state.  But it is our habit to disregard or explain them away.  Or even if certain events impress us as quite miraculous at the time, the wonder they inspire soon fades, and we lapse back into our familiar 3D paradigm.

So I have been questioning my presumptions and assumptions in this waking life.  As Fred pointed out, there is no real evidence of a body or world.  That is our first big clue!  And then I remember all the strange coincidences and serendipity I’ve experienced.  Even our ordinary, daily life is very strange when we look into it deeply.  Where is the back story?  How did I get here?  Our consciousness, the “I am,” is an ever-present miracle.

This experience of a life and a world is endlessly intriguing.  How blessed we are to have been guided to question and explore it.  And the more we explore, the more we can see: we must be dreaming!

Sweet dreams to all.

Kathleen Sutherland is enrolled in The Living Method Continuing Student Program and is editor of ACN. She lives in Iowa.