Luana Anders speaking from the flipside

Speaking of Luana

Luana portrait by Monte Hellman

Luana Anders popped onto my facebook page this morning. 

Could have been an algorithm, could have been because Jennifer and I were chatting with her YESTERDAY.  

Jennifer Shaffer and I meet up weekly, I film our interviews, and for fans of our work, Luana is the "holder of the backstage pass" (as dubbed by Tom Petty during a session) that allows us to speak to various individuals who still want to communicate with their pals back on the planet.  (If I know the family of the person involved, I reach out to them the best that I can, if I don't, I'll post something on their instagram page or social media page, figuring if their loved one on the flipside has the ability to tap their shoulder, they'll point to it and say "that's from me.")  

If they don't see it, or don't believe it, that's fine - as I'm fond of saying "Not everyone signs up for a lifetime where they know how the play ends."  It's okay to believe that life ends at death, but as Harry Dean Stanton said to us (in the 2nd chapter of the first book) "Believe in the possibility of an afterlife, then you won't spend any time like I did arguing about it."

(Harry had a number of verifying, validating things he said during his interview, which has been mentioned here in earlier posts, but suffice to say, I knew him, knew who he was talking about, and the friends he asked me to reach out to, all were going through exactly what he observed from the flipside.) 

In honor of those we've chatted with I try my best to let their loved ones know they AREN'T GONE, THEY'RE JUST NOT HERE. They still exist, albeit on a different wavelength but still want to stay in touch with them. (We were given a simple formula for folks to use on their own; 1. Say their name. 2. Ask your questions 3. When you hear the answer before you can form the question you'll know you have a connection. (I'm told saying their name, looking at a photograph, listening to their voice is a way of "strengthening the signal.") 

In honor of Luana and her continuing help with navigating the flipside, here's the Foreword from our book "Backstage Pass to the Flipside; Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer."  Might as well have Luana's name in the title - she's doing the same work that Jennifer is doing, only on the other side.   



FOREWORD FROM 

"Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer" by Luana Anders
  

My and Luana in Rome, laughing and having cappuccinos. For fans of "Flipside"
this is the photo that was on my fridge when James Van Praagh said live on air
on the Charles Grodin show "You have a photograph on your refrigerator that is the
essence of your relationship" - the same words I said when I put it up after her passing.

"Forewords are an unusual introduction to the material inside a book. In “Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife” Harvard PhD Gary Schwartz offered to write the foreword, where he said that “self science” was something Einstein had done, and he felt my “journey into the Flipside” should be considered as part of that canon.

In “It’s a Wonderful Afterlife volume one” Charles Grodin suggested in his foreword that he didn’t quite know what to make of my forays into the afterlife but enjoyed my passion for them. In Volume two, Galen Stoller, a young man who passed away some years ago wrote an eloquent foreword from where he is now, detailing what he wanted to impart about the journey. “It is a wonderful afterlife,” he wrote (via a medium), “but only because “it is wonderful to be alive.”

I suggested my pal and compatriot in this endeavor medium/intuitive Jennifer Shaffer should write the foreword, as she’s the conduit for this research. But while we were discussing this, Luana Anders, my friend and inspiration for this journey (who passed in 1996 after our being best friends for 20 years), suggested (through Jennifer) that she wanted to write her own foreword to this book.

(Note: Luana, besides being an actress who appeared in 30 features (including “Easy Rider”) also appeared in 300 TV shows. Her film writing credits include “Fire On The Amazon” and “Limit Up” written with yours truly.) At some point in this book, she suggested I try “automatic writing.” I sat in front of the keyboard, put my fingers on the keys and thought; “Type whatever comes to mind.” I opened myself up to the possibility I could write something on her behalf:)

Tom Pittman who took this photo, was an actor and contemporary of Luana's, but died in a car
accident like James Dean - Tom was wearing the same jacket and driving the same
Porsche as Dean when they found him up on Mulholland Drive in the 60's.

