Speaking of the dead.... with the "Afterlife Expert"

Had a lovely event yesterday with George Noory, illustrious Coast to Coast AM host -  at the Great Greek in the valley.

With JenniferShaffer.com and George Noory (Coast to Coast AM)

As I mentioned to the intimate gathering, it was George who dubbed me "The Afterlife Expert."  Which is an unusual moniker, not one I would have given myself (who am I again?) but in light of the past decade of research that I've been doing about the afterlife, and what it's all about, I'll take it.

The Afterlife Expert.  That's me.  

Someone asked me if I "talk to the dead." My answer; "I've focused on interviewing people no longer on the planet, and I can tell you how they say they want to be talked to, and how to listen for messages."

I've been doing this for awhile now with friends and some different people, and after many requests to do it on a one to one basis, I've decided to hang out my shingle to do a session.  I've posted the details at TheAfterlifeExpert.com  If you'd like to book an "Afterlife Session" with me, email me at richardmartini (at) gmail (dot) com.

During the event I explained how I'd lived a decade a few blocks from the venue, and how unusual my journey back to Ventura Blvd. was.  (People have read about it in "Flipside" so I won't go into here.)  But ultimately it was giving a public talk at the International Association of Near Death Studies" that led me to George Noory's show, so the idea that we would be in this location together - about a mile from his offices, and a few blocks from my old residence - was uncanny for me.

Flipside film or book.

I spoke about how I came to interview "people who are no longer on the planet" with the help of people under deep hypnosis (via Michael Newton's work, and local hypnotherapist Scott De Tamble lightbetweenlives.com) and how mediums like Jennifer Shaffer (JenniferShaffer.com) had helped me "prove beyond a shadow of doubt" that I was actually speaking to people no longer on the planet.

(During one of our many sessions, someone told me a detail about their passing that no one knows - no one had ever heard, including myself with 30 years of research into this person - and yet she told Jennifer a detail about her passing that was not public knowledge - until I literally dug it up months later, confirming its accuracy.)

Available online everywhere.
ON SALE NOW!

When we hear "new information" from people on the flipside - meaning something that could not by explained by cryptomnesia (hearing or reading it somewhere else), could not be hypoxia (hallucination), could not be synthesthesia (wires mixed in the brain) - new information that only the person on the flipside would know and could impart to us, then it's either that some part of our subconscious is revealing a mystery that has been hidden from civilization for eons - or we're actually speaking to people no longer on the planet.

So I can help people do that - set the table so to speak - or put the empty chair out for Elijah in the Seder tradition - to make themselves available for a conversation with a loved one.  I've asked the question many times during interview - "So how can someone get a hold of you?" And I've heard consistent answers about that topic.  

Not just to have someone we know and love "show up" in some kind of etheric way, via a dream or a vision - which itself is something to examine - but in a way that allows for them to answer your questions directly.

Only we are capable of knowing when our loved one contacts us - no one else is privy that the feeling or energy involved when a loved one takes our hand, our shoulder, or gives us a hug - only we know that feeling. Someone who doesn't know that feeling might assume it's a "memory" - but memory doesn't include all the senses, normally, unless it's something dramatic.  

A pal on the other side whom I've spoken to often. Heard back as well.

So talking to a loved one on the other side involves all of our senses, and allows us to ask and get answers to our life's more profound questions.  It doesn't mean we're going to always get answers to whatever question we have ("and what were those lottery numbers again?") because we have our own path and journey that would be disrupted by any number of things. Including having a conversation with a loved one who is no longer here.

However, in my research I've found there are numerous "non invasive" ways for our loved ones to reach out to us, ways that won't alter our path and journey, yet will allow us to feel as if we've reconnected with them - perhaps to alleviate grief or stress.

If someone wants to speak directly to their loved ones, I highly recommend seeing a hypnotherapist trained in the Michael Newton method of hypnotherapy (there's a searchable database on their website NewtonInstitute.org) or finding a medium that you have a connection with, that has come recommended to you for whatever reason. (I happen to know and be friends with JenniferShaffer.com , so that's one person that I can recommend. There are many others, but you need to do the research before you reach out to them.)

But if you have a desire to talk to me about it - I've available for that (for a fee!) and you can schedule you're own conference with me by writing me at my gmail address - richardmartini - (not richmartini at gmail, that's another guy) but richardmartini (at) gmail (dot) com.   Let me know if it's something I can help you with. Let's see where we get to...

Not a cemetery per se Per LaChaise.
But a place for memories of loved ones.

And finally, this near death was posted recently at the IANDS.org site (a wonderful place to share and hear about other worldly events)






NDE Account Submitted to IANDS (International Association for Near Death Studies):

"Moved to a new city. There was a water advisory I was unaware of.

