Meanwhile, here's the new book talk. Enjoy!
Tuesday
Sunday
Prayers for our friend Sajjad (Jim)
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| Jim and Olivia. "There you go." |
Later Jim opened his own Quiznos in greater Chicago - it was a giant step forward for his family and his future, but because of a number of reasons, not much parking, bad location, it didn't work out for him. So he had to take two jobs, and was working full time for his wife and beautiful daughter when the stroke hit.
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| Jim and his daughter Nadia at Quiznos |
Needless to say, he's been thrown for a loop.
I'm doing what I can from Santa Monica to keep up his spirits. He called the other day, deeply depressed at his current situation, as he felt he was driving his dear wife and daughter to distraction with all the care that's needed. I suggested that he needed some kind of mental exercise to keep his mind fit - to keep it off the situation he's currently in and to help him in general. I was talking to him about meditation - and an image popped into my head, and I suggested that we play a full cricket match together.
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| Jim and my mom. She adored Jim. |
Now I don't know the first (or last thing) about cricket. I do know that when I was at a cricket match with my friend, the Australian film director Phillip Noyce, I turned to see tears in his eyes. I said "What's wrong?" He said "As a little boy growing up in Australia I would listen to these games on the radio, played in this far off exotic place called the West Indies. And now here I am." I never met a truer cricket fan. Until I met Sajjad.
When he was working for my dad, he told me he was taking a class in public speaking to help him communicate. Tall, handsome, with a quick wit and easy laugh, I was surprised he became tongue tied in public. He was taking a course in speech giving, and I suggested talking about something he loved; cricket. He took at bat down to the class and gave his impassioned speech about a game he loved. It gave him the confidence to be able to pursue his dream of owning his own business.
So when I suggested a meditation, I said "Why don't we play a cricket match together? You supply the players, pick each one - and you'll imagine each and every pitch." He said he could do that. We chose a stadium. Lords in London. He began to choose my team for me.. and his own for him. We started off in the match.. and seven hours later, he called to tell me, sadly, that I had lost.
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| Former Cricket player & film director Phillip Noyce |
"That's not fair!" I protested that I had lost the match. I contacted Phillip to ask him for a couple of imaginary players to be added to my imaginary team; he gave me two historic players; Don Bradman, the greatest Aussie batsman of all time, and Shane Warne who can really throw a "wrong 'en." (Which I guess is a bit like throwing a googli, another throw I've heard of, yet have no clue how to do it.)
Anyways, our teams are below, and the next match is Monday. If you're moved by Jim's passion or plight, please don't hesitate to write a reply to this post, I'll pass along the messages to him. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE "JIM FUND" - follow the link, and I will see that he gets every penny.
Our two teams:
"The Mighty Martinis"
Ricky Ponting
Adam Gilchrist
Sachin Tandulkar
Ian Botham
Imran Kahn
Malcolm Marshall
Shane Warner
Don Bradman
3 substitutions
Sajjid Hussain's team: The Bulls
Chris Gayle
Sir Viv Richards
Kieron Pollard
Bob Willis
Martin Crowe
Majid Kahn
Waqar Younis
Rajid Latif
3 alternates.
score of the first match: 283 (Bulls won).
second match 262 Martinis won. (Bulls scored 215 but Martinis bat first)
Tuesday
#1 in its genre at Amazon!!!!
FLIPSIDE
Hit #1 at Amazon in its genre. They put up a little banner flag thingie. Open up the champagne. I mean prosecco. Va bene!
http://www.amazon.com/s/
THANK YOU dear reader.
I know that you've come to this material, to this research for a variety of reasons...
Sometimes its from the pain of losing a loved one.
Sometimes its from experiencing unexplainable events in your life.
Sometimes its from fear of the unknown - and trying to find out what is known.
I am not a scientist. I am not a philosopher. I am not a new age guru. I'm a film guy.
But I am a curious fellow. And for that reason, I began making a documentary about the topic, and once I was in over my head....
I couldn't stop.
After filming hours of between life sessions - sometimes six hours at a time - I realized I either had to edit this footage into a miniseries...
Or publish a book.
Publishers laughed.
Literally. "very funny, but we aren't publishing memoirs at this time."
Memoir? I'm talking to people who show evidence that there's life after death. A memoir?