“First, let me be clear. Richard is not talking through me. I am talking to him through Jennifer (usually). She does her best to make it easy for him to understand what I’m trying to say, and I’m doing my best to make it easier for him to understand. But it is leaning in from both sides.

(Note: Like the 11:11 example Luana cites later in the book.)

At the moment, Richard is typing this sentence and has put his mind on virtual hold (he claims it’s a meditation technique) to allow “me” to take over his typing. Some people call this “automatic writing.” Doesn’t mean it’s any good. It just means it’s automatic. No brain stem involved.

I’d would like to point out that chanting “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo”* saved my life. I know that Richard used to tease me about it, make fun of it – and I’m grateful for that because it allowed me to laugh about it as well.

(Note: Luana would do her “daimoku” (“Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” prayer) in the car on the way to an event. She’d chant at lightning speed, decades of practice, which sounds a bit like “homina homina munya homina.” I would imitate her and she couldn’t help but laugh. Chanting helped her navigate her fear of parties. Luana was an incredible listener, and on more than one occasion, I’d leave her for ten minutes at some tony event, come back to find a close friend sobbing, pouring out his/her life to her. She had incredible compassion, even as a listener.) (*SGI/NSA Buddhist chant.) (You can see her chant in the film "The Last Detail" in a scene with Randy Quaid.)

But it saved my life. I never would have made it as long as I did on the planet without being able to focus on something else so dear to me. Saving humanity by chanting about it. If you’re not familiar with it, if you’re suffering, I recommend it as a form of meditation and healing. You pray for someone else and you are healed. Simple as that.

I suggested that I write the foreword to this book because after all, much of it is about me – and I have little to say in the matter. Believe me, it was as shocking to me as it was to my class to have him (Richard) appear as he did – willy nilly – in front of my classroom over here. He just started speaking out loud as if was completely normal that some ghostly avatar would appear in front of our class and start blathering away about his “research.” **

(**Note: It was during my first deep hypnosis session where I found myself standing in her classroom, interrupting it. Everyone turned in shock as I appeared. She looked at me as if to say “WTF?” She looked about 20 years younger than when I knew her – at least 10 years before I met her. She looked embarrassed to see me standing in the class talking – but I continued to speak. (as reported in Flipside))

But I applaud him for it. He’s got cojones this boy. I can call him a boy – because I know him better than most. He’s endearing... to me and to others. But at his core, he’s that little boy that I’ve known for a long, long time.

Me and Luana around the time we met at USC
assigned to the same screenplay for a script class.

It’s important work that he is doing, important work that he and Jennifer are doing. To help us communicate with all of you back there on the planet, and to open up people’s minds about the ability to do so. It’s happened not because of any great cataclysmic event that’s in the offing – it’s happening because it’s time. It’s time to shift consciousness, to shift gears to understand the nature of reality.

It’s going to upset some people, but we’re on top of that as well. It’s going to liberate most people. Help most people. And ultimately turn out to be completely accurate when others figure this process out.

Some may ask “Why now?” Some may ask “Is this a good thing to do to communicate with our elders and loved ones who’ve gone on?” Well, we still have things to communicate to you, we still have thoughts, dreams, feelings and hope for humanity – because we consider ourselves part of your journey as well. You may not think of us that way – but we think of you that way.

So please, allow me to offer this small token of appreciation for the fellow who is typing this sentence. Yes, you are a goofball Richard, you are someone that has vexed and frustrated me during my life, but also during other lifetimes.

But you also taught me how to laugh, how to let go, and how to be more of myself while I was on the planet. I know what my path was about, I know why I had to depart early – eventually you’ll come to know these reasons as well. Suffice to say it’s okay not to “know everything” or “why everything happens” but it is good to trust in the idea that they do “happen for a reason.”

And let’s focus on that for a moment – “focus on reason.” What is reasoning? Taking the evidence presented in front of us, and trying to figure out what it means and how it can help me in my journey. We reason things out because that’s what we do with our minds... we also can go “beyond reason” and allow things to happen to us, or for us... and that’s how I want you to consider what you’re about to read. That this goes “beyond reason.” And there’s a reason for that as well.