Thought I had a bladder infection so drank more water. Had very high fever with excruciating back pain. Went to doctor who prescribed me antibiotics that were too weak. It was getting worse. I went back to sleep. 

I was in too much pain but passed out anyway. All of a sudden I was floating in an upward trajectory towards a bright omnipresent light through a tunnel of sorts. The pain was completely gone and I felt lighter than air. The light was unconditional love unlike anything I have experienced here on Earth. 

On my left was a light-being speaking telepathically to me. He welcomed me and we had a bit of a discussion. I was given the option whether I wanted to stay or go back. I suddenly realized I was dead and I came back. 

I returned to the painful, heavy body I had just left. It was as if I had convulsed upon re-entry. It's taken me 28 years to fully integrate this experience into my life."

My comment:

"The light was unconditional love unlike anything I've experienced here on earth." 

Sound familiar? We experience "conditional love" on the planet: "if you love me... I'll return it." But "back home" (as many call it under deep hypnosis) that's where this "unconditional love" is. Not here. There. 

This is "new information" - if you imagined it the feeling would relate to a feeling you had here. But that's not what's reported. The feeling is unique to being "off the planet." 

And how could we remember that feeling if we hadn't been off the planet? NDEs not only prove there is an afterlife, they offer insight into WHY we come here in the 1st place. 

Why would anyone bother to go into a movie to experience feelings or emotions they don't already know? Why read a book, see a play that makes you learn new feelings or emotions? 

Why bother coming to the planet to experience non-unconditional light or love? 

The answers are right in front if you. 
Open the door. 
Open the drapes. 
Let the light in. 

My two cents."

Photo: WR 25 (center) - the brightest known star in the galaxy, 100X more massive and 6 million times brighter than the Sun (Bring extra sunscreen when visiting). Credit: #NASA, #ESA and Jesús Maíz Apellániz

Tomorrow with George Noory - Be There Or Be2

Luncheon with Coast to Coast's George Noory and "The Afterlife Expert" Rich Martini

Enjoy gathering with other like-minded people as you have fun at lunch and meet some of your favorite people in the world of the unknown and curious. Tickets will go fast, so reserve a spot now! 

Email your name and phone number to: 

lunchwithgeorge@gmail.com. 

You will be called back with details. The following dates are available:

Tuesday, June 27, 2017 – Lunch with George Noory & author/researcher Rich Martini Special Event Series: "Eat & Greet" 
Luncheons at the Great Greek Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California

The Flipside of Father's Day and Bruce Springsteen

Happy father's day.

RC Martini chillin' during WWII

If you're like me, then your pop is no longer on the planet.  Maybe you're thinking of him, maybe you're thinking about how you miss him, or thinking about how you don't miss him.

If you've never visited this blog before, you'll know I'm not about to throw shade, or disrespect to anyone - everyone has their own path and journey on the planet, but because it's father's day - we reflect on our own journey in the shadow of our father's. So you could say that I'd like to talk about Bruce's dad, Doug Springsteen - but really I'm referring to all dads by extension of Bruce's dad.

Bruce talks about this trip with his dad in his book. Two smilin' NJ guys.

If you're a fan of "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife" or "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" or "Hacking the Afterlife" what I'm about to say isn't new to you.

But it will be to Bruce.

Reading his autobiography "Born to Run" this paragraph jumped out at me:

"One night I had a dream. I'm onstage in full flight, the night is burning and my dad, long dead, sits quietly in an aisle seat in the audience. Then... I'm kneeling next to him in the aisle, and for a moment, we both watch the man on fire onstage. I touch his forearm and say to my dad, who for so many years sat paralyzed by depression, "Look, Dad, look... that guy onstage... that's you... that's how I see you." (pg 414 "Born to Run" Simon and Schuster)

Now I know Bruce doesn't believe in an afterlife - I know it because earlier in the book he took the time, while talking about his life, he added in parenthesese to a comment he was making about "life" - "there is only one."

I think that's funny when people opine that to be the case.  "Based on what evidence?" I'd like to ask.  I mean, sure, we all think that people die when they cease breathing on the planet.  Doctor's declare people dead all the time. But the sun goes away ever night, and we don't declare it dead.  Or that it's "reincarnating every day."

I've been documenting cases for the past ten years where people either have a near death experience (they die, then come back) or they remember a previous lifetime while under deep hypnosis (based on Michael Newton's 7000 cases over 30 years, or New Jersey native Dr. Helen Wambach's 2000 cases done a decade prior)- all of these people say the same thing while under hypnosis - that we don't die, that we can't die - that we "go home" and then decide with advice of loved ones and guides plan our next lifetime.

