Flipside Apple

I'm seeing that "Flipside" is out on the planet on multiple platforms. Yay!  For you Apple afficianados, here it is on itunes:

View In iTunes

• $9.99
• Available on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
• Category: Spirituality
• Published:Jan 11, 2012
• Publisher: Premier Digital Publishing
• Seller: Premier Digital Publishing LLC
• Print Length: 482 Pages
• Language: English

Flipside

by Richard Martini

View More By This Author

This book is available for download on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iBooks and on your computer with iTunes. Books must be read on an iOS device.

Description

What happens after we die?

Author and award winning filmmaker Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death, via the "life between lives," where we reportedly return to find our loved ones, soul mates and spiritual teachers. Based on the evidence of thousands of people who claim that under deep hypnosis, they saw and experienced the same basic things about the Afterlife, the book interviews hypnotherapists around the world trained in the method pioneered by Dr. Michael Newton, as well as examining actual between life sessions. The author agrees to go on the same journey himself, with startling and candid results, learning we are fully conscious between our various incarnations, and return to connect with loved ones and spiritual soul mates, and together choose how and when and with whom we'll reincarnate. The author examines how "Karmic law" is trumped by "Free will," with souls choosing difficult lives in order to learn from their spiritually; no matter how difficult, strange or complex a life choice appears to be, it was made in advance, consciously, with the help of loved ones, soul mates and wise elders. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, "Flipside" takes the reader into new territory, boldly going where no author has gone before to tie up the various disciplines of past life regression. near death experiences, and between life exploration. In the words of author Gary Schwartz, Phd, once you've read "Flipside" "you'll never see the world in the same way again."

Praise for Flipside:

"Richard has written a terrific book. Insightful, funny, provocative and deep; I highly recommend it!" - Robert Thurman, author of Why the Dalai Lama Matters

“Inspiring, well written and entertaining. The kind of book where once you have read it, you will no longer be able to see the world in the same way again.” - Gary E. Schwartz, author of The Sacred Promise

"Everyone should have a Richard Martini in their life." - Charles Grodin, author of If I Only Knew Then... What I Learned From Mistakes

A bit of an experiment in writing...

There's a section of "Flipside" where under deep hypnosis, someone talks about how the energy of creating art is the same when it goes into the Universe, whether anyone sees it or not.

However, it would be nice if someone saw it.

So in that vein, I've made three of my screenplays available through Amazon.com.  This is an experiment, to be sure, as "who wants to read a script that hasn't been made into a film?"  I agree.  But on some macro level, I've grown tired of writing screenplays and then ten, twenty, sometimes just a few years later, someone else writes the same story essentially.

This phenomenon may be ascribed to the "Jungian unconscious" - that everyone taps into creative thoughts and people have the same ideas all the time.  So perhaps someone will take a look at these screenplays and see what I saw in them initially.

We'll see if anyone is interested - if they are, then the experiment was a success.  If they aren't - well, according to "Flipside" they're still a success.  I'm working on "Flipside II" as we speak.

Here are the following titles:

1. The Merchant of Venice California

This is a literal adaptation of Shakespeare play "The Merchant of Venice" but set in Venice, California.  Shylock in this case is a film producer, and the money he lends is to make a film - this one. The late great actor Ron Silver had agreed to play the title role - I pitched it to Sony Classics - and they went and made the original with Al Pacino.  Find it here: 

The Merchant of Venice, California script

2. Tesla: Power and Light

At one point this was close to being made at the A & E network. At the end of the day it was decided that Tesla was not "an American hero" as they were focusing just on heroes of American history. Be that as it may, this is the true story of Edison, Telsa, JP Morgan, Mark Twain, Anne Morgan and the electric wars of that era.   In honor of Tesla's birthday, here is one version of the events of his life.  Find it here:

Tesla: Power and Light script

3. Younghusband: Journey Into Tibet

In 1904 the British invaded Tibet.  It's a wonderful story, an epic tale, which in today's political climate would have difficulty being made.  But it's based on mostly true events - I focused on both sides of the story as I've been to Lhasa and done research there as well. Find it here:

Younghusband: Journey Into Tibet script

These are all available in Kindle and in paperback through the links or Amazon.  Hope you enjoy these stories that are in cinematic language.

