Last shot of the day on a film set, also the last name of the author of this blog. Martin - Latin singular, those soldiers who work for Mars, God of War. A smith. In this lifetime of words, music and film. AKA "The Afterlife Expert" (Coast to Coast AM) If you want to reach me, I can be found on FB, LinkedIn, or Gmail under MartiniProds (my youtube channel)
"Jonathan Taub isn’t a big believer in this sort of thing. He tries to be rational when he says, “For the people who believe in that, they were moved.” And yet he allows that the series of events was “funky.” He decides to stay with that word, but it’s clear he’s considering other words. Stronger words." Casey spends his whole life pointing to a stunt he's going to pull off once he's off the planet. People ignore him... until he can't be ignored. "What are the odds that the goal would be scored at the precise second that reflects the number he'd chosen to represent himself as?" Well, it's not about coincidence. It's about understanding the nature of consciousness. How while we're on the planet, some part of us (and people claim it's the majority of our energy) is always "back home" - back there, back in the place that isn't here - call it heaven, call it the flipside, call it a cheese sandwich. But the reports are consistent, people say the same things about the flipside every time I turn on my camera. That we aren't just here - but we're also back there as well. Only we can't see it - we choose not to see it - or we see it and move on. In this case... "hey #22, thanks for the reminder that life goes on."
When the clock struck 22:22 … by Eric Adelson Columnist Yahoo Sports
Casey Taub (photo from Jonathan Taub via Yahoo sport)
Casey Taub picked 22 for his jersey number when he was in fourth grade. A lot of soccer kids choose 10 or 9, which tend to be the numbers of the sport’s biggest stars, but the boy from Chappaqua, New York, went with 22 and stuck with it. Nobody really knows why.
It was kind of appropriate, though. Casey was a bit more worldly and wise than the typical 9- or 10-year-old. He would go up to adults at his parents’ parties and strike up conversations. He loved history – so much that as a child he put a mustache of soapsuds on his face in the bathtub and told his mom he was President Chester A. Arthur. His dad, Jonathan, used to wonder, “How is there a 40-year-old man trapped in a 10-year-old body?” Casey wasn’t quite like a 40-year-old, though. Closer to 22.
He was 14 when he came down with what his parents’ thought was vertigo. After a battery of tests, though, there was an unthinkable reason for the dizziness: brain cancer. “Initially I thought it was something a lot of kids recover from,” Jonathan says. “Then we saw it was a mutated tumor, which you never want to hear.” A high school sophomore immediately faced a challenge most never have to fathom.
At one point, Casey looked at his father and asked, “Am I going to die?”
“You immediately tell him, ‘No.’ ” Jonathan says. “What do you do? You pray.”
He gets emotional as he remembers this conversation. He says he would have said “No” even if the doctors gave Casey zero chance. There was a chance for Casey, just not a terribly fair one.
He would need bravery beyond his years, and in some ways he would turn to soccer for support. So would his dad. There were six weeks of radiation, five days a week. There were three surgeries. Over many months there was progress, but as the doctors explained, treatment was “like trying to catch up to a speeding car.” Casey wore his 22 jersey as often as he could, but the chemo weakened him too much to play.
He chose London for his Make-A-Wish. He wanted to meet his beloved Chelsea team. He also got introduced to some of the players on NYCFC back home. Forward Khiry Sheltonkept in touch, and he sat with Casey in the hospital. He stayed not for a few minutes, but for hours.
Still, many of the closest relationships for Casey were on his own team. It was hard for him to watch Horace Greeley High play without him, but he became a team manager. Soccer brought him to a place of comfort.
And that made it that much harder when Casey began to struggle even more this past summer.
“When his vision got blurry, when May hit, he really started not wanting to talk to his friends anymore,” Jonathan says. “They’d come over, and just sit with him.”
He gets choked up.
“He soldiered through a lot of stuff,” he says. “He was a trooper. He never gave up.”
Casey Taub entered the hospital the weekend before July 4. He passed away on the 9th. He was 16.
There were 800 people at the funeral. And that would have been enough of a tribute. But there would be one more, at least: a varsity soccer match dedicated to him. It was his teammates’ idea.