Another famous dad: Basil Jagger. He reminded me of Stan Laurel,just as sweet and fun..
and his kid ain't bad either.

There are hundreds of thousands of clinical cases of "near death experiences" - many books on the topic, and I've interviewed a number of near death experiencers. And they are all convinced, all of them - that there is life after death.  Why is that?

It's a bit like talking about what it's like to jump in a cold pool of water. If you haven't done it before, you can talk about it - sing about, tell stories about it - but if you're never done it before, then you're bound to get it wrong.  If you've spent your whole life outside of pools, maybe even afraid of the water, saying "hey jumping in the pool is great, it's liquidy, and every piece of skin enjoys it" - it's meaningless to someone who's never been in a pool. 

Doug Springsteen on the Jersey Shore. (from pinterest)

 So let's go in the pool, shall we?

This isn't my belief, opinion or philosophy. It's just based on the data.

If you take the time to read Newton ("Journey of Souls") examine the science (Dr. Greyson at UVA, Dr. Tucker's books about reincarnation) Gary Schwartz PhD, Mario Beuaregard PhD, Dr. Eben Alexander - Dr. Sam Parnia's epic study over ten years "the Aware project" etc, etc, etc - you'll find bona fide doctors - psychiatrists, scientists talking about how consciousness doesn't die, it lives on. (Or appears to)

I'll prove it to you.

Bruce says in his book he had a long a tempestuous relationship with his dad.  As I wrote to a friend today who was talking about his "deadbeat dad" who had abandoned the family: 

"For what it's worth; I've been filming people under deep hypnosis for a decade. ("Flipside") what they say about the journey is consistent. It can be disconcerting to hear, as I've had an earful. But I try to report what they say without opinion or prejudice. I've filmed 40 sessions (5 of my own) examined the work of Michael Newton (7000 cases) and Dr Helen Wambach (2000 cases). What they say consistently is that "we choose our parents for specific reasons." That the choice is made with "help and guidance from our guides and teachers." That when we ask "why?" 

The answer is often "so you could become who you are." (A better person, more compassionate human, or perhaps an artist who uses pain to help others.) This is not a belief, philosophy, or opinion on my part. I'm just reporting verbatim. So if this is true - I would argue - that you chose well. Your difficult choice has made you a better human, a better father. Happy dad's day."

The same applies to Bruce. If he examines his art, his work, his life, he's lived a lot of it in reply to his father. After all, he was only living with his father until he 17, the rest of his life his father was elsewhere - so for 40 some odd years, he had his own world to inhabit, and yet when you read his book, you can see how much his father had an influence on him.

Bruce reading with his pop. (fansite)

First some bonafides. I've been to about a dozen shows, starting with a bar next to Fenway, then in Cambridge, Charlie's, Harvard Square opening for Bonnie Raitt, Boston Garden, then a number of times in L.A. - I've met Bruce, twice. Once was backstage at Charlie's in Boston. I was brought there by an old friend of his Donna Stearns (she's from Deal, spent time at his place in Freehold when he was young, she grew up to marry the Allman Bros' Dickey Betts whom she met at the Stone Pony after an AA meeting.)

She took me to see Bruce twice - once after "Wild Innocent and E street" came out - his name was misspelled on the Boston marquee - "Springstein" - and she spoke to him after the show. Then months later, at Charlies benefit (where Jon Landau wrote his famous review for the Phoenix "I have seen the future or rock and roll and its name is Bruce") she took me backstage to meet him.

(An aside here: I just became aware of Donna having legal troubles in Fl. I wish I could help. I knew her before both parents died in a car accident, which led to her alcohol abuse - I knew her in college - she's a sweetheart, and struggled with alcohol her whole life. I've sent her cards over the years, tried to reach out to her - perhaps this page will find her - if so, Donna! Reach out. This research can help you as well.  "There is no act that we can't overcome.")

The book, like Bruce, is deep and rich.

I know I met Bruce backstage with Donna at Charlie's because he was complaining that someone had stolen his notebook with all his songs in it.  (Not me!)

Some years later, I met Bruce backstage at Sting's show at the Wiltern (I was covering it for Variety) and I reminded him of Donna - which he said "I don't know who that is." (His book says there were "lots of teen girl" who hung out at his house - whatever - I know what happened when I met him, so I found it a bit odd.) In response looking for something to say other than "when I went to school in Rome we had only your 3 albums, and we danced to them every night for a year" I said - "whatever happened to David Sancious?  He said "Ask him, you're leaning over his shoulder."