News from the Flipside and the Pale Blue Dot

Photograph of Earth from the surface of Mars

The overview effect - a possible explanation of "the shift?"

This is a pretty unusual film that was made about astronauts who had an unusual side effect after traveling in outer space.  They started to relate to the Earth in a different fashion.  An author coined the phrase "the overview effect."

Essentially it's that once you see a photograph of the Earth from the moon, there's an effect that alters our perception of the Earth.

Here's the video:

This effect was noted by famed astronomer Carl Sagan in his reference to the big blue dot:

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” 
― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Also, as a side note, the fellow who leaked all the information to WikiLeaks, claims (as reported in the film "Wikileaks" by Alex Gibney) that it was Carl Sagan's quote about the pale blue dot, that inspired him to release this information.  I don't know if that's a quantifiable effect, but it certainly moved one person to do something completely out of the ordinary, no matter how one views the effects of that kind of revelation.

and finally, here's a photograph from the Cassini spacecraft of Saturn - and at the very bottom, you can view that pal blue dot as a bit of light. On July 19th, Cassini will take a photo of Earth from deep space. We we all should be waving. Floating through space in the Spaceship called Earth.

Saturn from Cassini

Artist rendering of photo July 19th

As was said to me during my own between life session as recounted in "Flipside" - I asked if there was any one message I could bring back from that session that would help others.  And the answer was to tell people to "Just let go."

Which I took to mean let go of fear, let go of anger, let go of the borders between us, let down the defenses that disconnect us, let go of everything that doesn't point to the fact that we're all on this spaceship together, what happens to one of us happens to all of us, what happens to the air and water and soil happens to all of us - and that is a fundamental shift in perception.  My two cents.

To Be Or Not To Be: Good question

Book talk on "Flipside" Enjoy.

With Julian and George - Beyond Belief

Pal Julian Lennon was in town for the release of his latest CD.  It was also an opportunity to give him a copy of "Flipside" which he appreciated.  He's truly a warm hearted individual and his photography and music are both haunting and melodic.  Check him out at JulianLennon.com

Julian is the man!

The one and only George Noory invited me to be on his talk show in Denver - it appears here: .   It's was a fun and lively hour that seemed to slip by.  Audience members had really unusual and spot on questions - so interested that I asked afterward if the producers had given them advance ideas... they had not.

One woman came up to me weeping after the show, and she said "I began to cry from the moment you began to speak and so did the woman next to me."  I'm not sure if that's the desired effect when giving a talk, but I held her hand and said "It's not about what I'm saying, it's about the research.  And if the research has some resonance for you, then it's worth examining."

I encouraged her to read all of Michael Newton's books (beginning with "Journey of Souls") for a more in depth examination of the life between lives.

I'm continuing to gather stories, and announced on the show that the new book is going to be called "Flipside: the Veil is Thinning"

The thinning veil

The producers will let me know when there's an air date, and I will let y'all know when that is. Thanks for tuning in...

RM

With George Noory

Scott De Tamble on Life Between Life hypnotherapy

Scott De Tamble talking about hypnotherapy and life between lives sessions. Scott's work appears in "Flipside" both the book and documentary.  His practice is in Claremont, CA and his website is LightBetweenLives.com

This was a talk that I filmed, given for the IANDS group of Orange County (International Association of Near Death Studies) in Tustin.  It's an excellent explanation of what happens during a Life Between Life (LBL) session as pioneered by Michael Newton ("Journey of Souls").

Enjoy!  (Scott will be speaking at the AfterlifeConvention.com Sept 28 in Santa Monica)

Flipside Book Talk - To Be Or Not To Be

Meanwhile, here's the new book talk. Enjoy!

Prayers for our friend Sajjad (Jim)

Jim and Olivia. "There you go."

Wanted to give a shout out to our friend Sajjad Hussain, a good pal from Chicago who is originally from Pakistan.  I met him when he was working for a home hospice care group, and he came and took care of my father. My father and Sajjad (nickname Jim) bonded quickly, they became very close, and it was Jim who called to tell me the day he passed.

Later Jim opened his own Quiznos in greater Chicago - it was a giant step forward for his family and his future, but because of a number of reasons, not much parking, bad location, it didn't work out for him.  So he had to take two jobs, and was working full time for his wife and beautiful daughter when the stroke hit.

