AUDIBLE SAMPLES OF MY BOOKS

ALL ON AUDIBLE. ENJOY!

Translations of the Flipside books into Spanish, Italian and Portuguese!!!

Flipside on the Horizon

I've taken advantage of Babelcube, a service that matches authors with translators that want to translate one's books. 

It's an unusual way to meet new people, share different stories, and introduce the Flipside Research into other lands.

The translator makes the bulk of the funds received until a certain amount is met - so if it's something you think a friend might enjoy - please send them a link.  

(I'm posting one link for each title - but all of them have a kindle, ebook, Apple, Kobo, Scribd, Barnes & Noble, Google play or Amazon link as well)

Here are the Paperback and Kindle links to those titles: 

Flipside: (Each has both paperback versions and ebooks)

Spanish Edition

Spanish: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507132557

Italian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507162855

Portuguese: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1071522809

Greek: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1539277790

It's a Wonderful Afterlife book one: 

Italian Edition

Spanish; https://www.amazon.com/dp/1547518456

Italian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507183240

Portuguese: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1516545413

It's a Wonderful Afterlife book two:

Spanish edition

Spanish: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1547563737

Italian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1547518464

Portuguese: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1536278326

Hacking the Afterlife: Practical Advice from the Flipside

Italian Edition

Spanish:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1547575182

Italian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1547548827

Portuguese: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1566581944

Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer Part One

Italian Edition

Spanish: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1488963890

Italian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1547588292

Portuguese: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1547002005

Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer Part Two

Italian Edition

Spanish: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1520971522

Italian:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1547596619

"Architecture of the Afterlife" "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" on their way, as well as version of some of the books in French and Dutch. 

I've just decided to do the audible versions of the books in Spanish and Italian, so sometime by the end of the summer, there will be versions of my books in those languages on Audible as well.  

All Flipside All The Time!!!!

Letters about the Flipside and the Second Coming

Couple of letters sent on the same day have me talking the flipside. Excerpts: 

Consider the Source

Hi Rich,

I purchased several of your books on audio, watched your flipside documentary, bought the flipside book (just to have on the shelf for reference), listened/watched some interviews, talks and other shows, etc… with you....  I consider myself a healthy skeptic just like anyone else but if I can somehow find a plausible explanation or perhaps make a connection with a little bit of science, then it becomes all the more believable for me and easier to accept. You have to have an open mind and heart which is a pre-requisite to accepting any of this, I think. Since I currently work in the world of (audio) that is my way to connect the science part of it and explain to others how (electro-magnetic) energy is at the root of so much of it. 

...I've also realized that despite my enthusiasm and realizations, I can’t expect others to share the same feelings and beliefs. It’s funny to see how people react when you mention anything related to the subject of death, ghosts, spirits, life after death, souls, etc... It can be all over the place from one extreme to the other and the funny part is, I was the same way but on the opposite side of the scale until I drank the kool aid and became a true believer.

I wanted to Thank You for all the work you’ve done and sacrifices you made to do all the research and share it. That’s huge and you did it from the angle of just trying to lay out there what you’ve gathered from other people’s work and some of your own experiences and work as well. 

It not only helped me learn a lot and profoundly changed my life but now I look at people, things and the world differently (and countless others out there do as well), thanks to your work. So, if you ever get complacent or it just feels like “ho-hum is it all worth it?”, I would say a resounding “YES!” ....Anyway, that’s pretty much what I wanted to pass on and I recommend your work to anyone that’s willing to listen. Thanks again for doing all you’ve done and please don’t stop; it really is appreciated and enjoyed by many and helping to change the world one baby step at a time! "Tom"

****

Then this one:

Hello Rich,

(I am a mental health professional) I was not particularly religious but had some unusual childhood events that always made me question things. Distinctly remember seeing glowing children around my bedside in hospital singing and dancing when I was really ill and have had many wishes come uncannily true. Always held a belief in something more to this life than what we understand but hadn't given it much thought. Not religious but seemed to intuitively understand that if there is a god he doesn't care about churches and religion (just never made sense that a god would care about bricks so much).....a curious agnostic perhaps.

So, fast forward to mid last year, and I stumbled upon some writing that triggered this 'journey' of discovery that got me searching the meaning of existence. A very metaphysical text that got me thinking about reality in a way that I had never really even considered. I think it was such a shock to the system that it literally jolted me into an awakening. It was bizarre - quite literally like a bolt of lightening whilst I was sat reading on a hotel bed on a business trip. 

Fast forward to the day after (still in shock) and it happens again except this time its like this most incredible feeling of love and oneness followed by this bizarre glow to the world that I cant describe....like a shimmer....and then this indescribable love for Jesus…..I literally cant explain that but it made me want to sign up for a Christian ministry there and then.....it was surreal.

....I have kept a job, maintained a family and function normally...….if it wasn't for those things I would have run into the hills and become a hermit :) .... I think that the second coming of Jesus is also a metaphor for this spiritual journey mankind is experiencing?......not a literal return of Jesus…..is this right or am I crazy? We are literally living out the 'end times' its just not the apocalyptic vision of death and damnation...….just a raise in consciousness that perhaps kicks mankind back into gear. See, these are the thoughts I have, these ideas now just come to me. 

Anyway, that's my surreal experience, still unfolding, still having some strange moments. Has anyone shared anything similar? "Stephen"

**********

Well, yes and no.

