Back on Coast to Coast on Nov 4th!!!!

Avail at Amazon, Kindle, Audible.com

Had a great time with George Noory on his "Beyond Belief" show.  If you'd like to view it, you need to subscribe to the Gaia TV site.  It's always a delight to talk to George, because he's so conversant with any topic.  We really can roam around a topic.

 I try to point out that I'm not selling a philosophy or a point of view - I'm not trying to join the ranks of New Age authors, nor am I trying to debunk any particular version of reality.  I have chosen an unusual topic of inquiry, which is what people say under deep hypnosis about the afterlife.

The Awakened Prophet Edgar Cayce

I've had a number of people write to me that it upsets them that I'm writing about this material.  I mean it's not ME that upsets them, but what I claim that people are saying consistently under deep hypnosis that upsets them.  I don't really have anything to say about that - because it's not ME doing the talking.  I'm doing the reporting.

So the first book; "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife" is transcripts of what people say under deep hypnosis, as pioneered by the late Michael Newton.  I interview Michael, his last interview on the topic, and I have transcripts of a number of "between life" hypnotherapy sessions.  I filmed them and then transcribed them verbatim - so people could see for themselves whether or not the hypnotist was "leading" or "guiding" the people under hypnosis in any way.

NDE by H Bosch

I've filmed about 35 of these sessions so far, and have filmed myself doing five of them.  I found that filming myself doing a session was a way of being able to "prove or disprove" what people were saying.  My own experiences are unique to me - yet, there were a number of hallmarks that I experienced that others also report experiencing.  

You can see or read about those in the film "Flipside: A Journey into the Afterlife" and read about it in the book.

Michael Newton's last interview is in Flipside

Which brings me to the second and third books in this series; "It's a Wonderful Afterlife: Further Adventures in the Flipside" Volumes One and Two.  I approached scientists to discuss the research, and when they pointed out that "hypnosis" wasn't considered science, I examined accounts that were considered science - those of near death experiencers.  
Further, I invited these people who'd had a near death experience to explore their event more fully via "between life hypnosis" and reported those in the second and third books.  

I also spoke to PhD's in the forefront of consciousness research, from Gary Schwartz PhD, Mario Beauregard PhD, to Dr. Bruce Greyson (UVA) and other scientists who are out front in the idea that consciousness is not only created by the brain, it may also exist outside of the brain. Again, not my philosophy, not my argument - it's theirs.  I'm just reporting it, and show how consistent these reports are with the others from the Flipside.

Good news: most beloved Prez. Bad news,
you don't get to see the end of the play. Are you in?

And finally we have "Hacking the Afterlife."  My latest book, which is about trying to ask questions to people on the Flipside, either through a medium, or through a fully conscious interview with someone who has experienced a mind altered event, or just by asking simple questions to people who have had no experience with the flipside - and yet they seem to be able to access past lives and a number of other issues.

The second and third part of the book is the research i've been doing for 30 years about the life and death of Amelia Earhart - I focused on the testimony of three different mediums who basically gave me the same information and answers from "Amelia" herself - all information that has never been published and is not part of the official or unofficial record of her life. All I can say is that in the book, she proves that she "still exists" on the Flipside.

Mod squad. With Jennifer Shaffer and Scott De Tamble

And finally, the last third of the book is about Jesus.  Not the Catholic brain freeze religious person that makes us all sit up and take notice (or take offense) but someone on the Flipside who was consistently showing up in my interviews and research.  I ignored his appearing for the past 8 years or so - writing it off the oddness of the research, but at some point realized, he too was trying to communicate from the Flipside.  

Again, I didn't approach this information from the aspect of trying to promote a philosophy, or a way of thinking, or a way of behaving.  I reported it verbatim, as it happened, and allowed "him" or whatever version of him, or whoever this person showing up in different sessions could actually be.  I fully acknowledge I have no physical proof that it is him showing up in these sessions, however the consistency of the reports, and the consistency of reporting about events that may or may not have occurred 2000 years ago, many of which are not widely known, or have never been published or recounted before, forced me to include it in the book.



I did so with a certain amount of trepidation.  There are other people who show up in the book; Edgar Cayce, Robin Williams, Prince and a few friends of mine.  Again, I don't offer these conversations as "proof" of an afterlife, but I do offer them as a jumping off place for people to do their own research, do their own investigation, and come to their own conclusions.

