Here's the epilogue from my book "Flipside." Someone wrote to me and said "It's the most important thing that I've read in your books." Here's a reprint of that chapter. (Copyright 2011. Excerpt from "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife" by Richard Martini. Homina Publishing 2011. All Rights Reserved.)
EPILOGUE: "BE THERE NOW"
Warren Buffet, one of
the richest people on the planet, was interviewed recently about the secret to
his success. “Unconditional Love,” he
said, “the most powerful force on the planet.” His father had given him
unconditional love – it was a love that allowed him to fail, to get up and try
again.[1]
How does all of this
affect how we approach our own lives? If
we know energy lives forever, that our souls live forever, that we’re on the
journey we chose to be on, how does that help us “make it through the night?” In
an effort to connect some dots, please allow me to recap:
1. Souls don’t die.
We’ve been around for
millennia, our souls continue on for millennia. In between lives we are fully
conscious, with all of our memories intact. Yes, our bodies die, our loved ones
depart from us in this life. But we reconnect with them in the Afterlife.
2. After death we return to our soul group,
where we recognize those we’ve been reincarnating with for eons.
There’s anywhere from
3-25 people in our individual group and we usually plan our next life with
these same folks. We share laughs and
memories of the life just lived and eventually plot with them our next
adventure. We may even recognize them during this lifetime; usually identified
with the thought “I felt like I always knew this person the moment I met them,”
or “I knew we would marry.”
3. In between lives, we all have a life
planning session where we choose our
next life; we are able to pick and choose what kind of life we want to lead for
various reasons, as well as choose our parents.
“Why would I choose
those people who’ve made my life miserable?” is a familiar refrain. The answer
is that you chose them so that you could be where you are today. Either far,
far away from them - which is a gift in some cases, or their influence had
directly put you in the place you’re supposed to be on the planet. It puts a
different spin on your parents behavior when you consider you chose them
because of it. As well as why your own
children chose you.
4. We each have our own “council of elders”
who oversee our lifetimes, and engage
with us in Socratic debate about how we did.
Everyone has a
council of elders, and everyone goes to see them at least twice; once upon our
return so they can help assimilate all the lessons from that lifetime, and once
again just before we take another trip into human form. They don’t sit in
judgment; rather they help you discern your path. Usually there are 6-12 people on any given
council; it seems the younger souls have fewer.
5. No humans are born without a soul, and we
don’t arrive at our chosen body until the fourth month (or sometimes later).
Consciousness is
something we’ve retained from our life between lives. Some kind of veil, or
filter, prevents us from remembering those previous lives. However, through the
process of deep hypnosis, we’re able to bypass these filters and access these
previous memories. The idea that we
don’t join the body until the fourth month would be controversial to advocates
who believe life begins at conception. The
human animal life may begin at conception, but the spiritual life does
not.
6. We don’t
reincarnate as other animals.
Each species comes
back with in its own pantheon; i.e. birds of a feather, fish in the sea, and
animals on land can swap places with those in their group, but not within other
groups. To the concept of being reborn in a “lower life form” as a result of
negative karma - that’s not what is reported. All life forms are sacred; there
are no pejoratives when it comes to life.
However, its reported you can access your animal friends at any time in
the life between lives – they’re an energy pattern as well, and can spend hours
playing fetch once again.
7. When we return to our home base, with our
soul group, all actions and effects are
left behind - we return to a pure state where we enjoy a world without pain,
sin or suffering. There is no hell per se, nor a Satanic like region or
persona.
Those who’ve caused
pain, sin or suffering experience the pain they inflicted fully – as if they
were the person being hurt during their life review. Afterwards they may choose
(or it’s decided for them) to be isolated from others in order to learn from
their mistakes. There is no Satan or hell per se. Once you depart this plane, you no longer
have access to the negativity here, or those who might perpetrate it. (For
those Satanists out there, sorry, don’t mean to offend.) According to the
thousands who’ve journeyed into the afterlife, there’s no evil waiting for
us. But we may experience our own form
of hell based on how we’ve treated other human beings.