Circa Dementia 13 in the 1960's.

Okay, I’m telling Richard to stop now – and to let our mutual friend Jennifer go over this text and see what “resonates” or rings true for her. After all – it’s those “feelings of resonance” when we get a shiver of truth, or when we get a feeling that we’re actually learning or talking about something that’s beyond our logic and thought, beyond our mind... that we truly are able to learn things... about the nature of reality and about the nature of ourselves. I’m fortunate because Richard can type at the speed of thought – I’m watching him do this as we speak, and I suggest a plethora of ideas and he’s able to blast them onto the page.

One more thing about love. I love you all. I’m not just saying that as a phrase – but I want you to really feel what I’m saying. I LOVE YOU. I send my heart and soul and unconditional love to you who are reading this sentence. I hope and pray that you receive this love because love is what moves this universe, it is the giant engine of who we are, it’s what or who God is, it’s what or who we are. If you can wrap your mind around love – that’s great – if you can’t, that’s okay too, just open your heart up to the idea of it.

Love yourself. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Love the idea of love, of creating love, or spreading love of being loved and giving it in return. That’s about all I have to say on the topic except... “See you on the flipside.” (To quote a corny phrase too often used by a close friend of both of ours.)

PS: (It’s) Just a few days after my birthday – I would have been xxx age in your realm – but over here – not such a big deal. Which I prefer. Enjoy the cake."

Written (as if channeled) by Luana Anders (Foreword from "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Medlyn Shaffer")

Here's Luana with Mick Gough when
they did Broadway together in the 1960's.

We spoke to this pal of hers yesterday. Michael Gough (original Batman's butler)
Luana and I went to see Mick in "Breaking the Code" on Broadway,
on our way backstage to find him, we walked across the pitch black stage
and stumbled into him. This photo taken a few minutes later.

Happy New Year 2019!!!!

Happy New Year. It's the flipside of 2018, so to speak. When I think of all the odd things I've learned this year about the flipside, I can only say "It's all gonna be... okay. Just let go." As Paul's mother Mary told him from the flipside; "Let it be."

Photo by RJ Martini

Let go of fear, anger, resentment, all the stuff that holds you back from being what you signed up to be. To laugh, to love, to cry, to taste love and give love. It's hard when the rain is falling to know there's sunshine on the other side of the clouds - but if you could hear what I've heard, seen what I've seen, spoken to the people that we've spoken to (Happy New Year my cellphone-to-the-Flipside Jennifer Shaffer!) you'd breathe a little easier, laugh a little longer. Take up meditation. It cures or alleviates depression.

Yes, we are only here for a short amount of time - and yes, we don't end, we just find ourselves on a new adventure. But that doesn't negate or change any of the amazing fun we've had here, can have here, or why we chose to participate in this adventure. We are all connected, all of us on both side of the fence or wall, on both sides of the aisle, on all the continents, all of us in a quantum way - we can't see it, but we can feel it - if you're still breathing you're still feeling. Spend a minute opening your heart up to everyone and all things - if only for a a few seconds.

As Harry Dean Stanton told us (from the Flipside) "Believe in the possibility of an afterlife, because then you won't spend any more time arguing about it like I did." If you open yourself up to the possibility that you are here for a reason, that maybe you chose to be here - you'll see the planet from new eyes. By going into your past and examining why you chose it, you change your present and you change your future.

You can change the past, you can change the present, you can change the future by examining it. (Once examined, you can't unlearn what you've learned.) And it leads to hope and understanding that change is not only inevitable, but part of our plan, our path, our journey. You don't have to walk around with your heart open all day long - or head in the afterlife - or even wonder what you were thinking when you chose to be here - but if you can think about it for a minute, as it will change everything you thought you once knew.

By wishing happy new year to those you love, to those you have loved, to those on the planet, to those no longer here, but who want to stay involved in your life by having you read this missive - it's like they're tapping you on the shoulder right this very moment. "Yes. We still love you. We are still here."

The best gift we learned in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer" was in order to speak to a loved one, 1. just say their name. 2. Then ask them questions. 3. When you "hear the answer before you can form the question you'll know you have a connection."


