The Afterlife "Expert"

I think it's pretty funny that George Noory has dubbed me "The Afterlife Expert."

As noted, I've been on the air with him six different times, and each time we go on the air together, my book sales jump.  

They don't just jump, they skyrocket.  

I've cataloged this effect - saving the charts the day they hit #1 (after appearing on his show.)

As I've pointed out before, and to anyone who has read my books, "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife" "It's a Wonderful Afterlife: Further Adventures into the Flipside" and "Hacking the Afterlife: Practical Advice from the Flipside" - 

...I am fond of saying

"I am not an expert at anything."

Sure, I've had an unusual, eclectic journey on the planet - like most people. I've performed in bands that have played the House of Blues, I've written for magazines like Variety, Premiere and Inc.com, I've had teeny tiny minor roles in films (cameos in "Salt," a few lines in "Personal Best," "Limit Up" and "You Can't Hurry Love.")  I graduated magna cum laude with a Humanities degree from Boston University (although I thought it was a joke when they announced it during graduation - as I thought for sure I'd flunked a few classes. Had no idea what it mean in Latin. Still means little on this planet.)

Directing "Point of Betrayal" in 1996

Me, me, me, me!  There's a story that Robert Thurman tells that he quotes often - and it was a study that the Dalai Lama had mentioned to him (two great name drops in one sentence) that said there was a study of patients at a hospital in Boston, and they found that those who spent a lot of time saying "Me, I, I am, I feel" self centric egoistic language - had more health problems than those who didn't single themselves out.

Vanum populatum already.

(Funny - here's both words in a Latin book published in 1696 - it means "annihilate vanity")

But I am saying, despite going into the film world, working on dozens of films, having written and directed a gaggle of them, made some documentaries - I haven't mastered that craft in any stretch of the imagination.  I feel like I could if given more chances to do so - but what can you do?  If you can't direct a film, you can direct traffic... or in my case, direct questions to people who are on the Flipside.

With George after taping his TV show

So am I an "Afterlife Expert?"  The moniker itself is counterintuitive, a condundrum - because you'd have to believe there is an afterlife first, then you'd have to believe there's such a thing as an expert on the topic.  But I can say - over the past decade - I've been doing some pretty interesting/unusual forays into examining what people on the flipside say about us back here... with varying results.  The facts don't change - but the stories that people tell me from that perspective - are fascinating and never get tiring, or boring.

And now... a word or two from the Flipside:

Once a week I get a chance to hang out with Jennifer Shaffer - she's a medium/intuitive who works with law enforcement nationwide to help with difficult "missing person" cases.  I know she's been featured in a number of shows, articles, and I've had the privilege to see her in action. She's very good at what she does - but once she's done "reading" or "seeing" or "sensing" images from the flipside - she doesn't remember any of it.  

Intuitive/Medium Jennifer S.

So that's why I bring along my camera. (Jennifer appears in my book "Hacking the Afterlife" - where I ask if we can query folks no longer on the planet.  I had no idea if that was a possibility, but as I point out in "Hacking" she gave me information that I did not know, could not have known, but prove to be accurate.  "New Information" from the other side.)

I film these events.  So is there a film in the future? Likely. Is there another book coming out of these tapings?  Equally likely.  It's like I set out the gunpowder, and then wait for a spark to ignite it.  Haven't quite gotten there yet, but I'm sure I will.

Yesterday, I was asking questions to a crowd of people on the Flipside.  I completely understand how wacky this sounds - and Jennifer and I took a moment to laugh "If anyone heard what we were doing or talking about they would think we are nuts."  We may be nuts.  It doesn't matter, does it?  They just don't make straight jackets like they used to.

Dubious are we? You should be.

But here we were chatting with a crowd of folks - I would tell you who they were, because that would goose up the readership of this blog - that would be an easy way to say "Oh, I just spoke to (celebrity who is dead) and they told me to tell you blah blah blah."  I don't think that's fair to anyone - to the family and friends of the deceased, or even to the person we're talking to, who may change their mind, or learn something new on their path over there.

But when something comes through that I think I can pass along - I will figure out a way to do it, either in book form, or film form.  Yesterday the topic of suicide came up.

Excuse me, what came up?

It came up in a funny way, actually.  We were speaking to someone who died from a self inflicted act - and a group of others were there, who also had checked out early due to self inflicted drug use, or depression, or other reasons.  I noted "Hey everyone talking to us now is someone who checked themselves out. What do you guys have to say to people over on our side who are thinking of doing so?"

I'm going to paraphrase here. Like I say, I filmed it, have a record of it - and will use the transcript in the next book - but for the sake of discussion, they (a few different folks) said:

"You're going to miss a lot about being alive."

I asked "what, specifically?"

"Being able to breathe. You don't really appreciate it, but it's fun.  You'll miss tactile things. Like music.  You can't really pick up a guitar and strum it over here - you can create that mentally, but it's not the same. Just like hugging a tree is not the same. It's a mental idea of a tree, but it's not as much fun as wrapping your arms around a tree and really hugging it."