Oh, ok. So I cut out half the chapters, and just focused on the transcripts of the book and how I came to them. And in between my musing about what the heck that all might mean.
I'm glad it's helping folks. I take no credit whatsoever for reporting what I'm hearing from people under deep hypnosis about the Afterlife. I take credit for noting that it didn't matter who was under hypnosis - THEY WERE ALL SAYING THE SAME THINGS ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE.
No matter who the therapist was.
That was worth writing about.
So thank you from the bottom of my heart - but more importantly, thank those folks who let me report on their very personal, very profound journeys into the afterlife.
Now where's the Prosecco?
Rich
Hit #1 at Amazon in its genre. They put up a little banner flag thingie. Open up the champagne. I mean prosecco. Va bene!
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| Hanging with my Peeps in Ladakh |
Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife by Richard Martini (Dec 13, 2012)
- $0.99 Kindle Edition
- Auto-delivered wirelessly
$14.99$11.73 Paperback- Order in the next 3 hours and get it by Wednesday, May 29.
- (49)
- Books: See all items
http://www.amazon.com/s/
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| The world's best person at saying Thank You photo courtesy Brian Kistler (Visions of Tibet) |
I know that you've come to this material, to this research for a variety of reasons...
Sometimes its from the pain of losing a loved one.
Sometimes its from experiencing unexplainable events in your life.
Sometimes its from fear of the unknown - and trying to find out what is known.
I am not a scientist. I am not a philosopher. I am not a new age guru. I'm a film guy.
 |
| Shooting a doc in Casablanca |
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| Author & Robert Thurman in his class at Columbia U |
But I am a curious fellow. And for that reason, I began making a documentary about the topic, and once I was in over my head....
 |
| With Robert Towne, Caleb Deschanel, "Personal Best" |
I couldn't stop.
After filming hours of between life sessions - sometimes six hours at a time - I realized I either had to edit this footage into a miniseries...
Or publish a book.
Publishers laughed.
Literally. "very funny, but we aren't publishing memoirs at this time."
 |
| For the Memoirs. Author at 23. |
Memoir? I'm talking to people who show evidence that there's life after death. A memoir?
 |
| With my peeps in Moscow |
I'm glad it's helping folks. I take no credit whatsoever for reporting what I'm hearing from people under deep hypnosis about the Afterlife. I take credit for noting that it didn't matter who was under hypnosis - THEY WERE ALL SAYING THE SAME THINGS ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE.
No matter who the therapist was.
That was worth writing about.
 |
| Xmas at the Taj |
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| Those who made this happen; Mom, Sherry, Dad |
So thank you from the bottom of my heart - but more importantly, thank those folks who let me report on their very personal, very profound journeys into the afterlife.
Now where's the Prosecco?
 |
| In my past life as a film guy |
Rich
Thursday
Talking Flipside on Coast to Coast Tonight
The book is available through Amazon as a kindle or softcover. Click this link here to find it: FLIPSIDE: A TOURIST'S GUIDE ON HOW TO NAVIGATE THE AFTERLIFE
or here AT AMAZON IN PAPERBACK.
AND FINALLY!!! IT'S AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AT BARNES AND NOBLE!!! THANK YOU!!
BARNES AND NOBLE'S FLIPSIDE
And for those who want to try hypnotherapy as heard on Coast To Coast, find a therapist near you at NEWTONINSTITUTE.ORG
MEDIA ADVISORY
MEDIA ADVISORY
Richard Martini, Award-Winning Indie Filmmaker and Author to appear on “Coast to Coast AM” with George Noory (KFI in Los Angeles).
(Airing Thursday May 23, 2013 from 10 pm to Midnight PST—Pacific Standard Time)
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| George Noory |
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| Yours Truly |
Richard Martini is the author of Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife, a groundbreaking work of non-fiction that explores startling new evidence for life after death, based on over 7,000 accounts experienced under deep hypnosis; published by Premier Digital Publishing.
For Immediate Release:
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK/TORONTO/DALLAS (May 23, 2013) – Acclaimed indie filmmaker Richard Martini will appear on “Coast to Coast AM” with George Noory (KFI in Los Angeles) to discuss his bestselling exploration into the Afterlife, Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife. “Coast to Coast AM” airs on more than 560 stations in the U.S. and is heard by nearly three million weekly listeners, described as overnight talk radio with daytime ratings. “Coast to Coast” AM deals with UFO's, strange occurrences, life after death and other unexplained phenomena.
In Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife, Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death, or "life between lives," where we reportedly return to find our loved ones, soul mates and spiritual teachers. Martini documents the evidence of thousands of people who claim that under deep hypnosis, they saw and experienced the same basic things about the Afterlife. The interviews were conducted by hypnotherapists around the world trained in the method pioneered by Dr. Michael Newton (Journey of Souls).
Martini observes actual “between life” sessions and agrees to go on the same journey himself, with startling and candid results. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, Flipside takes the reader into new territory, exploring the various disciplines of past life regression, near death experiences and between life exploration. Like Burpo, Alexander, Neal and numerous others, he aims to lift the veil between life and death and supply answers to one of humankind’s most asked questions – What happens when we die?
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc3gBMROoBs&list=PLAWvdkHkZ8_8SbUThFaDJ3VdwKReSw6vn&feature=mh_lolz
Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife is available in print and eBook via all major online retailers: http://www.premierdigitalpublishing.com/product/flipside-a-tourists-guide-on-how-to-navigate-the-afterlife/
About Premier Digital Publishing:
Premier Digital Publishing is a leading independent digital publisher and innovator of eBooks, enhanced eBooks, print-on-demand books and interactive content. Led by a team of digital media pioneers, the company ranks among the top publishers of quality eBook entertainment to the industry’s leading tablet and eReader manufacturers and eBook retailers. The company is based in Los Angeles with offices in Toronto and New York.
Follow: www.twitter.com/PDigitalPub
Tuesday
Flipside the Book on sale for a limited time...
@PDigitalPub: 90% off @MartiniFilm "FLIPSIDE" Learn what's waiting for you in the life after this one http://t.co/ZGlMbiIVN2 ONLY $0.99 #NDE #Afterlife
Posted May 21, 2013
Flipside by Richard Martini
What happens to us after we die? In this spellbinding, meticulously researched account, an acclaimed author and filmmaker interviews hypnotherapists and examines quantum physics to find astonishing conclusions about the afterlife — and the connections we make
$0.99
- $9.99
- 90% off
- 5/28/13
Buy It Now:
Publisher Description
What happens after we die?
Author and award winning filmmaker Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death, via the "life between lives," where we reportedly return to find our loved ones, soul mates and spiritual teachers. Based on the evidence of thousands of people who claim that under deep hypnosis, they saw and experienced the same basic things about the Afterlife, the book interviews hypnotherapists around the world trained in the method pioneered by Dr. Michael Newton, as well as examining actual between life sessions. The author agrees to go on the same journey himself, with startling and candid results, learning we are fully conscious between our various incarnations, and return to connect with loved ones and spiritual soul mates, and together choose how and when and with whom we'll reincarnate. The author examines how "Karmic law" is trumped by "Free will," with souls choosing difficult lives in order to learn from their spiritually; no matter how difficult, strange or complex a life choice appears to be, it was made in advance, consciously, with the help of loved ones, soul mates and wise elders. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, Flipside takes the reader into new territory, boldly going where no author has gone before to tie up the various disciplines of past life regression. near death experiences, and between life exploration. In the words of author Gary Schwartz, Phd, once you've read Flipside "you'll never see the world in the same way again."
All prices were verified by BookBub upon publication, but prices may change without notice so please verify that the deal is still available before downloading. For free Kindle books, confirm that Amazon’s “Kindle Price” is still $0.00. Some deals may not be available outside the United States.
Thursday
Cannes Man in honor of the Cannes Festival!
In honor of the Cannes Film Festival, here's a hilarious film that we made a number of years back, which has finally been released on itunes... which doesn't make it any less funny.
If you want to know what all the hoopla is about - this film is the essence of the hoopla.
Stars the late, great Francesco Quinn. Enjoy!
Here's the trailer for Cannes Man:
If you want to know what all the hoopla is about - this film is the essence of the hoopla.
Stars the late, great Francesco Quinn. Enjoy!
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| Cannes Man |
Here's the trailer for Cannes Man:
Tuesday
Afterlife Convention and some NDE research
Some exciting news.. we're organizing the Afterlife Convention on Sept 28th here in Los Angeles. The idea is to bring together people from a variety of disciplines to compare stories about the afterlife - about their research into it, with the hopes of helping people on this planet by sharing information about what happens to us after we're on it. Gary Schwartz Ph.D is going to be one of our keynote speakers, yours truly will be speaking, along with Elisa Medhus MD, Ken Stoller MD and others. We won't be the first convention of its kind, but we're aiming at something a bit less new age, and a bit more practical - as in "Ok, so we don't die per se. How does that affect my life now?"