In terms of Stephen's epiphany, I've written about various people who've had an experience like his. Mario Beauregard PhD talks about his in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" - when he was 12 and walking in the woods, he suddenly felt "connected to everyone and all things."  He said he spent his life in science (he's a neuroscientist) trying to figure out why that happened.  Sir Francis Younghusband had the same kind of epiphany coming out of Tibet. My wife Sherry had it one day after attending a class that taught the person how to "access left brain memories" and saw everyone in the same light.

It occurred to me last week that the "second coming of Jesus" - aside from the apocryphal nature of the idea - could indeed be, the REALIZATION THAT HE NEVER LEFT.

As I point out in "Hacking the Afterlife" the consistent reports of "seeing Jesus during a near death event" "talking to Jesus between lives" or "Meeting Jesus through a medium" - are consistent.  If they were made up stories they should include the belief system of whoever is making them up - but they don't.  The stories I'm filming and hearing are consistent in that they are "contrary to religious texts" "contrary to reports in the bible" - if they were being "made up" by the individuals reporting them, you'd think they would follow a familiar narrative.

But they do not. What they claim is oddly consistent - that Jesus didn't die on the cross, that he didn't die of old age either - that none of us die. That we "return home" to access the flipside, and that people like Jesus (or other avatars who've come to the planet that brought more of "source" with them - that's a quote from one of the interviews with him).

Further, the more I do this research, the more I'm "hearing" from a variety of people (some friends, some acquaintances, some strangers) that somehow they are involved in "helping adjust the consciousness of the planet."  So maybe that's what's happening - we're going to arrive at a time and place where we realize that we don't die - we realize that we can communicate to others without words - that we will be able to understand intent and a person's path just by seeing them, not by their actions or words - in essence, a shift in consciousness so profound that it literally is the "second coming of Jesus."  Meaning - it's not that he's coming back... he's already back.   I interview him in "Hacking the Afterlife."



In Tom's case, I'm just grateful for the shout out. 

I answered the following question on Quora today:

Is the mind an elevated form of the brain?

I think it’s a semantical discussion that we haven’t begun to understand. The brain is part of the human body. The mind, on the other hand, appears to exist within the brain and outside of the brain simultaneously.

If you’d like the science behind that sentence, I recommend Dr. Bruce Greyson’s youtube talk “Is Consciousness Produced by the Brain?” and his new book. Or Ed Kelly PhD’s “Irreducible Mind” or Dr. Presti’s “Mind Beyond Brain.” Both Greyson and Kelly are at UVA, as members of DOPS they’ve been doing the hard science behind consciousness, Presti is a neurobiologist, psychologist, and cognitive scientist at the University of California, Berkeley.

I’ve been doing the soft science - filming people under deep hypnosis saying the same consistent things about the afterlife, the process, the journey. What they say is this:

We exist prior to coming to life as conscious energy. When we choose to incarnate, we bring “about a third” of that energy to any particular lifetime. So while we are here, we are “semiconscious” as two thirds of our conscious energy is elsewhere (according to this research, “back home.”) Once the physical body dies, the consciousness returns to the consciousness left behind. Once the filters of the brain are “off” we are able to access the rest of our conscious memories - previous lifetimes, why we chose this life, etc.

In this model - as simple as it is - the brain is an organ that functions like a receiver. I used to work in stereo, so it’s the easiest metaphor for me. There are limiters and filters which parse the “radio waves”that bring the information to our brain (as well as what we create through our experiences here) but by and large we can only focus on what we have within the confines of the receiver.

Sometimes the receiver’s limiters or filters get “knocked out.” During a near death event, during an accident, sometimes with drugs, often with deep hypnosis - the filters stop functioning which allow us to access this “other information.”

So mind and brain are apples and oranges. Yes, both edible. Yes, both fun. But the brain functions to parse, limit or filter experience, which appears to have a corresponding reaction with “mind” - some people under deep hypnosis claim that we have fractals or geometric shapes that function as portable hard drives with regard to mind and see them while under hypnosis. (I have).

Further, in the cases reported by Dr. Greyson, hospice care workers for Alzheimer’s patients report in the UK that 70% of their patients “spontaneously” recovered their memory just prior to passing. Sometimes for minutes, hours or days, people remembered things they couldn’t before - and when the autopsies are done the brains have atrophied beyond a point where they should have been able to access these memories. As Greyson puts it “It’s as if the filters have died along with the brain.”

So brain is a subset, an engine to mind (conscious energy). We all have our own, we bring about a third with us, and when we return we can access the other two thirds. Everyone has the same kind of conscious energy - like water droplets - so we are capable of accessing their information, their experiences as well… and therefore the idea of “god” becomes a kind of hub, or ability to access everything at once. As one person told me in “It’s a Wonderful Afterlife” - “God is beyond the capacity of the human brain to comprehend. It’s not physically possible. However you can experience God by opening your heart to everyone and all things.”


Easy to say but hard to do. But indeed - if you can picture accessing all the other ions in the universe simultaneously, you’d have an idea of how mind is more than what the brain functions as."



BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE: TALKING THE AFTERLIFE WITH JENNIFER SHAFFER BOOK ONE AND BOOK TWO.

Near Death Experience from IANDS

Sharing this amazing account of a near death experience from IANDS.ORG

See the experience below; my comments:

"Love is the engine of the universe." 

Don't take my word for it, although I have been shouting it for some time, here is another eyewitness report from the flipside. Because he didn't meet or see avatars doesn't mean they don't exist; each experience is unique yet not unique. Thousands have reported the same kind of NDE, many have experienced this via deep hypnosis. 

Point is NOW YOU KNOW. How does knowing change your stress level? Change your fury, anger, resentment, fear? What is love anyway? Indefinable, ineffable, an experience we only know when we experience it. 