I asked someone I knew (know) really well what she missed the most about not being here.

Jennifer said "She's showing me being in convertible.. (to me: "did you have a convertible?" Me; "Yes, when I knew her.") and just letting her hair fly all over the place, that feeling of traveling and feeling the air around you.  The taste of things. The smells...  all of it. You really miss those things, that you don't really appreciate while you're there, but you miss them when you're here."

Today a woman was talking to me about why she goes barefoot on her walks in Griffith park.  She said "I read somewhere that having your shoes off, puts you in a different relationship with nature, and that it helps your health to be grounded."

Being grounded.

Yes, that's what you'll miss... being here on the planet.  Having your toes in the green hair of the earth (grass), picking up a clump of flesh (dirt), feeling a wave wash over you (wind) or just lying in the sun and cooking (or having vitamin D replenish.)   Breathing is the opposite of being a tree.  If you look at a tree - its branches - they mirror the lungs, don't they? Exactly.

And when you breathe, you suck in the oxygen that comes from trees, from planets - which if it were water would choke you - but because it's oxygen, it keeps you alive - and then you exhale that carbon dioxide, which... hey, wouldn't you know it, goes right back into the trees.  A perfect system.

(Unless you're polluting the system - gas fumes, cigarettes, alcohol...)

And the person we were talking to about a recent suicide said "Yes, talk about suicide. Talk about loving life.  Because every small thing you do to negate life, is a form of suicide. Every cigarette you smoke, every time you damage your brain cells with too much alcohol, or vape - it's another form of suicide. (and by extension allowing the govt to pollute the planet) It just take that much longer for you to get there, but make no mistake, it's a form of suicide."

I say it came up in a "funny way" because when asked "so how did you die?" one of the other people put a funny image in Jennifer's mind of someone croaking, their tongue out, head sideways. (Like with a rope) And it was later that day that we discovered this person had died in that precise manner.  So not funny - but the person who did the image was famous for being funny - what can you do? They were all together in the room - not mourning, but just chatting with us. And the topic came around to regrets for having checked out "early."

"I toyed with it quite a bit" this person said.  I asked what that meant.  They said "toying with it, by getting close to it more than once... and I didn't plan to check out this time either, it just happened."

I asked this person "what it was like crossing over, did anyone come to see you?"  And he named two people that were "in the room" as we were speaking - one of whom neither Jennifer nor I had any experience with before, but said that "they were old friends and he showed up" to greet this person on the other side - to ease the transition.

After we were done chatting, and my camera battery ran out - a waiter came over and asked what we were up to. I told him briefly about filming our "talks."  He said "I wish I could talk to my sister." Jennifer said "She was 16, when she passed."  He froze. "Yes." "She wants to tell you she's with you, and also with your family when you go back to North Carolina."  The waiter looked at me, shock on his face. I looked at him and asked "How old was your sister when she passed?" "16, wow." he said. "And where are you from?" I asked. "North Carolina."  I said "Well that's a fabulous tip, isn't it? Your sister just came through to tell you she's always with you, no matter where you are."

with Jennifer Shaffer and Scott De Tamble

And Finally....

I got a letter the other day from someone who seemed at his rope's end.  He said he was in pain 24/7 and didn't think there was a reason to go on.  He wanted to know my opinion about what it might be like on the flipside if he did himself in.

I said, and I repeat it here for anyone reading this: "I'm not an expert.  I'm not a medical professional. I'm a filmmaker guy writing about an interesting topic. That question must be addressed by a medical professional" - and if he didn't have one he needed to seek one out immediately."

But I said, because I understand what was being asked, I felt compelled to respond.  Here in part was my response:


"Thanks for writing.  I appreciate the question, and I understand what you are asking me.  On behalf of all those who've participated in the journey that is your life - I beseech you - implore you - to seek counseling.  I understand there's an issue of pain, and I understand that there's the idea of "ending the pain" - and I am not a professional in the field of medicine.  Your family, your friends, every teacher you've ever had - everyone who has ever known you - would want you to seek out help.  And I do mean of the professional kind.  (If you can't think of someone, just search for a local place near you. It's easy to do or find.)

But I also understand the nature of your question, and I'm going to address it directly.

First of all - you chose this life. You chose your parents, you chose to experience this.  You chose it specifically because you felt you could handle it.  I don't say that lightly. I say that as a friend, as a fellow traveler, as someone who, if I was part of your soul group, would stand in front of you and say "You said you can handle this. You have work to do while you're down there on the planet. You have to handle this. You can handle this. Buck up man, you chose this difficulty because in the past you took the easy way out - and you said "I can do it this time, I can overcome this, and I will."  And all of your council members came together and said "Bravo! We love you brother, we support you 100% you can handle this."