Jim and his daughter Nadia at Quiznos

He was driving his daughter at the time, and pulled over to the side of the road.  It was a massive stroke that might have taken another man's life, but it just knocked him flat, and has put him at home.  He's due to undergo surgery in a few weeks to relieve pressure on the brain.

Needless to say, he's been thrown for a loop.

I'm doing what I can from Santa Monica to keep up his spirits.  He called the other day, deeply depressed at his current situation, as he felt he was driving his dear wife and daughter to distraction with all the care that's needed.  I suggested that he needed some kind of mental exercise to keep his mind fit - to keep it off the situation he's currently in and to help him in general.  I was talking to him about meditation - and an image popped into my head, and I suggested that we play a full cricket match together.

Jim and my mom. She adored Jim.

Now I don't know the first (or last thing) about cricket.  I do know that when I was at a cricket match with my friend, the Australian film director Phillip Noyce, I turned to see tears in his eyes.  I said "What's wrong?"  He said "As a little boy growing up in Australia I would listen to these games on the radio, played in this far off exotic place called the West Indies. And now here I am."  I never met a truer cricket fan.  Until I met Sajjad.

When he was working for my dad, he told me he was taking a class in public speaking to help him communicate. Tall, handsome, with a quick wit and easy laugh, I was surprised he became tongue tied in public.  He was taking a course in speech giving, and I suggested talking about something he loved; cricket. He took at bat down to the class and gave his impassioned speech about a game he loved.  It gave him the confidence to be able to pursue his dream of owning his own business.

So when I suggested a meditation, I said "Why don't we play a cricket match together?  You supply the players, pick each one - and you'll imagine each and every pitch." He said he could do that.  We chose a stadium. Lords in London.  He began to choose my team for me.. and his own for him.  We started off in the match.. and seven hours later, he called to tell me, sadly, that I had lost.

Former Cricket player & film director Phillip Noyce

"That's not fair!" I protested that I had lost the match. I contacted Phillip to ask him for a couple of imaginary players to be added to my imaginary team; he gave me two historic players; Don Bradman, the greatest Aussie batsman of all time, and Shane Warne who can really throw a "wrong 'en."  (Which I guess is a bit like throwing a googli, another throw I've heard of, yet have no clue how to do it.)

Anyways, our teams are below, and the next match is Monday.  If you're moved by Jim's passion or plight, please don't hesitate to write a reply to this post, I'll pass along the messages to him. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE "JIM FUND" - follow the link, and I will see that he gets every penny.

 Our two teams:

"The Mighty Martinis"

Ricky Ponting

Adam Gilchrist

Sachin Tandulkar

Ian Botham

Imran Kahn

Malcolm Marshall

Shane Warner

Don Bradman

3 substitutions

Sajjid Hussain's team: The Bulls

Chris Gayle

Sir Viv Richards

Kieron Pollard

Bob Willis

Martin Crowe

Majid Kahn

Waqar Younis

Rajid Latif

3 alternates.

score of the first match: 283 (Bulls won).  

second match 262 Martinis won. (Bulls scored 215 but Martinis bat first)

Whatever you can donate for our friend Jim will go directly to him. Please make a note 'FOR JIM' or the word 'CRICKET' and I'll know where it will go. Thank you.

#1 in its genre at Amazon!!!!

FLIPSIDE

Hit #1 at Amazon in its genre. They put up a little banner flag thingie. Open up the champagne. I mean prosecco. Va bene!

Hanging with my Peeps in Ladakh

Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife by Richard Martini (Dec 13, 2012)

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The world's best person at saying Thank You
photo courtesy Brian Kistler (Visions of Tibet)

THANK YOU dear reader.

I know that you've come to this material, to this research for a variety of reasons...

Sometimes its from the pain of losing a loved one.

Sometimes its from experiencing unexplainable events in your life.

Sometimes its from fear of the unknown - and trying to find out what is known.


I am not a scientist.  I am not a philosopher.  I am not a new age guru. I'm a film guy.

Shooting a doc in Casablanca

Author & Robert Thurman in his class at Columbia U

But I am a curious fellow.  And for that reason, I began making a documentary about the topic, and once I was in over my head....

With Robert Towne, Caleb Deschanel, "Personal Best"

I couldn't stop.