No pulpit, no song, no bumper sticker or book can define it. But if you can give it you can experience it. "Open your heart to everyone and all things." What have we got to lose? 

"'Love was what everything was made of, came from, returned to."

International Association For Near-Death Studies (IANDS)


"From my first NDE, I only remember vague images and concepts and some vivid images. However, my second one, I remember entirely, and once I was in it, I remembered that what I was experiencing was something I had experienced before, and that my second NDE had a lot of the same features as the first.

First of all, I definitely was aware that I had left my body, but when I glimpsed my ethereal body, I noticed the same physical features I was used to. I later learned that it was akin to a term used in the first Matrix movie: Residual self image. I expected to see the body I was used to, and so I did, to make me more comfortable.

Second, I felt like I was lifted away, though I never experienced a bright light or tunnel, or saw any dead relatives. To that point, I had not lost any relatives in my lifetime--the first familial death I experienced was my paternal grandfather in 1989. The first death I experienced of any kind was my best friend, who was killed by a drunk driver when I was 15 and she was 14.

Third, I experienced being in a place of some sort. Not a room, because it didn't feel closed-in or limited, but definitely a sensation of a physical place. I felt, rather than saw, beings around me, which comforted me and projected peaceful thoughts into my mind. In this realm, talking without speaking seemed perfectly natural to me, as if I'd always done it but was just now remembering how.

I experienced what some have termed a 'life review.' It wasn't like a movie or something, where I was outside of it. It was completely interactive and immersive. I got to see good and bad things I had done. I say good and bad, despite the fact that there was absolutely NO JUDGMENT there. It was more like these beings wanted to show me the path in life that I had chosen, and based on what I wanted to be, how my actions or words had either helped me along that path or hindered me. This review was not from my perspective, but rather from the perspective of those my words or actions had affected. I experienced how I made others feel, or think about me, as if I were them.

Let me stress here that there was none of the Heaven-or-Hell experience for me. No Jesus, or angels, or choirs in clouds. No judgment, no punishment, no fear. Also, no religious overtones at all. This, I will explain later.

I felt the presence of other souls nearby, those who--like me--had recently died and found themselves in this new reality. I know we conversed, but I couldn't tell you the substance of those conversations. In this place, conversation happened spontaneously and without verbalization. And since everything happened with the speed of thought, and everything seemed to work faster, it's difficult to put every concept into words, because it's like trying to capture a cloud with your hands.

Several of us went together on a tour of sorts. We flew at speeds beyond imagining through space and the universe. We were unbound by the laws of Physics or any limitation. If we thought about something, we were there, instantly. There was no passage of time that I could sense. This journey through space was, in a word, freeing. I felt exhilaration, excitement, wonder, awe, like a kid who just got to go to all of his favorite places in the world all at once. I never wanted it to end.

Colors were so much more vivid, blending together like Van Gogh's Starry Night painting. And mixed with the colors were sounds and music. Every star we passed had a specific frequency or vibration--the brighter the star, the higher the tone, and conversely, the darker the star the lower the tone. Globular clusters and groupings of young stars were like a stellar chorus. It was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced, bar none.

I felt connection to everything, all at once. There was no sense of separation, no division between here and there, between me and other beings. My awe was their awe, and their awe was mine.

Unfortunately, the journey came to an end. I was by myself again, but felt the comfort and overwhelming love of others all around me. Love was what everything was made of, came from, and returned to. All-encompassing, unconditional love. It enveloped me like a warm blanket on a chilly day, and I just wanted to stay inside that love for the rest of eternity.

While there were many voices speaking to me throughout this experience, there was one that seemed to stand out from the rest. I want to say it was a male voice, although there wasn't sex here, any more than race or religion or any other distinguishing characteristics. But it 'felt' male to me, if that makes any sense. This voice told me that I had to go back. Upon hearing that, I felt cold and alone. The other voices tried to comfort me more, while still backing up this central voice. They told me that I would remember this experience, and that just recalling it would bring it all back to me. They also stressed to me that one day, my day would come, and that it would be no more than the blink of an eye there.

I didn't want to leave, but the more I tried to stay, the 'heavier' I felt, like I was under water and being dragged down by an anchor. I could sense my body, somewhere else, but it felt like an alien to me. I couldn't imagine ever going back to being so limited again.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the emergency room. I felt pain from my head injury, and from falling when I went unconscious, but it was weird to me. I felt the pain, but in a disconnected sort of way, like it was happening to someone else, but I was feeling it with them. I was disoriented and confused, and nothing felt real to me. I didn't respond to the doctor at first, because I felt torn between what I had just experienced and this physical realm."

Reviews are in.... "the afterlife consultant"

After spending a couple of hours with a fellow who had an unusual event happen to him (he heard a voice tell him that he "needed to figure out how to communicate to his children when he is dead") - he sought out some information on what that sentence might mean.

He eventually came upon my books "Flipside" - "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" "Hacking the Afterlife" and reached out to me about doing a session where I could chat with him about that experience.

As I always do - I pointed out that if he wanted to access previous lifetimes and the journey between lives, a Newton Institute trained hypnotherapist (like Scott De Tamble) is the best way to go or if he wanted to speak "directly" to someone on the flipside he might seek out a medium (like Jennifer Shaffer).  But if he wanted something in between, or a way to discuss these things while fully conscious, I've had some success doing that.

We met at my local coffee shop and away we went.

He not only found out what that particular sentence meant, but afterwards, wrote this "review."  

Thanks Terry F from Santa Monica!


"With his many successful books, I always thought Rich Martini was a great storyteller. 