I realized he was sitting with the great keyboard artist David Sancious, who left his band when it hit big. D'oh.  End of conversation.

I had more fun conversations with other E street members:  Clarence Clemons at a party in Long Island - we had a mutual pal Lilia Chacon, (Chicago Fox News reporter) and Danny Federici who sat in with our band (played my Casio like it was a Hammond!) - so I do have bonafides when it comes to Bruce.  

In terms of this research, I have bonfides as well - the ex-wife of one of his band members is a good friend, did a between life session after losing her mom, and she appears in my film "Flipside" and the book as well - remembering a lifetime where she knew the alpha and omega. Talk about name dropping! Not only is she tight with everyone in the band, (name rhymes with Miss) she clearly remembered a lifetime where she knew the "real Boss."


Okay, enough about me.

Bruce's dad showed up to let him know he was still alive.  Showed up to him in a "dream" to let him know that he's okay.  How do I know that it was his dad, still alive, reaching out to his son from the Flipside, and not some figment of his imagination?  

Doug from a fan page.

 "One night I had a dream. I'm onstage in full flight, the night is burning and my dad, long dead, sits quietly in an aisle seat in the audience. Then... I'm kneeling next to him in the aisle, and for a moment, we both watch the man on fire onstage. I touch his forearm and say to my dad, who for so many years sat paralyzed by depression, "Look, Dad, look... that guy onstage... that's you... that's how I see you." (pg 414 "Born to Run" Simon and Schuster)

First of all - he saw his dad in the audience. Sitting on the aisle. 

How old did he look in the dream? Old? Or younger? Well it has to be at least a little bit younger, because he wouldn't have seen him sitting upright in a chair if it was based on the last time he saw him - just prior to his passing. So his dad somehow was able to get into the show and was sitting in the aisle.

People would argue "he imagined him there at the show."  But then I would ask "what was he wearing?" and Bruce might describe some outfit that his dad felt comfortable wearing. Perhaps he'd seen him in it before. But whatever it was, it was a "normal" set of clothes - as otherwise, he'd have mentioned them.

 Sometimes people remember precisely what the other person in the dream was wearing - it's usually it's some relatively "normal" version of how they looked on the planet.

But not always.

Evelyn Salt (archive pic)

While working on the film "Salt" I had an NYPD detective pull me aside after hearing me talk about this research on set, and he said "Can I talk to you? I think my house is possessed."  

I asked him why he thought that. He said his 8 year old daughter "sees a ghost."  I asked him who the ghost might be - someone he knew? He said "Well, I asked her about it, and she said "Daddy, he dresses like you." (an NYPD uniform.)  So he wracked his memory and pulled out a picture of his former partner, an African American policeman who died 10 years earlier.

And she said "That's him, but he looks younger now. He's got hair and he's thinner."  The Detective said to me "If it's my old partner who died 10 years ago, how does he show up to my 8 year old daughter thinner, and with hair?"  

And I said, "Well, time over there isn't like time over here. People tend to appear as people remembered them, because it makes it easier for them to get the message. And people report that they appear to people over here, as they'd like to be seen."

I said to the Detective "So did you like this guy?"  The cop looked at me and said "I loved him."  I said "So is it a bad thing that the guy you loved is hanging around your house keeping an eye on you and your 8 year old daughter?"

He said; "Not when you put it that way."  

Mom and Dad, Venice. Took me awhile to find the upside down sign.

He then brought up the fact that his daughter had suddenly been talking about reincarnation - how one day she claimed that she was "born in Australia and died there." He wanted to know if that was related to the ghost thing. 

I asked him if he was watching a tv show about reincarnation or about Australia.  He said he didn't own a TV.

I said "Well, the best way to find out the answer is to ask her. Why don't you bring home a map of Australia and see what she says?" The next day I returned to the set of "Salt" and he was waiting for me. He took me into a back room, locked the door and said "I did what you asked. I brought home a map of Australia and unfolded it in front of her.  I asked "So where were you from?"  

He said she pointed to Perth (a place he'd never heard of) and she described a lifetime there where she was a father and that the family was stuck in a terrible drought, and they all died from starvation."  He said his daughter said it as if she'd been waiting 8 years to tell him the story, and then she bursts into tears.

As I said to the NYPD Detective - "we're not used to not knowing the answers to things for our kids - but clearly she knew more about these events than you did."  Needless to say he locked the door to our conversation for a reason - it's something he could not share with anyone, as his department would "think he was nuts."

  But back to Bruce's "dream" of seeing his dad in the audience... then there's a quantum shift in the dream...

He's talking to his dad in the audience, and then refers to himself on stage. How did you get into the audience with him while you were still on stage?  How could you be in two places at the same time?  