Backstage Pass

That's not my theory, belief or opinion - I filmed that advice coming directly from someone no longer on the planet who claims he's helping those over there "stay in touch with all of us." Now you know what I know. For more odd thoughts in 2019 c'mon back here to www.richmartini.com



the books are in kindle, audible and paperback

Memoriam for John Lennon and How Music is a Time Machine

It's the day after that memorial day - 38 years later.  I must admit, I've become more of a fan of John in the past five years than I was before - listening to his work.  I had always been a fan of Paul's work, and his post Beatles work, but John had seemed distant to me.  Not anymore.

Borrowed from a mutual fan

About 20 years ago, I was in Cannes at the festival hanging out on Hugh Hefner's yacht. (funny sentence that.)  

And I ran into Julian Lennon who had appeared in my film "Cannes Man" (It became my film, I was in it, but the director was fired and I was asked to finish it - and I said "well, if I can get a free trip to Cannes I will.")  So the following Cannes I was promoting it, walking up to people who had been filmed in it earlier (scenes in Cannes were shot by Dean Lent, directed by Susan Shapiro based on Seymour Cassel's (Dennis Hopper, Malkovitch) or Francesco Quinn's (Johnny Depp) relationship with celebs and I would say "Hey, I directed you in a film but we haven't met."  

The sentence is funny - because there's a story along with it, and I always had a compliment for them, even though many have never seen the film (but it is a funny film).  

In this case, on Hefner's boat, I saw Julian. We chatted, had some laughs, at some point, generous lad that he is, invited me with his pals to head back to Monte Carlo where we wound up jamming at a bar - he sang "Sweet Home Chicago" and I played in on piano.  I was trapped in Monte Carlo, no trains back to Cannes, so Julian generously offered his couch.

It was there about 6 in the morning someone shouted in my ear.  "Who the fuck are you?"  I jumped up, looked around, no one was there. Then I recognized the voice.  I looked around. "Hey dude, I'm just crashing here, I'll be gone come sunlight."  I couldn't tell this to his son - because I hadn't done any of the research at this point.  "Hey dude, yer dad woke me up last night. You gotta fix that alarm clock, okay?"

Some twenty years later, driving to see Jennifer Shaffer, as you'll hear below, I decided to try an experiment - if I knew Julian, would that help make a connection to his dad's frequency on the flipside?  Or not?


Here's an insightful interview where he refers to John as a phantom limb.

This interview with James is revealing, especially to hear that the creep who shot John had assaulted James the day earlier.  Just flat out reminds you how things work, and from hindsight, 38 years later, how tragic that moment was.

Julian founded an organization called the "White Feather Foundation."  The story behind it has a flipside element; he said that his dad once said to him, "If anything ever happens to me, I'll reach out to you from the other side via a white feather." 


While touring with his band in Australia, Julian got a phone call from the front desk of his hotel saying "There's a fellow here to see you."  He went downstairs to meet this aboriginal chief, who said "We need your help getting fresh water."  He said that he had come to ask Julian for help in getting fresh water to his people - and Julian said he'd help, and the chief gave him a white ostrich feather.  Hence the name.

Fans of "Backstage Pass to the Flipside: Talking to the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer" may be aware that in book two, Jennifer and I interview John.

I was driving to Jennifer's office where I film our conversations, and on the way there, I thought "Well, I wonder if it's possible to talk to John."  

So I said his name aloud.

When I got to Jennifer's office, I say "I asked a few people to come here today" and she said "Why do I get the image of John Lennon?"

I said "Well, I invited him, that's why."

I started to ask him the normal questions; "Who was there to greet you when you crossed over? Describe the process to us..." and she said "Hold on a second.  I'm flustered. I can't believe in my own mind that we are talking to John."

He said that he was greeted on the flipside by an experience.  He said he found himself walking onstage at Madison Square Garden.  I asked him who was on stage with him, or if he was solo.  He said, "Jimi Hendrix led me on stage.  And there was a band."  I asked Jennifer to describe the band, and she said "I want to say Led Zeppelin, but I know they're all still here."

