Rafer Alexander is the sole survivor of a plane crash over Sikkim in which his two parents and brother have been killed. After trekking down the mountainside, he is rescued by monks from a Tibetan monastery where he learns to deal with his grief through meditation. When a new friend develops cancer, Rafer takes his practice deeper, eventually discovering the ability to heal.

Through trial and error, he expands his healing ability to include paranormal feats like psychokinesis (which he parlays into a fortune in Las Vegas), conflict resolution (which he uses to help win historic agreements in Jerusalem and Kashmir), and thought-transmission at the U.N. (which brings a president to his knees). In a final, concealed experiment he even attempts walking on water.

In time his successes evoke a variety of responses. Some see him as a magician; others are convinced he is the Second Coming of Christ. Still others fear that he is the Antichrist warned about in the Bible. Through it all he eschews any suggestion of divinity, remaining true to the belief that he has done nothing more than what all humans are capable of doing.