But during an impromptu session sitting at a simple coffeeshop table, I discovered Rich is extremely talented at asking questions. 

His warm and casual demeanor makes him an instant friend, and his skillfully sequenced questions flow naturally. So much so that after a few warm up questions where I thought only my imagination was at play, Rich lead me to a sort of focused gaze where images were coming at me clearly and rapidly. 

Dates were appearing in my mind when Rich asked for them, places, names, clothes, key events. 

I ended up describing people and outfits I was not aware of, but that I could verify with an easy Google search after the session. 

All of a sudden, I was part of chapter of American history that I had never heard of but that was documented. 

Rich’s best talent is actually not storyteller or questions asker. He is the best listener. 

After this session, Rich wrote a recap that contained many more details than I could remember, and I was able to illustrate the story with the images I found on Google that I had “seen” during our session. 

If you are open minded, curious, or simply looking for answers, a session with Rich is like a comfortable walk in the park where you are in touch with the world while daydreaming about your past lives. Highly recommend!"

If you're interested in booking a session with yours truly - either by telephone, skype, or in person, please send an email to MartiniConsulting (at) Gmail

I'll get back to you asap and we'll go from there!

First review of "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" book two....

First review on "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" BOOK TWO (there are two books, I don't know if he's heard book ONE yet)   

"I could not stop listening!" (5 stars)

"I saw this particular audio book on Facebook. Curious about the Richard Martini oeuvre, I decided to dive in to his latest book. I was surprised that I did not need to listen to the hundreds of hours of other exploratory Martini material, to "get" this most recent book. What I found is a breathtaking new look at reality. The content is presented with such style, wit, and profundity that you can not help but be swept up by its unique and probable vision. 

Richard Martini narrates with such aplomb,and personality, that listening became a real treat. "Everyone who has ever lived continues to exist on the Flipside and if possible, can be asked direct questions." That is the book's unique premise. And the casual, interview-style format includes everyone from Robin Williams, Prince, and John Lennon. It also includes interviews from the "flipside" of Katie Spade and Anthony Bourdain. I would recommend this to anyone who is curious about the world beyond this world. It is intelligent, loving, and filled with laughter." 

https://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/Backstage-Pass-to-the-Flipside-Audiobook/B07G2QPVQD?ref=a_a_library_c4_libItem_1_B07G2QPVQD&pf_rd_p=ae76b2bb-e63d-4a67-b357-dab3dee05ca1&pf_rd_r=ARW8X3865TMTSCPGSG9C

"Home" the Epilogue to "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" read by yours truly

I was doing some research into my latest book offering and ran across my chapter for "It's a Wonderful Afterlife: Further Adventures in the Flipside" volume one - the epilogue entitle "Home."  In today's often reports of celebrity deaths, there's a bit of a conversation about events surrounding Robin William's passing.

Enjoy.

Suicide and other lovely Flipside topics regarding Kate, Anthony and Robin

Well, it's in the news.

From the Observer Website

Kate Spade's husband revealed she had been "taking medications for depression" for the past 5 years.

Anthony Bourdain's best friend said he'd been in a "dark mood for days."

Here's an excellent article written by a friend of his about suicide.

What's that about? Alas poor Yorick, I knew him... not so well?

Worth reading repeating. Ah. Mig. Da. La. Amygdala. It's the tiny walnut sized part of the brain that regulates serotonin. It becomes damaged by fill in the blank. 
Drugs/trauma/indifference/tragedy/medicine/PTSD. Anyone can fix it themselves. See Richard Davidson research. Up to you.

(SSRI drugs like prozac regulate serotonin, but reports are that up to 15% of the people who take them have adverse "serious side effects" - the drugmakers websites warn people about them, ideations of violence or self harm" - but for some unknown reason - the test that anyone can take to see if they can tolerate these drugs - is almost never given (according to a doctor friend of mine.)  So - if someone is prescribing you serotonin inhibitors - check to see if you can take the test, or check into Richard Davidson's work that shows a particular form of meditation can change the amygdala and help it regulate serotonin.  Not opinion, theory or belief - but science.)

In my work with Jennifer Shaffer, we run into people on the flipside who've committed suicide "all the time." Someone just wrote me about it being a "solution" for some folks... all I can do is report what I'm learning. 

In the case of "genetics" I've learned that meditation can cure or alleviate depression. In terms of drug therapy, I've found that meditation affects the same part of the brain the drugs are designed to affect; the amygdala. But in terms of the spirituality - ay, there's the rub. He's not gone. He's just not here. Kate is not "gone" she's just "not here." Here's the reply I wrote about the topic, that I'm sharing in public because... well... it needs to be repeated:

As to "why would someone commit suicide, was it a life's plan?" It's much much much more complex and complicated according to this flipside research. Each person has their own reasons - there can be 1. soul reasons 2. sociological reasons 3. genetic reasons. No one reason outweights the rest, and usually is a combination of all three.

If you start with "we don't die" then you can examine the process... why do we come here? why did he or kate choose their lifetime? If you examine these - you need to talk to them directly. "Why did you choose this lifetime?" Why did you choose to leave it in this way?" These questions are knowable,and believe me, I ask them.

I do so in my next book with the help of a medium... (Jennifer Shaffer) and we explore all the possibilities.

 Only Anthony (or Kate, or Robin Williams) can answer this question. 

I can tell you that many reply "It's a combination of all three" - the SSRI drugs, the unbearable genetic code issues with dealing with depression, the sociological issues - and even the example of an "exit point" - that they took "because they felt they had done all they can do."