“I was all for it,” Jonathan says, searching momentarily for the right words. “For some reason, still, in a way, it sort of gave me comfort that Casey … that I’m still connected to him.”
The decision was made to honor Casey during the 22nd minute, a nod to his number. The fans and players on the sideline would clap for the duration of that minute as the game went on.
The minute came and the ovation began somberly. Then came an unplanned spike in noise and a loud crescendo: Matt LaFortezza, a senior captain on Horace Greeley, scored a goal. The moment was so special that it took another for the crowd to realize: the goal came at 22:22.
Was it cosmic when Horace Greeley High scored at 22:22 during a game honoring its late teammate who wore No. 22? (Courtesy of Jonathan Taub)
“When they started the clapping thing I was OK,” says Jonathan. “As it kept going on, I was overcome. When the goal was scored I was crying and everyone was comforting me.”
Jonathan Taub isn’t a big believer in this sort of thing. He tries to be rational when he says, “For the people who believe in that, they were moved.”
And yet he allows that the series of events was “funky.” He decides to stay with that word, but it’s clear he’s considering other words. Stronger words.
Even if the time of the goal was completely random, the gesture of the game and the tribute was certainly not. Casey’s friends and even his team’s opponents wanted to do something symbolic, and because of that, something even more symbolic happened. Maybe it’s cosmic, maybe not. Who knows? But if anything, 22:22 is a promise to a father and a family that moments with Casey will be easy to remember long after his teammates have left the fields where they all played.
But this story brings another Flipside story to mind. That of Dave Schultz, the wrestler who was murdered by Dupont, the story was told in "Foxcatcher."
Dave Schultz Olympic Wrestler
The part of the story that wasn't told was the eulogy that Phillip Schultz, his father gave at his funeral. In the eulogy, he recounted how the young Dave had come to him and said "Dad, can I tell you a secret?" And how his son had walked him outside of earshot of others behind their home. He said "Dad, I had a meeting with my council, these old wise men who said I could come down here to teach a lesson in love." He dad listened, not sure what to make of his story of this council of old wise men. He said "Okay." His son then said, "But dad, I won't be here very long." His father Phillip had not remembered that conversation until his son's passing. Council? Elders? Not here for very long? I've been filming people under deep hypnosis for over a decade now. And in all 40 sessions, people recount a time when they went to "visit their council" and spoke to them about the life they were planning, or the life that had just happened. Each council is there for each individual to see how they've done in this lifetime. Each council tries to help the soul remember why they chose a particular life and what lessons they are here to teach or learn. In Dave's case - it was a "Lesson in love." To whom? For whom? I don't know, but we'd have to ask Dave. It could be for Dave himself, it could be for his loved ones, it could be for those who loved him from afar. Lessons in love are not easy to explain, nor easily defined. But he knew what his lesson was going to be - even as a 5 year old. He also knew that he "wasn't going to be here for very long." It's a rare gift to know how long we're going to be on the planet, but if your child told you that he or she wouldn't be here for very long, I would do everything in my power to convince their guides that they should be here for very long - I don't know if I would be successful at it, but I'd do everything in my power to give them the opportunity to learn and teach and experience and feel as much as they could. But I would also be aware that when we leave this earthly plane we're not gone. We're just not here. We're just not accessible. We learn lessons in love every day. And this is one from Casey Taub (via Dave Schultz.)
That danged afterlife "council" again. Same council I report in "Flipside" and "Hacking the Afterlife" and visit LIVE ON AIR during my interview with Heather Wade on Art Bell's radio show last week.
A council of my peeps in Ladakh
You don't need a Near Death Experience to get your life upright again. It helps but so does learning why you're here on the planet.
MAY 25, 2017 A Near-Death Survivor's Advice On Knowing What You Should Do With Your Life
What jumped out at me is this mention of meeting with her "council." The question I have is "What council?" Turns out, according to Michael Newton's career of writing about this "between lives" arena, we all have a council. We meet with them prior to coming to our lives, and then upon our return, where they ask us "So? How did you do?" They appear to serve as a kind of doctoral thesis panel - experts in their field who keep an eye on you and all your lifetimes, and show you images of what it is you did or experienced during your life that reflects what you "set out to do." A little bit like Albert Brooks' film "Defending Your Life."