At the moment it seems like you can't handle it.  First things first. Let's separate the issues.  1. there's pain.  Usually that's the topper, that's all you need to know. Pain is pain.  Is it 100% pain all day, can't move a muscle kind of pain?  Well, no, because you were able to write this letter.  So let's allow that it's not 24/7 pain. In fact, I'm going to bet that you can sleep - albeit when you wake up you're in pain, but you can sleep - so when you're asleep, you're not in pain.

So that means a third of the day - roughly - there is no pain.

I mean this seriously.  A third of the day you are not conscious of the pain.  Okay? So now I want you to count how many hours in the day that you are in pain.  Is it 8?  Is it more?  Is it less?  Figure it out.  Take out a tally sheet and add them up.  Let's say that it's four hours of unbearable pain - four hours of bearable pain, and the rest is psychosomatic - or let's just say, is compounded by other factors. (Lack of friends, lack of family, wrong president in the white house, etc).

Okay - now I'm going to give it to you straight. Can you handle four hours a day of unbearable pain?  No? Light up a joint.  Yes. You can.  If you aren't in a state where pot is legal, get to one. Go there. I was just in Vegas - it's every where - the whole city was stoned. I used to travel to amsterdam - stoned city!  Go to california - colorado - anywhere it's legal and stay there. Smoke the right pot until you don't feel the pain. We'll get to the other issues in a minute, but start there.

1. How do I stop the pain?

Smoke pot.  

Opiods - sure they make you zone out - but too many side effects like "wanting to kill yourself."

Which brings me to point 2.

2. Why am I depressed?

I heard you. You are depressed. I don't blame you. But I want to tell you that you can stop the depression. You can kill the depression. You can kick the shit out of depression. I can show you how to do it, but you have to bear with me dude.  You have to want to kick this habit - of allowing the many sad thoughts to pile into the backseat of your pick up truck and weigh you down.  Kick those thoughts out of your truck one at a time.

You weren't born with family. You chose to come into the world. You chose your mom and dad - and then, for whatever reason you chose to have this accident. You chose to experience this kind of hardship.  In the cases I've examined, its usually because in a future life you'll be a doctor and you'll teach people about pain and healing.  You can ask your guides why this happened. Have you tried between life therapy?  It would be fantastic for you.  Tell me what state your in and I'll recommend someone for you.  

But that's not kicking depression to the curb. That's just going to make you understand "why" you chose this difficult lifetime.  Let's just allow for a moment that I'm speaking the truth. You chose this for a reason. Not to give up on it - but to learn from it.  It's easy to check out - people do it all the time. but you didn't come here, you didn't get on stage to jump off the stage.  I know it's hard - but seriously - you said you could handle it, and that's what we all expect you to do.

So - how to kick depression to the curb?

I talk about it in Flipside.  "Tonglen."  Look it up. Search it on youtube.  When you're not in pain (you can be stoned, that won't affect this meditation) you try to do this meditation.  It's been proven (richard davidson university of wisconsin) to CURE OR ALLEVIATE SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION.

There are no side effects.

So here's what you're going to do.  Put on some music. Something that makes you feel good.  Get in a comfortable position.  Then picture yourself as a younger man. Happy, in the prime of life.  Picture the clothes your wearing,the hair you had, whatever - create that image like a 3d picture in your mind.  Make it real.  Make your eyes twinkle.  "Hey, that's me!"  Create you in your mind.

Then think about the spots on your body that hurt - or ache - doesn't matter which ones - focus on them.  Picture a color - the first thing that comes to mind - what color is that body part? (You can imagine a smoke, that works too, but if you just picture a color it's easy).  Then as you breathe in during this meditation, imagine that part of the body opening up and releasing the pain - imagine the pain as a color and pull it out of the joint, body part, and into you - who are meditating... really see that color or smoke emerge from the body of the young man you're looking at, and as that wounded part releases it's energy, you hit it with a blast of healing light from the universe.

You heard me.  Hit that pain with the whitest hot light you can imagine - CGI effects and all - and turn it into a healed light or smoke... pick any healed color that comes to mind - and breathe it back into that part of your body that needs healing, breathe it back into the body of that young man that needs healing.

Do this over and over and over again until the light changes... it will... just keep doing it.

Now here's the really cool info; you've just done a centuries old tibetan meditation - called "give and take."  And while there's no evidence that it cures the person you're meditating on (although you may actually feel better in the parts you've focused on) there is a huge body of scientific evidence that it cures depression in the person doing the meditation.

Richard Davidson and his pal HHDL

You got that?

No side effects. Cures depression.

Now - I'm going to give you one more meditation - because you sound like you need it.

So - try to remember, you're not in pain 24/7 although it feels like it - you're in pain for so many hours in a day - I can point to any number of people that I know who are suffering right now in much more profound pain that you could imagine - from physical deformities to disease - in constant pain - who can't write on a computer, can't read a letter, can't listen to what I'm writing to you.

So you have that.

