I once had a “near-death experience.” I was reminded of it recently while eating a bowl of lentil soup. As I lifted the spoon, my eye fell on a large bay leaf, and instantly I was back in 1979 in the dining room of the Mutiny Hotel in Miami. They had a dinner show, and their specialty was French onion soup with lots of cheese, which I loved.

Without looking, I took a big spoonful of cheese and swallowed it, not noticing the large bay leaf embedded in it. One moment I was enjoying the show; the next moment I was lying on the floor, gasping for air. The room was dark, and all of the other diners were focused on the performance.

In an instant, my entire life passed through my awareness at the same speed I had originally experienced it. I didn’t miss a detail. I saw everything I had ever felt, and everything anyone else had ever felt in response to me. Nothing was rushed, yet it all took less than a few seconds. Before I knew it, a doctor at the next table did the Heimlich maneuver on me and forced the food out of my windpipe.

How was it possible for me to review my entire life at normal speed within a few seconds? Yet ask anyone who has ever had a near-death experience, and they’ll tell you the same thing: Every detail of your life flashes before you - not just your actions, but the consequences of your actions, spreading through the vast network of everyone who has ever been touched by your existence.

Why wait for a near-death experience to realize the impact that everything you do has on everything that exists? Your every intention, thought, and action touches all of existence.

Excerpts from their book, Wisdom from an Empty Mind. www.jacobliberman.com