After filming hours of between life sessions - sometimes six hours at a time - I realized I either had to edit this footage into a miniseries...

Or publish a book.

Publishers laughed.

Literally.  "very funny, but we aren't publishing memoirs at this time."

For the Memoirs. Author at 23.

Memoir?  I'm talking to people who show evidence that there's life after death.  A memoir?

With my peeps in Moscow

Oh, ok.  So I cut out half the chapters, and just focused on the transcripts of the book and how I came to them.  And in between my musing about what the heck that all might mean.

I'm glad it's helping folks.  I take no credit whatsoever for reporting what I'm hearing from people under deep hypnosis about the Afterlife.  I take credit for noting that it didn't matter who was under hypnosis - THEY WERE ALL SAYING THE SAME THINGS ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE.

No matter who the therapist was.

That was worth writing about.

Xmas at the Taj 

Those who made this happen; Mom, Sherry, Dad

So thank you from the bottom of my heart - but more importantly, thank those folks who let me report on their very personal, very profound journeys into the afterlife.

Now where's the Prosecco?

In my past life as a film guy

Rich

Talking Flipside on Coast to Coast Tonight

The book is available through Amazon as a kindle or softcover. Click this link here to find it: FLIPSIDE: A TOURIST'S GUIDE ON HOW TO NAVIGATE THE AFTERLIFE or here AT AMAZON IN PAPERBACK. AND FINALLY!!! IT'S AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AT BARNES AND NOBLE!!! THANK YOU!! BARNES AND NOBLE'S FLIPSIDE And for those who want to try hypnotherapy as heard on Coast To Coast, find a therapist near you at NEWTONINSTITUTE.ORG

MEDIA ADVISORY

Richard Martini, Award-Winning Indie Filmmaker and Author to appear on “Coast to Coast AM” with George Noory (KFI in Los Angeles).

(Airing Thursday May 23, 2013 from 10 pm to Midnight PST—Pacific Standard Time)

George Noory

Yours Truly

                            

Richard Martini is the author of Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife, a groundbreaking work of non-fiction that explores startling new evidence for life after death, based on over 7,000 accounts experienced under deep hypnosis; published by Premier Digital Publishing.

For Immediate Release:

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK/TORONTO/DALLAS (May 23, 2013) – Acclaimed indie filmmaker Richard Martini will appear on “Coast to Coast AM” with George Noory (KFI in Los Angeles) to discuss his bestselling exploration into the Afterlife, Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife. “Coast to Coast AM” airs on more than 560 stations in the U.S. and is heard by nearly three million weekly listeners, described as overnight talk radio with daytime ratings. “Coast to Coast” AM deals with UFO's, strange occurrences, life after death and other unexplained phenomena.

In Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife, Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death, or "life between lives," where we reportedly return to find our loved ones, soul mates and spiritual teachers. Martini documents the evidence of thousands of people who claim that under deep hypnosis, they saw and experienced the same basic things about the Afterlife. The interviews were conducted by hypnotherapists around the world trained in the method pioneered by Dr. Michael Newton (Journey of Souls).

Martini observes actual “between life” sessions and agrees to go on the same journey himself, with startling and candid results. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, Flipside takes the reader into new territory, exploring the various disciplines of past life regression, near death experiences and between life exploration.  Like Burpo, Alexander, Neal and numerous others, he aims to lift the veil between life and death and supply answers to one of humankind’s most asked questions – What happens when we die?

Websites:  http://www.flipsidethebook.com/

Blog:  http://www.richmartini.com/                

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc3gBMROoBs&list=PLAWvdkHkZ8_8SbUThFaDJ3VdwKReSw6vn&feature=mh_lolz

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MartiniFilm       

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flipside-A-Tourists-Guide-On-How-To-Navigate-the-Afterlife/161124603961075   

Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife is available in print and eBook via all major online retailers: http://www.premierdigitalpublishing.com/product/flipside-a-tourists-guide-on-how-to-navigate-the-afterlife/

About Premier Digital Publishing:

Premier Digital Publishing is a leading independent digital publisher and innovator of eBooks, enhanced eBooks, print-on-demand books and interactive content.  Led by a team of digital media pioneers, the company ranks among the top publishers of quality eBook entertainment to the industry’s leading tablet and eReader manufacturers and eBook retailers.  The company is based in Los Angeles with offices in Toronto and New York.

