Of course, not all dogs return to their owners. When they do, it is because a special bond exists between that dog and that person, a karmic bond that transcends death. Do you and your dog share this kind of special bond? Probably you do. You are reading this book because you are meant to read it.

You must trust yourself, especially your instincts. We live in a world of facts and data, and we expect things to make sense. But sometimes, they don’t. Knowing and believing are two very different things. You’re accustomed to trusting what you know. Now you must learn to trust what you believe. Accepting what you don’t understand creates a universe of limitless potential, where anything can happen.

Does it all sound a little bit crazy? In a sense, it is. It involves losing your mind – your rational, critical, reasoning, analytical left brain. It involves believing, rather than knowing. Your mind is important, but you are not your mind. You are something else, something bigger.

My family was gone and Bao was all I had left. We were inseparable, and we’d been through so much together. Friends worried. If anything happened to Bao, how would I handle it? Bao was my whole life.