We assume that was some kind of fantastical part of the dream - but I can point to numerous cases where that's a possibility, where people report seeing not only their "higher selves"  while under hypnosis, but people who are "still on the planet' during a near death event.

  People claim in this research that when we incarnate, we only bring about a third of our energy to this lifetime. When asked why - people say "if I brought any more I'd blow the circuits."  When asked where the other two thirds of their energy is they say "it's back home. It's always home.  It's always accessible."

This is why when people have a near death experience they sometimes see people who are not dead - but they usually see them in a way to indicates a more etheric version of them. (David Bennett's book "Voyage of Purpose" describes him seeing a friend back home during his near death experience who is still alive - then some years later, after his friend died, he saw him back home during a deep hypnosis session) 

(For those curious about "between life hypnosis, in LA, I recommend Scott De Tamble of the Newton Institute - "lightbetweenlives.com" if you're curious - I've filmed 35 sessions with him, and he's always successful taking people "back home.")

Bruce experienced "new information" - because he touched his father's arm, only he would know what that felt like - and he simultaneously observed himself on stage performing.  That's not physically possible - unless your consciousness can be in two places at the same time. Which according to this research; it always is.

And it could not be "cryptomnesia" (as materialist science calls these events - either "hypoxia" from a hallucination - which Bruce obviously wasn't having - or something he'd heard or seen somewhere, like in a movie (no film I can think of where a person is in two places at the same time - one with a passed away relative,looking back at himself on Earth). So it can't be cryptomnesia, hypoxia, or synesthesia (the latest claim that the wires of the brain are mixed up) because everything else about the dream was real. 

Touching his dad's arm, having his dad in the aisle, conversing with him, and then gesturing to himself on stage.  And being consciously aware of it to be able to say "Hey dad - see that guy on stage? That's how I think of you!!!"

 Because if he was making it up, imagining it, he never would have created two of himself - there's no basis in human experience to create two of ourselves in a dream - so therefore it must not have been a dream. And I'll bet (who wants to cover this bet for me?) he's never had another dream like it - where there were two of himself in the dream. Ever. 

Further, as I'm fond of pointing out - many folks refer to our lives here as "being on stage." That while two thirds of us are "back home" observing how we're doing on stage - think of it as sitting in the balcony watching yourself below - or even further, imagine it as a marionette and you're responsible for how the strings are moved - where you're literally in two places at the same time; on stage, and in the balcony watching yourself on stage.

Onstage with Walter and Chuck Grodin

I'd also bet Bruce is not aware of this research or information, nor are any of the therapists he's seen in his lifetime, because, well... they just aren't. I've had people say to me "someone should study this in a university setting" and I've had scientists say "well, the big pharma companies fund research so we can sell a pill to fix something" - that's why there are no studies to figure out what the heck is going on with consciousness. If you can't market it, what's the point?

It's contrary to the popular method of psychology. I'm happy to report the Newton Institute  (where they train therapists in between life therapy) reports that they have many psychiatrists and psychologists who are learning this method of therapy,so perhaps that will change.

Can you hear me now?

So Bruce got a chance to be himself standing next to his dad. How very cool is that? But his dad appeared to him to let him know he was okay, to let him know he was "still alive." Not gone. Just not here. 

If I was interviewing Bruce about it, I'd ask him if it was possible to "shift his consciousness to his dad's point of view" - and take a look at the Bruce in the aisle. How do you look to him?  

People often describe a color or light.. or someone different than what they thought they'd see.... but once you "shift your consciousness" to allow for new information to come forward, I'd ask his dad to see if he can't bring other people forward for Bruce to see or say hello to.  After all, this research shows that they're all accessible, because no one dies, they're not gone - they're just not here.

Clarence is accessible, as is Danny.  

And if Bruce wants to talk to his dad, or Clarence, or Danny - he can.  He just has to open himself up to the possibility.

I've been filming people talking to their loved ones for a decade now. And as anyone can tell you, when you hold the hand of your loved one, only you know what that's like. When you look into their eyes, ask them a question and they reply before you get the question out, only you know how real that feels.  It's next to impossible to describe what it's like to be in a pool if you haven't an idea of being in the pool - but when it happens, you come away knowing that you had a conversation with your loved one.  Directly, and through the heart.

There's another passage in the book that Bruce mentioned - and it was at a point when his father was feeling better. He was visiting with Bruce he spoke to him in an open, honest fashion and said in essence; "Money doesn't matter. Fame doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you've opened your heart to other people." I'm paraphrasing, but that in its essence is what I hear over and over and over again in this research.

