We all love to grow inside. We each have an intuitive desire to become a greater and wiser being, and this growth is actually critical to our long-term happiness.

          When it comes to inner growth, experts agree that one of the best things we can do is maintain what’s called - the mind of the beginner, which basically means to open up to new understandings without the baggage of our preconceived concepts. But in today’s world, where opinion far outweighs fact, that’s pretty hard to do.

          Yet, sometimes we run into some unusual things that show us that we live in a world that’s much greater than our tiny doll-house filled with outdated assumptions.

          With that in mind, let me tell you about something unusual that happened to me many years ago and I’d be lying if I said I fully understood it, even to this day.

          It was around noon on Sunday, December 5th, 1965, which was the beginning of one of the most difficult hours of my life. I was sixteen years old and it was at my father’s funeral. He had died two nights earlier of a massive heart attack that had killed him instantly.

          He was a widely respected attorney and civic leader, as well as the founder of the Philadelphia 76ers and he had died at a game that was televised. So, his sudden death created quite a stir and seemed to affect the whole city. His funeral was being held in the large synagogue where he and my mother had been founding members. About 2,000 people were expected, including the mayor and all the local media. So, on top of all the sadness and grief, I found myself in the middle of a pretty intense scene.

          My mother had decided to have an open-casket viewing so our close family and friends could see him and say goodbye. Now it’s against the Jewish religion to have an opened coffin in the sanctuary, so the viewing was being held in the wide lobby of the entranceway.

          The opened coffin was placed in a far corner. My mother, brother, sister and I stood next to it to greet the line of mourners as they came to pay their respects. I happened to be the last one in line and was standing right next to the coffin.

          Of course, I was completely devastated. As a father and son, we had been as close as can be and my whole world had been completely turned upside down. I felt like I was sleep-walking through a living nightmare that just wouldn’t stop.

          When the line began, one by one, every adult that I had known my whole life came up the line, greeted the rest of my family, looked at me and then looked into the coffin. I watched as each one went into a violent emotional earthquake of shock and grief. Most broke into tears, but they all broke, one way or another.

          Sudden death is a real killer. Along with all the sadness and pain, it adds a stark reminder of our own mortality. Once again you realize how fragile life really is and that no matter who you are or what you’ve done, it can all end at any second. No exemptions.

          After about an hour, the endless line of deep sorrow finally came to an end and for some reason I was standing next to the coffin all by myself. I knew they were about to close the lid and I just stood there, looking at his face for the last time.

          Then something unexpected happened. An unusual thought appeared in my mind. “Listen to me, David,” something said, “you’re sixteen years old and this looks really bad. This is going to be a very tough time for you, but trust me - you’re going to be alright. You’re going to go through a lot of things that will help shape you into who you’ll become when you grow up. It’ll be hard for a while, but it’s all going to be fine and I promise you that you’re going to have a very happy life. You will. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about and you’re going to be absolutely fine. This will all pass and things will be bright for you once again.”

          Then abruptly, whatever it was, stopped, like a radio show going off the air.

           The whole thing had surprised me and I felt kind of amazed. “Wow, he was talking to me from the beyond,” I thought, figuring it must have been my father trying to console me. “No that wasn’t him,” I knew intuitively, without a doubt. It just didn’t seem like him. Still, it felt incredibly familiar. “I know that voice,” I thought, but I had no idea who it was.

          A second later, the funeral director came over with an assistant, paused for a moment, then closed the coffin lid. We all went into the sanctuary; the somber proceedings began and that’s the end of the first part of the story. 

          The next part takes place about twenty-five years later. By then, I had become deeply involved in personal growth and the expansion of human consciousness. Also, as a writer, I was working on a movie idea and one of the main characters was going to be a psychic.

          I had begun researching some famous American psychics and had recently come upon a medium named Jane Roberts and her writings called, “The Seth Material.” It was kind of long, but it had some pretty interesting stuff.  

          According to it, we are far greater beings that we know and our intelligence isn’t limited to time and space. Then it went into some ideas about time itself, which was something I had never really thought about. As far as I was concerned, time only moves in one direction, like the George Harrison song said, “Yesterday, today was tomorrow. And tomorrow, today will be yesterday.” There didn’t seem  much more to it than that.