The council reference is consistent with the reports I've been cataloging for the past decade, that Michael Newton cataloged in his books for 30 years (Journey of Souls). Everyone - every single one of us - has a council, and we encounter them when we're off the planet - that could be because we've had a traumatic injury - a near death experience. Some people encounter that group with hallucinogens, some run into them through deep hypnosis hypnotherapy - and I've been showing people how you can access your own council without any drugs, hypnosis or meditation. And I did so on the radio show "Midnight in the Desert" with Heather Wade, and I visited my own council in the first of five between life sessions - which I filmed for "flipside" and transcribed the session for the books, which include "it's a wonderful afterlife" and "hacking the afterlife." The fact that Forbes would choose to print this - is because after her near death experience, it altered her business acumen, gave her insight to what she was doing on the planet, and made her life a more enjoyable adventure. That's not true with everyone who has a near death experience, but it is true with those who are able to remember, process, and eventually learn from the experience. Even the readers of Forbes. There's a council story I mention in "flipside."
When wrestler Dave Schultz was killed, his father's eulogy included the story when his son came to him as a little boy and asked if he could tell him a secret. His father, Philip said "sure, Dave." He said "I went to my council and asked them if I could teach a lesson in love." His dad asked who the council was. He told him "old men with white hair." His father said "and you came to teach a lesson in love?" Yes, his son said "but dad, I won't be here very long." I stumbled across this story printed in the Philadelphia newspaper account of the funeral. That wasn't an NDE or a hypnosis account but a memory of a young boy sharing a secret with his father - a story forgotten until his son was taken from him. I've taken dozens of trips to visit councils. My own I've visited twice in the five sessions I've done. Not everyone visits their council in their near death experience, or in their between life hypnotherapy session. I've found that if you can access some portion of your between life world - which apparently is accessible while you're fully conscious - you can ask your guide(s) to help you access your council.
And it's there where you begin to see who or what you are. Don't take my word for it. Ask your council.
Just wanted to weigh in on some recent news stories that point to the research in "Flipside" and "It's A Wonderful Afterlife." (On SALE AT AMAZON) Let's start with the Brit Awards. While winning his award, the amazing singer and musician Ed Sheeran said: "Since I was a little kid I dreamed of people all over the world singing my songs and although I've got a long way to go, this shows that I'm stepping in the right direction." Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran, photo: Daily Mail UK
I've asked a number of people "their first conscious thought they'd be doing what they're doing" and often hear of recurring dreams, visions, or "always knew" as if the future lies somewhere under the surface of our reality. Not that we're destined, as free will reportedly dictates our path (to accomplish or screw up), but the dreams or visions appear to have little or nothing to do with nature or nurture. Genetics or environment seem to only support the outcome, but its the consciousness of knowing your path that puts one in the "right" direction.(Sheeran quote is buried after Madge's tumble) I've come across many accounts of people who had profound dreams, recurring dreams or visions of what or who they were to become. It was also in their behavior in the school yard. I asked one FBI agent when she first became conscious of what she might want to do in her life. She said in preschool, because "I started keeping lists on what people did in school every day. What they wore, what they ate." (As quoted in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife") Was she seeing into the future? Or seeing the path that she'd already chosen for her to be on? Does it matter? It does if you're a parent or guardian, and your child says something silly like "When I grow up I'm going to sing music to millions of people." The answer is, "Cool! Let me get a camera and I want you to say that on camera, because in 20 years, it will be very valuable." Just like Dave Schultz (the Olympic wrestler, whose story is told in "Foxcatcher") told his father when he was 5 that he "wasn't going to be here very long," but that he had come here to "teach a lesson in love." (A conversation the father didn't remember until he said it at the eulogy.) That's a hard pill to swallow - but when you consider the growing mountain of evidence that shows that we don't die - that we are here on stage temporarily, and that those we love have not disappeared, or gone into oblivion, it can be a source of comfort to those who would like to know there is data that backs that up.
Dave Schultz told his dad he wouldn't be here long.
