Paul Allen, Prince and a flying Tibetan

So flipside fans, Jennifer Shaffer and I can't be stopped.

No one has tried to stop us, but I'm just saying. It's continuing on.

As you may know, based on checking out "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" Jennifer and I have been interviewing people in our "classroom on the flipside." We were #1 at audible for most of September. We invite people to come forward and then I ask them some basic questions.  I choose questions that are by their nature neutral, and then I research the concepts in detail.

Questions like "Who was there to greet you on the flipside? What do you miss? What do you regret? Who would you like to give a message to?"

Last week, I suggested a person for us to interview, but did not tell Jennifer who it was. Earlier in the morning, I used the technique mentioned in the books by "calling out the name" of the person we wanted to interview. Because I never met this fellow, nor did Jennifer - a few friends of mine have - I wasn't sure how effective I would be in "calling him forward."

Paul Allen Wikimedia

(This is a rough sketch of what was said over the course of an hour interview, the transcript of which will be available in a future book "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" book three.)

I asked for 3 people to come forward to help us.  One was the father of someone I know, his son is a pal, and his father is on the flipside and has appeared in our class.  So I said his name aloud.  Then I asked for someone else who was in our class, who has appeared before, and who knew this fellow I was requesting.  And the third person I asked for someone famous enough to impress this person - because he would be likely willing to speak to him, even though he doesn't know us.

Jennifer named them each, one at a time.  "So and so is here" - I said "Great, I asked for him."  Then the next person and the third person. (I'll name them all in the book, but it doesn't matter at this point.  She got all three 100% correct.)  

She couldn't get the first name of this fellow, so I gave it to her.  When I said his name "Paul" she said "I know who you're talking about, but I don't know his name; the microsoft guy?"  "Yes" I said. (A note about our ability to confirm details - if you get a chance to view "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" I go over in detail how I am able to verify specific details.  Often the people we interview are friends of friends, so I'm able to ask their family "who was with him or her when they died?" and other details that I've heard from Jennifer.)

I knew little to nothing outside of wikipedia about Paul Gardner Allen.  (After the interview, I did research him, to verify some key details). What I don't know about him could fill volumes. 

I did know that he created a brain science institute in Seattle, and he owned two professional teams; the Trailblazers and the Seahawks.  I knew that he donated 100 million to his brain science institute, because his mother Edna had Alzheimers.  I knew that his autobiography mentioned how Bill Gates had stabbed him in the back when he had cancer - and had no clue if they ever made up or not.

Paul Allen patch via uniswag

I asked "So who was there to greet you when you crossed over?" fully expecting it to be his dad Kenneth or his mom Edna.  He said (through Jennifer) "I'm seeing a football player."  Startled (I thought owning the teams was a trifle, had no idea he was a football fanatic with his father until AFTER this session when I looked it up) I said "Is this a member of the Seahawks? Someone who died?"

She said "no."  But he's "someone who was there to thank him."  She said "I think they met before, they may have been friends."  She said "He's African American - but he's Polynesian."  She said "I'm getting the number 5 - but also the number 2... that could be the number on his uniform, or it could be a date, like May 2nd."

My brain scrambled for a moment, and then I said "Wait a second. Is this someone who suffered from that brain ailment who wants to thank him?"  Jennifer tapped her nose like she does when I've said something right on the money.

I said "I know about the Chicago Bear Dave Duerson, he was the first football player who killed himself and then asked for his brain to be sent to be studied."  She said "I have the chills."  It was definitely related to him.  I mentioned how Boston University, my alma mater was in the forefront of doing this kind of research, and was featured in the Will Smith film.

Dave Duerson NY Times foto

Jennifer said that this player was there to thank him - that his contribution to brain injury was helping many lives. She said that "Paul really cared about him, or cared about his players and felt guilty about the sport causing them to be being injured."  She said "He even worked on designing a helmet to help."

None of this information I'd heard before.  I looked it up - and it's accurate.  There is a new helmet design from a company in Seattle that credits Paul's influence, there is the problem of CTE that has been addressed by his group at the brain science institute. 

It turns out that Junior Seau, the Polynesian African American killed himself the same way that Dave Duerson had a year after his death. (Junior died in 2012).  He shot himself in the chest and they donated his brain to Boston University where they confirmed he had CTE (brain issues from so many helmet hits.)  In fact over 95% of all football player brains examined have this same problem - this same issue. It also turns out that he did wear the #5 (55) and 5-2 is the exact date he died (May 2nd, 2012, he shot himself.)