8. The process of reincarnation is planned by
us, not subject to karma, past mistakes, or past injustices. People choose to
be gay, choose to be crippled, or choose to be blissful depending on their spiritual
depth.
We don‘t travel up or
down in any fashion, going from peasant to rich person, or unhappy soul to
happy soul. Free will is the law of the
Universe, and it’s up to us who we want to return as, or even if we want to reincarnate. But inevitably, the pull of helping your
loved ones and friends, brings us back time after time. Our life choices are up
to us. That includes sexuality, physical
type, body shape, etc. We may choose to
struggle with these issues in order to progress spiritually, or to help those
around us to progress. Those who live on
the fringes of society are frequently older souls who chose to be there.
9. Bad experiences, including suicide, murder,
mayhem and other events are frequently worked out in advance, with the agreement
of all souls involved.
They claim there’s no
such thing as random violence. This may sound controversial, but according to
the research, pretty universal. When
examining a life between life session, we get an opportunity to see those
details, however heinous or upsetting, to be true.
10. Our friends in our soul group frequently
show up as pals in this life, relatives, brothers, sisters, loved ones or even
as adversaries.
As mentioned, Judas
claimed Jesus came to him and asked him to turn him over to the Romans as a
favor. “If you truly love me, you’ll do
this for me.” There are many reasons to
be on the planet, we benefit from all our own experiences, but the main role
might be one of servitude.
11. Our progression in the afterlife can be
charted, in part, based on what color we see ourselves as - the earlier souls
are closer to white, and through the spectrum, they wind up into the violet
realm. But there is no hierarchy.
As Jimmy Quast put
it; “No one gets to hoard the jelly beans.” The idea of someone being smarter,
better, richer, happier, more famous, more revered, more anything is just not
the case. You are the perfect self you’re meant to be. All paths are sacred,
and none is judged lesser than another. Just older.
12. We all have a soul, spirit guide or
“Guardian Angel,” sometimes more than one.
Every one of us has a
spirit guide who has agreed to watch over all of our incarnations. It gives new
meaning to the sacrifice one does at the service of others - can you imagine
becoming a mentor to a soul for all of their lifetimes? But the journey many of
us are on is to eventually be a guardian angel (spirit guide) for another soul;
no time like the present to start treating others like they might be a future
candidate.
13. All of
this movement and planning is based on energy.
Every thought,
action, word or deed contains it, every emotion as well. Treat it with sacred
intent, whether praying for deliverance, or to help another soul. If you think
it, believe it, pray for it, sing it, act it or create it, you’ve put that
personal energy out into the Universe. It can help, heal, or in negative cases,
harm others.
14. There are other Universes and places we can
reincarnate. Some religions have spoken of them, various planes in different
dimensions Religion is a construct that mirrors the afterlife.
Earth is the best
school, the best playground, the best place to advance our souls. “You’ll learn
more in one day of tragedy on Earth, then perhaps 5,000 years on another,
simpler planet,” according to one interview.
The argument has been raised, “There aren’t enough souls to reincarnate.
Where’d the new souls come from?” According to Newton’s patients, there are
other places to reincarnate and new souls are reportedly being born. When we
graduate from our many lifetimes, the graduation ceremony includes being
rewarded with (and offering to guide through many lifetimes) a new soul.
15. Love and compassion turn out to be not just
religious concepts, but words that explain how the Universe actually works;
from energy transfer to why we choose a particular life.
Love is the wheelwork
of nature, and that attraction and energy is what keeps us going. Compassion is
part of the fabric as it’s included in many examples of what we give our loved
ones by reincarnating by their side. The Golden Rule is actually golden for a
reason, because it represents how the Universe works. Loving your neighbor as
yourself, nature as yourself, your fellow beings on all levels as yourself,
turns out to be not only a spiritual maxim, but a physical one as well.