And that's why George is having me on the show again - this time on November 4th.  Coast to Coast AM radio can be found across the US and globe, and we'll be talking about things that aren't normally talked about in the media.  I'm not selling my point of view, nor am I trying to convince anyone to accept what these people are saying consistently about the afterlife, or from the afterlife - all I can do is present them in the most honest way that I can, and report as best I can, all that I've seen or heard. It's up to everyone else to form their own conclusions.

You have been ...invited.

See you on the radio! 

A quote from Luana and others in the book "Hacking the Afterlife"

An odd, yet thrilling dream from my past...

I have no idea where to share this but here... 

I was looking over some old files today, and found this notation from March 18th, 2002.  This was about six years after she passed away, and about 6 years prior to my starting this research into the Flipside.

March 18th, 2002

I had a dream last night where I ran into my old friend Luana Anders and she said "The hopes of a thousand generations are resting upon you." 



I had no idea what she might have meant until now. 

Let's pretend for a moment that some people start to read this research, watch "Flipside" - read "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide" or "It's A Wonderful Afterlife" or "Hacking the Afterlife."

And they suddenly realize that we don't die. 

That we have access to everyone who has ever gone before, that with a good amount of meditation, self reflection, perhaps a trip to a hypnotherapist, or even a medium who is recommended to you - we can access those loved ones who've gone before us, give them a voice to communicate with us, and give us insight into what they learned while they were on the planet.

A thousand generations??? 

Wow.  That's a heck of a lot of folks.  

Okay, all humility implied, all vanity aside, sleeves rolled up, and open to the universe: I can handle that.  
I got this.

all my books via Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Martini/e/B00GR4DWPS

Hacking the Afterlife on Kindle

Hacking the Afterlife in Print
(the files are updating from corrections, it will be available in a few hours if not now)

Here are quotes from "Hacking the Flipside" given directly from people on the Flipside who are in the book:

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

“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.)

Billy Meyer

(Billy is my life long pal who appeared to Jennifer when we were doing an interview live on German television moments after I’d learned he passed away.) Jennifer: He’s smoking a cigarette. “Of course I am” he says. He’s showing me your daughter by the way, Rich. “Is it her birthday?” (It is, in two weeks) He’s showing me a depiction of.. not her birthday, or a previous birthday? Your son? (It was yesterday.) What do you want to say to Rich?  He says “I want to tell Rich I’m watching over him. And I do care about what he publishes…” Jennifer asks “Have you read it?” “Yes, I was there when you wrote it – (and) many lifetimes before.” So Richard’s written something like this before? “(showing Jennifer) I’m seeing quills. “Absolutely... something they had to use a long time ago.”

He says “He appreciates you talking to his family, last September. (That’s accurate, I emailed his kids to let them know he came through to Jennifer). He’s showing me another female – is this the guy that…? (I assume he’s showing her a friend in high school who also dated another friend, Howard). Why do I laugh with him so much? “Because you get it,” he says. He’s hanging out with your other friend up there – Luana. Jennifer asks “Luana’s teaching you?”

He says “He doesn’t qualify for her classes, she’s so much ahead of his spirit. He still likes being around here.” He’s super funny. He said “Rich did what I asked him to do. Yes, you checked up on his family and (that in turn) opened up a dialog between Bill and them.”

Anything else Billy? He says “Tell him I finally have nothing to say. And that Rich got it right this lifetime.”  Got it right? “Right in terms of your soul purpose.” He shows me a fence, like you were trapped (behind it) you lifted the fear factor and you’re just going for it. He just high-fived you. 

Tell me something else only Rich would know. “That you don’t know when to stop. That it’s working out better than anybody expected it to.” He says tell him “I love you maaan;” like from that film; that’s funny. He says “I hope to catch up soon after the reviews come in.” He says “You did it Rich.” He shows me an R with a circle, like the Radio Shack logo; like you’re an antenna. He says “His heart is with you and he thanks you and everything you’re doing on both levels, with the spirit world as well, and to not hold back… Ciao.”  (A phrase Billy used with me when saying goodbye.) He said “Good luck, but you don’t need it.”  

Howard Schultz  

Howard 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

Since 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.) ^[1] 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. 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. 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.) 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.

Luana: they both love how you’re channeling and actually thinking you’re confirming what you already know. What was that? Luana just kicked you up to her class by the way. She wants you to ask for her tonight to ask what’s going on; it’s going to be another revelation before tomorrow’s interview (on Coast to Coast AM radio). Um, aw… Ha, so Amelia just showed me her girlfriend and that you’re correct. Whatever 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.”