Junior Seau. #55. Died on May 2nd 2012.

I did not know this information during the session, but learned it later. I knew that Dave Duerson, of my beloved Chicago Bears had killed himself for science - but had no idea that Junior had the exact same problem.  I brought the topic up again with Jennifer this week, asked if it was Junior Seau who stopped by and because I mentioned Dave Duerson, that's why she got a confirmation? She said again "I'm getting the chills - which is the way I confirm things."

So I said to Paul Allen "The kind of work that Jennifer and I are doing, interviewing people on the flipside in this manner, proving that consciousness still exists, and that we can gain new information using this method would be helpful to your brain science group.  He said "Email them."  I said, "Why would they listen to me?" He said "Remind them that I told them to look into this, to look outside the box to find other fields to explore the answers."  He said when they hear me quote him saying this - it will take some time - but they will remember him telling them to do just that.

He said he knew he was going to die after the first bout with cancer. That he knew he wasn't going to survive it, and was "good at lying" to everyone to tell them that he would, or that he was cancer free. But that's why he was in such a hurry to do the kind of philanthropic work he was doing."

I asked about Bill Gates, if Paul was possibly still upset over the slight mentioned in his autobiography. He said "Not in the least." He offered that he "knew instantly, a recognition of what the work was going to be for us, when he first met him. He said "but there was competition there, and it came to head..." I think he's telling me that it was over a girl." She said. 

Bill Gates: WikiMedia photo

(I have no clue, haven't read his or Bill's books.) I asked if he had any advice for Bill; he said "Tell him to retire." Jennifer said "I asked him if he wanted to say something like "you got this?" and he said; "No, he should quit. Tell him to not worry about the latest update." (She said "whatever that means.") 

"He needs to have some fun" he told Jennifer. I asked about regrets and he said "No! I won. I died with the most toys."

Photo from the "cult of Mac" website

He told Jennifer the name of his yacht (the Octopus) correctly - she said "It's a jellyfish... I'm seeing an octopus, but it can't be as simple as that."  I said "Actually it is."  

The Octopus Yacht 

I asked who was with him when he crossed. He said that his last moments were spent with his sister (Jennifer asked if her name was "Tracey?" I said "Jody." Again - I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone here - I've proven so many times that we have heard accurate and new information from the flipside, I try to be as accurate as I can when she hears something different.  If that makes the reader feel that I led her, or gave her information she couldn't have gotten from on her own - that's fine.  No need to read any more of this blog!  These are not the droids you're looking for.)

He said that she was with him when he crossed over (or that she had left the room briefly) but he sent her love, and that she should "trust and get everything checked out because she's fine, she's healthy but doesn't believe it so she worries about it."  (I don't know what that means, but I suspect she will.)

I asked what he was up to now. He said "learning to play the ukelele." He said he was keeping an eye on all the things he cared about back here, but then he would play music with some of the people in class - namely Hendrix and Prince.  Jennifer correctly reported that he had built an institute for Hendrix (the museum in Seattle) and that Jimi thanked him for it.

Easier to construct mentally. Photo Monoprice

I asked why he wasn't playing a guitar like the others. He said "It takes time to learn how to make that mental construct. There are just four strings and simple chords.  It's soft, elegant and easier to play."  He said he had already been playing with another member of the class - Mr. Ukelele himself George Harrison (who speaks to us in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside").

Again - not trying to convince anyone of anything. Just reporting what I'm filming.  He had a private message to a friend of mine that he knew, and I passed it along.  Not here to sell anyone anything.  If you get a message from a loved one, the best thing to do is pass it along - doesn't mean they're going to believe you, but at least you've done the thing they wanted.

If you combine it with all the other research I've done, the ten years of filming people under deep hypnosis, you'll find these reports are in line with those. If you look at the research in "Flipside" "Its a Wonderful Afterlife" "Hacking the Afterlife" and "Backstage Pass" (links to the right of this page) you'll come to the same conclusions.

NO ONE DIES. Their consciousness is accessible.  Doesn't matter if they've reincarnated since (and most take a break for awhile) their mind is always accessible.  And they can answer complex questions about complex ideas - it's just up to the person asking the question to know how to understand what they're reporting.  There's no hierarchy back there - doesn't matter if you're famous, infamous or obscure. Everyone is equal in terms of their role in the universe.