That we come here to learn lessons in compassion and giving love. And that the difficult journey we choose for ourself is so that we can reach other people with lessons in love and compassion. And I would say that Bruce did an excellent job in choosing just the right kind of dad, just the right kind of environment, so he could continue teaching lessons in love to a planet hungry for it.

Hangin' with my homies in Ladakh

So - that's it for father's day. My gift for the reader is to understand that our dads are always accessible to us - to ask why, or how, or what they were thinking - the answers aren't always hilarious, but sometimes they are - and it's something that we can all access if we take the time to do it.

And one more thing - it's what his wife Patti Scialfi is referring to when she recounts that she had met Bruce as a teenager, but he was "swimming in different lakes" prior to finally realizing they were meant to be together. She was 17 when he first met her, and it took him all those years to realize that she was the love of his life. That she was meant to be by his side. 

Ms. Patti Scialfa Springsteen (publicity page)

People often talk about those kinds of kismet connections - and I'll bet him a HUNDRED BUCKS - (relatively small sum, but worth it, as I can buy some sheet music, or he can send me a free CD) and there's only one way to find out - that Bruce's dulcet toned wife Patti knew from the day she met Bruce that he was the guy she was supposed to be with.  It just took him awhile to figure that out.  But that's for him to ask her:  "Honey, when did you first know that you and I were meant to be together? When was your first conscious thought that "this is the guy?"

I can name a dozen people who either the man or the woman knew "the moment they met" their loved one that they knew they were supposed to be together.  Knew it as in "past tense" - like "I've always known you, and now I'm just running into you in this life." 

Just ask her if I'm right. If I'm not, send me the bill. But if I am, then let me know.

Happy Father's Day Bruce.

Tribute to Michael Newton

Lovely tribute to the author/psychologist Michael Newton.

The raw footage at the beginning, after the introduction by Pete Smith, current President of the Newton Institute (TNI) is from my original interview with him.

Great to hear him speak again.


Enjoy.

Lunch with George Noory and "The Afterlife Expert"

Luncheon with Coast to Coast's George Noory and "The Afterlife Expert" Rich Martini

Enjoy gathering with other like-minded people as you have fun at lunch and meet some of your favorite people in the world of the unknown and curious. Tickets will go fast, so reserve a spot now! 

Email your name and phone number to: 

lunchwithgeorge@gmail.com. 

You will be called back with details. The following dates are available:

Tuesday, June 27, 2017 – Lunch with George Noory & author/researcher Rich Martini Special Event Series: "Eat & Greet" 
Luncheons at the Great Greek Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California

States of Mind and the Flipside

I have a friend who used to have OCD.

The Universe is a state of mind.

Obsessive compulsive disorder.  He's had it since he was a youngster; it may or may not be related to a car accident he was in as a youth.  I have relatives who have variations of the same - inability to throw stuff away is one of them, I know it's part of who I am as well. But in this case, I'm here to examine the genesis of "states of mind."

We all know people who have this "disorder" as medicine calls it - it's where the brain is firing willy nilly across a part of the brain, misfiring is more accurate - where a "loop" can be created and it causes them to wash their hands obsessively, count money obsessively - and a whole host of phobias, including not being able to get out of the house.  Or perhaps is causing a "tic" that can be identified as "tourette's" in extreme cases, as a twitch in those less so.

One could argue that we all have varying degrees of this "disorder" - which would make it not a disorder, but a natural example of how the brain works - like many flowers in the garden - it's why some of us can't stand crowds, can't stand certain foods, can't stand not being able to not stand something....

But today we were having this discussion, and some of the flipside notions discussed here began to line up.

An unusual state of mind in DC these days.

Bear with me.

While discussing "partitions" in the mind - Dr. Bruce Greyson notes (in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" and in his public talk "Is Consciousness Produced by the Brain?") that in the reports from the British Health system, 70% of the Alzheimer care givers reported a moment when their patient's memory would come back to them just prior to passing. 

It could be "a few minutes, an hour, sometimes months" where people whose brains have atrophied - suddenly rally and remember everyone around them, and it's as if they've come back to say farewell. Come back to say goodbye to their loved ones.

But when the patient dies, autopsies show that the brain should not have been able to function - it's as if the "partitions" that kept us from accessing our higher consciousness - or past memories - have fallen, or died as well. The brain was dying, so perhaps the partitions died as well. 

And for that brief moment, we're able to access some form of higher consciousness which appears to retain those memories.