          But the Seth material presented a radically different point of view. It said that our normal idea of linear time is just that - an idea. And it gave an interesting quote from Einstein, "…the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Wow – Einstein said that time was just an illusion? That was news to me.  

          Then it went a little deeper. It claimed that our past, present and future selves are all part of one larger identity that we have. They all exist together, outside of time and can communicate with each other to foster healing and growth.

It went on to suggest a short exercise. Remember an event in your past that was particularly traumatic. Then communicate with your earlier self and assure it that everything works out fine and that there’s nothing to worry about. Not only would this help alleviate the pain of the past trauma, it would also have a positive effect on our present life, as well as our future one.

          Now I was primarily doing research for a movie and although the ideas were interesting, they didn’t really fit into the plotline of the film.  So, I made some notes and filed them away.

          A couple of months later, I was driving through our old neighborhood and was approaching our old synagogue. We had moved away many years earlier and by this point the entire neighborhood had changed and the synagogue was clearly on its last legs.

          I thought about how many important events had happened there - weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and of course, my father’s funeral.

          As I got closer, I noticed that the downstairs office door was opened. I pulled over, walked in and introduced myself to the cordial receptionist. She told me the building had been sold and would be closing soon. I asked if I could take one last look around and she kindly said to help myself.

          So, I began to walk through the whole building. After about ten minutes filled with memories, I emerged into the lobby outside of the sanctuary. I looked at the plaques on the walls with my parents’ names on them, then I glanced over to the corner where my father’s coffin had been. A flood of sad memories washed over me as I remembered everyone sobbing and how difficult it all had been.

          I went over and stood where I had been, next to his coffin. I remembered that poor, devastated sixteen-year-old kid, and how completely lost and abandoned I had felt.

And then, I suddenly remembered the Seth material and got the idea to try to comfort myself back then.  Who knows? Maybe it might help. There’s certainly nothing to lose.

          “Listen to me, David,” I said to myself, “you’re sixteen years old and this looks really bad.”

          I immediately froze on the spot and a light went on inside my mind.  “Oh my God, it was me!” I realized, incredulously. I always remembered that I had heard words of comfort at the coffin that day, but I could never figure out where they had come from. It was definitely someone very familiar, but that’s as far as I ever got. Now the mystery was finally solved. The words of comfort had actually come from me. I can’t really put in words what that moment felt like, but it was completely astounding.

          Even though I was having this amazing realization, my mind had continued on with the speech…that was running on automatic.   

“This is going to be a very tough time for you,” I continued.  “But trust me, you’re going to be alright. You’re going to go through a lot of things that will help shape you into who you’ll become when you grow up. It’ll be hard for a while, but it’s all going to be fine and I promise you that you’re going to have a very happy life. You will. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about and you’re going to be absolutely fine. This will all pass and things will be bright for you once again.”

          The strange moment ended and I just stood there, absolutely flabbergasted. Of course, that voice had sounded so familiar to me back then – it was my own voice. How much more familiar can you get?

          But there was something even more incredible to me than that. I had just spoken words that I had heard twenty-five years earlier. Somehow, the event had crossed the barrier of time. Figure that one out! The whole thing was too much.  

          I later realized how synchronistic it all had been as well. By chance, I had recently read the Seth Material.  And again, by chance, the door to the synagogue office had been opened as I drove by. That had never happened before. And on top of that, my tour happened right before the place closed. A few weeks later, it became a church. Without all those things in synch with each other, the magical event would have never happened.

          So that’s the end of the story. Personally, I don’t want to presume any theories about it. Maybe it was as cosmic as it seemed to be or maybe a psychologist might say I am remembering events in a slanted way to make myself feel better. It doesn’t matter to me because the whole thing left me with far more questions than answers.

          What is the real nature of consciousness? Is it unbound by time and space? Is everything connected in ways I don’t yet understand? Can I tap into a larger intelligence with more wisdom, love and fulfillment than I currently think is possible?

          Again, a lot of questions, but that’s the nature of the beginner’s mind – it’s always open to new understandings and it never hurts to expand your horizons.  Just when we understand one level, we find there’s a greater one. It never seems to stop.

Sometimes I think my last thought in life is going to be, “I think I’m starting to understand this whole thing!” But maybe not. Maybe my last thought will be just a deeply heartfelt “Thank You.” Maybe that’s what you feel at the end of a life well-lived.  

Well, so much for this episode. As always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened and let’s get together in the next one.