Some more flipside notes:

Later that day I stopped by a Tibetan store. It's a shop in Santa Monica which sells the Nechung Monk CD that I produced for Kutenla the Oracle of Tibet. (The Nechung Oracle)  The CD is selling in the store.  I never ask how the sales are going - I suspect whoever needs to find the CD will find it - in person, or online - but I spoke to the manager.  He's a devout Buddhist, and I always enjoy chatting with him.  We talked a bit about Buddhist philosophy with regard to children remembering "past lives."  

Available at CD baby and Amazon

I reminded him of how when our son had said "whever you hear a bell in Tibetan music, it means peace comes into the world."  When our son said that to me, I had no idea what bells meant in Tibetan music, and had asked this fellow. At the time he said "It means peace comes into the world."

He asked about our son, who is now older and said "at the age of 8 their brains become polluted by grasping and desire, so their memories of a previous lifetime end."

I said, "Well, science tells us that the skulls harden by age 8 - that until then they're more pliable.  So it may be that they have better access to information that may come to them in etheric form, before the filters and limiters are in place. As if it's harder to get the frequency through."  We talked about meditation, and how meditating can help a person to open themselves up better to frequencies.  He said he never saw anything during a meditation, but sometimes in dreams.

 I asked him to describe; One is that he's walking down a street in Katmandu about 100 years ago. He has no idea why he's there, or who is around him, but they look like people from 100 years ago. But he can see a regular street scene with people out walking around - he has no idea what kind of clothing he's wearing, but felt as if he was a man in that lifetime.

In the other dream he was "flying." He said it was thrilling - he just "lifted off" when he wanted to. (From "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" - most folks we talk to tell us the most amazing thing about being on the flipside is "they can fly.")

I asked about the visual, and he said "its recurring. I'm in a forest, which at the base of the trees is open and empty. And then I lift off and I go up through the canopy which is thick. And then I'm over the trees and I fly to a pond. When I look down, I see electrical wires, so I'm afraid of running into them, so I come down.  But in the forest I feel calm, at ease, and unconditional love." The other dream; "I'm in Nepal, near where the Buddha gave his lectures, and I am walking with others, but instead of following the crowd, I go up to the top of a mountain and look back over the clear parts of the forest where monasteries are." He also described a profound sense of calm when looking down at these monasteries from above.

I pointed out that in many of the deep hypnosis cases I've filmed or researched, people talking about constructing a place of "healing" where the go to "pull their energy together" once they've crossed over.  Sometimes it's inside, sometimes it's outside - but covered in trees or waterways. Often people can embrace the trees, or walk in the water - but always they experience that sense of calm, and a feeling of unconditonal love.  He smiled.  "Taishe delek!" I said and wandered down the block.

In India

A few doors down, I stopped by a guitar store in Santa Monica and was playing some of their instruments and struck up a conversation with a worker there.  I had the impression I should ask him the question "who was the most famous person that has come in here?"  He said "Prince.  He comes in all the time."  I asked if this worker, Mike had seen him there?  He asked two other workers.  They both said "No, but he comes in all the time."  I had to ask - "Fellas, why are you speaking in present tense?"  None of them could answer that.  I said "You mean he used to come in all the time?" Yes.  He took over a particular room and the guy who carried his picks would purchase guitars for him.

TrueTone Guitars in Samo

I thought that was pretty funny. Prince had a guy whose gig it was to carry his picks.  Funny.  This guy then took a phone call in the midst of my telling him how Prince showed up for "Hacking the Afterlife" and "Backstage Pass to the Flipside."  When he finished the call, he said "That's funny.  The guy on the phone came in today to sell me a guitar, a Hohner that Prince used to own." He whipped out his cell phone and showed me a picture of him, Mike, holding the guitar "that morning."  Then he showed me a picture of Prince playing the same guitar.

What are the odds?

When you work with stories about the Flipside; pretty good odd something will come up that seems coincidentally, but feels like it's more than that.

Reverend Moore, Self Immolation of Tibetan Monks and The Flipside

Came across an article in the Washington Post today, about a Texas minister who self immolated last July.

Reverend Charles Moore 

Story barely made a ripple in the national media, but having been painfully aware of so many Tibetans who've self immolated over the Chinese occupation of Tibet, 140 and counting, this was an unusual event inspired by the Tibetans, but over the cause of racism.

And as the nation has a dialog about whether to put away an archaic battle flag, which deserves a prominent place not flying over a state, but in a museum of intolerance, it's worth hearing what Reverend Charles Moore actually said as to why he committed this act.