First before I teach you this other meditation - which will solve your issues of your family and friends - I want you to just think for a moment on how you came to meet your family and friends.  You chose them. There's no accident that you chose them. You did it because you knew they would not be here for you at this moment - you actually said in your pre-life session "You can't be there for me when I need you otherwise I will not be able to learn the lesson I need to learn."  (I wasn't there, but I have heard something like this before - from people who were molested sexually, or some other awful childhood trauma where they saw and understood why they asked their loved one to abuse them - to teach or learn lessons from it.  Sounds harsh, but you're asking for the truth, so I'm giving it to you.)

..............
Do this every day. Every day. Every day.

count the hours of pain - and try to take minutes off of that number every day... try to take less pain medication if you can, smoke more pot if you can, try to meditate on unconditional love towards everyone and all things... and then you'll see.

You'll see why you wrote to me.

You'll see why you chose to be here.

You'll see who you are here to help.

You'll see who you are here to teach.

You'll see it all.

If you can find a hypnotherapist near you (there's a searchable databased at Newton Institute.org - find a Newton trained hypnotherapist near you.

When I was doing my first of five sessions, I asked the folks back there, back home, if there was anything that I could pass along to people who might read what I had to say on the topic.

And i heard: "Just let go."

Let go of anger. Let go of resentment. Let go of pain. Let it all go. You're here for a reason, find that reason. Relish that reason.  Find the one or two or three minutes a day where you feel joy - and amplify them - reduce the pain minutes daily by meditating, or by helping someone else who is in pain... and you'll see why you're still here......

I post this for anyone who needs help in this area. Please seek counseling. Seek help from a medical professional. Suicide is not the answer to the question. Unconditional Love is the answer to every question you have.

Lunch with George Noory and Rich Martini "the Afterlife Expert" June 27

This just in:




"Please Join us on Tuesday, June 27^th for our “Eat & Greet” Luncheon Series at the Great Greek Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Ca.  Come have fun at an intimate lunch setting, mingle and meet some of your favorite people in the world of the unknown.

Tickets will go fast!

Don’t Miss Out…………send your name and phone number to lunchwithgeorge@gmail.com to make your reservations now!"

Waiting for my spanikopita

C'mon down and talk about the meaning of life, or the meaning of the afterlife, or whatever's on your mind.... while dining on Greek cuisine!

Bring your own copy (if signing is desired)

Flipside the Book:

Flipside the Film:

It's a Wonderful Afterlife
Volume One
Volume Two

Hacking the Afterlife







Or get out the feta and retsina and check out these book talks:
Clips from youtube:

Upcoming Radio Show, Appearance with George Noory, and an LBL talk by Paul Aurand

Like most of us, I was introduced to Art Bell's world while driving late one night in my car.  Working in San Francisco at the time, selling "hi-fi" equipment at 69 Green ("Systems Warehouse") at the tender age of 22, I was cruising down route 5 near Bakersfield, looking for an AM radio station to "keep me awake."

I had just declined an offer to manage a new stereo store in Santa Cruz - which the owners (Eckart, Jim) tried to point out was a "huge break" for someone so young - but I felt my path lay elsewhere, and I trusted that instinct. Before I headed back east to finish college in Boston, I drove down to LA when I found Art Bell on the radio dial. (LA is where I would return years in the future to USC film school, which led me to a screenwriting class with Luana Anders, who led me to the Flipside some 30 years later).

The older one gets, the clearer the path appears. 

The first photograph.  An old road and a ghost in Paris.

 The signposts, although zooming by on a dark desert highway, all were pointing in one direction - something we realize once we get where we're going.  The journey - windows rolled down, crickets chirping as a passing symphony - may seem random, even coincidental, until you reach your destination.

But as I've recounted, I took Flipside around to all the major publishers via agent Joel Gotler - Joel did his best to let me down easily "They're telling me they don't know how to sell you.  It's not like you're a doctor, or famous - so how can they book you on a talk show to sell the book?"  I understood the point, and went the self publishing route, via Createspace (prior to its being purchased by Amazon.)  I put my book out - a couple of people read it - I got one "mediocre" review on Amazon, and thought "well that was that!"

Flying Saucers alas, is no more.

But I asked my friends at the "Flying Saucer's cafe" in Santa Monica if I could do a book talk, and the owner said "sure."  At the last moment, I decided to set up a camera to film the event.  Ten people were in the audience - some old, old friends, from Larry Grennan from grade school, to Peter Bill from nearby Venice.  I posted the hour long talk on my youtube filmmaker's account - and a thousand people watched it.  And from that thousand, one invited me to the IANDS (international association of near death studies) in Virginia Beach.

It was while talking about "Flipside" at the Edgar Cayce institute, (to a larger crowd of about 300) a former Baptist minister said to me, "Oh, you should be on "Coast to Coast!" You're perfect for that show!"  

I vaguely remembered that night driving down the California Coast, listening to Art Bell, wondering if his guests were "kidding" or some kind of theatrical construct designed to haunt or amuse the audience.  Like a version of "Firesign Theater" but without the Second City feeling.  I said to this retired Minister: "Heard of it, just haven't listened to it lately."