Dalai Lama and Richard Davidson

So in discussing OCD today, my pal was talking about his own "partitions."  And pointed out that when he was a young person, he'd "created" an alternate persona - someone who didn't have OCD, someone who could handle navigating the world.  He said that he knew a "tough guy" at work - and while his mind was worrying about the smallest details ("did I count that person's change correctly?" "Maybe I'm responsible for someone getting sick when I served them food...") he adopted this "tough guy" persona to be able to navigate the world. 

My film director persona

He says he borrowed another person's persona, someone at word he knew that was tough, and didn't care or worry about the small things he normally worried about during an OCD event.

Then he pointed out that at another time in his life, he had another persona that would appear - and this person was entirely selfless, would literally give the shirt off his back to someone in need, invite homeless people over to stay who needed a place to sleep.  Then he'd wake up and wonder "what did I do? I let this homeless person in my house, am I crazy?"

I pointed out that perhaps that the selfless fella, was actually giving him a glimpse of what it's like "between lives."  Because back there, people report (consistently) a place of selflessness, where we give and share love equally, without judgment.  That when he was acting without judgment, but just out of love, he was actually tapping into the nature of who we are when we're "back home."

Literal states of mind.

I pointed out that perhaps his brain was giving him a glimpse of another side of himself (and not what psychiatry might categorize as an illness.)  

In like form, adopting the tough guy persona was a way to deal with issues of the brain - and if someone could figure out to do that, how to actually get the brain to compartmentalize, or create partitions from the parts of it that cause problems (auto immune illnesses, viruses, OCD, things that occur as a result of certain pathways) then whoever figured out how to do that would win the Nobel Prize for medicine.

The seat of consciousness in Tibet, the Potala Palace

So let's look at some people who can do that.

Tibetan Monks for example. They've perfected the art of meditation in such a way as to change the body's reaction to pain, to cold, to any number of things that cause problems. (see "tummo" on youtube for examples.)  They've also perfected the meditation that directly affects the amygdala in the brain, which regulates serotonin release. (see Richard Davidson's work on it at the University of Wisconsin.)

Davidson with his pal HHDL

Davidson's work is monumental, because he shows that a single meditation session (and the one he used with Tibetan monks was "Tonglen" but a "non specific version" which he told me at a conference at UCLA years ago.)

What's a specific version of Tonglen?  I talk about it in "Flipside" and my other books. In essence it's imagining being a "mental physician" where you conjure up a vision of someone who is ill, you draw their illness into you as you breathe in, and then blast it with the "healing light of the universe" before you breathe the cured energy back into the patient. (In Richardson's study, he had the monks substitute the whole planet for a single individual - making it "non specific.")

But hang on.

So if its possible to mentally change the shape of the amygdala in one meditation session (according to Davidson's study) then that means that any one of us can do the same kind of work to change pathways in our brain.

You've heard of those cancer studies where a person helps the healing process by imagining a real "battle" against cancer cells.  I've heard the same from a doctor who talked about teaching his patients to imagine a "loving affection" towards cancer cells, to isolate and eliminate them using "love."  That doesn't mean that someone should stop doing traditional therapies - surgery, chemo, etc - but it does mean that there are ways that you can use your brain to affect healing.

No longer the lovable losers. They earned that.

It does mean that you can use your brain to change OCD behavior. It does mean that you can use your brain to eliminate phobias and other issues.

Because when you examine the mind more fully - you may find that the phobias are related to a past life experience - not a past life experience based on your DNA, as science is trying to prove that DNA has a "fear" memory - which may or may not be accurate, but is not necessarily the source of your fear - but being able to examine your previous lifetimes, and further, the life between lives, where you can access and understand all your lifetimes, and by doing so, pinpoint precisely when the phobia began, and more importantly...

Why you chose this lifetime to experience this phobia (again, or for the first time - it's really up to you.)  Why you chose this lifetime to experience this problem or dilemma, or illness, or whatever it is that's the stone in your path.  

It's hard to see that the stones in our paths turn to diamonds after we've overcome them.  And it's hard to see that we may appear to be "crushed" by the stone in our path - and it actually may be in a future lifetime that we've overcome them - we can't think of our lives in that fashion, that each one is part of the overall journey we've signed up to take.  That even the most difficult of stones, in this context, may be the stone we revisit over a couple of lifetimes in order to master it.

Which brings us back to states of mind.

If you can partition your mind to create a better happier healthier you - it doesn't mean you have to lose who you are to do so - it means that you've mastered the ability to see all your states of mind as what you've created to deal with your reality on a day to day basis.  And realizing that everything is part of your consciousness dealing with what's in front of you on a day to day basis, is a path to an enlightening way to view your journey on the planet.

N'est pas?