We usually honor those who "sacrifice their lives" for the greater cause, if they're wearing a uniform, or taking a bullet on behalf of what we care for or believe in. 

But in this case, Reverend Moore took a bullet on behalf of racism.

Photo by Bill Renfro

First a little background:

Rev. Charles Moore was profoundly disturbed his entire life by a racist event that happened in his home town in Texas that he was forced to "ignore." 

"Moore explained that his death was not an impulsive act, but one to which he had given great thought. Renfro told The Post that Moore left behind a copy of a New Yorker article entitled “Aflame.” It was about the Tibetan Buddhist monks’ protest of China’s domination of Tibet. They, too, set themselves on fire.... 

(Rev. Moore wrote) “I will soon be eighty years old, and my heart is broken over this,” he wrote. “America (and Grand Saline prominently) have never really repented for the atrocities of slavery and its aftermath. What my hometown needs to do is open its heart and its doors to black people, as a sign of the rejection of past sins. … So, at this late date, I have decided to join them by giving my body to be burned, with love in my heart not only for them but also for the perpetrators of such horror.” 

Wow. Self immolation for a teaching in love. It's hard to wrap our minds around, but worth noting (and hearing his entire letter). The heart wants what the heart wants or needs. We honor his life of self sacrifice by at the very least examining how this ultimate sacrifice came to pass (which was completely missed by any media I'm aware of).

Here's an indepth article about him "I have always felt that death for a cause was my destiny, but never so much as during the past several years — when it has admittedly been a preoccupation,” he wrote.

In his typewritten notes, he said that his efforts seemed futile, the progress of the world too slow. He underlined a passage in a New Yorker article about Tibetan monks who set themselves aflame to protest China’s rule.

Moore wrote that he attempted the act several times, but fear and the simple beauties of the world tempted him to stay.

“The turning leaves on the trees in my front yard are almost reason enough to keep living,” he wrote.

Did you catch that?  Some things on the planet are worth sticking around for.

But I found the letter he left behind posted online. I must tell you, typing it up, knowing how this fellow died, and what was in his heart when he wrote this - it's pretty powerful. 

These words are his legacy. Obviously he had a strong connection to the word "hometown" and his self identity - being shunned at the age of 20 for applauding what the Supreme Court had ruled. (Here's CNN in 2006 talking about Grand Saline's dark history) Reverend Moore spent 60 years living with that anger - and after traveling to India, observing poverty close up - he writes how he was ashamed of his hometown. Knowing that he had a vision of sacrificing his life for a cause (a very Flipside concept - how could you know that if it wasn't something you'd already agreed to?) he ended up self immolating for a cause - which he spells out eloquently in this letter. 

If we don't open our doors and hearts to people, then what are we doing on the planet? All I can add is "Amen" and "Rest in Peace Reverend Moore." On behalf of Reverend Moore's selfless act, without judging it (since he reports he talked himself out of it many times) I give you his reasons in his own words:

O GRAND SALINE, REPENT OF YOUR RACISM 
by Reverend Charles Moore 

I was born in Grand Saline, Texas almost 80 years ago. As I grew up, I heard the usual racial slurs, but they didn’t mean much to me. I don’t remember even meeting an African-American person until I began driving a bus to Tyler Junior College and made friends with the mechanic who care for the vehicles: I teased him about his skin-color, and he became very angry with me; that is one way I learned about the paint of discrimination.

During my second year as a college student, I was serving a small church in the country near Tyler, when the United States Supreme Court declared racial discrimination in schools illegal in 1954; when I let it be known that I agreed with the Court’s ruling, I was cursed and rejected. When word about that got back to First Methodist Church in Grand Saline (which had joyfully recommended me for minister – the first ever from the congregation) I was condemned and called a Communist; during the 60 years since then, I have never once been invited to participate in any activity at First Methodist (except family funerals), let alone to speak from its pulpit.

When I was about 10-years-old, some friends and I were walking down the road toward the creek to catch some fish, when a man called “Uncle Billy” stopped us and called us into his house for a drink of water --- but his real purpose was to cheerily tell us about helping to kill “niggers” and put their heads up on a pole. A section of Grand Saline was (maybe still is) called “Pole town,” where the heads were displayed. It was years later before I knew what the name meant.
During World War II, when many soldiers came through town on the train, the citizens demanded that the shades in the passenger cars be pulled down if there were African-Americans aboard, so they wouldn’t have to look at them.