And finally, a quote from Luana Anders, which I got from her in a dream six years after her passing in 2002: she said “The hopes of a thousand generations are resting upon you.”

            *           *          *          *          *

---

[1] Here’s the fourth stanza: “You say you want a leader, but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you better close it, and let me guide you to the purple rain.”  Song and lyrics copyright Prince Rogers Nelson. Purple Rain lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

Happy Mirth Day!

What? never heard of a Mirth day?

Why not?

I'm nominating July 21st, Robin Williams' birthday as Mirth Day.

Photo courtesy of Rita Wilson's Webpage: The Hanks and Robin having some mirth.

It's a day where you try to make people laugh, and you get credit for doing so.

I don't have a candy company, or a card company, it just popped into my head on his birthday.

HAPPY MIRTH DAY.

You don't have to make merry, make out, but you do have to make mirth.

Folks watching "Flipside" in Iowa at a private screening. Cool!

What has this got to do with "The Flipside?" you ask?

I know, you didn't ask, I'm asking. It's a rhetorical thing.

Well, as it turns out every thought, action, word or deed contains energy.  How do I know this?  Well, I think I've heard Wayne Dyer say it.  But I aslo heard it during one of my many between life hypnotherapy sessions.

Mind you, I was convinced when I did my first between life hypnotherapy session that I wouldn't get anywhere.  I was going to continue to say "I don't say anything" to avoid being part of some group that is imagining things that aren't real because they're desperate to help the hypnotherapist get somewhere.

She's behind a sounds stage in Bollywood.  Bad actors don't get far.

I mean, I imagine that happens.

But it didn't happen in my case.  In fact I got "somewhere." And I went around checking out different things while I was there - I went to at least two classrooms, I found my pal Luana in one of them, and she looked at me as if to say "What the hell are you doing here?"

We should change that.  "What the heaven are you doing here?"

Makes more sense doesn't it?

At an online site near you in audible, DVD, paperback, kindle (see links to the right)

So while I was in this state of hypnosis - where you are NOT unconscious, you're fully conscious, you're just letting someone else drive the car.  And the therapist said "where do you want to go?" and I said "I'm on my way to visit my council" as if to say "If you don't hurry up, you'll miss it."

And the therapist took out the list of question I had made up the night before - fully not believing I was going to get anywhere, so I jotted down "ten things I'd ask God" if I could - but I didn't think I would get anywhere.

But I was there.

"If you want to understand a shift in consciousness imagine yourself a crab on the ocean floor and you open your eyes and realize you're in an ocean."  Wise words said during an LBL where a person asked their guide "What's a shift in consciousness mean?"  

And the therapist said "Do you want me to go over these questions?"  I said "Sure, but I'm already asking them."

As if I had memorized them.

I had not. I had jotted them down willy nilly about 2 am the night before.  "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to have questions, what if I do get somewhere?  Okay, I'll just ask these."

But now I was asking them as if I'd memorized them - we went over each one.  And I wouldn't have had them in my memory, except the therapist then went over them with me.  So when he asked "Why did you choose this lifetime? This lifetime as Rich Martini?" I had already heard the answer.

Which I said (roughly)

"Every thought, action, word or deed contains energy. When you write a book, sing a song, create anything with your heart it contains the energy of who you are.  And that can be a healing energy.  I chose to be a filmmaker because I wanted to see if I could use that healing energy to change people's lives, because comedy can change a disposition instantly.  Tears can have the same effect, but require catharis."  

I can guarantee I'd never used catharis in a sentence before.  But I understood it.  Meaning tears have the same effect, you just have to go through the arc of them to get to the same destination that laughter allows.

And then I said "I just wish I'd chosen someone more successful at it."  

Happy Mirth Day. :Can you hear me now?

To which the therapist laughed, and so did the council of 8 people that I was addressing.  So I got laughs simultaneously on two planes - something I'd never done before.  "Laughs in heaven and on earth."  Who knew?

Anyways, so when I suggest an annual Mirth Day - it's for healing purposes.  One guffaw can do more to change a person's health than a bunch of drugs.  One huge bought of unrelenting laughter can do more to change a person's disposition, then happy pills.  So in honor of Mirth Day, and in honor of Robin Williams (besides, who else made us laugh so consistently?)

Mariel Hemingway, Robert Towne on the set of Personal Best.  so much for fog machines.