I asked him what song they performed. Jennifer made a face and said "Excuse me?"  She said "He's showing me a pair of shoes. Blue shoes."

I laughed. (Later, I looked up "Blue Suede Shoes" and saw that both Jimi and John had recorded versions of it (John's with Yoko, live.))




 I asked"So why did you play an old Carl Perkins tune?" (Not knowing he'd recorded it earlier). He said "I figured it was a song everyone in the band knew."

I asked him "When did you realize that you were no longer alive, and on the flipside?"  He said it was "seeing young girls in the audience jump up and down, but suddenly they didn't look real, they looked alien.  And then I heard Yoko's voice..." (That would be the voice of her screaming for help back at the scene of the event.)  

He also said that he'd known Yoko in other lifetimes, and described one of them. "We found each other again."

He said a number of things about his life and journey after that moment.  As we learned, people on the flipside consider the day you cross over as a "birthday of sorts" - like a birth into this new realm (for that particular lifetime) so it's John's 38th birthday (yesterday.)

I was driving around Santa Monica and had a desire to stop at McCabe's Guitar shop.  It's a guitar shop with an ocean of guitars on the walls, beautiful tone, beautifully tuned, and you can take any of them down and play.  

So I pulled one off the wall and played and sang "Rocky Raccoon" in John's honor, facing a wall, and turned around to find I had an audience of two.  We talked about John's influence on music, on life, and about the idea that music never dies, nor does it age.  

"Funny how just playing a song takes a person back to the moment when they first learned that song." 

Music is a time machine.

I had the impression I should tell these fellows - "think of Music Every Day - it's the MED in medicine."  Don't quite know where that thought came from, but I said it. "Play music every day. It's the Music Every Day of medicine."

Earlier in the day, as I was waking up (not realizing it was the anniversary of John passing, but fully aware that I'd been "chatting" with him the past few weeks, snippets of things with Jennifer Shaffer) and I turned my cell on and there was someone who'd posted this tribute to him:


Tribute John Lennon - Imagine - Strawberry Fields in Central Park from Luthier on Vimeo.

And I started to write something about this amazing song...  "Imagine."

And while I was typing, I realized - wait a second... this song, the lyrics fit what the flipside is described as by thousands of people.  "A place without any hierarchy," and everyone has a "sense of brotherhood" and "unconditional love."

He may as well have been singing it from the Flipside.

I'm not trying to sell a book here, or sell anyone on the idea that I can talk to John, or even that Jennifer and I together can talk to him.  What we hear consistenly in these reports is that "anyone can talk to anyone."  The trick is to be open to the answer.  Anyone can do it - just ask your beloved some questions you don't know the answer to. When you "hear the answer before you can form the question you'll know you're connected." (A quote from Michael Newton on the flipside in book one of "Backstage Pass to the Flipside." Later, I asked John what he wanted to add to an interview I was doing with someone else and he told Jennifer "No more guns.")

My post on facebook about "Imagine:"

"Imagine that our loved ones are not gone. 
Imagine that they're still accessible and have the desire to stay in touch with us. 
Imagine that we all have the ability to communicate with them, we just need to alter our frequency. 
Imagine they're a butterfly who has not left, but transformed from a chrysalis. 

Imagine they're "back home" where there is "no country," "no religion," "no hunger" no guns, everyone living life in peace. 
A life that's different but more connected, filled with unconditional love. 

"Imagine the possibility of an afterlife is true, then you won't spend any more time arguing about it." (Quote from the late Harry Dean Stanton in "Backstage Pass to the Flipside" Book One) 

John described accurately what thousands claim about the flipside, not life "after," but life as it continues. 
I did not realize it until I began to type this tribute. Imagine that.

(But I do now.  And I've passed it along to you.)

This insight courtesy Luana Anders, Jennifer Shaffer, who insist we continue to speak with our loved ones no longer playing the role of caterpillars in the play we're currently performing...

  #johnlennon #notgonejustnothere