16. Religion is a man-made experience based on
our god like nature.
In light of this
research, world religions seem to be echoing the same thing; in the afterlife
we have eternal qualities, and experience a heaven-like state of bliss. And
while we’re on Earth, we try to recreate or relive that experience. One could say we’re “trying to get back to
the Godhead,” or “return to God.” They’re
the same. Was Jesus the son of God? Aren’t we all? Was Moses or Mohammed the chosen prophet?
Aren’t we all?
Oddly enough, the
angel Gabriel was the one who brought the word of God to the Prophet Mohammed
in a cave. He’s also the angel who brought news to Mary, and predicted the
birth of John the Baptist. Could they
all be the same Angel Gabriel? If he exists outside of time, why not? The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, had a
visitation from men “dressed in white” who dictated a vision of the afterlife
to him, L. Ron Hubbard believed he’d seen another planet from which we return to
Earth via Scientology. It seems they’re
all talking about the same thing when they refer to the Kingdom of Heaven or
even to Buddha’s journey on the night of his enlightenment to see
“non-reincarnating deities.”
Religion expresses the
inexpressible, examines the unexamined, and finds truth in the nature of all
things. Science aspires to take the same
journey, by making logical sense of what we are doing on the planet, how we got
here, and where we are going. For those
who believe that life ends in death, that’s not what’s reported. For those who think
the stress of this lifetime is based on karma from a previous one; that too
doesn’t bear up under this form of scrutiny. Forgiveness, compassion and love
for all people and things appears to be the universal law of the Universe.
17. We have both an animal ego and a spiritual
ego.
According to this
research, we started incarnating on Earth millennia ago. Perhaps when humans became upright or adept;
our spiritual energy melded with the human’s, and thus began consciousness. Perhaps
this event coincided with the formation of societies 60,000 years ago and is
our “missing link.”
Human life appears to
be an agreement between the animal and spiritual ego. That fact helps to underline why people act a
certain way, and could have a profound influence on the criminal justice system
– if a person is struggling in this life with animalistic tendencies is there a
way of examining a healing process that’s not “Clockwork Orange[2]”
but based on helping souls discover their purpose? As mentioned, in Holland, they’ve already [3]begun
to bring in psychics and past life regressionists to help cure career
criminals.
18. Curing and healing people is part of the
work done by others in the Afterlife.
People choose their
lifetimes before coming here to continue their work in a particular field. Musicians may return to further their music
knowledge, perhaps explaining child prodigies like Mozart and others. Doctors and Nurses are involved with healing
energy transfer, and may have had many lifetimes where they continued their
practice. Just the way Tibetan lamas
might spend a lifetime studying esoteric practices, and then remember them in
their ensuing lifetime, we can all tap into the knowledge of our previous
lifetimes to help with our current one.
19. There are no coincidences.
What appears to be a
matter of amazing coincidence, upon examination, turns out to be an incredible
planned sequence, like a complex 3D chess or “Second Life” game being played on
multiple planes where each move affects the other players. As a butterfly’s wings in a rain forest may
cause a hurricane in Asia, everything can be linked in cause and effect if one
looks long and hard enough. And by the way, is the reason you’ve picked up this
book.
20. You are doing pretty much what you set out
to do.
Time and again,
people report the spiritual journey they’re on was laid out in advance. This is
annoying for anyone with a remote control - we all have the inclination to
change the channel, to want to change our circumstance, get richer quicker -
but the answer is: “You’re doing fine, you’re on the right path, relax.” As
hard as your path may seem, you’re on it for a spiritual reason.
21. This research is the tip of the iceberg.
For those who are
interested in finding their soul’s purpose – the reason they chose to be here
on the planet – I can’t think of a more effective way.