But this minister said "Art Bell has retired - George Noory is the host, and he'd love you."  I admitted I'd never listened to the show since that night so long ago - and when this person offered to "write a letter to George to get me on the show" - I chuckled.  Jaded Hollywood guy that I am, I thought "Right. Some producer will get this enthusiastic letter and choose the guest that the publicists were hawking." And that will be the end of the proverbial "that."

But that's not what happened. 

I got a call from a "Coast to Coast" producer - two producers actually - both asking me to come on the show. "We'd like you on for an hour on Sept. 11."(2012)  I said "Auspicious date. Sure."  He said "What else can you talk about besides the Flipside?" I said, "Well, I've spent 20 years working on a film about what happened to Amelia Earhart after she crashed... based on eyewitness evidence."  He said "Okay, we'll have you on for 3 hours. One to take calls."

So I did the first of six interviews with George - (two on his TV show) and he's an excellent interviewer.  Each time I'm on my books jump to #1 in kindle in their genres at Amazon.  George single handedly turned this obscure, not-a-doctor, not-famous-for-anything a "best selling author" in one day.

George Noory - Coast to Coast AM

He's invited me to join him on June 27th at the Great Greek in Van Nuys California.  Details can be found here: "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."  

George and Mr. Flipside

About a year ago, I got a call from Art Bell's new show - "Midnight in the Desert" - Art is producing a new show, hosted by Heather Wade.  I'll be on Wednesday May 24th at 9 pm West Coast time.  It should be interesting, as they're giving me 3 hours as well - one hour for calls - and 2 to talk about the latest developments in my Flipside research.

Tune in, call in, drop out.

http://midnightinthedesert.com

Can you hear me now?

Now... onto the topic at hand.

I interviewed Paul Aurand for the film "Flipside" and book. He is the former President of the Newton Institute, and runs workshops in Europe for those who'd like to learn the technique.  Paul has incredible insight into the Flipside, into the between lives realm, and has amazing personal experiences to back them up.  (Including a between life experience after being struck by lightning.)

Paul posted this interview the other day, and I wanted to reproduce it here for people who'd like to know more about "Between life" hypnotherapy from the former President of the Newton Institute.  

If you're in the NYC area, or can make one of his workshops in Tuscany - I can vouch that it (and he) will change your life.

Exploring Life Between Lives with Paul Aurand  

by David Stang for The Academy for Spiritual and Consciousness Studies, Inc   

Based in New York City and founder of the Holistic Healing Center there, Paul Aurand, MHt, is an award winning Master Hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy instructor who has worked in the field for nearly 30 years. He has been honored as “Educator of the Year,” “Therapist of the Year,” and “Hypnotherapist of the Year,” and has been featured in films and on television (Flipside, On the Threshold, Dying to Know, and Discovering Regression Therapy) for his work with the ground breaking Life Between Lives Regression Therapy developed by Dr. Michael Newton....  
 

Michael Newton

Please describe Dr. Newton’s Life Between Lives (LBL) process.  

PA: “Life Between Lives is a deep hypnotic regres­sion to that very special time a soul spends in spirit between incarnations. During an LBL you experience yourself as an immortal soul, meet your guides, loved ones and otherwise beings who help you explore your soul lessons, life’s purpose and other questions that you have prepared for the session. During this time in spirit many experience healing, unconditional love and oneness with all things. LBL is a profound, life transforming experience.  

LBL regression therapy is based on research by Dr. Newton that spanned more than 25 years with over 7,000 of his clients. Since his initial research approximately 35,000 LBLs have been conducted by 200 LBL therapists in about 40 countries.  

An LBL begins with a long and very deep hypnotic induction to help the conscious mind to disengage and achieve a highly expanded state of consciousness. The actual regression begins with going back to some pleasant childhood memories. From childhood, we continue back to that unique time in the womb, after conception and before birth. Here, we get the first soul memories. In the womb, we can explore such things as how you feel about coming to be born and what it is you hope to do, learn or work on. From the womb, we go back to the most recent past life to review some of the significant events as well as how that life ended.  

This is one place where LBL differs greatly from traditional past-life regression. Rather than doing a detailed review of the past life combined with interventions, we want to use the past-life death scene as a doorway into spirit. Once the soul enters the spirit realm, the reviews, interventions and heal-ings will be done in a most loving way by the guides and loved ones rather than by the therapist. 

It is important to note that once the soul remembers returning to the spirit world, it enters ‘Now Time.’ Being in now time, allows for review of the soul’s past experiences and it also allows for insight and guidance about the current life and future events.” 

 The Newton Institute

Would you describe what you and other Newton trained LBL practitioners have learned about the nature of soul and its stages of evolution, soul mates and spiritual guides and also how the several hundred practitioners he trained and worked with came to understand that the voice of the patient being hypnotized, who speaks about recalled personal experiences involving LBL and past-life states of being, is actually that patient’s soul?  