The Ku Klux Klan was once very active in Grand Saline, and still probably has sympathizers in this town. Although it is illegal to discriminate against any race relative to housing, employment, etc., African-Americans who work in Grand Saline liver elsewhere. It is sad to think that schools, churches, business, etc. have no racial diversity when it comes to blacks.

My sense is that most Grand Saline residents just don’t want black people among them, and so African-Americans don’t want to live there and face rejections. This is a shame that has bothered me wherever I went in the world, and did not want to be identified with the town written up in the newspaper in 1993, but I have never raised my voice or written a word to contest the situation. I have owned my old family home at 1212 N. Spring St. for the last 15 years, but have never discussed the issue with my tenants.

Since we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer in 1964, when people started working in the South to attain the right to vote for African-Americans along with other concerns. This past weekend was the anniversary of the murder of three young men (Goodman, Schwerner and Cheney) in Philadelphia, Mississippi, which gave great impetus to the Civil Rights Movement --- since this historic time is being remembered, I find myself very concerned about the rise of racism across the country at the present time. Efforts are being made in many place to make voting more difficult for some people, especially African-Americans. Much of the opposition to President Obama is simply because he is black.

I will son (sic) be eighty years old, and my heart is broken over this. America (and Grand Saline prominently) have never really repented for the atrocities of slavery and its aftermath. What my hometown needs to do is open its heart and its doors to black people, as a sign of rejection of past sins.



So what's this all got to do with the Flipside?

Well, as people who've read "Flipside" or "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" are aware of, it appears to be possible to communicate clearly with people on the flipside.  Michael Newton has done so in his books, various mediums have done so in their sessions, and people having a near death experience where they learn "new information" about their loved ones, appear to be able to do it.

And what they say is consistent:

We choose to be here on the planet. 

We choose the lifetime that we want to explore and learn about.

We do things out of compassion for fellow humans, including incarnating here on behalf of a loved one's request.

That suicide has no ramifications in the afterlife in terms of "judgment" - that we only can judge ourselves and our own path.  Only we can know if we "failed" in our journey, perhaps failed at overcoming anger, failed at overcoming bullying, failed at overcoming an addiction to drugs, or failed at overcoming our brain being wired differently.  What we learn on the flipside is that NONE OF IT IS A FAILURE.  It's just another experience that we've attempted to do, and have not quite accomplished.  Like being in a class and failing a test.  It's not the end of the world, or even the end of the class.  It just means that you have to try harder next time.  Any good teacher can tell you that.  Any good student knows this.  You just have to try harder.

I'm just repeating what is said in the research.  As the good Reverend said above, "Many times" he almost killed himself, but stopped because of the "beauty of the planet."  

And I would argue that is enough of a profound reason to stick around - the beauty of the planet which is real and accessible, is more profound, more of a reason to be here, than to not be here.  That there's no amount of mental stress that can't be overcome, or changed through meditation (see other posts to read about Professory Richard Davidson's (U of W) work on curing depression through meditation), there's no amount of stress or disaster that can't eventually be understood.

Because we don't die.  Let's start there.  We are here, and then we're somewhere else.  We can't come back here, at least immediately, but we do get the perspective of "Oh - that was the wrong thing to do" - not by way of judgment, but by way of observation.  

In many of the cases I've examined in "Flipside" and "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" a person stands before their spirit guides and argues "I couldn't have done anything else.  I was at my last straw."  And out of compassion and love, their guides show them - "Actually there were many other avenues you could have taken - let's examine them..." and people report seeing "different outcomes" of their actions.  Like if they had not killed themselves, they could have seen a different path to take.

Which reminds me of a story I repeat in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife."  I call it "the Wednesday option." 

I was talking in Virginia Beach about how people who do commit suicide are not punished for their actions, but they do find all of their loved ones back there saying "What the heck were you thinking? We had so many plans worked out in advance, and you've screwed them all up!!! We love you man, but if you had only waited until Wednesday, you would have seen that tickets to Italy were coming your way and we were all going to meet up there!"

After my talk, a woman came up from the audience and said "i'm a wednesday person."  She explained that she was so depressed that she went online and learned the easiest, less painful way to do herself in and went down to the hardware store to buy the chemicals required.  And while standing in line she met these two kids from Uganda who were part of the wars over there, they'd lost their families and were here in the US trying to adjust.  And she in that moment realized that this was something she could help with, and now lives in Uganda and takes care of children in an orphanage.  She had literally "waited until Wednesday."