I nominate Robin's birthday.

July 21st. 

Mirth Day.

Contact Hallmark!

Thoughts on Robin Williams

I met Robin once.  It was over dinner at a friend's house, and I was at a table with him and Charles Grodin.  He was gracious and friendly, and for some reason took the opportunity for polite chatting, rather than flights of fancy.  I didn't get a chance to tell him that I had also been in the Harvey Lembeck comedy workshop for a number of years, and had heard of his legendary performances in class.  That I too was a huge fan of Jonathan Winters, and that I'd had the good fortune to spend a number of lunches with him as his favorite table at Musso & Frank's restaurant in Hollywood.

That I had once asked Jonathan a question about his father, and how that had sent him into a flight of fancy that took us to the revolutionary war, and fighting with indians, but then realizing we were on the wrong side... but being aware of his difficulties with his Marine corps dad, I knew that the reason we'd gone down this path was because his father was a trigger for him in some ways - that to avoid discussing something of great pain for him, he went into a place of great comedy - so when he was done with 45 minutes of this amazing improvisation, I was able to pick up the sentence we had begun with.  "So I take it you don't want to discuss your dad?"  To which he roared with laughter.

Robin Williams knew how to roar with laughter.  David Letterman ran a tribute to him the other day, where Robin was frequently throwing his head back, roaring like a lion with laughter - David had said something that allowed him to release that laugh - which included a kick back of the head, chin pointed skyward, his legs stretched out - literally roaring with comic gesture.

I read that his friend Rob Schneider raised his voice against the drug he was using to treat his Parkinson's - one of the side effects is suicide.  It's a flag that needs to be raised, because someone so near and dear to the planet, could be given a lethal dose of something that was meant to help him.  And I say lethal because we don't know what the drug was that was given to him - he had a history of depression - and was likely given a myriad of drugs to help with that as well.

I'm told by a doctor friend of mine that there is a simple test for determining whether a person can handle SSRI drugs.  That's seratonin inhibitor drugs - black box warning drugs - the kinds that are commonly prescribed to everyone.  I'm told by this doctor that up to 15% of the population is allergic to these drugs, and the side effect is either suicide, or killing someone else.  Their brains are literally taken over by the drug, morality disappears, and the "flight or fight" trigger turns into a literal trigger.

Congress held hearings on these drugs in the 90's because they were being prescribed for everything from exhaustion to depression - and the results were about 10% of the people were killing themselves.  Every single mass shooting since Columbine has had these drugs involved in the shooter - either in the past, or currently.

So what was the drug that Robin Williams was on? It's not been published. Of course if it was a safe drug, you'd think they'd publish that.

I point everyone to the institute of mental health's own webpage, where they posted a warning that medical professionals were prescribing psychotropic (SSRI) drugs to children that hadn't been tested. That they didn't recommend prescribing them to any one under 25.  I found this posting while doing a casual search - but it had been taken down, it was cached.

The argument goes like this; "well, he was depressed, so we don't know if the depression caused suicide."  Or "The shooter was being treated for depression - so we don't know if depression caused this senseless shooting."  Meanwhile - these drugs are being marketed on TV nightly - they read the side effects while showing images of people riding bikes happily - they should be forced to show the real effects of their drugs without trials.  I won't get into that graphic.

We know that drugs have helped many people.  Many have written to me saying "they wouldn't be alive without the SSRI drugs" they've been prescribed.  Okay, that's fine - but what about the 15% who could have learned they were allergic to these drugs?  What do we tell their families?

I encourage everyone who is thinking of taking a drug to really, really read the side effects carefully.  Read the studies they did to get approved - they're online.  Read what others have done with these drugs - get a second opinion.  Consider alternate therapy.  What happens when these drugs change the "fight or flight" trigger in the amygdala is to cause a person to think nonstop about doing themself in.  And after days or weeks of that, they often succeed - or pick up a weapon and find another way to release that energy.

Finally, look into Tonglen.  Prof. Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin has proven that tonglen can "alleviate or cure depression" in his monumental study of meditation.  He's proven in a scientific way that meditation can change the shape of the amygdala.  So depression is not a death sentence - it's a clarion call that something is wrong - either in the person's environment, either in their diet, either in where they live, who they live with - something is causing the depressions.  It's not there normally - and even if it's genetic, it can still be dealt with.  "One sessions of meditation can change the shape of the amygdala."  It's worth checking into.