PA: Simply put, souls come to earth to learn and grow. Some come hoping to accomplish something great, most come hoping to refine certain aspects of their soul character. “Regarding the voice of the soul, learning to distinguish these differences is part of the art of LBL therapy. The tone of voice, the choice of words, and the energy of what is being spoken is identifiably different when coming from conscious mind, sub­conscious mind or soul mind. 

Ultimately, determining the meaning and the validity of the retrieved memories during an LBL is up to the client. If there is doubt, I use three criteria to help the client gauge the validity of their memories. One is, ‘How much emotion is there during the experience?’ A pure fan­tasy or wishful thinking is usually devoid of strong emotion. This is one place that the recording of the session can be so valuable. When the LBL client hears their laughing, crying, surprise, confusion, elation, awe, being moved beyond words, on their recording, it is easier for them to trust their experi­ence. 

The second is ‘If you are going to make up a story, why this particular story?’ Long held, limiting beliefs, old patterns and misunderstandings in the soul are being addressed and transformed during an LBL. When the conscious mind and even the soul are having difficulties understanding and absorbing the love, insights and wisdom that are being com-municated, this too, I trust. And thirdly, ‘What is the result? Is there healing and transformation from what is received?’”  

In your case study “Love as a Catalyst for Change,” (Note: This is a chapter from the Michael Newton edited book "Memories of the Afterlife") you present a case where there is a long-term primary soul mate (Mark) and a companion soul mate (Raul). In your experience is it common to have multiple soul mates in a single lifetime, and if so are they alternate possibilities as in this instance or are they sequential, as in one following the death of the other? Also, are multiple soul mates always (or usually) within the same soul group as in this case?  

PA: Although there are many variations, I think it is safe to say that we have a number of soul mates, one of which is our primary soul mate. Soul mates are usually in our soul group or a closely related soul group. If you have more than one soul mate in your current life, it is well worth exploring why that is.  

Most often, soul mates come into our life to love and support us or to help us learn something or both. In spirit, from a higher perspective and an expanded state of consciousness, soul mates make plans about the life to come. They decide how they want to help and challenge each other. As the soul incarnates and the brain and body develop these plans are forgotten. Meeting these soul mates in life evokes deep emotions and stimulates growth. We always have free will, but remembering these plans and these relationships can help resolve so many issues in life.”   

What are the principal insights you have gained about the state of superconsciousness?  

PA: I often say: ‘My mind thinks. My heart feels. My soul knows.’ My mental (meaning analytical) mind is an important thing. It helps me function in my daily life. It helps me reason and analyze. With-out it I could not function on this planet. As bright and intelligent as an analytical mind might be, it is still a rather limited thing. My analytical mind would love me to believe that all I am is it! But I am so much more than my analytical mind.  

It is essential that we learn to expand con­sciousness beyond the limits of the analytical mind. In this way we can experience ourselves as some-thing far greater than our analytical mind.  

There is a great trend today to move from thinking into feeling. We hear leaders in consciousness tell us to ‘listen to your heart’ and to ‘follow your heart.’ Listening to the heart is an essential step towards moving beyond the limits of the analytical mind. But, we must go beyond the heart mind into the soul mind and the superconscious. In the expanded state of the soul mind we can, not only remember, but really re-experience what it is to be loved unconditionally. We can once again swim in the sea of universal consciousness and re -experience what it is to be one with all things.”  

In practical terms, how do you deal with the problem of fear and other impediments to clients accepting, comprehending, embracing and integrating the spiritual insights and challenges they encounter in their LBL work?  

PA:  I think there are primarily three things that we are working with while conducting any kind of regression therapy. These are the emotions we carry from the past, the limiting beliefs that develop as a result of our experiences, and the unconscious strategies we develop in order to survive and get love.  

The fear and other ‘impediments’ as you call them, arise from these emotions, beliefs and strategies. This is why I think the methodology that Dr. Newton developed is so brilliant. On the way into spirit, we pass through childhood, womb and past life where these fears and impediments develop, so we can identify and resolve them on the way back to or in spirit.  

LBL is truly profound soul work. After a transformational, consciousness expanding, mind blowing return to spirit, it can take time to digest and live what is revealed in these sessions. I know for me personally, although I understood the deeper soul lessons I learned from my first LBL session, it took me a more than year to really be able to live what I learned.”  

Can you give some examples of the types of transformational benefits attained by LBL and past-life clients as a result of their usual two sessions and any other follow-up work done with you and other LBL practitioners you know, and in your opinion what causal factors are key to meaningful transformational growth?  

PA:  Some people think reincarnation, guides and having a soul are interesting concepts that might be true. Others believe in reincarnation, guides and having a soul. During these sessions, you not only remember, but you experience your own reincarnation, your guides and yourself as an immortal soul. After these sessions, you know that you have reincarnated, you know your guides, and you know yourself as the soul that you are.  