So when we think of Reverend Pinckney this week, and all the things we lost with his eloquent voice - gunned down - know that he is elsewhere enjoying the fruits of his love.  And think for a moment about Reverend Moore who died burning alive in a parking lot in Texas because of his anger about racism.  One who was sacrificed, and one who sacrificed himself - both people who believed that love was paramount, that love is the key to our existence on the planet.

 RIP Rev. Charles Moore. RIP Rev. Pinckney. May your paths on the flipside bring you closer to your goal of universal love.

My two cents.

The Jewel Tree Meditation of Flipside

Just a couple of notes of merriment. 

 
The audio version of "It's a Wonderful Afterlife Volume Two" is now live and online.

It's also available in Nook here:

Volume One is available in Nook here:

And available in audio here:

It's a particularly hard time around the holidays when your loved ones are far away, either in spirit or physically.

There's a Buddhist meditation about that, and perhaps giving yourself a taste of that can be helpful.

Put yourself in a calm place, or a place where you feel calm.  That could be a Starbucks, or a lake or a pond, or in your chair while you're reading up on the latest online news.

Sit back for a moment and breathe.  You know what I mean.  Literally, sit back, take a deep breath and let it go.

Stressed from shopping?  Stressed from getting gifts?  Stressed from giving gifts? Stressed because there's no money to give gifts?  (Sing it).  Stressed because everything seems a little bit more heightened at this moment?

Take a deep breath.  Let it all go.

Look around you.  What do you see?  Did you ever notice that particular thing before?  What's it doing in your field of view?  Did my suggesting you look at it bring it into view, or was it always there and you just didn't consider it?  Could be a photograph, or a pencil, or a person sitting on the other side of the coffee shop.  (I met my wife in a Starbucks, and in 20 minutes, after realizing how much we had in common I said "Let's just skip down and get married and have a couple of kids."  She was convinced I say that to everyone at Starbucks.)  But I digress.

Breathe in.  Listen to what sounds you might be able to hear.  Are they unique?  Annoying?  What are they really? Waves of sound just coming your way?  Let them pass through, don't attach anything to them.

Breathe in.  And then breathe out. 

Now, here comes the fun part.  Don't do this while driving.  Imagine yourself sitting by a pond somewhere, the most beautiful lake you've ever seen.  Then imagine a tree coming out of that lake.  A magnificent tree, and hear the sound of the leaves as it rises out of the water.  Birds come and land on your tree. The sun is at the right height to really allow you to see this tree.  Feel the warmth of the sun, listen to the sound of the birds.

Then in the center of the tree put the happiest person you know.  It could be someone alive or dead, doesn't matter. Just put them there in the tree.  Gaze up at them, and let them gaze down upon you.  Welcome them to your tree.  

And then open up a channel from your heart, straight up into the tree, like a laser beam of light.  Let it hit that person in the center of the tree and light them up with love.  And it starts their engine as well, and they return that love to you.  Could be anyone - your mom, your dad, your most sacred deity, your best friend - whoever it is, shower them with that unconditional love.

(Funny, it's the most common thing I've heard in NDE's and LBL's - a sense of "unconditional love."  As opposed to "conditional love?"  That would be.. "Uh, yeah, I love you... but...")  I digress.
 
And now put everyone you love around this person and do the same with them.  Open up the iris of this beam of light and allow them to return it equally.  Feel that intense love coming from you and then it returns more powerful, stronger than before.

Then put around your loved ones from near and far, alive or dead, people you see on a daily basis, who may be sad or unhappy, or stressed.  Put them up there too, why not?  It's a tree for the masses.  And then finally after them, put up there the people you really don't like, or can't stand, or believe that you hate.  Or that you believe hate you.  (Because hate is a relative thing - the person you "hate" in middle school may become a best friend later on in life).  

They're startled to be called into your tree, but they like the light.  They like the feeling up there. So you've got this magnificent tree in front of you, filled with your loved ones, friends and acquaintances.  

Then put gifts in each one of their hands.  Could be anything - it's free! - you just imagine it and hand it to them, and see that look of happiness, gratitude, or love coming from them.  It's your gift to them.  Didn't cost you anything but the time it took to read this blog.

Give love freely.  Feel the vibration of the return that comes to you.  Breathe in that golden healing light that showers you, breathe out as much healing energy and light as you can muster.   