In one case, we heard "I did this so I could experience all the pain that I brought to my family and friends so I could learn a lesson for a future life where I will help people with these kinds of issues."

I don't take suicide lightly - (and Jennifer deals with it on a daily basis) but I don't shy away from examining it. What people say is consistent from the flipside - that they still exist, that they still grieve and mourn and feel bad about what's happened... but some claim it was "meant to be" some claim that "they're still here, still helping." 

Some have said "everyone commits suicide every puff of a cigarette, every pill they drop - they all want to numb themselves and not be alive" - that's another way of viewing it. But all I can say is "if you want to know why someone checked themself off stage, you must ask them to get a solid answer."

If you want to read up on a person who took their own life,then wrote a book about it from the flipside, I recommend reading Erik Medhus' book "My Life After Death" - it's a frank, stark discussion of what it was like for someone to take his own life, then realize he hadn't ended his life at all... and then dealing with the pain and suffering he'd caused... 

However, he found a way to reach out to his mother (Dr. Elisa Medhus) and together with a variety of mediums,he's been in constant contact with her. (Channeling Erik- conversations of a mother with her son in the afterlife)

I can tell you that I've "heard his voice" at the end of one conversation he recently had with Stephen Hawking (anyone can hear it on youtube at the end of their talk) and I know Dr. Medhus personally - and know from her own lips how her son "called her on the phone" one day from the flipside.

In this talking about suicide - and we should talk about it openly and without fear of being mocked or lessened in any way - it's something that we can deal with, treat, work on. 

Once we come to realize we chose this lifetime, we chose being here - and when we "kill ourselves" we don't kill anything - we just put ourselves into a state of not being able to experience things that we experience here (breathing, tactile sensations, other tasty treats) we realize why we chose to come here in the first place, and why we should have stuck around to "see how the third act plays out."

People consistently report that once we are "back home" (their words, and I've filmed 45 deep hypnosis sessions and examined thousands of others) they experience "unconditional love" but also the regret they have for engendering pain in others, in making the journey that less bearable for others.

Yes, it's a form of "giving up" or "tearing up the contract" (or as Val Kilmer said "cheating") - but if you come from a place of unconditional love (and that's what people consistently report) then you have the ability - we all have the ability - to regard these events with unconditional love.

Give it freely. Give it to Anthony. To Kate. UNCONDITIONALLY. To those who you love and you don't want to see leave who are struggling. But remind them; "Hey you SIGNED UP FOR THIS. AND DAMMIT I NEED YOU TO STICK THE F*&K AROUND." Remind them why they should stick around. Make them laugh. Then make them laugh harder. And finally; make them laugh some more. If they're so busy wetting their pants while laughing, the idea of checking themself off the planet seems further away.

Off soap box. (back to your commerically sponsored social media construct.)

From Asia Argento a few weeks ago.

Just said to the family "let's Bourdain." Meaning "let's explore some neighborhood and try a place we've never tried before." #bourdain A new verb. "Not gone. Just not here."

https://www.richardjdavidson.com/

Finally, about Robin William's New Documentary:

Here's the first review of Robin's upcoming HBO show - (trailer is below) and an excerpt from "Backstage Pass - Talking to the Flipside" with Jennifer Shaffer" 

Jennifer and I "listen in" to our "class" on the Flipside, (class is moderated by Luana Anders, our "professor.") Various people I knew Luana knew, or Jennifer knew or has met offer insight during our sessions. 

In this case, I'd met Robin before, he's made a number of "appearances" (in "Hacking the Afterlife") The responses we gather in these sessions are sometimes profound, often hilarious, sometimes eerily on point. In this case, I had just heard there was going to be a documentary about him - Jennifer knew nothing about it. I ask the questions,Jennifer (the medium/intuitive) offers what she hears.

Rich: Hi class. Who wants to talk?

Jennifer: Robin. (Williams)

R: Hey, there’s a documentary coming out about you – someone who loves you made it.

J: “Magical,” he says. His family is really involved in this, feels like.

R: So your review is “It’s magical?”

J: "Magical but not the beginning. It builds up the story."

R: What’s the beginning about?

J: "His parents."

R: They’re trying to rationalize why you took your own life?

J: "They talk about cocaine (in the show)."

R: Is it inaccurate or not the whole picture?

J: “Just not the whole picture. They shouldn't emphasize the struggle as much.” Robin showed me the homeless guy.

R: “Radioman?” The character he played in “The Fisher King” with Jeff Bridges?

J: "Hollywood’s like that; they just do that."

This was recorded A YEAR AGO. I had no idea what the story would be like - and as you'll see it's just what he's saying it is.

Our class often admonishes me (often) for not sharing what we "hear" whenever we hear it. "You're holding back." 

Am posting this as a "review" from "Robin:" "Magical!" I'm sure the film will be hilarious, but will likely leave out the part that includes the minor detail that our loved ones are often still accessible; "Not gone. They're just not here."

"Hacking the Afterlife" with KAren Swain

Here's a fun one.  KAren reached out after seeing me on Gaiam. (So perhaps that might be a way to introduce the viewer to the material.)

So instead of the usual introduction, discussion of my books, where to find them, blah blah blah, we just jumped in both feet first.

And I have no idea where we went!  I'll have to watch it to find out!




I look a little like I've been "woke" by a lightning bolt.

Thanks KAren, lots of fun to chat with you down under!

Ghost Stories Beyond the Light

I answer questions on Quora now and then, and one of the most common is "Do you believe in ghosts?"

Per LaChaise Cemetery in Paris

I asked that question to my father as a toddler and his reply still holds up; "Ghosts don't exist."