Here’s some collected
insights from the therapists I interviewed:
People come in because there may be a relative who
recently died, or emotional trauma from losing a child. This work is not to
supplant therapy they should receive from a licensed trained professional; it’s
intended to provide them with answers about their inner being. One of the
things clients don't understand until they experience it is that there is a
dual nature to all of us. We have our brain ego if you will, and we have a soul
ego, and when they are combined it creates one personality and one lifetime. Michael Newton
Someone can have a strong religious belief that doesn’t
include reincarnation, but when you take someone through one of these sessions,
they have this mind boggling experience - it’s a visceral experience on a soul
and body level – they emerge knowing this to be true. It’s far beyond a concept
or belief. That’s profound. One other common occurrence is a feeling of
reconnecting to the whole. To know you and I are of the same essence makes it
much more difficult for me to cause you harm, because it’s harming me and the
whole as well. That’s a message for the entire planet; how we cause harm to
others. It’s more difficult to do knowing we are all the same. I’d love to see everyone have the opportunity
to go through one of these sessions.
It’s wonderful that it’s not a dogma, it’s not a religion, but it’s open
to everyone.
Paul Aurand
I believe we are spiritual beings that live on this
Earth. We’re not Earthly beings who happen to be spiritual, but the other way
around. So for me, this past life work, soulful work, is about that fact that
at our core, we’re this beautiful diamond and the mud that covers it are
experiences in other lifetimes we‘ve encountered. And we create these negative
beliefs we have about ourselves, whether it’s shame or self-hatred or
unworthiness, and sometimes we have to go all the way back to the beginning -
our past lives - to wash away the mud so we can uncover the beautiful diamond
we are. Until you get to the source of it, you‘re going to be in conflict with
nature until you find the source of the diamond within you. Debbie
Haynie
Always wisdom is uppermost in mind. We choose to
incarnate to harvest wisdom from the lifetime, to gain direct experience and
knowledge so that we are improved as beings, so that we are expanded as beings,
so that we have more wisdom, understanding and compassion. Colleen Page-Joy
There’s this very bright light everywhere I look; I’m
part of it. He’s showing me I’m part of a universal plan, I’m part of that
light and it’s everywhere, there’s nowhere in the universe there isn’t this
light. He says "That’s what you’re working with, keep it as part of you
and bring it back." We need to know
there’s nothing else but light and love. The work we’re doing (as
hypnotherapists) is about light, because it opens us up to understanding. We’re
on a mission to clarify and create more light and love and it’s available to
everyone; all we have to do is open ourselves to it. The light is clear and
cleansing, loving and peaceful. Eventually when we become light all the other
things go; sadness and such. It’s very healing. Morrin
Bass
To date it’s the single most important modality I can
offer anyone. It gives them a sense of their immortality, of the importance of
their life and journey, and it gives a sense of belonging to something greater
than themselves. It’s not a gifted psychic telling you who you are or what
you’ve been, or going to a “Channeler” to tell you your past and background;
it’s experiential, the clients become their own channel. After every single
client has an LBL, they aren’t the same – some part of them has changed in a
positive way and it’s a resource that remains for them long after their Life
between Lives journey is complete. Chanda Nancy
Berlatsky
I think traditional belief systems are breaking down all
over the world; people are looking for something more, for a greater
understanding of themselves, rather than being told by other people what to
believe. If you can look at what you have within, that’s got to be the real
stuff because it’s your own. If you can tap into that, have access to that, it’s
very empowering. The world is picking up pace and if we can have something
that’s centering, like an awakening and understanding of your immortal
identity, that seems to be the most centering you could ever have. The more
people discover the beautiful compassion and wisdom we hold within, that’s got
to be good for the planet. Peter
Smith
A CALL TO ARMS
(EMBRACING ONES)
Imagine if one day
scientists, doctors, philosophers could all do life between life classrooms?