And then, just for fun - turn the healing light to snow - let it blanket everyone.  They aren't cold, just startled by the white flakes falling on them.  Healing snow, melting into their hearts, making their gifts turn white.

Then slowly one by one thank them for appearing in your life, or your tree, and then allow them to dissolve, until you're back to your most beloved... and thank them for taking away all your pain and stress today, because that's a gift from them to you.

Merry Holidays, Happy New Year.

(This is a Martini modified version of the Jewel Tree Meditation of Tibet, taught me by Robert Thurman while we were in Tibet.  You can watch him give it in Tibet here: or get a copy of Journey into Tibet here:)

Tibet House Flipside Book Talk "Route 66"

For those of you who couldn't make it - here it is.

Best,

Rich

False celebrity at the Olympics, is that a surprise?

Hmm.. gee, I wonder if there's any connection between the public pronouncements of the Chinese govt about Tibet and the idea that they needed a prettier girl to sing the title song? Or between fake fireworks and their position that they've always been in Tibet? Someone once said that truth will set you free - one can only hope that it will eventually free China, and by extension, free Tibet.

OLYMPIC CHILD SINGING STAR REVEALED AS A FAKE

By Charles Whelan Tue Aug 12, 8:30 AM ET

BEIJING (AFP) - The little girl who starred at the Olympic opening ceremony was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough, the show's musical director has revealed.

Pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and did not sing a note, Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony, said in an interview with a state broadcaster aired Tuesday.

Photographs of Lin in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world and the official China Daily hailed her as a rising star on Tuesday.

But Chen said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the Olympic stadium during the spectacular ceremony was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth.

"The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation," Chen said in an interview that appeared briefly on the news website Sina.com before it was apparently wiped from the Internet in China.

Lin was seen to perform the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" as China's national flag was carried into the stadium, a key moment in the three hour ceremony.

"The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression," said Chen, a renowned contemporary composer and French citizen.

"Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed," he said.

He said the final decision to stage the event with Lin lip-synching to another girl's voice was taken after a senior member of China's ruling Communist Party politburo attended a rehearsal.

"He told us there was a problem that we needed to fix it, so we did," he said, without disclosing further details of the order.

The Beijing Olympic organising committee confirmed the episode with spokesman Sun Weide saying the decision was taken in the interests of providing the best possible show.

"A number of girls were on the short list for the show and Lin was the best actress while Yang had the best voice," he said. "So at the end of the day they decided to have both."

The ceremony directed by China's Oscar-nominated filmmaker Zhang Yimou and featuring more than 15,000 performers won high praise in China and overseas for its breadth, scope and flawless execution.

However criticism began to build after it emerged that another part of the opening ceremony had been faked.

Supposedly live pictures of fireworks depicting footprints moving from central Beijing's Tiananmen Square to the Olympic stadium in the north of the capital were actually partly computer-generated or pre-recorded for TV, organisers have admitted.

Wang Wei, vice president of the organising committee, Tuesday insisted the fireworks had actually exploded on the night and that most of the television images used were genuine.

"However, because of the poor visibility of the night some previously recorded foots may have been used," he said.

Xiao Qiang, the director of the China Internet project at the University of California at Berkeley and former dissident, said the two incidents illustrated the political nature of the Games for China.

"I do not think the Chinese state realises how unethical this is, they don't understand what kind of values they are reflecting," he said.

Earlier this year Olympic organisers preoccupied with the right image for the country were criticised for insisting that only tall, slim, young and attractive women could serve as medal award ceremony hostesses.

OPENING CEREMONY ORGANISERS ADMIT FAKING IT ON FIREWORKS, CHILD STAR

Posted 7 hours 6 minutes ago

Fireworks explode over the Bird's Nest stadium during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, 2008. (ABC News: Karen Barlow)

• Video: Chinese celebrate opening success (ABC News)
• Video: Opening ceremony dazzles crowd (ABC News)

Four days after the world was dazzled by the Beijing Opening Ceremony, details have emerged that organisers were forced to fake some key moments in the three-hour spectacle.

Games organisers say that poor visibility on the night forced them to run animations of fireworks and they also admitted that the star child singer was actually only in the stadium because of her good looks.

The fireworks around the Bird's Nest stadium were real, the television footage of fireworks in other parts of Beijing was not.

It turns out some opening ceremony footage was produced before the Games as a back-up and the vice-president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), Wang Wei, says it was needed because of the city's chronic air pollution problem.

