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by some miracle he could never explain he was barely able to climb out of the surf where he collapsed on the beach in exhaustion. Was it coincidence? Phil does not think so. He said, "I truly feel that ifI had decided to go ahead and leave, that he would have drowned too. But I don't know. It could have been the other way around. Maybe I was putting myself in a situation to be ready in case he drowned. We've been very close, being twins and all, but we have never really been all that psychically connected. It's like we had both gone all the way to the very boundaries and turned back at the same time." Coincidence? Who knows? There is one theory that identical twins are parts ofthe same soul. I have learned through mywork that before entering into a life, certain contracts and commitments are made with other people, especially those within a family group. They may have agreed to stay here only as long as each mutually wanted to do so. Whatever itwas, it had a definite influence in changing Phil's mind about leaving this life. a nk - ba ne ee A Another strange experience happened that night. Another incident to cap offa very unusual day. When he went to bed he had a very powerful out-of-body experience. 'I came up out of bed, saw myself and went up through the sky and even up way past the earth. Iremember looking back and seeing the Earth behind me growing very small. And then Idon't remember any more. Butl can remem- ard oar oad Wo at ber waking up and I knew that I had been somewhere. It was like I had taken my full consciousness somewhere else. Whatever occurred that night, I knew then that I had to stay. I don't remember what happened out there but I knew that it wasn't time to leave. And that I shouldn't make myself leave. When my time is up, it'll happen. I've never really felt that I have some particular mission or goal in life, other thanjust being here and doing whatever I'm doing atthe time. I feel like I'm supposed tojust be here. There's no doubt thatjust knowing about these other planes enriches this life and helps in deal- ing with it. But yet at the same time you're acutely aware of the short- comings of this life. It pulls you up by the bootstrings and forces you to become more responsible. Once I made that decision to stay here, I had to accept this life with all its shortcomings-this plane ofexist- ence. So, in that respect, I'm very glad that I did what I did. That I came that close." I thought that Phil was making an important point. There must be other people who have the same kind of feelings. He said he never suspected that he was any different than anyone else. Hejust 86 The Keepers of the Garden