And in terms of Parkinson's - I have a close friend with a serious case of Parkinson's.  It's altered her life immeasurably.  But I filmed her during a deep hypnosis session where she examined her subconscious as to why and how she got Parkinson's - and saw the answers.  She understood what had happened mentally that cause her physically to get sick.  And during the 6 hour session she had no Parkinson's.  Her shaking went away and she was basically speaking and talking normally during the session.  The hypnotherapist pointed it out to me as he looked over his shoulder and said "look!"  Her profound shaking had stopped, except for one finger that was curling softly as she spoke.  When she came back to consciousness, all her symptoms returned.  She can't drive, so I drove her to the session.

So if Parkinson's can be changed or eliminated during a hypnosis session, is it possible to find a way to continue that process?  And if Robin Williams was given the alternative - to do a hypnotherapy session every day of his life if need be - wouldn't that be something he'd like to have a choice of?

I urge everyone to take Robin's death not as an example of someone who is depressed who did themselves in, but as someone who gave us something to learn from.

But he's not dead.  He's just not here.

Suicide is a tricky subject. I can only weigh in on the Flipside research. We all choose to come to the planet to learn and teach lessons; we are not here by mistake or happenstance. Each has their own path and journey, each has a myriad of reasons how they choose to experience the journey here or for exiting the stage.

Once we wrap our minds around the fact that we don't die, or in this case can't die, then the matter of our leaving the stage is one of logistics. Do we judge an entire life or performance on how an actor leaves the stage?

"Yes, I loved the play, the first and second act were great, but you tripped as you came off stage and that I cannot forgive. Two thumbs way down." We tend to write reviews on how an actor exits: "A belt, a plastic bag, a box of pills" and ignore those who are checking themselves out with each cigarette, each shot of whisky, each time they drink and drive and/or text. Are they any less "guilty" of choosing the manner of their death than others just because it happens to be a slow lingering exit?

We applaud those who managed to stay on stage til the last breath, surrounded by loved ones, whether its Betty Bacall or the world's oldest man, and wag our fingers at deaths we don't applaud, whether Robin or a child in a wedding party taken out by a drone. We've all got a myriad of exits and entrances behind us, and ahead of us - suffice to say its up to us how we manage them.

Again, the research shows that we don't die. That each life is a sacred, precious choice, that we come here to learn and teach and love for many reasons, and the manner of our passing has roots in our own path and journey. Robin is ok, he's fine, he hasn't gone anywhere - he's just not here or visible to us. And that's a damned shame because he lit up the stage, made the entire planet stand laugh, and there's nothing more healing than laughter.

I have compassion for those who suffer from debilitating depression, and hope they examine methods like tonglen to regain their health, and I bow to their choice of choosing a difficult life that includes stones in their path. As I also stand in applause for Robin's choice to share his wit and charm with the planet during the time he was onstage. Why he exited in the middle of the second act is only known to him. Perhaps that plot twist will be revealed one day as well. My two cents."

And finally one more story - also true:

I was in a bodega in NY helping the owner speak to a family from Spain. After I asked where he was from. He said Nepal. I told him the quick story about our son remembering a life as a monk in Nepal, how it was his 1st sentence to me. As I was telling him some of the stories which verified his sentence, which was something beyond my understanding, the owner asked if he could see a picture of him.

I showed him a pic of the 9 yeard old smiling on a couch. The shopkeeper closed his eyes and said a prayer, moving his hand from his heart to his lips to his forehead. He then looked at the photo and said "you can see it In his face; serenity."

I then realized the man was weeping, tears rolling down his cheeks. The shop owner wiped his tears and said "thank you. That was very powerful."

I told him the story our son once told us - when I sat him down to tell him his grandmother was going to pass away, and to prepare him for her funeral I said the next time he saw her she'd be in a box.

He picked up a bottle of water and said "its ok dad, spirit is like water. Watch." He took the bottle and threw it on the floor, stomped on it until the bottle was crushed and broken. Then he picked it up and showed it to me - the bottle was half full and the cap was on but the outside was crushed beyond recognition. He said "you see dad? The water is ok."

Our bodies may get crushed and old and broken, we may do things to them and check out early - but the spirit, like water, will always be ok. Our loved ones, no matter how they leave the planet, will always be okay."

The water is always ok.

photo courtesy Rita Wilson, all rights reserved

Here's a foto Rita Wilson posted of her last dinner with Robin and her husband Tom.  Robin in Pacet! RIP