Richard Martini's Blog, page 5

Lunch with George Noory on June 27th at the Great Greek

This just in:




"Please Join us on Tuesday, June 27th for our “Eat & Greet” Luncheon Series at the Great Greek Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Ca.  Come have fun at an intimate lunch setting, mingle and meet some of your favorite people in the world of the unknown.
Tickets will go fast!
Don’t Miss Out…………send your name and phone number to lunchwithgeorge@gmail.com to make your reservations now!"

Waiting for my spanikopitaC'mon down and talk about the meaning of life, or the meaning of the afterlife, or whatever's on your mind.... while dining on Greek cuisine!

Bring your own copy (if signing is desired)

Flipside the Book:

Flipside the Film:

It's a Wonderful Afterlife
Volume One
Volume Two





Hacking the Afterlife







Or get out the feta and retsina and check out these book talks:
Clips from youtube:

Art Bell, George Noory and Paul Aurand

Like most of us, I was introduced to Art Bell's world while driving late one night in my car.  Working in San Francisco at the time, selling "hi-fi" equipment at 69 Green ("Systems Warehouse") at the tender age of 22, I was cruising down route 5 near Bakersfield, looking for an AM radio station to "keep me awake."




I had just declined an offer to manage a new stereo store in Santa Cruz - which the owners (Eckart, Jim) tried to point out was a "huge break" for someone so young - but I felt my path lay elsewhere, and I trusted that instinct. Before I headed back east to finish college in Boston, I drove down to LA when I found Art Bell on the radio dial. (LA is where I would return years in the future to USC film school, which led me to a screenwriting class with Luana Anders, who led me to the Flipside some 30 years later).

The older one gets, the clearer the path appears. 


The first photograph.  An old road and a ghost in Paris. The signposts, although zooming by on a dark desert highway, all were pointing in one direction - something we realize once we get where we're going.  The journey - windows rolled down, crickets chirping as a passing symphony - may seem random, even coincidental, until you reach your destination.

But as I've recounted, I took Flipside around to all the major publishers via agent Joel Gotler - Joel did his best to let me down easily "They're telling me they don't know how to sell you.  It's not like you're a doctor, or famous - so how can they book you on a talk show to sell the book?"  I understood the point, and went the self publishing route, via Createspace (prior to its being purchased by Amazon.)  I put my book out - a couple of people read it - I got one "mediocre" review on Amazon, and thought "well that was that!"


Flying Saucers alas, is no more.
But I asked my friends at the "Flying Saucer's cafe" in Santa Monica if I could do a book talk, and the owner said "sure."  At the last moment, I decided to set up a camera to film the event.  Ten people were in the audience - some old, old friends, from Larry Grennan from grade school, to Peter Bill from nearby Venice.  I posted the hour long talk on my youtube filmmaker's account - and a thousand people watched it.  And from that thousand, one invited me to the IANDS (international association of near death studies) in Virginia Beach.

It was while talking about "Flipside" at the Edgar Cayce institute, (to a larger crowd of about 300) a former Baptist minister said to me, "Oh, you should be on "Coast to Coast!" You're perfect for that show!"  

I vaguely remembered that night driving down the California Coast, listening to Art Bell, wondering if his guests were "kidding" or some kind of theatrical construct designed to haunt or amuse the audience.  Like a version of "Firesign Theater" but without the Second City feeling.  I said to this retired Minister: "Heard of it, just haven't listened to it lately."

But this minister said "Art Bell has retired - George Noory is the host, and he'd love you. "  I admitted I'd never listened to the show since that night so long ago - and when this person offered to "write a letter to George to get me on the show" - I chuckled.  Jaded Hollywood guy that I am, I thought "Right. Some producer will get this enthusiastic letter and choose the guest that the publicists were hawking." And that will be the end of the proverbial "that."


But that's not what happened. 
I got a call from a "Coast to Coast" producer - two producers actually - both asking me to come on the show. "We'd like you on for an hour on Sept. 11."(2012)  I said "Auspicious date. Sure."  He said "What else can you talk about besides the Flipside?" I said, "Well, I've spent 20 years working on a film about what happened to Amelia Earhart after she crashed... based on eyewitness evidence."  He said "Okay, we'll have you on for 3 hours. One to take calls."

So I did the first of six interviews with George - (two on his TV show) and he's an excellent interviewer.  Each time I'm on my books jump to #1 in kindle in their genres at Amazon.  George single handedly turned this obscure, not-a-doctor, not-famous-for-anything a "best selling author" in one day.
George Noory - Coast to Coast AM
He's invited me to join him on June 27th at the Great Greek in Van Nuys California.  Details can be found here: " Enjoy gathering with other like-minded people as you have fun at lunch and meet some of your favorite people in the world of the unknown and curious. Tickets will go fast, so reserve a spot now! Email your name and phone number to: lunchwithgeorge@gmail.com. You will be called back with details."  


George and Mr. FlipsideAbout a year ago, I got a call from Art Bell's new show - "Midnight in the Desert" - Art is producing a new show, hosted by Heather Wade.  I'll be on Wednesday May 24th at 9 pm West Coast time.  It should be interesting, as they're giving me 3 hours as well - one hour for calls - and 2 to talk about the latest developments in my Flipside research.


Tune in, call in, drop out.
http://midnightinthedesert.com

Can you hear me now?
Now... onto the topic at hand.

I interviewed Paul Aurand for the film "Flipside" and book. He is the former President of the Newton Institute, and runs workshops in Europe for those who'd like to learn the technique.  Paul has incredible insight into the Flipside, into the between lives realm, and has amazing personal experiences to back them up.  (Including a between life experience after being struck by lightning.)

Paul posted this interview the other day, and I wanted to reproduce it here for people who'd like to know more about "Between life" hypnotherapy from the former President of the Newton Institute.  

If you're in the NYC area, or can make one of his workshops in Tuscany - I can vouch that it (and he) will change your life.



Exploring Life Between Lives with Paul Aurand  by David Stang for The Academy for Spiritual and Consciousness Studies, Inc   
Based in New York City and founder of the Holistic Healing Center there, Paul Aurand, MHt, is an award winning Master Hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy instructor who has worked in the field for nearly 30 years. He has been honored as “Educator of the Year,” “Therapist of the Year,” and “Hypnotherapist of the Year,” and has been featured in films and on television (Flipside, On the Threshold, Dying to Know, and Discovering Regression Therapy) for his work with the ground breaking Life Between Lives Regression Therapy developed by Dr. Michael Newton....  
  Michael Newton

Please describe Dr. Newton’s Life Between Lives (LBL) process.  

PA: “Life Between Lives is a deep hypnotic regres­sion to that very special time a soul spends in spirit between incarnations. During an LBL you experience yourself as an immortal soul, meet your guides, loved ones and otherwise beings who help you explore your soul lessons, life’s purpose and other questions that you have prepared for the session. During this time in spirit many experience healing, unconditional love and oneness with all things. LBL is a profound, life transforming experience.  

LBL regression therapy is based on research by Dr. Newton that spanned more than 25 years with over 7,000 of his clients. Since his initial research approximately 35,000 LBLs have been conducted by 200 LBL therapists in about 40 countries.  

An LBL begins with a long and very deep hypnotic induction to help the conscious mind to disengage and achieve a highly expanded state of consciousness. The actual regression begins with going back to some pleasant childhood memories. From childhood, we continue back to that unique time in the womb, after conception and before birth. Here, we get the first soul memories. In the womb, we can explore such things as how you feel about coming to be born and what it is you hope to do, learn or work on. From the womb, we go back to the most recent past life to review some of the significant events as well as how that life ended.  

This is one place where LBL differs greatly from traditional past-life regression. Rather than doing a detailed review of the past life combined with interventions, we want to use the past-life death scene as a doorway into spirit. Once the soul enters the spirit realm, the reviews, interventions and heal-ings will be done in a most loving way by the guides and loved ones rather than by the therapist. 

It is important to note that once the soul remembers returning to the spirit world, it enters ‘Now Time.’ Being in now time, allows for review of the soul’s past experiences and it also allows for insight and guidance about the current life and future events.” 

  The Newton Institute

Would you describe what you and other Newton trained LBL practitioners have learned about the nature of soul and its stages of evolution, soul mates and spiritual guides and also how the several hundred practitioners he trained and worked with came to understand that the voice of the patient being hypnotized, who speaks about recalled personal experiences involving LBL and past-life states of being, is actually that patient’s soul?  

PA: Simply put, souls come to earth to learn and grow. Some come hoping to accomplish something great, most come hoping to refine certain aspects of their soul character. “Regarding the voice of the soul, learning to distinguish these differences is part of the art of LBL therapy. The tone of voice, the choice of words, and the energy of what is being spoken is identifiably different when coming from conscious mind, sub­conscious mind or soul mind. 

Ultimately, determining the meaning and the validity of the retrieved memories during an LBL is up to the client. If there is doubt, I use three criteria to help the client gauge the validity of their memories. One is, ‘How much emotion is there during the experience?’ A pure fan­tasy or wishful thinking is usually devoid of strong emotion. This is one place that the recording of the session can be so valuable. When the LBL client hears their laughing, crying, surprise, confusion, elation, awe, being moved beyond words, on their recording, it is easier for them to trust their experi­ence. 

The second is ‘If you are going to make up a story, why this particular story?’ Long held, limiting beliefs, old patterns and misunderstandings in the soul are being addressed and transformed during an LBL. When the conscious mind and even the soul are having difficulties understanding and absorbing the love, insights and wisdom that are being com-municated, this too, I trust. And thirdly, ‘What is the result? Is there healing and transformation from what is received?’”  


In your case study “Love as a Catalyst for Change,” (Note: This is a chapter from the Michael Newton edited book "Memories of the Afterlife") you present a case where there is a long-term primary soul mate (Mark) and a companion soul mate (Raul). In your experience is it common to have multiple soul mates in a single lifetime, and if so are they alternate possibilities as in this instance or are they sequential, as in one following the death of the other? Also, are multiple soul mates always (or usually) within the same soul group as in this case?  



PA: Although there are many variations, I think it is safe to say that we have a number of soul mates, one of which is our primary soul mate. Soul mates are usually in our soul group or a closely related soul group. If you have more than one soul mate in your current life, it is well worth exploring why that is.  

Most often, soul mates come into our life to love and support us or to help us learn something or both. In spirit, from a higher perspective and an expanded state of consciousness, soul mates make plans about the life to come. They decide how they want to help and challenge each other. As the soul incarnates and the brain and body develop these plans are forgotten. Meeting these soul mates in life evokes deep emotions and stimulates growth. We always have free will, but remembering these plans and these relationships can help resolve so many issues in life.”   

What are the principal insights you have gained about the state of superconsciousness?  

PA: I often say: ‘My mind thinks. My heart feels. My soul knows.’ My mental (meaning analytical) mind is an important thing. It helps me function in my daily life. It helps me reason and analyze. With-out it I could not function on this planet. As bright and intelligent as an analytical mind might be, it is still a rather limited thing. My analytical mind would love me to believe that all I am is it! But I am so much more than my analytical mind.  