Web:    http://www.premierdigitalpublishing.com/

Like:     www.facebook.com/premier.digital.publishing

Follow: www.twitter.com/PDigitalPub

Flipside the Book on sale for a limited time...

@PDigitalPub: 90% off @MartiniFilm "FLIPSIDE" Learn what's waiting for you in the life after this one http://t.co/ZGlMbiIVN2 ONLY $0.99 #NDE #Afterlife

Posted May 21, 2013

Flipside by Richard Martini

What happens to us after we die? In this spellbinding, meticulously researched account, an acclaimed author and filmmaker interviews hypnotherapists and examines quantum physics to find astonishing conclusions about the afterlife — and the connections we make

DEAL PRICE:$0.99

• Orig:$9.99
• Disc:90% off
• Ends:5/28/13

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Publisher Description

What happens after we die?

Author and award winning filmmaker Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death, via the "life between lives," where we reportedly return to find our loved ones, soul mates and spiritual teachers. Based on the evidence of thousands of people who claim that under deep hypnosis, they saw and experienced the same basic things about the Afterlife, the book interviews hypnotherapists around the world trained in the method pioneered by Dr. Michael Newton, as well as examining actual between life sessions. The author agrees to go on the same journey himself, with startling and candid results, learning we are fully conscious between our various incarnations, and return to connect with loved ones and spiritual soul mates, and together choose how and when and with whom we'll reincarnate. The author examines how "Karmic law" is trumped by "Free will," with souls choosing difficult lives in order to learn from their spiritually; no matter how difficult, strange or complex a life choice appears to be, it was made in advance, consciously, with the help of loved ones, soul mates and wise elders. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, Flipside takes the reader into new territory, boldly going where no author has gone before to tie up the various disciplines of past life regression. near death experiences, and between life exploration. In the words of author Gary Schwartz, Phd, once you've read Flipside "you'll never see the world in the same way again."

All prices were verified by BookBub upon publication, but prices may change without notice so please verify that the deal is still available before downloading. For free Kindle books, confirm that Amazon’s “Kindle Price” is still $0.00. Some deals may not be available outside the United States.

Cannes Man in honor of the Cannes Festival!

In honor of the Cannes Film Festival, here's a hilarious film that we made a number of years back, which has finally been released on itunes... which doesn't make it any less funny.

If you want to know what all the hoopla is about - this film is the essence of the hoopla.

Stars the late, great Francesco Quinn.  Enjoy!

CANNES MAN

Cannes Man

Here's the trailer for Cannes Man:

Afterlife Convention and some NDE research

Some exciting news.. we're organizing the Afterlife Convention on Sept 28th here in Los Angeles.  The idea is to bring together people from a variety of disciplines to compare stories about the afterlife - about their research into it, with the hopes of helping people on this planet by sharing information about what happens to us after we're on it.  Gary Schwartz Ph.D is going to be one of our keynote speakers, yours truly will be speaking, along with Elisa Medhus MD, Ken Stoller MD and others.  We won't be the first convention of its kind, but we're aiming at something a bit less new age, and a bit more practical - as in "Ok, so we don't die per se. How does that affect my life now?"

The idea is that with the combination of studying the various modalities that will be represented - ESP, Near Death (NDE), hypnotherapy as practiced by Michael Newton (LBL), first hand accounts of being contacted by loved ones in the Afterlife - these accounts frequently report the same information.  So what is that information?  And how can it affect our lives here on Earth?  And further, how can it help change our mindset so that by considering that we may return here in the future, we leave the planet as clean healthy place to return to?

I note that it's interesting that the two most vocal groups against this research are from opposite ends of the spectrum - the religious right for lack of a better word (people who believe strongly in what their religion has taught them, and I'm not arguing whether it's accurate or not, it's just by way of identifying that group) and on the other spectrum what can be only describe as extreme left, atheists, or people who are convinced that the science community has no evidence for their being consciousness before, after (or by way of logic) during our lifetimes.  It's interesting to note that both sides of the coin find this kind of research "nutty" or "heretical" - but I can only state that in the interest of science - in the interest of humanity - we are forging ahead with the best tools that we have to examine this research.  Batten down the hatches, here we go!

www.afterlifeconvention.com

Rich Martini Conference Chairman Author/award winning filmmaker Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death. Based on thousands who claim under deep hypnosis they experienced the same basic journey in the Afterlife, his book and film features "between life" sessions and interviews with Michael Newton ("Journey of Souls") and hypnotherapists trained in his method. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, the bestselling book (Amazon Kindle) examines research that ties up the various disciplines of past life regression, near death experiences, and between life exploration. In the words of  Ph.D author Gary Schwartz ("Sacred Promise") once you've read it, "you will never see the world in the same way again."