The idea is that with the combination of studying the various modalities that will be represented - ESP, Near Death (NDE), hypnotherapy as practiced by Michael Newton (LBL), first hand accounts of being contacted by loved ones in the Afterlife - these accounts frequently report the same information. So what is that information? And how can it affect our lives here on Earth? And further, how can it help change our mindset so that by considering that we may return here in the future, we leave the planet as clean healthy place to return to?
I note that it's interesting that the two most vocal groups against this research are from opposite ends of the spectrum - the religious right for lack of a better word (people who believe strongly in what their religion has taught them, and I'm not arguing whether it's accurate or not, it's just by way of identifying that group) and on the other spectrum what can be only describe as extreme left, atheists, or people who are convinced that the science community has no evidence for their being consciousness before, after (or by way of logic) during our lifetimes. It's interesting to note that both sides of the coin find this kind of research "nutty" or "heretical" - but I can only state that in the interest of science - in the interest of humanity - we are forging ahead with the best tools that we have to examine this research. Batten down the hatches, here we go!
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AND THEN THIS INTERESTING CLIP FROM IANDS.ORG:
Study finds NDE memories are not of imagined events
Skeptics have long proposed that NDEs are dream-like memories of events that never happened or are altered memories of real events which are partly or fully imagined. A recently published study from the University of Liège in Belgium compared the memories of NDEs with memories of others who were in coma without an NDE. They found that memories of NDEs are significantly different from coma patients without an NDE. In particular they have significantly more characteristics, like visual details, memory clarity, self-referential information (being involved in the event) and emotional content.The researchers propose that NDEs can't be considered as imagined events. which have significantly fewer characteristics. NDE events are really perceived but since the events did not occur in reality and likely result from physiological conditions (e.g., neurological dysfunction), the events are actually hallucinatory (see also ULg video). This conclusion is based on assumptions that are inconsistent with other evidence from NDEs. Other interpretations are possible.
Seven researchers from the University of Liège, led by Dr. Steven Laureys, published a report in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE on the characteristics of memories from near-death experiences compared with the memories from others who were in coma but did not report an NDE. The study also compared NDE memories with memories of real events and imagined events (e.g., past dreams or fantasies).
Skeptics, such as Susan Blackmore and Chris French, have long proposed that NDEs are dream-like memories of events that never happened or are altered memories of real events which are partly or fully imagined.
The researchers included 21 patients who suffered from an acute brain insult and coma. The patients were divided into three groups: those reporting an NDE (≥ 7 on the Greyson scale, N=8), those reporting memories during coma but without an NDE (< 7 on the Greyson scale, N=6) and those reporting no memories of their coma (N=7). These three groups were all similar in etiology of the brain insult (traumatic, anoxic, hemorrhagic, metabolic and encephalopathic etiologies), as well as age and time since insult. The 21 coma patients were also compared with 18 healthy control subjects.
The researchers measured the memory characteristics of patients using the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ), comparing the target memories (NDE or coma memories) versus memories of real events and imagined events (e.g., past dreams or fantasies). The memory characteristics included sensory details (visual, auditory, etc.), memory clarity (e.g., mentally reliving the events when remembering), self-referential information (memories of being involved in the event) and emotionality (e.g., feeling the emotions of the event when remembering).
The researchers found that memories of NDEs have significantly more characteristics than both memories of real events and imagined events.
Furthermore, since it is possible that the core components of an NDE are neurophysiologically determined (e.g., temporo-parietal junction dysfunction or deficit), then "the subject really perceived these phenomena". However, since the perceived events did not occur in reality, the perceptions are hallucinatory. Indeed,memories of NDEs are likely 'flashbulb memories' of hallucinations.
CNN also published an in-depth news article on this study.
Commentary
The researchers' conclusions are based on two assumptions that are inconsistent with other evidence from NDEs: (1) that the perceived events do not occur in reality and (2) that NDE phenomena are determined neurophysiologically. Therefore, other interpretations are possible.