It is essential that we learn to expand con­sciousness beyond the limits of the analytical mind. In this way we can experience ourselves as some-thing far greater than our analytical mind.  

There is a great trend today to move from thinking into feeling. We hear leaders in consciousness tell us to ‘listen to your heart’ and to ‘follow your heart.’ Listening to the heart is an essential step towards moving beyond the limits of the analytical mind. But, we must go beyond the heart mind into the soul mind and the superconscious. In the expanded state of the soul mind we can, not only remember, but really re-experience what it is to be loved unconditionally. We can once again swim in the sea of universal consciousness and re -experience what it is to be one with all things.”  



In practical terms, how do you deal with the problem of fear and other impediments to clients accepting, comprehending, embracing and integrating the spiritual insights and challenges they encounter in their LBL work?  

PA:  I think there are primarily three things that we are working with while conducting any kind of regression therapy. These are the emotions we carry from the past, the limiting beliefs that develop as a result of our experiences, and the unconscious strategies we develop in order to survive and get love.  

The fear and other ‘impediments’ as you call them, arise from these emotions, beliefs and strategies. This is why I think the methodology that Dr. Newton developed is so brilliant. On the way into spirit, we pass through childhood, womb and past life where these fears and impediments develop, so we can identify and resolve them on the way back to or in spirit.  

LBL is truly profound soul work. After a transformational, consciousness expanding, mind blowing return to spirit, it can take time to digest and live what is revealed in these sessions. I know for me personally, although I understood the deeper soul lessons I learned from my first LBL session, it took me a more than year to really be able to live what I learned.”  

Can you give some examples of the types of transformational benefits attained by LBL and past-life clients as a result of their usual two sessions and any other follow-up work done with you and other LBL practitioners you know, and in your opinion what causal factors are key to meaningful transformational growth?  

PA:  Some people think reincarnation, guides and having a soul are interesting concepts that might be true. Others believe in reincarnation, guides and having a soul. During these sessions, you not only remember, but you experience your own reincarnation, your guides and yourself as an immortal soul. After these sessions, you know that you have reincarnated, you know your guides, and you know yourself as the soul that you are.  

I would like to quote Ann Clark, our director of research, here: ‘From our pilot study The lived experience of a visit to the spiritual realm during LBL, we learned that participants reported less fear of death, a clearer sense of their life purpose, a new perspective on troubling relationships in their lives, and less anxiety about challenges they were currently facing, as well as learning new strategies for coping.’  

What casual factors are the keys to transfor­mational growth? 

I would say that the first key is the desire and willingness to learn and grow. The second key is the readiness to take in and act on, the insights, love, support and wisdom received.  

How do you answer criticisms of the LBL process expressed by some psychologists, psychiatrists and academic scholars involving accusations such as “the patient is making up all this soul stuff” out of fantasies and therefore it is unreliable information, and other common criticisms by such skeptics?  


PA: There was a time when I, too, was quite skeptical. Long before learning past-life regression, I was practicing medical hypnosis at a clinic for patients with chronic pain and chronic illness. While administering hypoanesthesia to a patient who had suffered with chronic shoulder pain for nearly seven years, a mysterious thing happened. During the treatment, she began to tell a highly emotional story of being a slave who was caught stealing food and beaten to death for it. As part of the process she described her shoulder being stomped on and crushed. After describing her own death, she emerged from hypnosis and exclaimed: ‘My shoulder does not hurt! It is the first time in years that I have had relief!’ We were both stunned. Was her past-life story a fantasy? Was it a psychotic break? Was it a metaphor? I was not sure, but for me, the most important thing was that she was pain free. She remained pain free! It was after a few of these accidental or spontaneous regressions that brought inexplicable healing, that I knew I had to study regression therapy.  

That said, the Newton Institute has a highly-qualified research team that continues the research that Michael Newton began in the 1960s. We have very consistent case studies from LBL therapists who continue the work as reported in Memories of the Afterlife and we carry on the research across many religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.” 

How do you regard alternative approaches to spiritual growth and transformation such as meditation and related spiritual practices?  

PA: I think that any practice that raises one’s consciousness and vibrational energy is beneficial. Something that I often hear guides tell clients during their LBL is that they ‘should stay in touch more.’ The most common ways they recommend doing this are through meditation and spending time in nature.  

One thing I’ve noticed is that after an LBL session the client finds it easier to reconnect with their own personal guide and the spirit world. It is as though a door has been opened or the connection strengthened.  

Although it was my clinical work that led me to past life regression, it was my near-death experience that led me to LBL. In 1998, I was struck by lightning. During the brief time that I was ‘dead’ I experienced many of the same things that years later, I would hear clients report during their LBLs.  

Whatever the modality might be, my preference is for a client centered, transpersonal approach. When you walk through my door, I trust that you have all the answers within or that you can find them. For me, this is the ultimate form of respect. I am an expert at helping you achieve the state necessary to find those answers. I am a skilled facilitator that can guide you on your journey within, but it is not me, the facilitator, giving you the answers. My intention in facilitating a session for you is to help you find the answers yourself. The flip side of this transpersonal approach is that it is up to you, the client, to take responsibility for the answers you receive and for what you do with them.  


If there is one thing that I have learned from conducting LBL sessions it is that you cannot judge. Sometimes things that seem to be wrong or even bad from a human perspective aren’t at all. The answers a client receives have a particular meaning to them. I do not feel it is for me to judge or interpret the answers they receive.  

I think it is only natural that there are simi­larities between Life Between Lives, near-death experiences, out -of-body experiences, deep meditation, journey work and other forms of exploration through expanded consciousness. Part of my search was to find a way to experience these higher realms without the trauma I experienced during my near death experience. LBL is the best way I have found to do that.” 

(Excerpt from "Exploring Life Between Lives with Paul Aurand"  by David Stang for The Academy for Spiritual and Consciousness Studies, Inc) for more info, please contact Paul Aurand here:    http://www.paulaurand.com

Flipside and Choosing your Parents

Appearing with George Noory June 27th at the Great Greek in Sherman Oaks.  What fun!
Here's a link to my appearances with George on Coast to Coast.  More details to follow....

Meanwhile:

Saw a young woman sobbing on the street yesterday. I stopped and asked if I she was ok. 

She said "I'm sorry. I don't think you can help." 

I said "Maybe talking can help." 

She said "I just heard my dad is smoking crack again."


Hanging with George Noory.

I asked if he'd been arrested or was ill. She said "No. He's back in rehab. I heard it from my sister." 

I said "I'm sorry you both have to go through that. But may I ask you a personal question?" She said "Sure."

I asked "Why did you choose him as your dad?" 


Latest tome.
She paused. Looked at me with her purple hair and nose ring. 

"I don't understand the question." 

I said "Just try and open yourself up to the answer. If it was possible; why do you think you chose your parents... this particular mom and dad?"

She said "To learn how not to behave. To understand what I didn't want to become. To learn from their mistakes." 

I said "Well then, it sounds like you chose wisely. It's not easy for him to learn the lessons he's signed up for, just as it's not easy for you to sign up to learn lessons from the both of them. 

But maybe you've done it for a reason you don't consciously know, but agreed to learn. Sometimes people say they learned how to heal others after recovering from an illness."


I got lucky in choosing this guy.
She said "I've heard something like that before. That we attract those things and people we need to learn from." 

I said "So maybe that's why I stopped to talk with you."

She wiped her tears and said "Thank you. I feel much better now." 

I said "Thanks for sharing your story. First time I've ever heard that particular sentence; "My dad's back on crack." 

She laughed.


Mission accomplished.


Documentary version at Amazon. 

In posting this story, some pals weighed in - and these were my replies:

Scott: I was adopted at birth. I have never met another blood relative, but my entire life I have felt as though I am where I am supposed to be, with the parents who were meant to be mine.


Rich: Cool. I've filmed people under deep hypnosis, both adopted and adopters, who claim they could see that they had chosen their families. It seems counterintuitive, but I think it's related to quantum entanglement. The idea that those individuals you know and love from previous lives are on the planet and somehow they "seek" each other out. Like magnets. Either way it's consistently reported that we choose (agree, ask, plan) the circumstances of our being here. Reports have been gathered via transcripts of hypnosis sessions, interviews with near death survivors, etc. ("Flipside," has the adoptee info.) Pretty mind blowing.

Gayle: Doing God's work


Rich: Well, to be fair, just saw a woman in distress on the sidewalk in front of Starbucks. I was sharing science with her. (Consistent reports that are repeated in the work of Dr. Wambach, Michael Newton and others.) But during one filmed session (in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife") a woman asked "what or who is God?" 

And her "spirit guide" said "God is beyond the capacity of the human brain; it's too complex. However you can experience god if you open your heart to all people and things." 

So yes, if that's accurate, then it isn't only that "God is love" - but love, the ineffable term we can't define, is what God is. When you share science you are sharing love (of humanity, of the planet, of existence) my two cents.

Richard: Wonderful. I'm so glad we choose you as our neighbor:) (from my old neighbor)


Rich: It's funny how when we have that feeling when you meet someone "I feel like I've known you forever." Sometimes it's with a "soulmate" sometimes with your literal "mate." ("Check, mate?") 

I've found if you really examine it - that conscious moment when you felt that way about someone - you find the seeds of this research. How could you "know" someone you've just met? How does that feeling of comfort - often described as "home" - square with the linear time line of our journey? 

So the idea "there are no mistakes" or "there's no such thing as coincidence" may be rooted in that quantum reality. "Oh no, not YOU again!?" (Just kidding) In my case I get that a lot.



And finally:

Rich: Six degrees of Kevin Bacon. I found this woman's profile on Facebook, and we have two mutual friends. 

(Were the friends somehow spiritually involved, quantum entangle-mentally involved in my stopping to speak to her? Remains to be seen.)  My two cents.

Going Home

The latest book talk from the Orange County IANDS group... about an hour. 



Enjoy!

Rich

The science behind the flipside research

Here's an hour video worth watching.  These are the scientists I met with at UVA to discuss the results of the research behind Flipside.  Dr. Greyson was behind the creation of the International Association for Near Death Studies (iands).  These are scientists talking about the science of the afterlife (or as I prefer to call it; the flipside.)
An hour. Enjoy!