Which I agree.  Ghosts, per se, do not exist.  Because they aren't "ghosts." They're just folks who are no longer on the planet.  They're people. They're still here.  Get over it.

I've seen ghosts most of my life - but didn't concern myself about it. Honestly.  It wasn't until they started to bug me that I actually thought about who or what they might be.

Like the fellow who used to live in my apartment in Santa Monica. I used to see him sitting on the edge of my bed.  "Who are you?" I got the impression he'd lived there before. Then I woke up to find him lying next to me on the bed. Naked. I jumped out of it (he disappeared).  I said "Dude. I don't mind you hanging out in your hold apt, but do not wake me up with your naked ass!"

He stopped. Then one day a new tenant ran in from next door.  Apt had been empty for years.  She screamed. "I was brushing my teeth and I looked up and a guy was standing behind me in the mirror!"  I said "Oh, was he about 5'10, sandy hair?" She said "Yes!"  I said "Oh, he's just the fellow who used to live here.  If you just tell him to stop doing that, he will."

Years later, I was in the post office standing next to a guy writing his return address on an envelope and recognized the address. (What are the odds?) I said "Dude, you live with a ghost."  He said "What?"  I told him the story... he didn't like hearing the story.  Too bad.  He lives with a ghost. Get over it.

I was in Sydney visiting the home of a friend who'd just sold his house. (Phillip Noyce and Jan Sharp in Darlinghurst) It was empty save for a bed which they left behind so I could camp out for a couple of fun filled weeks.  

One morning I awoke to see a man in a painter's outfit hanging from the rafters.  When he saw me react, he reacted - and said in an Aussie accent; "Terribly sorry mate, it's just something I feel the need to do." Then a ladder appeared, and he pulled the rope from his rafter and CLIMBED DOWN THE LADDER.  I blinked... and it was gone.

Not his ladder

I spoke to Jan Sharp later that day "What's up with the ghost?" She asked what I was talking about. I told her.  She said "Well our painter did hang himself but he did so in his own home."  I said "Well, he must like your home better because he's still hanging around."

I originally thought he was Mohawk
but research tells me he was Iroquois.

I was teaching in Maine - I woke to find a native american in full battle gear standing over me with an axe and a knife.  His arms were dripping something - looked like blood - could have been paint.  He was SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER in my face.  Like "Get out!" but in Mohawk or Iroquois. I jumped up and he disappeared.  I said "Look, I'm only teaching here in Maine for a week - I'll be gone then, okay?"  And for that entire week slept with every light on, tv on, radio on. He didn't bug me again.

Like I say - just didn't bother with them. If they don't bother me, why bother them?

Can you hear me now?

Until I was staying at a friend's place in Connecticut.  And my wife and I heard "knocking" "tapping" outside the wall - where no one could knock. And then the lights going on and off - and a groan... whenever it rained.  

One night I had a vivid dream where I met this "angry presence" - which I saw covered in blood, in a british uniform - old, tattered, beard... angry fellow showed me the horrors of his situation.  Dead bodies all around - moaning and general horror.

I did some research, found the home was built on a British garrison from 1812. I think I was being shown the hospital - or the dungeon - I don't know.  It was pretty nasty.  

But the next time this fellow appeared - sensing his presence "enter the room" in a cloud of anger. I said "Hi. Look. I know you're upset that we're staying in your home.  I apologize. However, if you look around you'll see a light, and beyond that light is everyone you've ever loved. Just go into that light and you'll see what I'm talking about."  I was guessing this to be the case - I had just started this research, and it seemed like the most logical, compassionate thing to say.

Typical 1812 uniform

He didn't bother us again that trip... and I thought, "wow, cool, it worked." (We'd tried sage and any other number of suggestions... never told our hosts about it. Why tell them "There's a scary ghost in your guest house?")  

But a year later we were back, and this time I had a dream where this young handsome guy came to visit - he was wearing 19th century clothes, three piece suit - trimmed beard. He came up to me and said in the most proper English; "I just wanted to come back and thank you for sending me home."

Mind you - I ASSUMED this was make believe - wishful thinking.  But I also allowed it might not be.  I may have mentioned this in my books - but maybe not. I'm writing this down, because I tried this technique a few weeks ago.

George Noory of "Coast to Coast" fame.

I was in Boulder shooting "Beyond Belief" with George Noory.  The episode hasn't aired yet, but will soon. I was in the makeup room with the very talented makeup artist, and we were catching up since my last appearance.  

A producer came in and said "Tell him about the ghost!"  She said "Oh yeah, there's a ghost in the studio."  I asked about him. She said she saw him one day - walking in to a locked set - hiding behind some lights.  She said the crew all knew "someone" was moving lights around, breaking them, doing stuff in a locked room - but she also "saw him."

George Noory and Jennifer Shaffer

I asked if she'd seen ghosts before. "When I was younger."  I said, "Let's try an experiment, shall we?" Who is this guy?  She said "No idea."  I said, "Let's ask.  Try to remember what you saw. Can you freeze what you saw as a photograph? or a hologram?" 

She said "Ok."  "Move closer to him, what does he look like?" She described a young man in his 20's, sandy hair, eyes, etc.  I said "Let's ask him. Who are you?" She "heard" a name - told it to me, and we "asked him" what he was doing there. She said her first impression was that he died nearby in a fire in the 1950's. 

She said "he's very angry." I said "What about?" She said... "Oh my god! About our show! He's angry because he says the people who come on the show are not telling the truth about what it's like over there!"  