People who understand physics could learn from the classes on energy transfer,
doctors could sit in on classes about the healing light of the Universe;
philosophers could examine and ask questions about this other, primary world
that would benefit our current one. Religious leaders could clarify what their
purpose on the planet is, and why they chose a life to help people spiritually
(if they haven’t already). It could cause advancements in human science,
psychology, medicine, conservation as well as in renewable energy and its
resources, as well as helping humanity to fulfill its purpose.
Those who take a
journey into this other world, come away from it profoundly changed. They start to see the many connections their
lives have to offer - whether how a childhood friend first put you on your pathway,
or how a sense of knowing someone from the past can be achieved by merely
shaking someone’s hand. As Paul Aurand put it “hard for me to want to harm you
when I see how we’re all spiritually connected.”
People under hypnosis
say they discover the Universe is run on “love;” failing another word in the
English language, it’s the best they can find to describe it. Love is the ether that bonds the universe,
the gravity or hidden dark matter that binds all elements together. A sea of atoms of energy particles we
navigate every day, but its pulse, its heart, is love – towards our fellow
humans, towards nature, towards the planet, towards the universe. It’s been echoed in all the great tales of
literature, of myth and legend, throughout our time together on the
planet. We’ve become used to our belief
science can solve the problems of humanity, when actually the true force that
can solve the problems of the planet is our willingness to participate in the
love we all innately have for it and each other.
And this applies to
every curmudgeon you’ve ever met, every cranky, unhappy, miserly person – once
they’re off the planet, they return to their blissful selves, where they get
the opportunity to see how connected we all are, and how they’ve missed the
golden opportunity to revel and enjoy life from a compassionate point of view.
Someone asked Michael
Newton why he thought this information was becoming evident now - the question
begs to be asked; for all the years we’ve had civilization on the planet, why
reveal it now?
He doesn’t know the
answer. Perhaps this information has
always been accessible; we didn’t have the ability to decipher it. Perhaps it’s the abuse of drugs and
pharmacological “cures” that change the course of one’s soul path, perhaps
people in the afterlife are trying to warn us.
I think it may be to
convince people that reincarnation does exist, and therefore, we must protect the
planet for our return. The interview with the gentleman who said he was a
“hybrid” – someone who incarnates on another planet as well as Earth – claimed
he and his fellow hybrids have come here to enhance people’s
consciousness. (I jokingly asked him
when I met him for lunch, if it wasn’t “To Serve Man,” a reference to the infamous
Twilight Zone episode where the textbook aliens left behind turned out to be a
cookbook. He laughed.) But according to
his interview, over the next seven years, consciousness will change on Earth. Whether true or not, the future depends on a
multitude of factors; of chess games and our spirit guides controlling the
board.
The internet has
connected us in ways we never thought possible - which mirrors the afterlife in
the connections we already have, spiritually, energetically, between ourselves.
The phenomenon of social networks is that they mirror the life between lives;
we’re all connected, can reach anyone anywhere at any time.
The ability to retain
information in a computer mirrors our ability to retain information. The transference of energy through ones and
zeroes mirrors the transference of energy that occurs on a daily, or moment to
moment basis. Is it possible that consciousness, or the spirit world is the
same? That we carry engrams of energy around with us, like hard drives floating
in the ether of space, so we can refer to past lives and experiences?
I got a text the
other day from a friend who was sitting in “Les Deux Magots” café in Paris,
when he chatted up the leggy singer sitting at the next table. The conversation drifted around to past life
regression, and she said “You should talk to my friend Rich Martini.” Turns out
my two friends, both New Yorkers, had found themselves next to each other
discussing the very topic of this book.
I hope it engenders more meetings of the heart, and spirit.
I had a vision while
working long hours on the film “Salt.” I
had been away from my family for a number of months, and I seriously doubted
the sanity of working such long hours on someone else’s creative endeavor. And then I had this vision of an orphanage in
Cambodia.
Angelina Jolie
supports an orphanage in Cambodia, and last year, she and her partner Brad Pitt
donated seven million dollars to charity.