Book Quotes from the Flipside for Hacking the Afterlife

The following is a fun experiment I did with my ability to gain access to the flipside from others.
It goes like this - during the past year of interviewing mediums, channelers and others with access to the flipside, I came across a number of individuals whom I wrote about in the book.
To be clear: I did not know these people. Was not "friends" with them in this lifetime (except for Howard) (Or any other lifetime I'm aware of).  These are people who are in the public eye, who for some reason or other, appeared in front of me, like a deer standing on a road on a dark moonless night in the desert.
Your car lights come upon them; you have no time to think about or wonder - "How did they get here?"  They just appeared.  In like form, these folks appeared in my book for one reason or another, because I simply "ran into them."
So when it came time for me to finish the book, I thought about the folks I would send it around to for commentary - Gary Schwartz PhD (Harvard/Yale/UofAriz) generously wrote the foreword to "Flipside" - then Charles Grodin, my friend and mentor, wrote the foreword to "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" and Galen Stoller (who passed away some years ago) wrote the foreword to "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" volume two - the first time I'm aware of that happening.
But I couldn't think of the most appropriate person to ask to write a foreword for "Hacking the Afterlife" ... so instead, I thought about doing something a bit different.  This has been edited down from original, but you'll get the idea:
Some cats appear to have the ability to access the flipside.
BOOK QUOTES:
I asked Jennifer Shaffer if any of the people interviewed in the book might give a quote or “blurb” for the book cover. I wrote her (tongue firmly in cheek): “I assume no one spends time in the afterlife reading books, however, perhaps one of them might be able to give a quote I can put on the book?” She asked each person on my list for a reply:
Edgar Cayce  Edgar wiki“Tell Richard that his book has an appealing thunder for controverting settings that are falsely depicted, for those that need (to hear) it. (Jennifer asks Cayce “Need what?”) The truth we need is, how we survive our bodies, (arrive) in the afterlife to different situations that make up (I think he means comprise) the past, present, and future outcomes of our spiritual existence. (“Controverting” may mean “contradicting misconceptions.”)              Tell Rich not to fear the outcomes of what it is, that (the response to this book) will have people questioning their own disbeliefs and belief paradigms. And that we all have to, (and) at some point of our spiritual growth, need this “upheaval” to make a difference. Rich, you are that translation of the ethers. For now; I’m “The Awakened Prophet.” (laughing.) (Note, Jennifer had a hard time with his syntax and I’ve done my best to unpack it. Edgar Cayce was known as “The Sleeping Prophet” so his comment “The Awakened Prophet” is pretty funny.)
Howard Schultz   Northbrook boyHoward is a lifelong friend who grew up down the block from me. He came out to LA and became a successful TV writer/producer, creating successful shows “Extreme Makeover” and “Naked Dating.”  He offered to do a between life session with me, which I filmed and included in “Flipside” (but made him anonymous at the time.) We spoke often of doing a “spirit show” together, but it just never happened. We were talking about doing a show together the last time we spoke, but he passed away from a sudden heart attack a month later. Jennifer asked him for a quote:
Jennifer: Howard told me “The beginning is near and the ending is nonexistent.” (I see this as Howard playing with “the end is near!” when it comes to talking about the Flipside.) It’s something we all have to incorporate into the well of our being. Not to “look for the now,” but to “live for the awakened shift.” And not to use fear to have it… (Jennifer; “oh my gosh, he just showed me, a picture of a fear monger who’s running for President”)  Not to use fear tactics within your soul’s purpose to gratify who you are now.
He says “Tell Rich I support him in all his endeavors, even more so because I get where he’s coming from. Much luck to you… and you Jennifer… for making the unbelievable claim that there is even an afterlife. (Jennifer laughs.) He’s so funny; he showed me (a cover of) The National Enquirer; “The irony is that all the things we’re afraid of are actually true in the afterlife.”
Then he showed me the main characters from the movie “Men in Black.” “Everything was true.” “Truth” is written in big bold letters. “Truth has now become a way of making fear and the lies are the fear’s way of making truth nonexistent.” Then he showed me a wheel, he says “It’s a never ending circle of stupidity in the population of the planet and the people in the afterlife are trying to make up for it.” (Jennifer asks “Of what you guys caused?”) He says “No, of what’s going on now; the past and the future, it’s all one - in a nice bow that looks like it hurts." (She saw a picture of a Tiffany box with a bow that Howard pulled until the box bulged.)
He says “Tell Rich to keep listening, I’m there.” What else did you want to say?  He showed me Amelia Earhart and said “Tell Rich not to worry, everything will work out, (“I think he means financially”) - spiritually he just showed me you were skyrocketing over him. Howard it was good to talk to you. He gave me that cute look of his. Gosh I love that… see you soon.”
Prince  Wiki PrinceSince Prince and Robin Williams appear in the book, they’re naturals to ask if they have a quote for the book. Jennifer sends me a file where she asks on her cellphone; “Is there anything Prince can say about why people should or should not should read this book?” “He says “They should read it if they want to fly.” (Jennifer laughs “to the moon?”) “then Robin Williams came in and said “That’s mine!”
“Prince showed me the book opening up and then stars floating from the page, like it’s magical.” He says, “But it’s history repeating itself.” Jennifer: “He said put lyrics in the book from his song Purple Rain; it’s the fourth section. (Jennifer: I hope I’m interpreting it right.)   
(Note: The 4th verse of "Purple Rain" (that neither I nor Jennifer were aware of) is this: "You say you want a leaderBut you can't seem to make up your mindI think you better close itAnd let me guide you to the purple rain"with regard to the quote above, I assume he means electing a leader like the one recently elected is merely "history repeating itself.")
Jennifer: He’s showing me the magic of the purple rain going up instead of going down, with the sparkles that happen upon opening up the book; it makes the reader open up. They’re calibrated, is what it feels like, into what you’re reading. “It’s beautiful written music, Rich.”
He’s also showing me an image of the Radio shack logo - that’s so funny. He says “You’re a transmitter of a spiritual language, hitting the masses in this dimension, which is hard to do unless you wear high heels like he did… which hurt his back. He’s showing me it’s ultimately what caused his death.” 
Jennifer asks “So you died from high heels?” 
“Technically yes,” he says. “What would you have done differently?” He said “I would not have used that piano (to jump from) … Ah, I see, it’s a metaphor. He wanted more, so he jumped off of it; jumping off his favorite instrument, trying to reach the ethers. Jennifer asks: “So you could have just done that by playing, no? “Yes,” he says, “he could have done that by playing.”
He’s showing your book at the piano. “Just do it” he says, laughing. But what does Rich have to do with jumping off a piano? He’s says you’re jumping off a different cliff, but he’s showing me a trampoline (laughs) – that you’ll be fine.  Because you feel like you’re jumping off a cliff with this endeavor.  He said “Balls to the wall.” He says “Tell Rich I can only have him hear me when he wants to listen.” “What does that mean?” Oh, (that) you don’t care to have things pushed on you.  Jennifer asks “Are you pushing him?” “Kind of…” he says, “to the point where…” ah, I see, that’s where the disbelief comes in.
He says he won’t push you, he’ll “Enchant your writings. Like on the piano, like a duo;” He showed me both of you guys side by side on the piano bench… (Note: Something I spent a lot of time doing with my mom who was a concert pianist who played duets.) “Tell him that we’re all doing this from all aspects.”
Oh… aw.. he just gave me a flower, I hope that was for me, I’m actually blushing… He gave me a daisy, not a rose.  He said “The rose is saved for God.” What does that mean? He says, “God is all of us, in you and me. The daisy is the enchantment of something. Something different in the matrix.” And then he showed me a beautiful array of flowers… wow. He said “Signed Prince.” He made an x for a signature… “He’ll know what that means,” he said. (Like a sideways version of his signature of the “Artist known as Prince.”) “See you soon.”
Robin Williams

Jennifer: I first want to say happy birthday to you, Robin (It’s his birthday as we write this.) Do you have a quote for Richard’s book, a direct message to your fans and friends? 
“I have only two words; “Love… Love.” Jennifer asks, “Love all?”  “No, love Love.” He says “That’s the key ingredients for happiness; love the love. Find that. In everything that you are. Whether you are in hell (metaphorically speaking) or in your prison cell, (physically speaking); find the truth. Love is God’s connectedness, love is God, it’s every single one of us, even if we can’t hear it. Love… Love. And then send it to everything." Oh my gosh, the sun just came through my window, my heart’s pounding. I said is that it Robin? He says “No; that’s everything.”  Wow that makes me want to cry. Thank you.
He says “Tell Rich I’m here for him. He says tell him that I’ll surprise him.” When? He’s going to visit this person, he’s going to visit this person and then this person is going to come to you; that’s how you’ll know. He just winked. He says “Tell Rich it’s exciting: the matrix, the connections, God…” -- it was so interesting when he said that -- and now he says “nanu nanu,” and just did like a little thing on his head, "over and out. Until now.” (A play on the parting line “Until then…”) “It’s Over and yonder.”
(A pause) Robin showed me a record. “The record is your lifetimes. Playing over and over and then sometimes we scratch the record and then we have to get a new record.” He’s showing me how in this lifetime he scratched it and he left, and (then) you come back as like a CD or a Walkman. And then we end up all virtual. (Note: I think he means at the end of all of our lifetimes. Each lifetime is like a variation on a theme, like music on cylinder, on vinyl, on digital – variations on each them we choose as our lifetime, and eventually we become that recording in a virtual way.) The music keeps going, our souls keep going, that was such a great thing he just gave me – we’re all records, sometimes we scratch, sometimes we get broken, eventually we just live on to more instruments more human bodies, I love the way he shows me the Walkman, the cd player, then we go virtual… for millions of people.
“And you are that right now, Rich - you’re now the virtual .. you’re not the record player anymore, or the record, you’re now in the virtual, you’ve made it, and you’re sending it to everybody else. I commend your thoughts and love who you are and thank you and love to both of you.” He showed me a pebble of some sort, he showed me a rock “You’ll know what that means.” Something with rocks. All right, bye. (I have a collection of rocks from around the world – world’s cheapest souvenir, but reminds me instantly where I found it. I have one on my desk and my eye went straight for it.)
Amelia Earhart


“She has the most beautiful eyes by the way.” says Jennifer. “First thing she says is “Don’t find me.” She says “it will disrupt everyone.” She says that her bones will be found or get shown soon. And that she’s having fun with all the crazy people that want to find me, “I’m not worth that. They’re spending too much on resources,” What about a tv show? “That would be okay, I’ll lead you; let them pay for it.” Oh I have the chills.
She says that she wants you to lead (the search). You’ll understand what not to look for. Not sure what she means by that. (Note: I do.) Oh, the plane. She’s showing me the plane and one of the wings, like half the wing tip. She says something about it not being hers; something about 1948 (whatever that means to you, Rich.) (Note: I don't.) What else? She says: “Tell him I love him.” 
Oh, Luana came in by the way – both of you guys are conspiring something.  They both just came in while I’m talking to Amelia.
Um, aw… Ha, so Amelia just showed me her girlfriend and that you’re correct. Whatever that means. (I know what that means.)
We are all part of this play, she just showed me how she did so much – the last five years (of her life incarcerated in prison) she could live without – she says. But what about his book? Any quote? “Lift it to your soul. And see what your soul has to say. Hearing the words from the book; don’t judge it, just listen to your spirit, it will guide you and tell you that the “unthinkable” is real -- and (she says) make sure that the unthinkable is in quotes; she’s saying you’re not thinking it – it’s unthinkable. The things that you put in your head; it’s the stuff you don’t put in your head that’s real.
She just gave you a kiss on the cheek and spun you around in the chair, She said “Bon Voyage… to what?... to the ethers.” She says “I think we all have a lot in common. And we’re lucky to have us in all dimensions, I am grateful.” She says “Be grateful for your breath. It is coveted sometimes, (breathing) not the biblical sense of coveting of course. Wanting breath is everything; it’s your source, it’s your power. Move and laugh, laughing’s the best medicine don’t waste time trying to dig up things.  Unless it’s a TV show, she keeps saying; she’s showing me September as well, not sure what that means. (Possible date of production of a documentary I’m helping about her). She says – “Au Revoir.”  
The Alpha and the Omega