She laughed - the producer was still in the room, and they both laughed at that idea; a critic from the flipside.  I said "What is it they're getting wrong?"  She said "He says "Everything."

I said, "Look around you my friend. There's a light. And beyond that light is everyone you've ever loved and who ever loved you. Do you want to go and see it?" She said "No, he's too angry."  

I thought okay, try another tack.  I said "Well, can you see the light?" "Yes." "Can you go closer to it?" "Okay." "Describe what you feel."  He said "It feels warmer."  I said "Okay, step through the light."  He said "No, I don't want to let go of my anger."  

I said, "It's okay. Your anger will stay here.  You can always come back and retrieve it.  Just put your hand through the light, how does that feel?"  "Warmer."  I said "Now stand in the light, what's that feel like?" She/he said "I feel less angry."  I said "Okay, step on the other side of the light - you can always come back here, this sound stage isn't going anywhere."  (If I were filming this, this is the moment I would have shoved the fellow "through the door." But I didn't. I just asked him to check out the other side.)

He said "Okay." I said "Describe what you're seeing."  He said "I'm seeing everything differently..." I said "Look around. Do you see your family?"  He said "I hate my family. I wouldn't go to them if I saw them."  

I pressed him; "But look carefully. See anyone?" He said "I see my uncle. He's the only person who loved me."  I said "Can we ask your uncle to come over here?" He said "okay."  

Home. 

I said "Take his hand. What does that feel like?"  He said he felt love, comfort, safety.  I asked if the uncle would show him around a bit?" The uncle said, "Sure." (She said, "He's saying "sure.")

I said "Look, you can always come back - do you want to come back?" And he said "No, I want to stay here with my uncle for awhile."

With George in the makeup room.

George popped his head in and off I went to do the show.  After the show, I went back to get my bag and the make-up artist said "He came back!" 

I thought... "Oh no, it didn't work. Their ghost had returned."  I said "It didn't work?"  She said "No, he just came back to thank me for helping him."  

It did work.

So in answer to the question "What would you say to a ghost now that you know the architecture of the flipside?" that's what I'd say. "Everyone who ever loved you, or whom you loved, is on the other side of that light."  

We don't need to push them out the door - it's up to them to take it. But that's one method of how to do it.

Mother's Day Messages from the Flipside

"We all only get one mother, so try to stay in touch with her."

About the time she was under contract with the Shuberts, hoofing on broadway, playing classical piano concerts in DC. Dorothy Ann Hayes ("Anthy") from Decatur, Il.  HAPPY MOM DAY.

That's a relative statement of course - if we consider for a moment that we may have been doing this play over and over again, based on the many standing ovations we've gotten from our various performances, we do indeed only have "one mother at a time."

Meaning, for someone who connects with a previous lifetime, when they do so, and allow those memories to come forth, they also remember their father and mother from that lifetime.  Are they any less worthy of our love today than they were back then?

Often in this research, people under deep hypnosis will recognize a family member from back then as being a family member now... and say "Oh my goodness, my mother was my sister in that lifetime."  Something to really give us pause as we reflect and remember our mother from this lifetime.

In my case, I've been able to stay in touch with my mother who left her chrysalis back in 2011.  Doesn't mean I don't miss her - after all she was a concert pianist and sitting in the room with her playing was always something to marvel at.  One day she asked me to record music for my dad's funeral - and he was still on the planet.  She said "I don't know if I could play it for him during the mass, as I would be too emotional."




I recorded a concert of her playing - about a half hour's worth.  I use that track in films sometimes, we did use it for my dad's funeral - and we used it for her funeral.  So mom got to play at her own funeral.  Pretty unusual even for my version of reality.

I was meeting with Jennifer Shaffer yesterday, having coffee in Santa Monica, when she suddenly mentioned a friend of our children who had passed away.  When he passed away suddenly a year ago, I had asked about him - and we had a brief conversation about his journey on the flipside.  I didn't know his parents well enough to ring them up and say "Hey, I was talking to your son today..." but hoped that some day I would get a chance to do so.

Which happened yesterday, because he just kind of "dropped in" to our conversation.  What made it so unusual was the method of how he had shown up - one odd occurrence turned out to connect with another odd occurrence, which connected to a third event - all three events together made for this moment when this young fellow sent a series of images, not only to Jennifer but to others.  I was the one to connect the various images - and Jennifer said they added up to a message from this young boy.

I asked him "So why have you shown up here today, and what were those images that you passed along?"  

Jennifer said "He says it was a message for his mom on mother's day."

I took the time to reach out to his folks and have done so, who confirmed that they have had messages from him before.  I was so glad to hear that; you just never know how someone might react when hearing that their loved one has something to tell them from the flipside.  Sometimes it's a direct message - sometimes it's a metaphor of a message - sometimes it's hard to put one's finger on it, other than it "resonates" on some level.

As I've noted here on the blog, Erik Medhus "spoke" to his mother from the flipside - it was recorded by accident during a session with a medium who was communicating with her son.  It's clearly his voice on the audio, and I can confirm beyond any shadow of doubt that his mom, a Houston doctor, did not manipulate the audio, nor could it have been manipulated.  It is what it is. "Love you mom!" says Erik.



Clear as a bell.***

So what to make of this mother's day message? On one hand that we're always connected.  That our loved ones may have left their chrysalis, they may have transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly - they may be hard to reach, or they may be on some kind of epic adventure - but they are not gone. They just aren't here.

Happy to report that the book Jennifer and I have been working on is close to being finished.  My recent appearance with George Noory on "Beyond Belief" at Gaia is nearly released... and other minor details on this journey.  

