Flipside Book Talk with Richard Martini at the LA IANDS group

Here's the book talk at the International Association of Near Death Studies in Los Angeles this weekend.  Talk is about an hour, discussion after is about thirty minutes. Enjoy.

Flipside Talk in Culver City this Saturday Afternoon

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Dates: 04/27/2013 Times: 13:00 - 16:00 Location: Grace Lutheran Church, 4427 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230

Written by Administrator on April 13, 2013 in Home Page Calendar, Regular Meetings

    The Los Angeles International

Association for Near-Death Studies

will meet April 27th.

Saturday, April 27, 2013 1 – 4 pm Los Angeles IANDS presents Richard Martini Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013 Time: 1:00-4:00 PM Place: Parish Hall at Grace Lutheran Church, 4427 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230.

Do you have questions about an afterlife? Do we really plan and choose the people and circumstances for our next life? When does the soul enter our body? Rich Martini, a journalist and filmmaker, will talk about the findings of his extensive research for his book “Flipside: A Tourist’s Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife” upon which his 90 minute documentary of the same name is based. He’ll discuss his incredible journey finding evidence for the afterlife, life between lives, and “soul groups”; how we plan the circumstances of our next life when we’re between lives, when the soul enters the body, and much more. We request a donation of $10 per person, but no one will be turned away. Directions: From the 10 Fwy, exit at the Overland offramp and go South to Culver City.  From the 405 Fwy., exit at Culver Blvd and take Culver blvd. East to Overland Ave., where you turn South. Grace Lutheran Church is at 4427 Overland Ave, 4 blocks South of Culver Blvd. Turn West from Overland Ave. on Franklin Ave. and park on the street. The room is on Overland Ave. through the Sunday School entrance. Go up the stairs to the top and the Parish Hall is right there at the top of the stairs. There will be a no-host dinner afterwards at the California Pizza Kitchen, 13345 Fiji Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292.  Here are the DIRECTIONS fromGrace Lutheran Church: (I suggest you map this yourself online) Take the 405 South to the Marina del Rey Fwy (90).  Take the Marina del Rey Fwy (90) West and then North to the end and turn West on Mindanao Way. Turn South on Lincoln Blvd. to Fiji Way and turn West on Fiji Way. Go a half block and turn in to the right. The California Pizza Kitchen is right there. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Denis Purcell (310) 477-7417 or Laiands@aol.com

« Saturday, March 23, 2013

Channeling Erik, Jesus & my dad's pocketknife

My wife attended a workshop at a local Tibet shop in Santa Monica (Katmandu).  They were having a class in mediumship, and the instructor Monique recommended people bring along a photograph of a loved one who passed over.  The prior week, she brought a photograph of her old boss who passed away a few months ago.

The person who looked at his photograph was quite accurate about who he was (LA County Public Defender) and what kind of person he was.  He was forever giving people "mix tapes" of music that he thought they might like.  Imagine, an attorney who spent his time making tapes for others so they could enjoy music.  A wonderful person.

So my wife was meditating on him, and asked him for some kind of a "sign" which would prove that life continues on.  And a few seconds later, her phone message light began blinking on her cell phone, and when she checked it, saw that it was a reply to a message she had sent his widow six months earlier.  And in the note she spoke of how much she missed her departed husband.  So perhaps a coincidence that the two events occurred, but perhaps not.

Then last week she took a picture of my dad, who passed in 2004.  And he came clearly through to Monique, who spoke of his passion for plants, for books and his life as an engineer / architect.  Also the manner of his passing, and the kind of ecstatic grace he found himself in.  (For those who've read "Flipside" there's a moment when he spoke to me the night he died and told me he was experiencing "indescribable joy.")  He said a number of things about his life and what he's been up to - when asked for "proof" he was really there, he said my wife's maiden name - which no one in the room was aware of - and then casually mentioned that one of his sons had his "pocketknife."

Dad's pocketknife

I wasn't aware that he had a pocketknife - per se - and I queried my brothers as to who might have it.  Well, here it is, and my eldest brother Jeff gave it to me as a gift yesterday - our annual birthday lunch as we're born six days but ten years apart - so now I have the pocketknife.  Thanks Jeff. Thanks Dad.

Erik, star of "Channeling Erik"

Awhile ago I ran across Dr. Elisa Medhus's website: "ChannelingErik" - her son passed away some years ago, and he's been in contact with her since, and gives her reports from the afterlife.  The blog is fascinating, and coincides with the research yours truly has been doing about the Afterlife, including the work of Michael Newton ("Journey of Souls") and others.

Dr. Medhus

 But I came across this clip on youtube yesterday, and I felt I had to share it.




In the clip, Erik introduces his mom to two people; Quentin Crisp, the author of "Naked Civil Servant," and none other than Jesus.  Now, like any Catholic raised fellow, I'm skeptical about accounts of people seeing Jesus - accounts of seeing him are done usually by people having a near death experience (Todd Bumpo's NDE in "Heaven is For Real" is one) and people usually stop thinking or asking questions about him after they run into him.  "I saw God" is about all they can remember.

Naked Civil Servant, Quentin Crisp,
note Jaimie Butler's description of him

Well, if you're curious what Jesus looked like, I refer you to the chapter in Flipside where I interview June, who remembered a lifetime in Jerusalem where she met and knew him.  She describes him in great detail - and the reason for that is because many folks have said they've seen him during their LBL's - so many that I suggested that hypnotherapists ask for a description of him - because if he had red hair and blue eyes, for example, and everyone said the same thing, it would be another way of confirming his appearance.

In this interview, done with Jaimie Butler (withloveandlight.com) she describes his appearance - the same as June's description.