I asked her; “see if Jesus has a quote for us…”
They’re fighting for it, hold on, - oh, Mary Magdalene (is here), my heart always feels better when I feel her. She says “Tell Rich he is not a saint…. Aw, that’s so sweet, she says that you’re not a saint, but you’re an etheric saint, and she showed me a statue in the ethers. She showed me like a map of the US with lights, you know how like if you were pinning destinations everywhere, with all the destinations lit up? She says that you’re doing that through your work. Then she showed me how you reach all audiences in all the quantum fields – she’s showing me the dimension on top of our dimension and all the dimensions after that; so that’s why you’re an etheric saint… that’s hilarious.
I’m being shown (Jesus) -- you know when I described him as he came to me with loafers and jeans and button downed shirt and his hair long, looks like a 1960’s guy yet cleaned up? He has brown eyes, beautiful eyes, that’s amazing, but they change.
First thing he says is “Tell Rich “Thank you.” Why? “For allowing a different outcome in the way people can hear my story.” He’s showing me the Bible and showing me your work and how they stacked up against each other… that’s so funny! Well, not funny.. but.. wow. He’s showing me how my brain is like an antenna, thank you, and my heart as well…
“Tell Rich that his work is the truth. That people have become fearful and might say bad things (about it); it’s one of many multidimensional truths that has to… heed the warning from not putting it out. That’s where damnation happens - by not putting truth out there – it was taken out of context, (like) what was written in the Bible.
“You’re a truth-gnostic.” What does that mean? He’s laughing. “Tell Rich that a truth-gnostic is someone who is unbiased and wants what others have to say, that resonates with his heart. You put it out there, even when you might not believe everything that you’re listening to (or writing about).
Then he just showed me like lightning of some sort, like a lamp going out with a flash, just the frequencies bursting – what an amazing metaphor! He’s showing how the frequencies (are affected), like your (way of putting things,) your language is making things crash, with people internally… You’re breaking the old lamps so they can put a new bulb in, to bring forth the light, instead of (just) trying to dust off the old light. He says “Thank you for doing that.”
“It is a challenge frequency that always hurts initially. Follow your spirit and only look back for the theater of history it plays in, or plays to. And know the audience members have to watch the play - the modern day version of it - enough times for them to have it sink in. Like (the Broadway play) Alexander Hamilton – using the different races that played the historic characters in Hamilton. People prep the stage for it to last.
He just showed me the Michelangelo painting where they’re touching fingers in the Sistine chapel - where God imbues the human spirit with his touch – he says “Everyone touches God and makes up (comprises) what God is.” He says “It’s molecules of light in different shades, in different colors of light in different shapes and sizes. And some are big lights like you, so others can follow - not in a hierarchy way, but so they won’t get lost on the path.” He’s showing me a dirt path. He says “Sometimes a dirt path is harder to stay on and being in a car is easier, but some people choose to keep walking up hill because they’re told it’s the only way.”
(laughs) “You’re giving them a hybrid choice - to question (reality) – nobody would have believed in the electric car (before it was made) – (Jennifer: He just showed me my electric car and said “but you already have one.”) He says “I love you and everyone.” 
He’s showing me all the U.S. presidents, and says “Everyone (of them) made a difference. In the quantum field of light and darkness, without one, you would not have had the other. So for you, for one, please do not judge.” He showed me an image of Paul Revere. He says “Do not judge the messenger and its contents to set you free; “free” meaning in your heart, where in the ethers is (always) “true.” We all are Shakespeare’s love.
He shows me that we technically die and rise together. Whether in our hearts or in our spiritual uncertainty, or in our spiritual uncertainty or demise. We can rebuild. He says take my advice; Gandhi did it right. And we all have Gandhi inside our hearts. And he just showed me Robin Williams and said “Love the love. Within us all. And peace. And then peace has to follow.”
“Thank you Rich. We are entertained by your thoughts.” Why was that shown to me? The Holy bible? “It was a foundation.” Now he showed me a lightbulb and breaking it with the frequencies, and showed me a new lightbulb and showed me your book, one of many books incorporated into – not “the new age” but “the new vulnerability.” “Love the love.  It’s so simple yet dissected into a thousand different ways, thousand different shades of light that make up one… “Without darkness there is no light, and vice versa…. you get the drift.”
He says “Sing well. And listen more. To your own advocacy. Of this multi-dimensional world.” He’s showing how you have to get along with all dimensions, not just this dimension, but you have to have the awareness that (reality) it is multidimensional. He shows me there is no stealing, everything is free. As long as your heart is (free) and you take action…
“Like you, Rich. More people will be changed by your words, than the ones who can’t hear what you’re saying. That is their path. Maybe the next lifetime; but again, he shows me the contract between people that you have to have both; people who can hear and people who can’t hear the difference, otherwise everyone would be following him or someone like him - like a saint. (Jennifer: hey, you’re a saint in the ether, how’s that make you feel?) I said I don’t want them to leave but they’ll be back. He just said “Rich; you are an en-Richment.”  Luana with Michael GoughAnd finally, a quote from Luana Anders, which I heard in a dream six years after her passing: she said “The hopes of a thousand generations are resting upon you.”
            *                *             *             *             *
 Okay.   I'm not insane. 
I don't post these quotes believing that they are verbatim quotes from people on the flipside.  I mean c'mon - Edgar Cayce taking the time to say he's the awakened prophet? Or Jesus making a pun about en-richment?
Or Prince and Robin and Amelia all having a conversation with me?  It's beyond sane.  It's beyond an argument.  I include it because that's what I do. I include the good, the bad, and the bizarre in my writing. Because when you do that - some people will be turned off - turned away - will get a refund for the book. 
That's fine, that's what they're supposed to do.
But others will say "Hey, wait a second. If he's reporting this verbatim, then how do we define what he's saying?"
I can tell you that I've known Jennifer for a couple of years now, I know that she works with law enforcement agencies nationwide, I know that she's helped solved some crimes and mysteries.  I know she's not 100% accurate all the time, and I know that anyone who puts a sentence together calls upon memory and syntax and reference in order to be able to speak.  So let's call that our "grain of salt" when examining these "quotes" from people no longer on the planet.
 But when you take away the salt what do we get?
We get a number of people "speaking" through Jennifer in an unusual way.  She's a friend of mine, so I hope that some of these effusive comments, and compliments, come from someplace in her heart, or from her higher self.  But even when you carve out the compliments, we're still left with some pretty unusual observations.
Edgar Cayce's syntax for one. Who talks like that anymore?  No one I'm aware of. Is Jennifer familiar with his work?  Not by any stretch of the imagination I'm aware of.  I read his books over 30 years ago - and am not familiar with his syntax. But after this quote I did look it up - and see that it matches the way he spoke during his life.
I know Howard Schultz very well. Do I think he might have made those jokes? Turning phrases on their heads "the end is near!" Yes, that was like him. His sense of humor. Do I think he would say something like "Good luck with even saying that there is an afterlife"? Well yes.  He was pragmatic as well.  But then Jennifer and I have spoken to him before, and in that prior conversation, he accurately described where I was during his funeral.  (Which Jennifer was not aware of.) So I already have a profound feeling that when he speaks to me through Jennifer he's speaking of things only he and I know of.
Then we have Prince and Robin Williams.  Prince's syntax - the way he puts together words - is quite unusual.  It's almost like a musician composing sentences - using the turn of the phrase.  Like "your words moving off the page and into the sky" - it's something a writer or a musician might compose or think up in a good moment. 
But again, in this construct; Jennifer is having a glass of wine while on vacation with her family, and responding to my request with whatever comes off the top of her head and speaking them into her iphone, then emailing them to me. One after the other. All in a row. No time to write or compose the concepts within.  I know writers who could turn that phrase, use that metaphor - but they're paid to do that, they do it for a living.  It's not something I would say, nor Jennifer.
And then him telling her that he "died from wearing high heels."  She did not know what he meant, and asked him to explain it to her. I didn't understand it either - what is he talking about? He certainly did wear high heels on stage... but then he explains it - one of his amazing feats was to jump off a piano onto the stage. I saw him do it when I reviewed the concert for Variety. 
But Prince explained to her that the stunt caused him joint pain, bad joints and what eventually led him to take pain meds, and become addicted to pain medication - which led to his demise. If Jennifer had been thinking about it - or had conceived of that metaphor, she wouldn't have had to ask him "What does that mean?"
In the book, both Prince and Robin Williams make a joke about teaching a class in "how not to leave the earth early."  (Which is also odd, because when asked what I teach in film school I tell them "How not to have a film career in hollywood" because if you follow my advice, you won't have one either. Ha!)
And then Robin Williams' quote: "Love love."  What I love about it is that Jennifer asks (as I could hear her ask on the audio, just after saying it;) "What does that mean?"   If anyone is making up a story on the spot, even subconsciously, when it comes to a turn of phrase - like "love love" - you would KNOW what that meant and could explain it.  You wouldn't ask. In Jennifer's case, she does NOT KNOW WHAT HE MEANS.
And so, he explains it to her.  Love the act of love. Love what love represents. Share that feeling and emotion of love. Give love.  It's way more profound concept than anything I've ever said in any of my books, and I would offer that it's not something I've ever heard Jennifer refer to or be aware of.  "Love love."  She says it now, and I say it too - it's something we should all contemplate and think about.
As mentioned in the book, when it comes to Amelia, I had three different mediums access her, each asked the same relative questions, and each gave the same answers which are not public knowledge. (i.e, the identity of her girlfriend, which she refers to above, and that only her husband George Putnam knew about, and I've since confirmed.)  "The unthinkable is real."  Not a turn of phrase I'm aware of, but makes sense in this context.
It's not me saying or claiming these details - but it is someone who has or had intimate knowledge of Amelia and her life. And the answers were consistent among all three mediums. But beyond that, she's saying "DON'T LOOK FOR ME." As if it's a waste of time.  I understand what she means by that as well.  And finally, I thought long and hard about including anything about The Alpha and the Omega in my books. Good friends advised me not to.  As it causes "brain freeze" or it just steps on too many toes.  
But my entire concept here is to just report what people are saying.  The good, the bad, the bizarre - whatever it is they're saying so that people can decide for themselves whether what people are saying has any resonance for them.  
I was surprised when people starting saying the same things - and even more surprised when people on the flipside should show up and say the same relative things they'd said to other people ... in the book! "Oh by the way, Richard asked this question to this council two years ago, and now we have an answer for him."
A long way of saying "If you don't believe me, just read the transcripts."  And the transcripts are in the book "Hacking the Afterlife."
Okay, enough about me...
Enjoy the show! Stay tuned!

Good Grief and Gwyneth Paltrow

There's no amount of solace that we as humans can have towards someone who's lost a friend, a lover, a family member, a child, a co-worker, someone that we love who is no longer on the planet.


