The research continues. Here's an example of "The Martini Method" (so called by some hypnotherapist pals) of asking people questions not under hypnosis about an event they had. In this case, my pal Josh Davidow's NDE in Lhasa while we were climbing Mt. Kailash. I wasn't ware of it until all these years later, and asked if we could film him revisiting the event. Further, we took some detours, including a recollection of a previous lifetime as an airman aboard the "Lady Belle." I was shocked to find that he was accurate, this airman had flown in Lady Belle in WWII, but died in another plane. Both manifests had the name he recalled during this casual "trip into the flipside." We tend to think that our past lives are far away, or that our memory cannot access things that it can access..
But this interview, which is reproduced in full in the book "Architecture of the Afterlife" is just one of the 50 that I include in the book. People recalling a near death event or some vivid dream, or even their "first encounter with spirit" - which gives us a gateway into the flipside.
Josh and I met in Tibet. Actually we met in Katmandu on our way to Tibet.. A talented filmmaker who went to NYU, he and his sister Emily were on this trip to Mt. Kailash that I was filming for Tibet House in NYC ("Journey into Tibet with Robert Thurman") I was in Mumbai lensing 2nd unit for a film I wrote "My Bollywood Bride" when I was invited to join Robert Thurman and 20 or so tourists taking a trip across Tibet with him (2004). I filmed everything I could, charging the cameras in the car charger, when often hilarious Josh offered to edit the piece for me.
After we came back to the U.S., he generously pieced together a mountain of footage and later has taken other trips with Robert Thurman and done his own "trips with Robert" series (Bhutan, etc). In this interview, I had not spoken with him in years, and did not know that when we were in Tibet he had a near death experience during our trip around Mt. Kailash.
This is a demonstration of the technique (dubbed "the Martini method" by a couple of funny hypnotherapists) where I take an event that occurred, one where the conscious mind was "outside of the body" (whether it's a vivid dream, out of body experience, or in this case a near death event - where a person is unconscious on the ground and floating around above their body for a period of time) and use that event as a gateway to the flipside. No hypnosis is used or required. I'm not seeing anything he's seeing, but know what questions to ask because I've been doing this for years.
I ask him about the NDE, and then, knowing the "Architecture of the Afterlife" (the transcript of this interview appears in that book) I ask simple questions about his journey, his guides, and if he can recall a previous lifetime. Much to my surprise - he recalled a life of a fellow who served in World War II and the name of the plane he was on. I did a forensic search of military records and lo and behold, found the manifest of that plane, found a list of those airmen, found the name he recalled, and then found the subsequent plane he was on when shot down and killed in World War II. Josh is "one of the greatest generation" - but didn't know it until this moment on camera.
I do the historical research for everyone who "recalls a past lifetime" in this way - in this case, he happened to recall the name of the airman, his position on the plane, and I was able to verify it. Not just once, there are 50 in the book "Architecture of the Afterlife" doing the same thing. Like it or lump it, this research is for those who are interested in examining why we are on the planet. Not "if there is such a thing as past lives" or "if there is an afterlife;" I've spent ten years filming people examining the same experiences - and it doesn't always result in such a dramatic recall as this turns out to be - but if you don't try, you'll never know.
Thank you Josh for allowing me to post this. It's only about 20 minutes, the interview was longer, and the chapter in the book has more specific details (names, dates, etc). Welcome to the MartiniZone and verification that life goes on (has gone on before.) As they call it in the film "Soul" - "The Great Before." It's where we pair up, team up, plan our journey and try to accomplish some tasks we put in front of ourselves with the help of guides and teachers. Not my opinion, theory or belief - have been filming people doing the same for over a decade. And somewhere in that scenario, Josh and I planned to connect on the planet. Hope New Zealand is treating you well!