Jesus goes on to describe some pretty amazing events. That he survived the Crucifixion.  I've researched this quite a bit - Joseph of Arimethea asked for his "living body" off the cross, and Pilate replied "you mean his corpse" - in this he says it was with the help of the Roman guards that he was able to pull off a Tibetan yogic trick of appearing to be dead. (see wiki Pratyahara)

 I've been to the monastery in Hemis where he learned it.  I was told by the Abbot of the monastery that Jesus had studied there. I thought I was hearing him wrong. Then I looked it up - "Jesus in India" - and he references the trip - which followed the silk road.  He went to Persia, later what is now Pakistan where he studied with the Jains, was nearly killed by Brahmins who didn't like his "everyone is equal" preaching - and wound up in Tibet - which is now part of northern India in Ladakh.  It's all detailed in the "Tibetan gospel" which has been translated by two people - Nicholas Notovitch and an Indian pandit who translated the same document - which tells the accurate story of Jesus traveling to India BEFORE he went to Jerusalem.

Main courtyard of Hemis, located along the Silk road,
monks here say that Jesus spent a number of years studying Buddhism here.

And then he eventually went back there - got married and settled down.  (tombofjesus.com has these accounts - written by an Islamic student from Northwestern, whom I've interviewed - there is some motivation there, to prove the Qu'ran is correct - because it speaks of Jesus' going to India AFTER the Crucifixion - as it does in the gnostic "Gospel of Thomas") Either way, it's in the research if you want to follow these links.

So when Jesus says in this clip that he survived the Crucifixion - and he did it with using a yogic practice of slowing the body's heart rate - I can tell you that I've heard that same account before, and I'd be hard pressed to believe anyone else has done this research - as I can't find it anywhere.  I had never heard that the Roman guards were in on it - I do know that Joseph of Arimethea is a logical candidate for pulling it off.   (and for those skeptics out there - check out the last sentence of the four gospels - it appears to have been written by the same author, who was most likely based in Rome, where the Gospels appear to be artfully rewritten to suit the Roman tastes).

From the shroud - which he says "is him"

This clip also explains why Jesus shows up in so many NDE accounts.  He says that's part of his work - to help people who've shown up on the afterlife, to make it comfortable for them to see a familiar face - and to hear that he's been back to the planet many times, including the US as a child who suffered in a hospital.. when he says to the effect "I chose that lifetime to help everyone involved learn about compassion" is exactly what is said over and again in "Flipside." We choose difficult lives because we want to help others learn from our experience.

He also talks about "right and wrong."  He's trying to explain why he wants people to understand that it's wrong to use his words and legacy to punish or hurt other people.  Erik, the Dr's son, pipes in "but there is no right and wrong."  And Jesus replies "you have to teach people what is right and what is wrong, before you can teach them that there is no right and wrong."  And what he means by that is "relative" right and wrong.  Meaning if it doesn't come from the heart, then it's wrong.  But there is forgiveness, and compassion - and loving your enemy, turning the cheek, loving your neighbor as yourself - because inherently there is no good or bad in the afterlife.

Certainly we live in a planet of polarity - yin and yang, dark and light - and that allows us to examine these energies in our lifetime. But between lives, we don't see these actions here as good or bad - just relatively good and bad - the way you might consider a play "bad" or "good."  We watch the events here like sitting in a theater, as we act out our lives - we are able to see that "bad characters" bring out the good in people - so they have their place and purpose. It just depends what kind of drama you want to experience while you're here.  Some think they can handle what roles they sign up for - but then realize, or believe they can't.  They sign up to experience courage or selflessness, and can't handle it.  So teaching that there is no inherent right or wrong, can't be taught until it's learned that compassion and love are the paradigms to reach for, and once you realize every action is about learning compassion, then the fear associated with right or wrong falls away.  At least that's my humble interpretation of it.

And finally, he says that he's currently on the planet, living in India. I can think of a few candidates - but either way, this is not a story about worship, about finding Jesus - he said his mission on the planet was to teach people about the Afterlife. That he regretted people not knowing that he survived the Crucifixion, but realized (from the between lives realm) that is was more powerful of a statement when people believed that he had died and gone to Heaven.  But he also points out the Bible is metaphor - stories written by people to describe their own relation to God, and not the other way around.  And as such, written as a tool, and not as a weapon.

He also takes to task (if it can be called that) those who use his words out of context.  He clearly states that he loved everyone unequivocally - without prejudice - and that includes EVERYONE.

For me, it follows with the session that I filmed recently where a person asks their spirit guide (guardian angel) "Who or what is God?"  And the guide answered "God is beyond the capacity of the human brain to comprehend. It's just not physically possible.  However, if you want to experience God, open your heart to everyone and all things."  It bears repeating: Open Your Heart to Everyone.

Not just those who love you. Those you like. Those who like you in return. Open your heart to everyone. And all things. The planet.  What we're doing to it. To the people you meet in the street. To the guy who cuts you off in traffic.  To terrorists. To those in need.

So what's the point? He says that in the next four years, we will be able to bridge this link between us and the Afterlife, and that it will change everything - our way of business, of teaching, of taking care of the planet.. and he clearly says it will be through an "Invention" - even those Elisa adds "science" - he said an "invention" to bridge the gap.  So my mind is racing - what Invention is that?  Something that will allow us to pick up those vibrations that mediums or psychics receive and translate them into words? A "Twilight Zone" telephone that will speak to our departed ones in the afterlife? If what I'm saying is true, then why not?

A call to action for all your inventors out there!  Tesla, are you listening?

My two cents.