"What allows a person to shift from a self-oriented way of experiencing the world to one in which there are no boundaries between persons? How was Marilyn Ferguson able to sense her father's death at a great distance as if she were somehow one with him? What permitted Bill Russell to achieve a sense of becoming one with his teammates? I've read hundreds of letters from readers describing nonlocal experiences such as these, always looking for the key that makes this switch possible. I believe the vital ingredient is love — a state of caring and compassion that is so deep and genuine that the barriers we erect around the self are transcended.

"People often know when a distant loved one is in the midst of an illness or emergency or is facing death. The sense of connection can be so strong that they experience the same physical sensations that are being felt by the distant person — for example, chest pain if the distant individual is having a heart attack or pelvic pain if she is a woman having a baby. These events are almost always experienced in the context of love. Even 'the zone' in sports can be understood in terms of love — love of the game that is so deep that winning and losing become irrelevant, love so strong that 'opponent' is transcended in favor of oneness with one's competitors."