I saw my vision as a way of making a connection between the long hours
working on the film and the feeding of starving children that would result from
her donations. Still, didn’t make me miss my family any less. But then a few
nights later, I had another vision that clarified this previous one. I saw into the future a young boy on the streets
of India, a beggar, selling an illegal copy of “Salt” in a back alley. I saw how the few rupees from that sale went
to feeding his family living out of box behind him. And in that visual, I saw that the creative
energy of filmmaking, the wheelwork of commerce, of life itself, benefits people
in ways we can’t fathom.
Because it was an
illegal copy, it allowed me to see the energy involved had nothing to do with
creating wealth; rather, the energy was like a giant Tesla coil reaching people
in ways I couldn’t predict. All our endeavors spread out like an energy wave
through the universe, helping people we’ll never see.
Is life designed in
advance? Are we all part of some elaborately plotted mini-series that runs
every waking moment? Does it really
matter one way or the other? We’re on
the planet for a reason, we have roles to play, we might as well play them as
well as we can. However, that doesn’t prevent me from perennially rooting for
the Cubs.
When I was in high
school, my art teacher told me I should be a painter, my acting teacher told me
I should pursue a career in acting, and my football coach pulled me aside and
told me I should coach football. When I mentioned this to Olivia she said “But
you did none of those things!” and I said, “Actually, becoming a film director
allowed me to do all three; paint with words and light, I usually appear in my
films, and directing is coaching others into doing their best work.” I can point to my own journey to say it
appears I’m doing what I set out to do.
When I underwent my
session, the world altered for me; if you’d like to try it, I recommend
searching for the right hypnotherapist, trained by TNI if you’d like to visit
previous lives and between lives.
(There’s a list of Michael Newton trained hypnotherapists at
newtoninstitute.org).
Take a yoga class,
learn how to meditate. Whatever gets you
into the mindset is the right modality for you. As Pete Smith said, “Whatever
book I need to find today, let it come to me” and he picked up Newton’s
“Journey of Souls.” Trust in your higher self to guide you to the right
material for you – after all, let’s give him or her credit for guiding you to
this one.
Once you’ve taken the
trip it’s like opening a gateway and other bits of information flow freely,
information that seems to come directly from the Great Beyond; the ability to
see why you chose your parents, your life situation, and to be able to further
examine your soul’s purpose. You see how
we’re all connected; energetically, spiritually – and those people putting
stones in your path may be doing so at your request to experience a problem or
pain, and learn from it spiritually. What better way to take the reins of life
than to understand the truth of why you chose it?
My journey was
complete; Luana mused she was going to another galaxy; I was able to find that
galaxy, and to take a couple of mind bending trips to see her. She spoke to me in both of my sessions – each
time in her unique voice. As mentioned, whether one believes they’re seeing
their loved one or not is beside the point, they have the profound experience
of actually doing so.
And one final word
from Luana. Recently, her old friend and
one time paramour Dennis Hopper passed away.
At her funeral, he sent the second largest bouquet of flowers I’d ever seen
in my life. (The other was from Jack Nicholson, and stood opposite the one from
Dennis.) When he passed away recently, I started to wonder if the two met up,
but before the thought was fully formed in my head, I heard Luana say “He’s
here with me now.” Then I saw an image
of him, as a young man, about 20, and there was a golden light coming from
within him, pouring out of him like light rays.
I heard him say “This is amazing, man,” in the way that only Dennis
Hopper could say it. I then heard Luana
say, clear as a bell; “He’s my golden boy.”
Final thought; my
daughter and I were discussing God the other day – she’s 7, I’m 56. We agreed upon “God is the mechanism by which
we perceive the Universe – not a person, actually. We are all part of the
mechanism that is God – the higher energy source for all things. That’s why
people say God is love, because God
represents the unfathomable engine that creates and anchors the love between
all of us.”
See you on the flipside.
Audible Audiobook – Unabridged
