Article March 1, 1975 Issue

Waking Up

FRED P. STAEDEL, SR.

This mortal existence is only a dream. The thought behind such a statement sounds radical and difficult for most people to accept. Why? Because this mortal existence seems so very real.

Mrs. Eddy tells us in Science and Health, "Mortal existence is a dream; mortal existence has no real entity, but saith 'It is I.'"^{Science and Health, p. 250;} She calls the dream we have in sleep "the sleeping dream," and the dream while awake, "the waking" one. And she makes this point: "In both the waking and the sleeping dream, the dreamer thinks that his body is material and the suffering is in that body."^{ibid., p. 188;}

If you were dreaming while sleeping and a friend were to appear in your dream and pinch you on the arm, you would probably say, "Ouch, that hurt!" and you might, in your dream, even see a red mark on your arm. Still, when your alarm clock went off and you woke up, you would realize it had been only a dream and no mark was there.

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