From "The OA" - being consoled on the flipside by a "ghost"
This past weekend, a young girl died in our home town, and the memorial for her was standing room only. She was remembered as someone who was a light in people's lives. Stories were told about some unusual "Flipside" like events prior to her passing... she had a bad cold, and called her brother to tell him he had to drive home to see her.  He thought it was odd that she would call him to do so, as no one thought it more than a cold.  

But it turned out to be more than a cold, and she was no longer on the planet after a sudden turn for the worse.  Almost as if she "knew" she was no longer going to be on the planet, and insisted that he come home so she could say "goodbye."


Memorial for my pal Paul Tracey at his gravesite
in 2004. He's come to visit me a few times, including
during a trip to Tibet (as recounted in Flipside).I've heard and gathered a number of reports of people who appear to "know" in some fashion that they're about to check off the planet.  My brother's close friend called him one night to tell him how much he loved him, and how much he had influenced his life.  Then the next day, playing in a softball game, he suddenly had a heart attack and died.  At the funeral, his widow remarked on the phone conversation she had overheard between my brother and his friend.

"I've never heard him talk like that to anyone."  My brother had not either, and they spent over an hour on the phone talking about their path and journey together, and all the fun and comic moments they had, and all the things they shared as close friends.  It was "like he was saying goodbye."

Well, not goodbye.  But "See you later, alligator."


Actress Luana Anders who has been to visit me
often, those visits are the genesis of the Flipside researchPeople contact me from all walks of life about helping a friend, or relative who has experienced a sudden tragic event.  They've lost their mom, close relative or a best friend, and are having a hard time trying to "get past it."

I got a call like this the other day from a brother of a good friend back East.  His mom had passed away, and he had the good fortune to be able to hang out with her the last years of her life.  He told me how he had gone over to see her just about every day to have lunch with her, and how devastated he was when she passed. But he had a profound dream about her, and wanted to know if I could explain it, or what it might mean.


Dreams are like reflections in glass.He began by saying he "didn't believe" in anything beyond what we experience on the planet, and that it was hard for him to repeat the story. But he said the dream "was so real that I know it wasn't a dream."

He said he was at an event with tables and large ceilings. He later said he recognized the venue, it was a place they had been to large scale events over the years with his family.  He said he suddenly heard his mom call out to him by name.  

He said he went over to her table, and she looked happy, and vibrant.  He said he suddenly felt a ball of light come through him, a light that made him feel completely happy, accompanied by an overwhelming "feeling of love."  

I asked him if the words "unconditional love" would apply to that sensation.  He said they would.

What I didn't tell him, is that his brother and I spoke just after she passed away, and I asked him if he had any visitations from her. He said flat out "no" as if that wasn't a possibility.  But he did say that he "had a dream about her."

And it was the same kind of experience after their mom passed. My friend is an award winning reporter, from a famous newspaper, and in his dream (after she passed) he found himself in her old room, and went over to her chair and hugged her. And he said that during the hug, he felt like an electrical charge - but accompanied by an incredible experience of unconditional love. 

As I pointed out to both brothers, the reports from the Flipside - either from people under deep hypnosis or from people who've had near death experiences - report this specific feeling; an experience of unconditional love.  People sometimes feel it during a near death experience, sometimes when describing a feeling of traveling "through space when they are met by a light" and the "experience just beyond the light" or "being inside of the light" is one that they repeatedly use the words "unconditional love."

Which I find kind of funny. Because what's "conditional love?"  It's pretty much how we exist on the planet. "I'll love you if you love me" or "I only love people who are my skin color, from my background, are my height, weight, same color eyes, have the same heritage, blood type or shoe size."

It's not a common phrase. We don't hear it in church "God is unconditional love." "Love your neighbor unconditionally as yourself."  It's not part of our advertising, or media, or arts (I did write and direct the film "You Can't Hurry Love" perhaps I should have called it "You Can't Hurry Unconditional Love.")

But what's consistently reported by people who are able to examine these events - and I've heard them from people under deep hypnosis, from people who've had near death experiences, from people who are fully conscious who are having coffee and telling me about their experience - when I say "Stop. Hold onto that memory for a second. What did you feel like when you went into that light/or embraced your mom/or saw people who no longer exist on the planet? What words would you use to describe that feeling?"

They often say; "UNCONDITIONAL LOVE."

"What does that mean to you?"  "It's a feeling beyond bliss, beyond anything, of being completely and utterly connected, of being loved unconditionally, of having no fear and total happiness...."


You get the idea.
So when we go home, we experience unconditional love.  Okay.  Got it.
Do our loved ones still exist after they pass away?

Well, yeah. Why wouldn't they?


Unless they don't want to visit you. Mom and dad.
I kid. If you've read my books "Flipside" "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" or "Hacking the Afterlife" you'll find quite a bit of first person eyewitness accounts of people who have visited, or had visitations from people no longer on the planet. Not one or two - but thousands. I've filmed 35 people under deep hypnosis talking about these events, and have interviewed a number of scientists talking about consciousness research.
Our kids went to the same preschool. Oh boy.Recently, Gwyneth Paltrow is in the news because she endorsed this book of this fellow who claims that he's an intuitive who talks to people on the Flipside about healing.  I have not read his book,  I have seen the article complaining about it in the Independent by Ms. Hosie, and I comment on it here, because, well, it's worth talking about.

Why complain about GP endorsing a book from a NY Times bestselling author? What's the point? That he shouldn't heal people with his books? That she shouldn't point out people who claim to heal people from the Flipside? That we should ignore what people say about the Flipside, even if it can be verified, it can be forensically proven, or it's a source of new information?  Hard to pin down what's the beef here.


What's the beef?
But it brings up the question:

Can doctors heal us from information from the Flipside?

In the Independent article they complain that she's advocating this fellow's book who claims that he's getting medical advice from "ghosts."  Okay. That's worth noting. Yes, you generally don't want to get medical advice from ghosts unless you've seen their degree. I'm not kidding.  We tend to think of ghosts, or people "channeling the other side" as omniscient, or sacrosanct, or "absolutely correct."  That's not in the research at all. (Wiser, smarter, have access to more lifetimes than we do, but not omniscient.)

What we find is that "talking to ghosts" can be a verifiable event, but that doesn't mean the ghost is any brighter, smarter, more adept than when they were previously on the planet. (Gee. What if you're accessing a doctor who is still dispensing bad advice?) That being said, there are some "ghosts" that do have experience over here as doctors, or as healers, and getting advice from them is worth examining or exploring.  After all, if they still exist, and can help, why not ask them questions?

Anita Moorjani was dying of cancer. And while she had a near death experience she "understood the cause of her illness" and started to heal herself, so by the time she got back into her body the healing process had begun. This happened under clinical conditions.  But she's a doctor who accessed her "higher self" to affect a cure. (Is your higher self like talking to a ghost? Well, if you understand the concept of the "ghost in the machine" then, as a matter of argument, yes, you are.)

One of the most famous people to give and get medical advice from "ghosts" was Edgar Cayce. 


Edgar makes an appearance
in "Hacking the Afterlife'
 While under a trance, Edgar would access information that was not only accurate, but could cure people of illnesses. He was immensely famous for this ability - and many poets, Presidents and scientists went to visit him.  But was Edgar 100% accurate?  Of course not. 

Why? Short answer (based on the research) is because we have free will. 

People don't sign up for a lifetime to NOT experience life - they do so to learn and teach and explore.  Not everyone signs up to be ill, it's a consequence of being human - and while everyone appears to want to be cured of their illness, the only way to really know what that's about is to speak to their higher selves. "So why did you choose this lifetime where you'd have this illness? And what's the best way to cure yourself, if that's what you're trying to do?"

In the reports, people claim that they experienced an illness so that the could "become better doctors in a next lifetime."  People claim that the illness was a way of teaching lessons in love and compassion to those around them.  

I cite a case in Flipside where one fellow claims he chose the life of a baby in a previous lifetime (in 1964, in Miami Fl) he lived 4 years in an incubator, experiencing a debilitating illness that kept him in the ICU his entire life.  

When asked if that was a "difficult choice" he said "Not really. From my perspective I was loved, and experienced love.  That lifetime was teach others around me about love."


Good grief!
I'm not here to debate whether Goop is a fabulous website, or where Gwyneth Paltrow's intentions lie in promoting books about healing. (Our kids went to the same preschool, and we share a good pal in Dr. Habib Sadeghi) 

I don't know who the Medical Medium claims to be channeling, or accessing, or his methodology for doing so.   That's not really my point. Yes. There are charlatans out there doing this kind of work. But that doesn't mean that what everyone is bringing back from the Flipside is inaccurate.  

It does mean that we need to check into the methodology (the degree hanging on the wall) of how the information was accessed and why. And the best, most accurate way to access that information is to do it yourself.

How to do it yourself?  

Well, there are two methods I recommend. One is via a hypnotherapy session with a Michael Newton trained hypnotherapist (there is a searchable database at the Newton Institute website). I work often with Scott De Tamble here in LA, he's a virtuoso at what he does. You want to know why you chose this lifetime? He can guide you to the answer.

The other method is via talking to a medium yourself. I work with Jennifer Shaffer here in LA, who works pro bono with law enforcement on missing person cases.  You want to speak to a loved one no longer on the planet? She can guide you to them.

What I recommend, if you're going to go down this path - is do your research, bring questions that you don't know the answer to, or could not know the answer to, and ask specifics about the individual you're seeking to speak with. It's not often, but sometimes the door is slammed shut for some reason, and it may be to not "alter your path" by accessing this information. But even in those cases, I've seen Scott De Tamble use the Socratic method ("So why did you bring this person to this session if you don't want them to access this information?") to pry open doors that normally seem closed.  

All I can say for a fact, is that in the 35 sessions I've filmed, the 5 I've done myself, and the many hours I've filmed Jennifer doing her thing, I've gotten accurate, verifiable information from the Flipside that I could not have had access to.  


The three Flipsideers (Jennifer and Scott)All I can report is what I've seen or experienced, and that is that indeed - people who are no longer on the planet report that they are still learning, teaching and going to classrooms over there on the Flipside, and that they continue to help heal, and help doctors here who need to help their patients.

That there's no one cure for every illness, but that if the person is able to examine their path and journey, they can find the source of their illness, whether it's genetic, sociological, psychosomatic, or otherwise... and the reality is that since there is no death, even if an illness doesn't appear to be survivable - it is survivable, because no one dies.  

We merely exit the stage.

If you're stopping by this blog for the first time, I sincerely know how odd and controversial that statement is.  But if you care to go down the rabbit hole with me, check out my books - or book talks on youtube - or look into other reports on the same topic.





For those interested in the science of consciousness, I recommend the books done by the scientists at UVA ("Irriducible Mind" "Beyond Physicalism" "Return to Life" etc.) "Biocentrism" by biologist Robert Lanza, "Brain Wars" by neuroscientist Mario Beauregard, "The GOD Experiments" by Gary Schwartz PhD, or Carol Bowman's "Children's Past lives."

