It all begins innocently on a trip to New York. When Madeleine Kirsh walks into a Tibetan antique store and meets the proprietor, Tenzin Choden, she senses something that seems quite familiar, yet very far away. After a lengthy conversation, Tenzin shocks her visitor by claiming their relationship started hundreds of years earlier when she served as a servant and confidant to Madeleine, who was a Tibetan princess descended from royalty. It is then that Tenzin explains that they were given a special gift to promote goodness and kindness in the world. Their task was to safeguard this treasure by passing it back and forth to each other as they are reincarnated through the ages. To confirm this truth of time, Madeleine recounts her personal stories about the world in which she presently lives as Tenzin explains how those experiences also reflect her past lives. With many twists and turns along the way, the surprise ending finally allows the woman to fulfill their task and pass the gift between them for the good of humanity.