"Because of the poor visibility on the night some previously recorded footage may have been used," he said.

However Wang Wei says most of the fireworks seen by billions of people around the world did actually happen on the night.

Keeping up appearances

The little girl who starred at the Olympic opening ceremony was miming and only put on stage because the real singer was not considered attractive enough, the show's musical director said.

Pigtailed Lin Miaoke was selected to appear because of her cute appearance and had not sung a note, Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the ceremony, said in an interview with a state broadcaster.

Photographs of Lin in a bright red party dress were published in newspapers and websites all over the world and the official China Daily hailed her as a rising star on Tuesday.

But Chen said the girl whose voice was actually heard by the 91,000 capacity crowd at the main Olympic stadium was in fact seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who has a chubby face and uneven teeth.

"The reason why little Yang was not chosen to appear was because we wanted to project the right image, we were thinking about what was best for the nation," Chen said in the interview that appeared briefly on the popular news website Sina.com on Tuesday before it was wiped from the Internet.

Lin was seen to perform the patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" as China's national flag was carried into the stadium, a key moment in the three hour opening ceremony.

"The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression," he said.

"Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed," he said.

- ABC/AFP

Tibet Protests and the Dalai Clique

I'm sitting here trying to untie the plastic wiring on some figurines I bought for my daughter. For those of you who have seen these additions to toys, tying them up to the box, making it virtually impossible to untie without pliers - I'm struck at the metaphor of how this is the way China has tied the feet of the world around it. The US is neck deep in debt to China, the toys, the clothing, our drugs, our food, everything is manufactured there (when a democratic, capitalist inclined, english speaking India waits next door) - and like the Tibetans bound in Drapchi prison, these toys are trapped in this box. Oh maybe that's pushing the metaphor a bit.

Some ingenious Chinese laborer has devised a way to make me never get this thing untied. Or perhaps, it's the prisoner's only way of reaching out to let us know how tied he or she is - sitting in a prison cell perhaps, making toys for people in the West. It reminds me of when I spoke to Robert MacNamara in Delhi. I asked him "Why has our country always aligned itself with Pakistan, when it's neighbor India, is democratic, a capitalist country and speaks English?" And he said "1. India's not capitalist, it has too many tariffs, 2. It's not democratic because it's not the same kind of democracy as ours, and 3.." at this point he put his arm around me, as if we were old friends. I thought "I'm being MacNamarized." He leaned over and said "off the record. They're a pain in the ass to deal with." So. I wasn't interviewing him, I wasn't a reporter, I was a filmmaker in Delhi, so as far as it being off the record - well, there you have it. Why we aligned ourselves with Pakistan and not India for forty years. And why all our goods are made in China.

Here's Elton John in San Francisco protesting on behalf of Tibet. Good job Sir Reginald (Elton).

This is a letter I wrote, published today in the Chicago Tribune. Enjoy.

(The original letter from the spokesman for the Chinese embassy was posted at the Tribune on April 7, complaining about the media being addicted to the "Dalai Clique.")

Tibetans speak for themselves

With reference to "Chinese restore order in Tibet," as a documentary filmmaker who interviewed Tibetan refugees who had recently arrived in Dharamsala, I think it's important to hear Tibetans speak for themselves about the Chinese occupation of their country.

Mostly children and monks, they make the dangerous trek over the Himalayas for many reasons, including the following:

*Parents send their children to learn Tibetan language and culture they can't learn at home.

*Some monks were tortured in prison for possessing photographs of the Dalai Lama or for putting up banners that read "Free Tibet."

*A doctor left because he was being forced to sterilize Tibetan women.

(watch the videos on the right panel to hear them speak for themselves.)

The language the Chinese government uses, claiming these protests are instigated by the "Dalai Clique" (separatist forces for Tibetan independence, both in and outside China), is reminiscent of Nazis blaming unrest in Poland on the Jewish ghetto. Trying to tie freedom-rights protesters to the Nobel laureate is telling of profound Chinese distaste for all things Tibetan.

I interviewed Han workers in Lhasa who spoke of their distaste for the food, the altitude, the people of Tibet; the only reason they remain is the triple wages they earned for relocation. If members of the Beijing Clique wants to earn the world's respect by hosting the Olympics, they might consider treating their adopted Tibetans as brothers instead of servants and claim the Dalai Lama as one of China's greatest resources.

--Richard Martini

Filmmaker

"Tibetan Refugee"

"Journey Into Tibet"

Santa Monica, Calif.