For those interested in the Flipside, I recommend Michael Newton's "Journey of Souls" as a jumping off place, Erik Medhus "My life after death" Galen Stoller's "My Life after Life" and Annie Kagan's "The Afterlife of Billy Fingers."  

These are all first hand accounts of what it's like on the flipside, and Dr. Newton's book is what spawned my documentary "Flipside."
In audible, ebook, paperback, etc.
Links on the side of the page.
So, again, I'm not mitigating grief.  God knows we all go through it. But having some perspective is good, having a sense that "they aren't suffering anymore because they've gone home" is good to hear or know.  It's not worth arguing about - because after all, not everyone is supposed to see the curtain pulled back, not everyone is supposed to see the Wizard of Oz, and it's not my job to pull that curtain back for everyone.  

But for those folks who feel the need to reach out and share their stories, that's why I'm doing this research. (And Gwyneth, if you or your peeps are curious about this research, just ask Habib-ola.)

Flipside and the Vortex

I got this unusual email from someone recently.  I'm sharing it with her permission.  This is a woman who lives on the East Coast, married, kids, and was curious about this event that happened to her when she was a child.



She writes: "I've been "homesick" since early childhood and used to cry in my room to go "home" and I knew this place I was in just wasn't "it". When I was about 5 yrs old...I was crying again. 

It was then that some kind of vortex opened up in my room (for lack of a better word?) and there were 8 or 9 people there in some kind of room with one or two podiums...two people stand out...there was an older man with gray hair and beard looking very austere and a beautiful blond woman. 


Vortex by Kent McDonald (copyright)The woman actually stepped out of this "vortex" and told me that I chose this and this is my home now and that I was here to live "my story" and I could go home after. It was so real! I can still see the memory as clear as if it happened yesterday. 

I didn't stop pining for home til I was in my late 20s because I KNOW there is something more. Needless to say, I have read every book on regressions and NDEs I can get my hands on for the past 25 years. 

Your book is yet another confirmation that the experience I had was real and that I'm not the only one having these experiences. I will be reading your others!! They picked the right person!! Thanks again Rich!!"
----

I told her she came to the right place... as these kinds of "glimpses of the flipside" happen to people often. I hear about them because of the nature of my research, but I'm sharing them here, because, after all... why not?


Here's what I replied:
"So what I ask people to do... and it's usually while having coffee somewhere (so grab a cup of joe), is to "go back to that moment in their mind's eye."

Try to do that. Find a comfortable place to sit without distractions, you can put  on soothing music, turn off your phone - or sit in a crowded cafe'. Whatever it takes to allow yourself to revisit that moment.

Begin with a freeze frame.  Freeze the frame at the moment you first witnessed what you were looking at.  Take a look at the people.  Then ask yourself a series of questions that require a "yes, no, maybe" or "i don't know" answer.  I would argue that you do know the answer to these questions because everything is somewhere in our memory banks - either in this life, or somewhere - and that people don't appear out of the blue in our lives unless we somehow know them.


Vortex (photo cited above) A tourist destination.
Also, you've reached the right guy to ask this about, because I've gathered quite a few accounts of relatively the same feeling or experience. (I mention a few in the book "Flipside," some in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" and definitely in "Hacking the Afterlife.")  So just try to stay open to the answer no matter how odd, fantastic or different it may seem to you.  "Try not to judge whatever it is that you're accessing."  (And as a matter of science, you're either making it up, or it's coming from your subconscious - either way the answers are the same, and are worth looking into.)

So let's go back to that moment, shall we?  

You described 8 or 9 people there in some kind of room with one or two podiums...

What is this room? Have you been here before? Does it feel familiar to you? If so, how can you describe the room? Be as specific as you can - how big, are there walls, look around to see what's behind you, are people seated, standing...  What's the podium look like? How tall is it? What's it made out of? Or your best approximation? If you can move forward and touch it with your hand.  Is there a microphone? These kinds of questions are really about painting in the sketch that's in your mind...

(Note: When I did my first between life session with Jimmy Quast for the film "Flipside" I had the experience of standing behind a "podium" in the room where my "council" was sitting. I was not consciously aware of ever being here before, but as I stood there I had the feeling I'd been there a number of times. I could see either individuals in front of me, and it seemed like they were all old, old teachers of mine. Back to the reply:)

You wrote: "Two people stand out...there was an older man with gray hair and beard looking very austere and a beautiful blond woman."

Let's examine these two folks one at a time.  Look carefully at the older man.  How long is his hair? What color are his eyes? What's do you mean by austere?  If you can, say hello in your mind's eye to him - how does he react while you're in this memory? Can you say hello to him?  

If he responds, then ask him a question... are you someone I know? How do you know him? Ask him what his name is? If nothing comes to mind, ask him for a placeholder of a name - a first letter of his first name, then the second, the third, etc.. until you get a word. Doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense... just allow it to be his name for now.  Ask yourself "Is he a guide of some sort? Has he ever incarnated with you?"  If so, ask him to show you that lifetime - write down as many details as you can... hair, height, what year it was, what your role was, what his role was... if not, then ask him "how am I doing?"  See what he says.

You may get no answers from this exercise, but I've found it's okay to ask them. You're not upsetting any balance of your path or journey - you're just asking questions out of curiosity.  And finally, at this point, shift your point of view over to his point of view, looking at you.  What do you look like?  Do you look like you do now? Or different? If there was a color associated with your image, what is it? What are you wearing? Trying to fill in some of these details... and when you're done with that examination, let's focus on the woman.


From the cover of "Proof of Heaven" by Eben Alexander.What does she look like? Hair? Color of her eyes? What's her name? If you don't get one, do the same - first letter, second letter. Ask yourself - is this someone you know? If so, ask her what role she's had in your life? 

And further, since she's the more talkative one in your memory, let's ask her some questions.  Like... how does she think you're doing now? At this moment in time? Is there anything she'd like you to focus on that's different?  Ask her to remind you why you chose this life, this path and journey.  Who are you here to help, to heal, to take care of?  Allow the image of that person to come to mind.  

Then ask what lessons have you come here to learn? To share? To teach? What's the main purpose of your journey in this lifetime?

Just write down whatever comes to mind - without judging it.  Later you can revisit these answers and see if they resonate with you... at this moment, you're just allowing whatever comes forth to come out of you.  

Ask her the same questions you asked the older fellow. Has she ever incarnated with you? When? As who? What was that like? Then shift your perception to her her pov... do you look the same as from the man's pov? Or has it altered in any way? What's the emotion or feeling that you get when you stand with this woman? If you reached out and touched her hand, what's the feeling that occurs when that happens. And if you can freeze that feeling in time - try to do so.  It's something you can always access.


Can you smell them? Imagine what the smell is like. Focused meditation.You mentioned in your email: "The woman actually stepped out of this "vortex" and told me that I chose this and this is my home now and that I was here to live "my story" and I could go home after..."

So now let's ask her what she meant by your choice.  Ask her to take you to the moment when you made this choice - your "life planning session" if you will. Look around you. Where are you? Who's there with you? What's being said? What's being planned? See if you recognize anyone from this memory.  Look at them carefully, and then shift your perspective to look at you. What do you look like? The same? Different? Older? Younger?

Finally - what's the meaning of the word "home" in the above sentence? What does it mean to you?  If it's possible, ask if it's okay to go there now - while you're thinking about these events.  See what that feels like. 

Be as descriptive as you can be - after all we're taking a journey to a far off place, think of yourself as an astronaut who needs to tell people specifically what you're seeing or experiencing.  What is the journey like? What does it feel like? Can you see any lights? Or people? What is the emotion you have when you're "home?"

Again - freeze that feeling.   That's "home." Only you know it - only you can experience it. It's unique to you. Allow that to be part of your consciousness... and remember, no matter what happens to you in this lifetime - there's always going to be home. You don't need to be in a hurry to get there - because you've got work to do here - but it's good to know there's a place that contains those feelings and experiences.



So print this out... then take out a pencil and notepad... and walk through it one by one - write down what you experience... take your time, we're in no hurry here..  and when you've finished, share as much as you'd like to share!

You don't have to tell anyone around you about this journey - unless you feel that they need to hear about it.  I'm not giving you a philosophy, belief, or anything else to examine... I'm literally having some coffee and asking you some questions that your subconscious can or can't answer.  Try not to take any of it too seriously, and at the same time, try to experience whatever it is that comes to mind.

Best,


Rich

------

I share it with you dear "The Martini Shot" reader.  Look around you. No one is looking over your shoulder while you read this. But it may apply directly to you. Perhaps there's a dream or a vision, or something that has occurred that seems "out of the ordinary" or is a "recurring dream" which includes individuals. Or perhaps you had some kind of "out of body experience" or dream where you felt you were standing with or in front of other individuals.  
You can access it.

Every experience that you've experienced is stored. There's no "delete" key in your memory.  All of it is stored.  There's a common misconception that the difference between "short term" and "long term" memory, is that one is deleted, and the other retained. That of course is not the case, as many people who've had some kind of conscious altering event, injury or trauma, either can access moments that would seem trivial.  Science, biology proves that everything that you've seen or experienced is retained.  It may be subject to interpretation, perhaps the file that it's stored in had been corrupted, altered in some fashion - but it's still there. 


Every time I heard BB King live is still retained.The same goes for previous lifetime memories.  We tend to dismiss them because they're not accessible in any easy way - but under hypnosis, or in the cases of people remembering or experiencing events that they could not have had access to - but that exist - it seems that the mind can revisit these events, revisit these people no matter where they are in the universe.

I've tried this technique on a number of individuals (as recounted in "Hacking the Afterlife" ) and have found that indeed, people can access memories and events - shifting their perception of consciousness from themselves to others looking at them - in such a way that is uncanny.

In my next post, I'll talk about a couple of folks who I've run into who've had experience with "UFO's" - or some kind of phenomenon that appears to be UFO's, and what these folks had to say about them while fully conscious, while I asked them questions about the event.  Unusual replies to say the least.


Stay tuned.

Flipside Memories from members of the audience

Some unusual emails and contacts from people around the planet lately....


My alma mater.Phone rang. It was a woman in Canada.  She sounded surprised to hear my voice. She said "It's you!" I said "Yes, I think so. Should be me."

She said she had been listening to me on a blog radio broadcast the night before and fell asleep. She said that she began to dream that I was still talking to her.  But in this case, she was looking at me. (Gray hair, glasses, you know... me .)  The only problem was is that she'd never seen me before. 

So the next morning she went on line and watched a video of me talking and said "oh my god! that's the guy in my dream!"  


Not so dreamy.With Curtis Harrington's OscarShe listened to the podcast again, and at some point they lost the connection with me, and someone in the control room said aloud my phone number to call me back to the show (Podcasts - it happens).  Only this woman could hear the person saying my number.  And she called it.


And I answered.
I said "Oh come on now, you must have seen a video of me speaking somewhere. I'm all over the net."  She said she had not.  I said "Well, there must have been a photograph of me on the blog radio ad" and she said "Well, I didn't see one. I just tuned in while I was in bed."