I would like to quote Ann Clark, our director of research, here: ‘From our pilot study The lived experience of a visit to the spiritual realm during LBL, we learned that participants reported less fear of death, a clearer sense of their life purpose, a new perspective on troubling relationships in their lives, and less anxiety about challenges they were currently facing, as well as learning new strategies for coping.’  

What casual factors are the keys to transfor­mational growth? 

I would say that the first key is the desire and willingness to learn and grow. The second key is the readiness to take in and act on, the insights, love, support and wisdom received.  

How do you answer criticisms of the LBL process expressed by some psychologists, psychiatrists and academic scholars involving accusations such as “the patient is making up all this soul stuff” out of fantasies and therefore it is unreliable information, and other common criticisms by such skeptics?  

PA: There was a time when I, too, was quite skeptical. Long before learning past-life regression, I was practicing medical hypnosis at a clinic for patients with chronic pain and chronic illness. While administering hypoanesthesia to a patient who had suffered with chronic shoulder pain for nearly seven years, a mysterious thing happened. During the treatment, she began to tell a highly emotional story of being a slave who was caught stealing food and beaten to death for it. As part of the process she described her shoulder being stomped on and crushed. After describing her own death, she emerged from hypnosis and exclaimed: ‘My shoulder does not hurt! It is the first time in years that I have had relief!’ We were both stunned. Was her past-life story a fantasy? Was it a psychotic break? Was it a metaphor? I was not sure, but for me, the most important thing was that she was pain free. She remained pain free! It was after a few of these accidental or spontaneous regressions that brought inexplicable healing, that I knew I had to study regression therapy.  

That said, the Newton Institute has a highly-qualified research team that continues the research that Michael Newton began in the 1960s. We have very consistent case studies from LBL therapists who continue the work as reported in Memories of the Afterlife and we carry on the research across many religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds.” 

How do you regard alternative approaches to spiritual growth and transformation such as meditation and related spiritual practices?  

PA: I think that any practice that raises one’s consciousness and vibrational energy is beneficial. Something that I often hear guides tell clients during their LBL is that they ‘should stay in touch more.’ The most common ways they recommend doing this are through meditation and spending time in nature.  

One thing I’ve noticed is that after an LBL session the client finds it easier to reconnect with their own personal guide and the spirit world. It is as though a door has been opened or the connection strengthened.  

Although it was my clinical work that led me to past life regression, it was my near-death experience that led me to LBL. In 1998, I was struck by lightning. During the brief time that I was ‘dead’ I experienced many of the same things that years later, I would hear clients report during their LBLs.  

Whatever the modality might be, my preference is for a client centered, transpersonal approach. When you walk through my door, I trust that you have all the answers within or that you can find them. For me, this is the ultimate form of respect. I am an expert at helping you achieve the state necessary to find those answers. I am a skilled facilitator that can guide you on your journey within, but it is not me, the facilitator, giving you the answers. My intention in facilitating a session for you is to help you find the answers yourself. The flip side of this transpersonal approach is that it is up to you, the client, to take responsibility for the answers you receive and for what you do with them.  

If there is one thing that I have learned from conducting LBL sessions it is that you cannot judge. Sometimes things that seem to be wrong or even bad from a human perspective aren’t at all. The answers a client receives have a particular meaning to them. I do not feel it is for me to judge or interpret the answers they receive.  

I think it is only natural that there are simi­larities between Life Between Lives, near-death experiences, out -of-body experiences, deep meditation, journey work and other forms of exploration through expanded consciousness. Part of my search was to find a way to experience these higher realms without the trauma I experienced during my near death experience. LBL is the best way I have found to do that.” 

(Excerpt from "Exploring Life Between Lives with Paul Aurand"  by David Stang for The Academy for Spiritual and Consciousness Studies, Inc) for more info, please contact Paul Aurand here:    http://www.paulaurand.com

Happy Birthday Luana!

Time, they say, heals all wounds. 

I'm aware of the fact that I'm older now than she was when she took her last breath on the planet... but I'm also aware (as are fans of "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide On How To Navigate the Afterlife "It's a Wonderful Afterlife: Further Adventures in the Flipside" and "Hacking the Afterlife" are) that she's kept in touch all these years.  

And just yesterday - I spoke to her. 

By that I mean I was meeting with my pal Jennifer Medlyn Shaffer (a medium/intuitive) and we were doing a live interview with a mutual friend of me and Luana's... one of her oldest pals, a very successful film person. He's speaking to us on Skype - this person specifically wanted to speak to a few old friends - when I asked Jennifer if "perhaps Luana could come forward" to help assist us.  

with Dennis Hopper in "Night Tide"

And she did - with her wit, she made her old pal laugh and cry, and gave some criticism about a film project this person is  working on ("open your heart more in the 3rd act." ) 

Just prior to arrival at jennifer's office, I had thought to myself "Well, it's Luana's birthday tomorrow, I wonder if we can get her to come by to speak to us..." and I added a subconscious question - which was "How does it work for you over on the Flipside to prepare or gear up to talk to us over here?"  