Then, I found this clip, on the anniversary of George Harrison choosing to be on the planet (his birthday), an old friend of mine posted this link to his speaking about death. George says in the clip:
"What happens when you die? That, to me, is the only thing that's of any importance. The rest is just secondary." "If you want to know anything in this life, you just need to knock on the door. Which I found through meditation. It's all within." (At the end a live version of "All Things Must Pass.")
"What happens when we die, is the most important thing for us to know while we are on the planet." Why is that? Because the answer will inform how you live your life, how you relate to people, how you relate to fear, to stress, to other people behaving badly. And finally, a "Near Death Story" with a different outcome: In the Independent Newspaper in the UK, there's this story about a fellow who "died twice" and both times didn't see or experience anything (consciously) and they use it to report that "nothing happens after we die." No light, no tunnel. Nada. Zip.
Tunnel? Doorway? Different planes of existence? Pixels on a page? All of the above.
Au contraire. One person had that experience - an unconscious one - but thousands have had the opposite experience. We all have different dreams, different experiences of being awake, widely divergent concepts of what being alive is. Or consciousness is. This fella experienced being dead and nothing came to mind. No tunnel of light. Just blankness. Never mind thousands have the opposite experience; scientists like Dr. Bruce Greyson at UVA studying cases for decades, Dr. Sam Parnia's published results of the extensive 7 year Aware Study showing consciousness existing outside of dead people, or the 100 cases Mario Beauregard PhD cites in his neuroscience research where people had no blood to the brain for minutes, and yet saw, heard new information from their "out of body" perspective.
I got pals all over the planet. These fellas are in Kashmir. Made me a rug.
Some people are actually convinced nothing happens after we die. Sorry to say, it's just not in the data. Finally, if you want proof of the afterlife, I suggest you watch this clip. In it, author David Bennett ("Voyage of Purpose") recounts his near death experience where he saw into the future and saw that he would be diagnosed with cancer that would only give him months to live, and then survive it (knowing he would survive it, because he'd already seen that he would). His case has been examined by science: Dr. Greyson at UVA. I'll let him describe his experience in his own words: My two cents. "Flipside" and "It's A Wonderful Afterlife." (On SALE AT AMAZON)
For those of you who haven't seen Foxcatcher, it's a wonderful film. If you don't want any "spoilers" about the film, please come back to read this after you've seen the film. But it's based on a true story, so you might be well aware of it by now.
Mark and Dave Schultz, the amazing Olympic athletes, trained at Foxcatcher wrestling facility, under the auspices of John Du Pont. The performances are brilliant, the film's look and the art direction are fantastic. The film lays out the story pretty much as it happened, with some adjustments for drama, and attempts to gain insight into the events surrounding a tragedy, by pointing to the wealth of the Du Pont family that contributed to the murder that occurs.
Dave Schultz - from USA Today
Today is the 19th anniversary of that event. It's been 19 years since Dave Schultz's life was cut short. RIP Dave.
But there's a deeper, richer story here, and it wasn't touched upon by the filmmakers. That's why you have your trusty Flipside correspondent on hand, to search for the other meanings that are buried in the story. At the funeral of his son, Phillip Schultz made a dramatic revelation during his eulogy. Here's the original article about it: http://articles.philly.com/1996-02-12/news/25655410_1_john-du-pont-david-schultz-nancy-schultz From the article
Later in his eulogy, Schultz told how David at age 4 predicted he would die young. David
told his dad that before he was born, he was one of 12 men standing
around in a circle in the clouds. David was told by one of the men that
he was going to be tested on earth.``He said I would pass the test, but I wouldn't be here very long,'' David recounted to his dad. ``David was truly a transcendent figure,'' his father said softly.
Wait a minute.
A group of 12 men standing in a circle in the clouds? Where have we heard of that before?
In Michael Newton's "Journey of Souls" he talks about the "councils" we all have, and they average from 6 to 12 people. In the 25 between life sessions that I've filmed, and report upon in "Flipside" and "Its a Wonderful Afterlife" many included the same reports - visiting the council of elders, or the "wisdom makers" where people gain insight into why they chose a particular lifetime. (And in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" the same research done by Dr. Helen Wambach shows how people under deep hypnosis recount "choosing to be here" with the assistance of "wise elders" or "council members" for a variety of spiritual reasons.)
