I have carried with me to this day that feeling of deep

 　　On a cold, dark, overcast day thirty years ago, a ray of warm thand light shown into my world from a most unexpected 1000W Stadium flood light 15 degree source-theeye of a giant Humpback whale. In my young twenties and alreadyold with disillusionment at the state of the world, I was trying to escape my despair by spending an afternoon at sea on a small boat. Without much hope of success, I had been asking who evermight be listening for a sign of something worth living for,some indication that there was light at the end of the tunnel of this struggle of a life I had been enduring. 

That afternoon, myprayers were answered by none less than the largest livingcreature on the face of the earth.Eye to Eye with a WhaleLying despondent on the deck of the boat, disappearing into mymental malaise, I suddenly found myself staring into the eye ofa being the size of a large office building. My gaze was lockedinto the penetrating gaze of this mammoth animal who hadsurfaced from the depths just enough to peer over the bow of myboat right into my face. Our eyes were only three feet apart.There was no distance between our hearts. Our souls were alreadyone. I immediately dissolved into the depths of this being'sessence… a vast inner sea of spacious emptiness, allowinganything and everything, embracing all that I was and so muchmore than I was even aware of then. My mind went silent. Myinner turmoil disappeared. I entered into a sanctuary ofprofound, gentle union with my own self in the form of a hugeocean creature.Heart to HeartIn a very real sense, I have never left that sanctuary. 

I have carried with me to this day that feeling of deep, completeacceptance that I received from the whale. That taste of my truenatural state has inspired me ever since to search for ways toincorporate that knowing into every aspect of my life and being.Our Kindred Spirits of the SeaThe welcoming embrace of the whale for me that afternoon was notan isolated incident More and more often in the last twentyyears around the world, whales and dolphins have been initiatingcontact with humans. As dolphin research expert, Timothy Wyllie,points out, "There's an awful lot of water out there… thedolphins and whales don't have to interact with us if they don'twant to."My dramatic experience of wholeness and expanded awareness beingwith the whale was also not uncommon.