If we listen to the rain, the gaze of a dog, the stillness of a stone—we begin to sense another truth: consciousness is not limited to us humans. It flows through everything. Animals, plants, rivers, mountains—I have never felt them as anything other than alive, present in awareness. And yet, for much of my life, when someone asked me about consciousness, I found myself speaking only of the human mind. I was wordless when it came to the consciousness that breathes in nature,

There are moments in life that shine like stars, reminding us that our connections with our beloved ones transcend the boundaries of the...