Suddenly, out of the blue, I saw their shadowy outline beneath me in the water. In groups of two, three and more, an entire pod of Dolphins came swimming my way.

I had been experimenting with sending images to the Dolphins. Today I was visualizing myself swimming with one Dolphin on each side of me as though I was being taken on a tour. I was hoping that they would hear my prayers and be with me. And here they were!

I took a deep breath and dove into the depths of the ocean, then veered off to one side letting the Dolphins know that I knew at least some underwater social etiquette. To my great surprise one Dolphin swam up to my side and made eye contact with me. Trying to keep my excitement contained I kept pace with the Dolphin as we spiraled under water, keeping our eyes locked onto one another. Three other Dolphins ascended from below us, coming up to breathe, and together we surfaced as I caught my breath too. As quickly as possible, I dove under water again. The three Dolphins had swooped back down and were now swimming slightly beneath me.

Suddenly something strange started happening to me. I felt like I was gliding underwater and didn’t seem to need air. As though I was part of a pod with the three Dolphins beneath me, I felt like I was in tow, enveloped in a ball of energy. We became one, belonging together. The immense silence of the ocean engulfed me and I felt suspended in another kind of reality. I was gliding in an envelope of oneness with these three Dolphins. For a moment in time there was no separation between being human and being dolphin. My human weakness was altered, my need to breathe suspended for a time.

The joy of this moment was all I conceived of and cared about. Gone were thoughts of yesterday or tomorrow. A wave of gratefulness filled my entire heart and mind. After what seemed like an eternity, I eventually came up for air.

What had happened? Had the water and the Dolphins altered my perception so much that I thought I was under water longer than I had actually been? How could I know?

As I was pondering these questions, Don came into view just as he dove down in perfect timing with several Dolphins. Turning upside down, one Dolphin showed his or her white belly to Don, much like they do when they swim with each other. Don looked sleek underwater in his wetsuit, gliding in synchronous movements with this small group. I kept watching in amazement at the sheer grace of the Dolphins and their apparent willingness to take us humans into their bonds.

After some time watching Don, I became a little nervous. Wasn’t it time for him to come up for air? He was probably 30 feet down and still had to allow for enough air to come up to the surface. I got more and more anxious. Our friend was watching Don at the same time, and nearly felt like she was suffocating just watching him. But Don stayed in synch and swam along with the pod. Eventually he came up to breathe together with the three Dolphins, long after we, the ones watching, had ‘run out of air’.

Don was exhilarated! He had been aware of not needing to breathe. The Dolphins mentally ‘told’ him to go get air, as though they knew his outer limits, and accompanied him to the surface!

In great excitement Don told us of his previous experience. Two Dolphins had flanked him on either side and accompanied him closer to shore where they showed him their underwater garden. For twenty minutes they gave him a tour, staying close and seemingly attempting to show him something of value. The feeling was indescribable and Don’s glowing eyes and exuberant energy hinted at the ecstatic joy he had felt in the presence of the Dolphins.

Why did Don have the exact experience I had envisioned for myself, and why did it happen to him instead of me?

I had become accustomed to the fact that ‘As you imagine, so it will be’, but today I had envisioned an experience for myself, which in all the years of being with the Dolphins had never happened to me before. I had learned by experience that Dolphins seem to read our minds and respond to the images we hold inside. Today Don had the very experience which I had imagined and hoped to have myself.

Trying not to be envious of his experience, I wondered about it as I floated like a cork on the surface of the ocean. I was relaxing and catching my breath before we would start our long swim back to shore. The Dolphins had displayed an act which I had envisioned for myself to experience. Just how did they mix up Don and I? Had they gotten the right image and acted on it, but missed the target?

Suddenly it dawned on me. ‘Aren’t you understanding yourself and Don to be One?’ I heard a question in my mind. Of course we are, I realized! Don and I are intrinsically paired and what one experiences can be almost as real to the other.

Dolphins may not experience the boundaries between individuals as distinctly as humans do. Dolphins feel each others feelings much more strongly, and at least for wild Dolphins, empathy is much more developed. In this light I was thrilled for Don to have had the experience I had envisioned for myself. I was willing to open my heart to receive the full joy of the experience the Dolphins brought to Don and vicariously to me.

This was yet another lesson I learned from the Dolphins. To get to this point had been an adventurous and exciting journey and got better with each continued step. I had been learning that the images we hold and live by, influence our personal life. After I had sufficiently learned to use these processes in my personal life, the Dolphins asked me to help them too, in their plight for survival. Helping them the best I could, I discovered the miracle of how interwoven our imagination and our universe really is.

But what a road it had been! I thought of our first trip to Hawaii.