I said "That's funny. Well, let's examine it for a moment, shall we? Was this a creation of your imagination? Or did I actually come and visit you (not consciously, not aware of it) and speak to you?  What did I say?"  She said that I jokingly said "Maybe we know each other from a previous life."  She said, "Then you got up from the table and left behind your cellphone, keys and wallet."
Exqueeze me?I said "Okay, try an experiment with me.  Freeze the image that you can remember.  Take a look at the phone. Describe it to me."

She said "It's a flip phone."  I said "Well, I don't own one of those - so it's likely your imagination of me doing this.  Open up the flip phone. What do you see?"  She said "I see a phone number."  I said read it to me.  And in a very slow halting voice she read off the number one digit at a time... and read off my cell phone number.
Me in reflection outside Ciprianis.I laughed. "Well c'mon. You called me on this number!" She seemed startled. "Oh, yes, I did, didn't I?"  I said "So you are seeing that number on a cell phone - okay, it means that someone - likely your subconscious wants you to reach out to me for some reason. What about the wallet?" 

She described a wallet (that unnervingly sounded like mine - I instinctively felt for it - still there...) but when she opened it found credit cards and a photograph.  I asked "Who is in the photo? What's the first name that comes to mind?" She said a name. I said "Where does this person live, what year?"  She said a place and a year.  I asked "How do you know this person? Is she on the planet?"  She said "I don't think so. But I feel like I know her from another place - like from over there on the other side."

I told her to see if she could search this woman's name and find evidence of this person's existence. But perhaps that's the person who sent this message to her, for her to call me.  "What does this person want you to know?"  "That everything is going to be okay is what comes to me."
Everything's gonna be ok.
Then I asked "So what about the keys?" She said "There's big and small ones - one is a car key, the other a door key."  I asked her to draw a symbol, and tell me what it meant. She drew something like the number 8 - "like the symbol for infinity." I said "Take the house key and take it to the door of the house that it unlocks. Describe it to me."  She described a two story house that seemed like it was in Eastern Europe.

I said "Open it. Go inside. What do you see?"  She said she was in the hall, and saw a plant and a mirror." I said "Great. Go to the mirror. Who do you see? A man or a woman?"  She said "A woman."  She got the impression she was in Bosnia (a place she's never been) seeing a woman from the 1800's.  She gave me a name, a town - other details.  I said, "If you were doing a regression you'd spend more time with this woman. But based on what I've experience, look at this person. Is she a stranger? A friend? Or is she... someone else?" She said "It's me."

I said "Ask her. Why have you shown me this vision?"  She said "What I'm hearing is "to show you that you don't have to stress or worry so much. Everything is going to be okay."

As I pointed out to her - that's a pretty long way to get to such a simple sentence. But by making it so complex, and a puzzle, when you get to the answer to the clues, it resonates more.  "Everything is going to be okay."
Can you hear me now?A woman contacted me from Europe. She works for an airline.  She found me through one of my youtube videos.  She had recently had some very powerful dreams, and wondered if I might help her source them.

She told me that she felt like she was drifting over a desert setting at twilight, 

"My body started to shake, at my spine a tingling sensation (a bit like Kundalini when it's active, mine awakened a few years ago, but I didn't had it under control and it was very painful so I stopped meditating for a few years...but I  know how it feels). 

So I hear this music. It gets louder and louder....music from movies....soundtrack music that I like to listen (like the force theme from Star Wars and so on and many others) and then I heard voices. Whispers first. They got louder and then I could hear them saying "we take care of you all" (I felt they meant my family). And I asked in my mind "What's with my sister...? (Can you) take care of her?" and the voices said "We will take care of her, don't worry". I tried to stand up from bed, but couldn't move and realized I had sleep paralysis. Then I tried to force myself to fall asleep again to wake up from it. When I did, I immediately started to write to you..."

Turns out her sister has had a sudden illness. She's worried about her - so she got this dream where someone told her "it's going to be okay." 

I suggested that she try to meditate on the dream and ask some direct questions to these voices.  As an experiment I suggested she "freeze the frame" and see what she could learn without judging or worrying about whatever she heard.  Here's her slightly edited, complete reply: (grab a cup of tea and savor this if you please).




"Ok. Wow. My first attempt to examine it in freeze mode: I see myself lying on the bed in this situation and I try to freeze the frame. Then I said "Bring me to the place, where the music and the voices came from." At first I see a landscape, like a desert with a sky at the evening. I am kind of flying over it, in the air, then I make a sudden move upwards. I see light and then I see a group of people dressed in white (My conscious mind tries to judge it as something that I have read, but I try to say to myself "don't judge it"). 

I know all these people (not from this life though) and they are super happy to see me, laughing and joking. And they almost crack themselves up about what they did with me with the (Star Wars) music. Like friends who know you very well and who kind of tried to make a surprise party for you.
Surprise party for you.I ask them "What's the point of always dressing up in white?" They said "Imagine how you would feel, if you saw us and we were all dressed up in black!". Ok - I get it. (This would really scare me.) 

I see that this form (of the spirits) as humans is just one they take for me but it is also convenient for them. As if they know this form very well.

So now I tried to examine the individuals... (previously, in out of body experiences) I mainly heard a female voice, (but) I knew that she spoke for many.... And (in my visions) I kind of saw her hair. Short wavy greyish, but no sharp face. So I tried to find her in this group.

But for some reason I couldn't examine them individually. Instead I (felt I) was sucked into them. I couldn't resist this force almost. I was just "one" with them. As soon as I tried to examine them individually, (it was like) I was spit out of this oneness. But it felt so calm and peaceful and I thought "Ok, just bathe in it for a while". This oneness... I (felt like I) was like a huge galaxy in this moment. I was in the universe. 


Another piece of home.Then I tried to find people inside of me (from that "oneness") that I know from Earth. And again, as soon as I found them, I (felt like I) was spit out of the comfy zone of me being the galaxy, peaceful and calm. As soon as I found them, I also felt their energy and all the emotions connected to them and I was not in the oneness anymore. Which felt totally awful.

 I couldn't say if the emotions connected to them and the energy connected to them was my own feeling and energy towards them -- or their own which made them individualized from the "oneness." This really interested me, because in this life I have huge problems to differentiate if emotions are my own or if I just feel the emotions of others. Often it's all just a big enmeshed entanglement for me.


The first photograph... 180 years ago in Paris. Then I understood. To experience us and others as individuals we need to have all these emotions... especially/also the bad ones. The more "bad" the emotion the more we are separated from the oneness. Or the best term would be "individualized," not separated really, but defined or distinctive. For the first time I understood this now.

So to experience all this earth stuff from the oneness into this play with individuals, we need these emotions that separate/define us.



I thought "this sucks, there needs to be another way" . I then knew, this is what we have to try to learn as humanity. To hold this state of mind to be the oneness and individuals at the same time. Which as I understood it, is a certain frequency which is super hard to hold.

I then saw that is the reason for the strong movement of immigrants from the middle east to the west.

The middle east humans have more of a group consciousness, but they tend to disrespect the individual's freedom.

The western humans are individuals, but they forgot they are part of a group.

So these wars that are happening -- there is kind of a balancing out of these two extremes....like two ways to be a human, that clashes now together.
Flipside is in Italian, Spanish
This movement through immigration is a start of a long process of coming together again to learn from each other, so in future we can hold this frequency of feeling oneness and being individuals on Earth at the same time (which I understood will be the end of this cruelty on earth and new kind of experience that will begin here).

I have to say at the same time I also saw myself in front of a bigger group of people. Like a gathering. This kind of "happened" at the same time. My focus was more on the other thing, though. So in front of these bigger group of people --  they were all light and dressed white and they were like listening to what I had to say... I don't know what I said.... but I remember that I asked if i could speak with the part of the soul that is still here (in the light) of someone that I know who is still alive on earth. When I did, the floor under my feet opened up into a dark hole and I was thrown out of wherever I was, and (it's as if) they wanted to send me back to my body. I don't know why this happened. (We discussed this later, it may be related to her "not knowing" how this part of the story would end.)


You can find God in the eyes. Always. There.
I also remember asking if this oneness is all there is. If that is God. I understood that I just felt a tiny part of "all there is." More like a soul group oneness. Which again is part of something -- a bigger oneness -- and that even God as we understand God, and that (concept is) kind of responsible for us as a part of a bigger oneness and it never ends. 

Like circles made of individuals and this circle is again an individual of a bigger circle and every individual in a circle is part of many different other circles. Like clockworks entangled all together. And that's why if there is a tiny eruption somewhere it will effect everything. 

Hope that makes any sense. Hard to put this picture into words."


Stars? Or just shining parts of all of us as one?
Well.....
Wow. How about that? Pretty cool I'd say.

She tells me she has not read any of my books (although she owns a couple, has just started them) and here she lays out an important message for humanity.  (I could wait and write about this in another next book - and maybe I will - but for now, I'm sharing it with all of you.)

Our loved ones are not gone. They're just not here. You're on the planet for a reason.  Only you can examine that reason, but it's worth examining. We're all part of the same energy - and that energy is what God is.

As mentioned in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" - one person's spirit guide said "God is beyond the capacity of the human brain to comprehend - it's just too much information.  However you can experience God by opening your heart to everyone and to all things."


Got it?
Thanks for tuning in.

Sundance "The Discovery" and the Flipside

"How's life with the dead?"

That was a greeting I got this morning.



"Oh, life with the dead is fine, if you mean my daily routine of chasing my tail."

Sundance has a film starring Robert Redford, directed by Charlie McDowell (co-written by Charlie and Justin Lader) that deals with the Flipside.





I haven't seen the film, "The Discovery" and I look forward to seeing it.  From the trailer and online reports, it appears this is a story about a scientist who discovers there is an afterlife.  Mayhem ensues.

From CNET.com: "The Discovery" (Netflix original movie) is set one year after science proves that there is indeed an afterlife. As a result, millions of people around the world commit suicide in order to cross over. The movie follows the scientist who confirmed the afterlife (Redford), his son Will (Jason Segel) and Isla (Rooney Mara), the woman Will falls in love with who has a tragic past."

Charlie's mom is Mary Steenburgen and his dad is Malcolm McDowell.  Mary starred in a film "Going South" with my pal Luana Anders (who as fans of the Flipside books know, is the genesis of my journey into the afterlife - she came back to visit me a number of times after her passing, and since then I've found a way to visit her on the Flipside.  (I'm not kidding. Just read "Flipside")

I met Charlie's father Malcolm McDowell some years ago. My wife and I were invited to dinner with Julian Cerruti and his mom Chantal and Malcolm.  Malcolm was a longtime friend of Julian's dad Nino (the clothing designer, one of the few people I've met on the planet where I felt like I'd known him forever and appears briefly in my film "Cannes Man").  

 For me the dinner was a delight because I've been a fan of Malcolm's work since "If" and "O Lucky Man."  (If you haven't seen the latter, I highly recommend it.)


Younger days. Charlie's pop.Of course I loved him in "Clockwork Orange" but I wanted to know about "O Lucky Man" - a film I saw in college and wrote a paper about, having interviewed the composer Alan Price backstage in Boston.  The film (edited badly for the US release) was an epic journey in a Voltaire's "Candide" like fashion, where Malcolm plays a man who goes through hell and back to find himself. The extended version is brilliant the music even more so.