And before I could get past the word "how..." she replied (in my head) "It's just like preparing for an acting role." (Luana appeared in over 30 films, 300 tv shows) "You bring up all the memories you have associated with that person, and then appear to them in that role as they knew you while you were alive." - 

I recounted that story during the interview, and Jennifer turned to me and said "Yes. She's saying just that as you speak.  Just like an acting role."  

The idea is - we've had many lifetimes here, we've played many roles - so if someone asks about you, who knew you at a particular time and place in their life, the person who is "being called upon" gears themselves up by accessing the memories of how they looked, how they appeared, all of the details that get filed away... so that the loved one can see and sense or hear them as they once knew them.  

With my pal in Rome

That my friends - and her friends - is a small gift from Luana on her birthday.

Flipside and Choosing Your Parents

Appearing with George Noory June 27th at the Great Greek in Sherman Oaks.  What fun!
Here's a link to my appearances with George on Coast to Coast.  More details to follow....

Meanwhile:

Saw a young woman sobbing on the street yesterday. I stopped and asked if I she was ok. 

She said "I'm sorry. I don't think you can help." 

I said "Maybe talking can help." 

She said "I just heard my dad is smoking crack again."

Hanging with George Noory.

I asked if he'd been arrested or was ill. She said "No. He's back in rehab. I heard it from my sister." 

I said "I'm sorry you both have to go through that. But may I ask you a personal question?" She said "Sure."

I asked "Why did you choose him as your dad?" 

Latest tome.

She paused. Looked at me with her purple hair and nose ring. 

"I don't understand the question." 

I said "Just try and open yourself up to the answer. If it was possible; why do you think you chose your parents... this particular mom and dad?"

She said "To learn how not to behave. To understand what I didn't want to become. To learn from their mistakes." 

I said "Well then, it sounds like you chose wisely. It's not easy for him to learn the lessons he's signed up for, just as it's not easy for you to sign up to learn lessons from the both of them. 

But maybe you've done it for a reason you don't consciously know, but agreed to learn. Sometimes people say they learned how to heal others after recovering from an illness."

I got lucky in choosing this guy.

She said "I've heard something like that before. That we attract those things and people we need to learn from." 

I said "So maybe that's why I stopped to talk with you."

She wiped her tears and said "Thank you. I feel much better now." 

I said "Thanks for sharing your story. First time I've ever heard that particular sentence; "My dad's back on crack." 

She laughed.

Mission accomplished.

Documentary version at Amazon. 

In posting this story, some pals weighed in - and these were my replies:

Scott: I was adopted at birth. I have never met another blood relative, but my entire life I have felt as though I am where I am supposed to be, with the parents who were meant to be mine.


Rich: Cool. I've filmed people under deep hypnosis, both adopted and adopters, who claim they could see that they had chosen their families. It seems counterintuitive, but I think it's related to quantum entanglement. The idea that those individuals you know and love from previous lives are on the planet and somehow they "seek" each other out. Like magnets. Either way it's consistently reported that we choose (agree, ask, plan) the circumstances of our being here. Reports have been gathered via transcripts of hypnosis sessions, interviews with near death survivors, etc. ("Flipside," has the adoptee info.) Pretty mind blowing.

Gayle: Doing God's work


Rich: Well, to be fair, just saw a woman in distress on the sidewalk in front of Starbucks. I was sharing science with her. (Consistent reports that are repeated in the work of Dr. Wambach, Michael Newton and others.) But during one filmed session (in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife") a woman asked "what or who is God?" 

And her "spirit guide" said "God is beyond the capacity of the human brain; it's too complex. However you can experience god if you open your heart to all people and things." 

So yes, if that's accurate, then it isn't only that "God is love" - but love, the ineffable term we can't define, is what God is. When you share science you are sharing love (of humanity, of the planet, of existence) my two cents.

Richard: Wonderful. I'm so glad we choose you as our neighbor:) (from my old neighbor)


Rich: It's funny how when we have that feeling when you meet someone "I feel like I've known you forever." Sometimes it's with a "soulmate" sometimes with your literal "mate." ("Check, mate?") 

I've found if you really examine it - that conscious moment when you felt that way about someone - you find the seeds of this research. How could you "know" someone you've just met? How does that feeling of comfort - often described as "home" - square with the linear time line of our journey? 

So the idea "there are no mistakes" or "there's no such thing as coincidence" may be rooted in that quantum reality. "Oh no, not YOU again!?" (Just kidding) In my case I get that a lot.

And finally:

Rich: Six degrees of Kevin Bacon. I found this woman's profile on Facebook, and we have two mutual friends. 

(Were the friends somehow spiritually involved, quantum entangle-mentally involved in my stopping to speak to her? Remains to be seen.)  My two cents.