A Trip To the Council on the Flipside

That danged afterlife "council" again. Same council I report in "Flipside" and "Hacking the Afterlife" and visit LIVE ON AIR during my interview with Heather Wade on Art Bell's radio show last week. 

A council of my peeps in Ladakh

You don't need a Near Death Experience to get your life upright again. It helps but so does learning why you're here on the planet.


MAY 25, 2017
A Near-Death Survivor's Advice On Knowing What You Should Do With Your Life

Cherie Aimee

"I remember re-entering my body and finding myself in a hospital with a stiff and overbearing neck brace. I had just spoken to a “council” of six shadow figures, who told me I had more work to do in the world and asked me if I wanted to do it. I said yes, and was returned back to earth.

Hours earlier, I had been wakeboarding and hit a near-fatal wave that sent me to the hospital unconscious. What transpired when I was unconscious would dramatically shape the course of my life.

I experienced what scientists refer to as a “Near-Death Experience,” in which thousands of case studies report sensations of leaving their bodies, spending time in an otherworldly realm, meeting spiritual beings, and feeling a sense of connectedness to all things.

After my NDE, my sense of what mattered most in life was turned upside down. I used to wake up most mornings with a nagging sense that there was more I was meant to be doing with my life, without having any idea of how to do it.

Maybe you can relate to this nagging feeling or are like the 50% of other Millennials that want more direction in their lives.

While most of us will never experience an NDE—statistically they affect just 5% of the population—we can all gain value and perspective from those who live to tell about one. If you’re unsure about what you want to do with your life, NDE survivors can help shed light on what might be the right next step for you.

Meet Cherie Aimée, a fellow “NDEr” whose story is a well-known medical miracle to the world’s leading cardiothoracic surgeons. After dying in her husband’s arms, she sustained no heart beat for 90 minutes. Since then, she’s been interviewed by major news and TV networks, is a #1 bestselling author and an international motivational speaker, and has built a six figure company around living life with no regrets: Live Big Be Happy."

reprinted from Forbes Magazine: https://www.forbes.com/sites/julesschroeder/2017/05/25/a-near-death-survivors-advice-on-knowing-what-you-should-do-with-your-life/2/#f4f381c2722f

Here's Aimee talking about her experience.


What jumped out at me is this mention of meeting with her "council."

The question I have is "What council?"

Turns out, according to Michael Newton's career of writing about this "between lives" arena, we all have a council.  We meet with them prior to coming to our lives, and then upon our return, where they ask us "So? How did you do?"

They appear to serve as a kind of doctoral thesis panel - experts in their field who keep an eye on you and all your lifetimes, and show you images of what it is you did or experienced during your life that reflects what you "set out to do."

A little bit like Albert Brooks' film "Defending Your Life."




The council reference is consistent with the reports I've been cataloging for the past decade, that Michael Newton cataloged in his books for 30 years (Journey of Souls). 

Everyone - every single one of us - has a council, and we encounter them when we're off the planet - that could be because we've had a traumatic injury - a near death experience. 

Some people encounter that group with hallucinogens, some run into them through deep hypnosis hypnotherapy - and I've been showing people how you can access your own council without any drugs, hypnosis or meditation. And I did so on the radio show "Midnight in the Desert" with Heather Wade, and I visited my own council in the first of five between life sessions - which I filmed for "flipside" and transcribed the session for the books, which include "it's a wonderful afterlife" and "hacking the afterlife." 

The fact that Forbes would choose to print this - is because after her near death experience, it altered her business acumen, gave her insight to what she was doing on the planet, and made her life a more enjoyable adventure. That's not true with everyone who has a near death experience, but it is true with those who are able to remember, process, and eventually learn from the experience. Even the readers of Forbes.

There's a council story I mention in "flipside." 

When wrestler Dave Schultz was killed, his father's eulogy included the story when his son came to him as a little boy and asked if he could tell him a secret. His father, Philip said "sure, Dave." He said "I went to my council and asked them if I could teach a lesson in love." 

His dad asked who the council was. He told him "old men with white hair." His father said "and you came to teach a lesson in love?" Yes, his son said "but dad, I won't be here very long." I stumbled across this story printed in the Philadelphia newspaper account of the funeral. That wasn't an NDE or a hypnosis account but a memory of a young boy sharing a secret with his father - a story forgotten until his son was taken from him.

I've taken dozens of trips to visit councils.  My own I've visited twice in the five sessions I've done.  Not everyone visits their council in their near death experience, or in their between life hypnotherapy session.  I've found that if you can access some portion of your between life world - which apparently is accessible while you're fully conscious - you can ask your guide(s) to help you access your council.

And it's there where you begin to see who or what you are.

Don't take my word for it. Ask your council.