New Speakers Announced for Afterlife Convention The Afterlife Convention will examine the research, the people, the experiences and the scientific evidence for life after death, a discussion that is increasingly part of the mainstream. The event will be held Saturday, September 28, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in beautiful Santa Monica, California. Join us for this fascinating examination of a phenomenon that has thousands of people providing detailed descriptions of their experiences with unexplainable phenomena. The Pew Trust indicates that a quarter of Americans believe in reincarnation. Hear from people who have a deep understanding and experience with this journey. Just Announced - Afterlife Convention Speakers GARY E. SCHWARTZ. Ph.D ELISA MEDHUS, M.D. KEN P.STOLLER M.D. DR. ANNIE KAGAN The Afterlife Convention will examine: Near Death Experiences Out of Body Experiences Soul Groups Personal Accounts of Meetings With Deceased Relatives Past Life Memories Between-life Council  Life Planning Sessions Why you Chose to be Who You Are WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Those with a legitimate interest in exploring the evidence for a life after life, watching a demonstration and engaging with like-minded people who are not afraid to question the conventional wisdom. Unlike so many gatherings that explore similar themes, the Afterlife Convention will talk about fact-based realities based on eyewitness accounts. WHO SHOULD EXHIBIT? Authors, filmmakers, publishers, agents, programmers and others interested in reaching a curious and engaged audience interested in learning more.Join us today at the early-bird price and reserve your seat at what will be one of the year’s most talked-about gatherings examining life after death. If you would like to be an exhibitor, click here

AND THEN THIS INTERESTING CLIP FROM IANDS.ORG:

Study finds NDE memories are not of imagined events

Skeptics have long proposed that NDEs are dream-like memories of events that never happened or are altered memories of real events which are partly or fully imagined. A recently published study from the University of Liège in Belgium compared the memories of NDEs with memories of others who were in coma without an NDE. They found that memories of NDEs are significantly different from coma patients without an NDE. In particular they have significantly more characteristics, like visual details, memory clarity, self-referential information (being involved in the event) and emotional content.

The researchers propose that NDEs can't be considered as imagined events. which have significantly fewer characteristics. NDE events are really perceived but since the events did not occur in reality and likely result from physiological conditions (e.g., neurological dysfunction), the events are actually hallucinatory (see also ULg video). This conclusion is based on assumptions that are inconsistent with other evidence from NDEs. Other interpretations are possible.

---

Seven researchers from the University of Liège, led by Dr. Steven Laureys, published a report in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE on the characteristics of memories from near-death experiences compared with the memories from others who were in coma but did not report an NDE. The study also compared NDE memories with memories of real events and imagined events (e.g., past dreams or fantasies).

Skeptics, such as Susan Blackmore and Chris French, have long proposed that NDEs are dream-like memories of events that never happened or are altered memories of real events which are partly or fully imagined.

The researchers included 21 patients who suffered from an acute brain insult and coma. The patients were divided into three groups: those reporting an NDE (≥ 7 on the Greyson scale, N=8), those reporting memories during coma but without an NDE (< 7 on the Greyson scale, N=6) and those reporting no memories of their coma (N=7). These three groups were all similar in etiology of the brain insult (traumatic, anoxic, hemorrhagic, metabolic and encephalopathic etiologies), as well as age and time since insult. The 21 coma patients were also compared with 18 healthy control subjects.

The researchers measured the memory characteristics of patients using the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ), comparing the target memories (NDE or coma memories) versus memories of real events and imagined events (e.g., past dreams or fantasies). The memory characteristics included sensory details (visual, auditory, etc.), memory clarity (e.g., mentally reliving the events when remembering), self-referential information (memories of being involved in the event) and emotionality (e.g., feeling the emotions of the event when remembering).