Malcolm told me some great stories about the film - for example, I wanted to know why Lindsay Anderson decided to use the same actors for different parts.  It was such a clever choice, almost like seeing reincarnated friends again - and the subtle way in which Malcolm's character in the film did a double take when seeing the same actor (who perhaps died in the previous reel, but was now playing a man servant) again in the story. He said it was just one more example of Anderson's genius (and cost cutting!)


I get a lot of great stories just by asking.He told me that when he was acting in A Clockwork Orange, he was having a hard time because Kubrick, notorious for multiple takes, wasn't giving him any direction at all.  So Malcolm called Anderson, director of his previous film "If" for advice.  And as he put it "Lindsay directed my performance in Clockwork over the telephone." Funny.

So his son
Which brings me back to the "how's life with the dead?" comment.


The flipside isn't this foggy.Just a word or two about suicide.

First of all, I'm a reporter here, not a doctor. So if someone asks "where'd you hear that?" it's from some rube (me) who claims that he "talks to people who talk to the dead" all the time.  Someone who claims that he's seen people who are supposed to be dead and they tell him "new information." (which I report in my books). Someone who claims that the afterlife is just this place that we call "home" and that when we get off stage we return there.

I had an NYPD detective pull me aside on the set of "Salt" to ask me about a ghost in his house and his daughter talking about reincarnation. I said to him "Look, first of all, you're talking to some guy on a movie set. Let's begin there." 

But then, after asking some questions, we discovered the ghost was his old partner who died 10 years ago, showing up to his 8 year old daughter "younger and thinner" and that she was remembering a lifetime in Australia.  I suggested his partner was not haunting him, but keeping a watchful eye on someone he loved, and that he take out a map of Oz and ask his daughter "So, where did you live before?" He did, and she showed him, told him the epic story of her previous life and death... and finding him.

But I digress.

These details are not my "belief," a philosophy or a point of view. Or a religious concept.  

I'm just a frickin' reporter, man.

But the topic of checking yourself off the bus comes up a lot.  I've met parents whose children have departed early, I've spoken to people who consciously remember checking themselves off the planet in a previous lifetime, I've filmed people who remember a lifetime they left early during a previous lifetime. 

I spoke to a woman (recounted in "Flipside") who told me that she was on her way to do herself in, was literally standing in line at the hardware store with the chemicals she needed - when she overheard some boys from Uganda talking about their journey. Once she spoke to them she realized she was here on the planet to help them.  She now runs an orphanage for "lost boys" in Uganda.

She waited before she checked out.

Not all of us do that. Not all of us can.  It would be extremely irresponsible of me to claim that I know some magic formula for keeping people on the planet.  I don't.  But I do know what people say consistently.

This is the playground. This is the ballpark. This is the game that we all want to participate in. We sign up for roles that are difficult - in advance - because we know they're difficult. We sign up for them to learn a lesson. It might be a lesson in love, in forgiveness, it might be a lesson to teach others - it might even be because "we're in a hurry to get back to the other side because we have work to do over there that requires our full attention."  (I know what that sounds like.) But we sign up to come here for a reason.

What people report about the afterlife (I've filmed 35 deep hypnosis sessions, some with Scott De Tamble (lightbetweenlives.com) and some with others, I've examined Michael Newton's research (7000 cases over 30 years) and Dr. Helen Wambach's cases (2000) and people consistently say the same things (relatively): we choose to come here. We choose to learn or teach some lesson here. We eventually all get off stage and go "home." And there's no judgment negatively of how we get off stage. We are the only people who give ourselves a hard time for "quitting early" or for "screwing up everyone else's plans."

No punishment. No suffering. Just compassion. Some people don't want to hear that, don't like to hear that... but it's consistently reported. Now - would that fact make everyone jump into Niagara Falls? Or off the Golden Gate?



It's a bit like stopping in the middle of a play and shouting "I don't like this play!" and jumping off stage.  Not going to get much applause for that move. And when you get backstage, the rest of your cast is going to come and say to you "We're all going to have to do this again for you.  Thanks a lot."

(Here's the audible version of "Hacking the Afterlife")

But this film  "The Discovery" should engender a discussion about suicide and the afterlife. And I'm raising my hand to say a few things to Charlie, to Robert, to whomever wants to know... that there is a body of evidence out there about this topic.  If I may:

A. The afterlife has already been proven to exist. Look up "post materialist science" and you'll find the scientists on the cutting edge of this research.  We don't die.  We can't die. Suicide doesn't get us anywhere but off this stage.

B. That's no solace for parents who've lost a child, for a lover who's lost a friend. For anyone anywhere who has lost someone to suicide;  it's like a giant tsunami of sorrow that washes away everything in its path. It's not something we can take lightly.  But it is something we need to talk about. Openly.

C. This research into the afterlife shows us why we came here in the first place. We've had many many lifetimes. They all have a theme. If you examine the previous ones you may get to understand the theme, and understand why you've chosen this path and journey.

D. It takes courage to come here in the first place. According to the research, we can say "no" when our guides suggest a lifetime that is difficult.  We can say "No, I don't want to be a child born into poverty in africa, born HIV positive who lives with flies and dies in 6 months."  But there are those who say "I volunteer. Yes. I can teach a lesson in love. I can teach the doctors and nurses and those who fall in love with me a lesson in love. I can do this." Give them credit for having the courage to do so.

 I talk about this stuff in my books, or I go on at length about it in my book talks on youtube (I do mean at length - there's about 25 - 1 hour to 2 hour talks here): 




Which backs me all the way up to the woman who asked me "What's new in the world of the dead?"  She said "What's the point of all this past life research? I don't care who I was in the past, I just want to live my life as it is."  ("Don't turn on the stage lights please!")

I said "That's great.  But the reason it matters is because when you examine all the different lifetimes you've had, you'll see a theme - a healer, a doctor, a soldier, etc.. and you can choose to continue doing that, or realize that you might want to take on some other classes." Karma doesn't dictate who we are going to be - if we get to choose (or not choose) a lifetime it's because we think we're going to master whatever the lessons are from that life.

Past life/reincarnation research is important because once we realize that we've all chosen to come to the planet, doesn't it make sense to leave behind a clean campground, not only for our children, but for our own possible return? Leave behind fresh air, water and earth that we might enjoy it again?

She argued "But what about Hell? What about evil on the planet?"

I offered  "If no one dies, then no one can be harmed, can they?  If they step off stage, they're backstage - there's no harm that can come to them over there.  Evil is a construct of the planet - because of it's polarized system, positive/negative. It only exists onstage. Once you're outside of time, or outside of this realm, it's doesn't exist, or it does so in relatively minute amounts. That's what's reported."

She said "What about those who have a near death experience and see evil?"  I said "In sessions I've filmed, when asked "Why did you choose to experience this?" these folks report that it disappears once they realize that they've chosen to go to wherever place they're experiencing. How could it dissolve unless it was a mental construct in the first place?"  

Plus no two accounts of heaven (or hell) are the same. If no two descriptions are the same, can it exist? It can only be an energetic construct based on the person conjuring it up. And in all the cases I've examined, I've never encountered a "dark side" - only descriptions of "being back home" that include the concept of "Unconditional love."

She gave me this 20 mile gaze, looking at me as if I was losing my marbles.


22 mile gaze.I told her about the interview I did in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" (vol 2) where I spoke to an attorney who claimed all of her clients who had committed 2nd degree murder had a visitation, "vision" or some other kind of visit from their victims where they heard a version of "I'm okay. And I can help you."  

It's not something anyone could ever talk about obviously - ("Hey judge, you'll never guess who visited me...") but it's related to the fact that everyone, once they're off the planet, no matter in what fashion - is okay. 

They're not gone. They're just not here.



I think it's sad to not be able to hold their hand, share a slice of pizza or have cappuccinos with them, but they're okay. 


If you ask them, they will tell you.
I had a woman approach me at a book talk once. Her daughter had been murdered. She put her finger in my face and said "How dare you say that my daughter's death somehow might have been part of her life's plan!"  I looked at the finger, then at her.  I sat her down.

"Can I speak frankly to you?" She said "I wish you would."  I asked "Since her death has she ever been to visit you, or have you felt her presence?" She said "All the time."  I asked "Was she a happy person?" She said "Yes." I said "Then pretend it is her. Imagine for a second that she's come back to see you and wants to give you a message. Imagine how hard it is for her to connect with you because you're so angry about her passing. Would she want you live your life in such anger?"


A sunset is a sunrise somewhere else.She said "No."  I said "Well try to honor that then. Try to honor who she was by thinking of her in a positive light, remembering her laughter and what a light she was in your life.  Then allow her to communicate with you the best way that she knows how - it might not be a direct message, but it might be an indirect one. Might come from someone else, might come from a dream, a photograph you run across, a piece of music you both loved. Allow her into your life in the way that she would be able to reach out to you." 

A month later, I was giving a book talk in Santa Monica and spotted her in the back row.  Afterwards I went and sat with her. "How are you?" She said "I just wanted to come here, look you in the eye and say "Thank you for saving my life."

Tears came to my eyes. I said to her "Look, it's not me. It's the research. I'm just reporting what these people have said consistently. But thank you for saying that, it means a lot to me."

A couple of months later, I heard from this woman that she had progressed so far as to begin taking a stand-up comedy class. She'd found a way out of her anger and into something that could heal her and others. I hope she's doing well as I write this. 

No parent should have to lose a child. Therapy, suicide prevention, showing them a different way, talking openly and frankly about bullying, drugs, or any other process they might get in over their heads can help. Seek advice from a therapist. (avoid the SSRI pills if you can, but if the Doctor insists, then visit Richard Davidson's work at the University of Wisconsin where he proves scientifically that meditation can cure symptoms of depression (and circumvent SSRI drug use)).

But we can't always discern or understand why a loved one has left the stage... in whatever fashion. Try not to judge them for doing so, just keep your heart open to them.

Many judged Robin Williams harshly because he chose to check himself off the bus. But he's okay. He's just not here. People chose to judge Prince harshly for taking pain killers. But he's okay. He's just not here. People tend to focus on the method people get off stage - but if you realize that they're just back stage and you will see them again - why not focus on the light they brought into our lives?

All we can do is ask them. Through meditation, through hypnosis, perhaps through just opening our minds up to the question "Why?"  Hard to comprehend or accept the answers, but if we stay open to them, we often can hear the reason.

After this mother's comments, it made me reflect on my own path and journey - writing and directing films, trying to find the right path for myself. I realized no matter how many films I might make, I would never get a review like "Thank you for saving my life."  

Finally, I would offer kudos for this film "The Discovery" because the more we're talking about the flipside, about going there or coming back, the more it will help the planet.  Congratulations Netflix, (makers of another consciousness lifting show "The OA" which deals with near death experiences), Robert Redford, and Charlie McDowell (and co-writer Justin Lader)!

Break a leg. But not mine.

My two cents. Or in this case my two rupees.