12 men (often women) standing in the clouds talking to us about our journey on earth is not only common - it occurs in just about every between life hypnotherapy session. (LBL). Michael Newton cataloged 7000 of them, Helen Wambach cataloged hundreds of them, and I've filmed 25.
Michael Newton, whom I interviewed for Flipside
In Newton's research (7000 people over 30 years before he published) he says that people visit their council two key times; before reincarnating to discuss the life lessons they're about to impart, and again when they return to review how the person feels they did during their lifetime.
Also, David noted to his father (again, he was four years old at the time) that he was "going to be tested on Earth," that he would "pass the test, but I wouldn't be here very long."
This is also in these reports - a matter of fact account of what's being shared between the soul and their spirit guides. "What are you going to do while you're on Earth?" "Well, I'm going to try to do this, and this other thing, and help these other people." Generally these stories all have to do with imparting a lesson in love.
At one point, a spirit guide spoke up while I was filming a session with Scott De Tamble (lightbetweenlives.com). The person was asked "Who or what is God?" And the woman said (a skeptical film producer, who never thought she could be hypnotized, but had an amazing session) "God is beyond the capacity of the human brain to comprehend. It's not physically possible. But you can experience God, by opening your heart to everyone and to all things."
So opening your heart to everyone and all things might be one of those events to examine. And this as well.
Because if Dave knew that he wasn't going to be here long, how was that going to play out? We could go through all the choices that Dave made in life, whether bungee jumping, or wrestling the most amazing matches in the world - at any point along that way, Dave could have chosen to check off the planet in some other manner. Bungee cord breaks, he has a heart attack on the mat. But that's not what happened.
He knew what was going to happen. He couldn't put it into words at four years old, but he knew he wasn't going to be here for the full term, for the full journey.
So where does that put John Du Pont in this story? He's a scary, creepy, lost soul - as Steve Carrell portrayed him, and as he everyone reported him to be. In the film, they try to point to his lack of mother's love as a reason for his being unhappy, unloved. A drunk, drug user. An abuser. An unhappy 1 percenter.
But wait a second. There's a deeper story here. He's playing that role of drug user, unloved soul. He's fulfilling his own path and journey in this story. Did he know what was going to happen when he became obsessed with wrestling to start Foxcatcher? If Dave knew what his path and journey was going to be, could John Du Pont have known as well?
The research shows that we choose difficult lifetimes to experience all kinds of positive and negative energy. That between lives, when we are back "home" we are filled with unconditional love, and we see our journey here on Earth more like a stage play, or a classroom, where we examine things, learn lessons, teach things, have compassion, help others (or play the role of the person not helping others). But back home is like stepping off stage. Or graduating from college.
As Kathy Bates says in the final episode of this year's "American Horror Story" - "Does Desdemona hate the actor who played Othello, who kills her in the play?" Once we are offstage we see our journey as one where we can share and love and play many roles.
So Foxcatcher is a brilliant film to be sure. But when you watch it, know that young Dave knew that he was not going to have a long life, that someone or something was going to cut it short, but despite that knowledge - he gave his heart freely, gave his love to his brother, and his family - and his love continues on. And I honor him today by suggesting that unconditional love is the way of the Universe. That we need to love everyone unconditionally - because they don't die, they can't die, they just aren't here - and back "home" we get to continue our lessons in love by choosing our next lifetime. This isn't my opinion or belief - I'm just reporting what people say under deep hypnosis, and now in my latest work comparing those concepts to what people say after a near death experience, out of body experience, or some other life altering event. And many, many speak of these "life reviews" with members of some kind of spirit council, with elders, and spirit guides - but all of them speak of this unconditional love we find back "home" for lack of a better word.
Dave is not dead, he's just not here. He's home. And we honor his memory to consider his sacrifice - to go through that pain and anguish, to teach a lesson in love.
He said he would be tested while he was on Earth and that he would pass the test. Admirably I'd say. Just a little Flipside perspective and my two cents.