The first assumption, that perceived events in an NDE do not occur in reality, is not consistent with the veridical perceptions that are reported by NDErs. In fact, nearly all "apparently nonphysical veridical perceptions" (AVPs) are verified when checked. Janice Holden (2009) reported that of 93 veridical perception cases in the NDE literature, 92% were completely accurate, 6% were accurate with some errors and only one case was completely erroneous. The AVPs are frequently of objects or events outside the NDEr's physical line of sight or at a distant location from the NDEr's physical body.
Furthermore, previously unknown veridical information received during the "transcendent" part of the NDE(e.g. meeting deceased relatives) is frequently later verified. For example, a man saw and interacted with an apparently deceased person and later found out the man was his biological father who had died in the holocaust (van Lommel, 2010, pp. 32-33).
Since the perceived events in fact occurred or accurately conveyed previously unknown information, one cannot conclude that NDE perceptions are hallucinations. If some parts of the NDE events were perceived accurately, where do the NDE perceptions become unreal? If a patient accurately describes the details of operating room events while he had no heart beat or blood pressure, at what point did the other parts of his experience (the tunnel and light) become an hallucination?
Eben Alexander's experience included both veridical perceptions and an episode of "ICU psychosis". During his recovery, he experienced intense delusions and very vivid dreams but both were completely different from the "astonishing clarity and vibrant richness—the ultra-reality" of his NDE (Alexander, 2012, pp. 117-118). His NDE memories are consonant with the results of this study but point out the stark difference between true hallucinations and NDE memories. The finding that NDE memories contain both more emotional and self-referential information than other target memories is more likely due to the hyperreal and veridical qualities of the experience than vice versa.
The second assumption, that NDE phenomena are neurophysiologically determined, is not consistent with the full spectrum of NDE cases. A number of physiological factors are generally cited in explanations of NDEs (Greyson et al., 2009). None of these factors is adequate to explain NDE phenomena, because (1) the reported physiologically-caused experiences bear only a slight resemblance to NDEs, (2) many NDEs occur under conditions without the suggested physiological factor, and/or (3) in cases where the physiological factor is present, NDEs are not reported in even a large percent of cases.
Furthermore, many NDEs occur during cardiac arrest which results in complete cessation of blood flow to the brain. In these cases, heightened, lucid awareness and thought processes are reported, the same kind of experiences as are remembered by patients in this study (van Lommel, 2010, pp. 159–176). In these NDEs, neurophysiological causes of the core components of the NDE could not have occurred because the brain was not functioning. Veridical perceptions of the onset of resuscitation efforts also establish the time of the experience to be when the brain had no electrical activity.
Robert Mays, NDE researcher
References
- Alexander, Eben (2012). Proof of Heaven: A neurosurgeon's journey into the afterlife. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Greyson, B., Kelly, E. W., & Kelly, E. F. (2009). Explanatory models for near-death experiences. In J. M. Holden, B. Greyson, & D. James (Eds.), The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty years of investigation(pp. 213–234). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers.
- Holden, Janice M. (2009). Veridical perception in near-death experiences. In J. M. Holden, B. Greyson & D. James (Eds.), The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty years of investigation (pp. 185–211). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers.
- Thonnard M, Charland-Verville V, Brédart S, Dehon H, Ledoux D, et al. (2013) Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagined Events Memories. PLoS ONE 8(3): e57620.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057620.
- van Lommel, P. (2010). Consciousness beyond life: The science of the near-death experience. New York: HarperCollins.
Monday
A Portrait of Julian Baird
My professor at BU Julian Baird decided to have a roast instead of a wake on his 75th birthday after being told he had not many months left on the planet. 160 of his friends gathered to praise him, and I was lucky enough to bring a camera. It's 90 minutes, and includes a blues performance by his old student James Montgomery. This is Part One of this portrait - he'd disagree, but as he's fond of saying "I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfUnLFkk5Uo
Sunday
Flipside Book talk with Richard Martini and the LA IANDS group
Book talk at the International Association of Near Death Studies in LA this weekend. The talk is about an hour, the discussion after is about 30 minutes. Enjoy!
Flipside Talk in Culver City this Saturday afternoon at IANDS
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Dates: 04/27/2013 Times: 13:00 - 16:00 Location: Grace Lutheran Church, 4427 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230
The Los Angeles International
Association for Near-Death Studies
will meet April 27th.
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