But it's good to remember our mom's on mother's day, as it's good to remember our dad's on their day.  And our kids on a day that will eventually become a hallmark card - "kid's day." We are all someone's child, all someone's sibling - if not in this lifetime, then during a previous one.  We can reflect on the unusual path that we took to get here - not only from our previous lifetimes, but through birth with our very own mom.

Unconditional love.  Love unconditionally.  Love the act of love, the gift of love, the giving of love.  It's all the same thing.  We have so few moments together here on the planet, you'd think we'd only spend time enjoying them.  

Here's a poem our daughter wrote when she was ten that her mom posted:

"A Perfect World"  by Olivia

No ba-bang of the guns or quarrelling

People always jubilant, no tears dripping from their eyes

No bullets in soldiers' hearts

The sick would heal and wounds would mend

Where people are always honest and grounds are spotless

All grass would be bright green

But if a world like that existed would anyone appreciate it?

HAPPY MOM'S DAY!!!

***A note about the above audio of Erik Medhus "speaking from the flipside."

I've taken the time to download the two different audio clips of Erik's voice "coming through."  In the first instance ("Interview with Jesus") I put the audio through professional equipment to study the track.  A number of details are worth noting: in the original audio, there are two voices that are whispering (clearly evident as sound) and at one point, someone answers "Yes" to a question (The medium says "He said "yes" a split second later.")  These voices were not apparent to Dr. Medhus, I pointed them out to her (not the other way around.)  

They voices appear on the track about 1.5 times under speed - in other words if they're sped up they "sound normal."  There's no physical way to record two different speeds on the same track.  Further, there is no VOICE PRINT that appears when these voices are speaking. 

In other words, the frequency of the other voices (Dr. Medhus and the medium, in that case it was Jamie Butler) are clearly on the track and can be seen visually. But for the other voices, there is no visual appearance of their voices.  

It's possible that somehow the ear can hear something that is audible but does not appear as a physical voice signature, but I've never seen it before.  In the case of this second appearance of Erik's voice during a session, it's clear that neither the medium nor Dr. Medhus heard him initially - it's only in the recording, after someone pointed it out, were they able to hear his voice.  

Knowing Dr. Medhus as I do, and knowing how professional audio is recorded - there's no physical way for them to have interjected his voice overlapping theirs.  

It would have required a person to be physically present in the room (obviously it's not the case) nor is it believable in any stretch of the imagination that they would have included an actor in this situation - she doesn't charge any money for what she's doing, there's no monetary value here whatsoever, so for someone to suggest that there's a motivation, is really kind of loopy - or insane.  

I understand the difficulty that comes with hearing something that could not be there - it could very well be that we are all experiencing some kind of mass hallucination, hearing a frequency that does not exist - or it could be that somehow, someone recorded her son a decade ago, saying these exact words and then finding a way and a space to somehow download, record that track and then upload it again - but that's not physically possible to do - and the track itself came direct from Dr. Medhus.  

So there is no logical answer to how his voice appears on this audio - and in the absence of any logical answer, there is only one that's left.  It's his voice.  Further - the tone of his voice is casual, not forced - only a trained actor could interject something so casual into a conversation with such ease - "Love you mom!"  

Not said as if someone was shouting in a far away place so that someone could hear them - but said in afterthought - just what he likely always says at the end of these conversations, but can't be heard.  Not said like an actor trying to prove his existence, just a casual "see ya later." 

I contacted Dr. Medhus and told her how I had just done a similar "interview" with "Stephen Hawking" with Jennifer Shaffer and how in our interview some of the same hallmarks were repeated.  

The idea is not "here is what Stephen Hawking is telling us" but to objectively take a number of interviews with the same person with different mediums and compare the answers. Do they consistently say the same things? Or are the answers all over the map?  And if you have 3 or more mediums talk to the same individual (as I do in "Hacking the Afterlife") what does that tell us about the quality of the information?  

But I'm here to confirm that from a professional filmmaker's point of view - there is no logical explanation that I can come up with that isn't the most simple one; Erik spoke to his mother and reminded her that he loves her. My two cents.

(Thanks to Kari Krug for pointing me to this post from Thich Nhat Hanh)

"The day my mother died I wrote in my journal, "A serious misfortune of my life has arrived." I suffered for more than one year after the passing away of my mother. But one night, in the highlands of Vietnam, I was sleeping in the hut in my hermitage. I dreamed of my mother. I saw myself sitting with her, and we were having a wonderful talk. She looked young and beautiful, her hair flowing down. It was so pleasant to sit there and talk to her as if she had never died. When I woke up it was about two in the morning, and I felt very strongly that I had never lost my mother. The impression that my mother was still with me was very clear. I understood then that the idea of having lost my mother was just an idea. It was obvious in that moment that my mother is always alive in me.

I opened the door and went outside. The entire hillside was bathed in moonlight. It was a hill covered with tea plants, and my hut was set behind the temple halfway up. Walking slowly in the moonlight through the rows of tea plants, I noticed my mother was still with me. She was the moonlight caressing me as she had done so often, very tender, very sweet... wonderful! Each time my feet touched the earth I knew my mother was there with me. I knew this body was not mine but a living continuation of my mother and my father and my grandparents and great-grandparents. Of all my ancestors. Those feet that I saw as "my" feet were actually "our" feet. Together my mother and I were leaving footprints in the damp soil.

From that moment on, the idea that I had lost my mother no longer existed. All I had to do was look at the palm of my hand, feel the breeze on my face or the earth under my feet to remember that my mother is always with me, available at any time."

- Thich Nhat Hanh, in "No Death, No Fear”.