The researchers found that memories of NDEs have significantly more characteristics than both memories of real events and imagined events.

Furthermore, since it is possible that the core components of an NDE are neurophysiologically determined (e.g., temporo-parietal junction dysfunction or deficit), then "the subject really perceived these phenomena". However, since the perceived events did not occur in reality, the perceptions are hallucinatory. Indeed,memories of NDEs are likely 'flashbulb memories' of hallucinations.

CNN also published an in-depth news article on this study.

Commentary

The researchers' conclusions are based on two assumptions that are inconsistent with other evidence from NDEs: (1) that the perceived events do not occur in reality and (2) that NDE phenomena are determined neurophysiologically. Therefore, other interpretations are possible.

The first assumption, that perceived events in an NDE do not occur in reality, is not consistent with the veridical perceptions that are reported by NDErs. In fact, nearly all "apparently nonphysical veridical perceptions" (AVPs) are verified when checked. Janice Holden (2009) reported that of 93 veridical perception cases in the NDE literature, 92% were completely accurate, 6% were accurate with some errors and only one case was completely erroneous. The AVPs are frequently of objects or events outside the NDEr's physical line of sight or at a distant location from the NDEr's physical body.

Furthermore, previously unknown veridical information received during the "transcendent" part of the NDE(e.g. meeting deceased relatives) is frequently later verified. For example, a man saw and interacted with an apparently deceased person and later found out the man was his biological father who had died in the holocaust (van Lommel, 2010, pp. 32-33).

Since the perceived events in fact occurred or accurately conveyed previously unknown information, one cannot conclude that NDE perceptions are hallucinations. If some parts of the NDE events were perceived accurately, where do the NDE perceptions become unreal? If a patient accurately describes the details of operating room events while he had no heart beat or blood pressure, at what point did the other parts of his experience (the tunnel and light) become an hallucination?

Eben Alexander's experience included both veridical perceptions and an episode of "ICU psychosis". During his recovery, he experienced intense delusions and very vivid dreams but both were completely different from the "astonishing clarity and vibrant richness—the ultra-reality" of his NDE (Alexander, 2012, pp. 117-118). His NDE memories are consonant with the results of this study but point out the stark difference between true hallucinations and NDE memories. The finding that NDE memories contain both more emotional and self-referential information than other target memories is more likely due to the hyperreal and veridical qualities of the experience than vice versa.

The second assumption, that NDE phenomena are neurophysiologically determined, is not consistent with the full spectrum of NDE cases. A number of physiological factors are generally cited in explanations of NDEs (Greyson et al., 2009). None of these factors is adequate to explain NDE phenomena, because (1) the reported physiologically-caused experiences bear only a slight resemblance to NDEs, (2) many NDEs occur under conditions without the suggested physiological factor, and/or (3) in cases where the physiological factor is present, NDEs are not reported in even a large percent of cases.

Furthermore, many NDEs occur during cardiac arrest which results in complete cessation of blood flow to the brain. In these cases, heightened, lucid awareness and thought processes are reported, the same kind of experiences as are remembered by patients in this study (van Lommel, 2010, pp. 159–176). In these NDEs, neurophysiological causes of the core components of the NDE could not have occurred because the brain was not functioning. Veridical perceptions of the onset of resuscitation efforts also establish the time of the experience to be when the brain had no electrical activity.

Robert Mays, NDE researcher

References

• Alexander, Eben (2012). Proof of Heaven: A neurosurgeon's journey into the afterlife. New York: Simon & Schuster.

• Greyson, B., Kelly, E. W., & Kelly, E. F. (2009). Explanatory models for near-death experiences. In J. M. Holden, B. Greyson, & D. James (Eds.), The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty years of investigation(pp. 213–234). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers.

• Holden, Janice M. (2009). Veridical perception in near-death experiences. In J. M. Holden, B. Greyson & D. James (Eds.), The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty years of investigation (pp. 185–211). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers.

• Thonnard M, Charland-Verville V, Brédart S, Dehon H, Ledoux D, et al. (2013) Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagined Events Memories. PLoS ONE 8(3): e57620.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057620.

• van Lommel, P. (2010). Consciousness beyond life: The science of the near-death experience. New York: HarperCollins.