Hacking The Afterlife podcast

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Luana Anders, Charles Grodin, Robert Towne part two

First; Jennifer's got another one of her Uncorked events in Manhattan Beach - tickets are available, for sixty bucks one gets a glass of wine, two hours with her and others who all get spoken to. The events are fun and easy to attend. UncorkedWineShops.com https://uncorkedwineshops.com/medium-monday-tickets/

For ticket info: JenniferShaffer.com 

This is a continuation of our conversation with Robert Towne, my old boss who left the stage last week.  Jennifer mentions how she was walking on the beach the other day and Robert (and his dog Hira) appeared walking next to her... Jennifer did a number of sessions with Robert and so she's used to communicating with him.

In this episode, I'm continuing with my list of questions to ask him about - people that we spoke with before, people offstage and if he has messages for people onstage.

In this case, Robert was doing a rewrite or polish for a script about Napoleon (I don't know if it was his own, or it was for someone else, like Ridley Scott as Robert wrote "Days of Thunder" for his brother Tony.

Comes to mind - when his brother Tony passed, we were doing this research, and Robert asked me about his passing, so we did a session asking Tony what happened.  It's in the book BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE.

Either way - I want to point something out. We accessed Napoleon and his friend Betsy Balcombe in a previous session - it might be in print instead of in the podcast list - that would be in BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE 1, 2 or 3 - and in that instance, she identified herself as Napoleon's friend, and when asked whether he died of natural causes or was "poisoned" we heard her say it was poison. (or not from natural causes).

In this episode, I ask Robert if he's had a chance to ask Napoleon about the accuracy of that, and the answer is the word "wife."

For those paying attention, that could be the wife of Napoleon (who was having an affair back in Paris, had two children with that fellow and married him) that could be the wife of Balcombe, but his family left St. Helena before Napoleon died, it could be "Fanny" the wife of one of his lieutenants he made a pass at, and nearly jumped off a ship at the thought of being stuck on St. Helena with him - or it could have been any number of wives on the island, as apparently, he'd have flings with quite a few.

Wild and crazy guy.

But in reading the A. Robert's autobiography of him, it's clear that he died of stomach cancer. The doctors did an autopsy, it's the same disease his father died of - and it's clear to me that is what he died of. "It was a miracle he didn't die from it earlier."

In terms of this kind of research, asking questions and getting answers, because I've been doing this for 8 years weekly, I have to allow that it's possible I was asking the wrong question, it's possible that Napoleon was trying to steer the conversation to another topic (like "It was my wife Josephine that caused me to have agita which turned into stomach cancer") or it could be that the word "wife" meant something else altogether. 

It's important to note this - because I'm asking leading questions and I could be leading the medium into an area where they are trying to answer my questions based on what they're getting from the flipside. (I've seen people do this, and likely I have done it before as well.)

Jennifer says what she hears, senses, or visualizes.  Why he answered "wife" is subject to more questions - because I could revisit the conversation and point out that it was cancer that took his life, so what's he pointing to a wife or his wife, or someone else's wife?

Either way - this is one of those things that make people say "well it's all subject to conjecture" so therefore it's pointless to ask questions.

But clearly Robert was able to express who Rudy the Rank was, and Charles Grodin is able to express his opinions about the movie we were watching.

Either way - we do this work to encourage people to explore on their own - to ask questions, to gauge the answers, to ask more questions and see what one can learn.  If one doesn't want to they don't have to - but clearly if one does want to communicate, they can.

Just research the answers (as I've done here.)

Hope this helps. 

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Rich Martini, Luana Anders and Robert Towne

This is one of those podcasts that I can't really begin to comprehend, understand, other than to allow that the over four decades I knew Robert Towne, it was like I was put in his path so I could do this interview.

Robert was a prolific writer, some consider to be the greatest screenwriter who put pen to paper (or pages in a Selectric.)  Robert asked me to do this interview before he passed, made me promise.  I have sent the unedited version to his friends and family (without some pauses and spaces) and this version is slightly shorter - but not by much.

Where to begin? I spent three years walking his dog Hira - and when I told him I wanted to direct, he said "I think that would be a good idea, but you'll make mild comedies."  He was right. I've written and or directed 8 of them that most haven't seen or are aware of.

But while working for him, I got to know many of his closest pals - some who are offstage, some who are onstage - and in this interview I asked for his opinion about some of them.

I introduced him to Jennifer about five years ago - he was a skeptic until we did a session and he was able to learn new information from people offstage.  He learned new information from his dog Hira. He learned new information from people I didn't know, never met - nor could Jennifer.

I use first names in this interview, because that's all Jennifer needs. She doesn't recall the contents of our sessions - and she did a couple with Robert, but has done sessions with me weekly for 8 years.  She does sessions with law enforcement daily - and like an "Etch a Sketch" wipes her awareness clear each time.

But for whatever reason, we can bypass the filters, talk to people offstage together. We do this podcast to demonstrated that anyone can.  I recommend watching this on the HACKING THE AFTERLIFE podcast because in the video version I put up subtitles as to who was being referenced.  Not hard to figure out - but Fred Roos, Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn are mentioned. John Shaner. These folks were friends of his.  In some cases I didn't mention their names - and referred to them in Italian, because I know that Robert knows who I'm referring to, even if Jennifer does not. In the case of Eddie Taylor, we put to bed the idea he was the person who wrote Chinatown.

It's a live demonstration of how people can speak to their loved ones offstage. Learn new information.  You don't need Jennifer (but it helps.)  We've been doing this weekly for 8 years. Jennifer did a number of sessions with Robert, and I filmed at least two. 

Love is all there is. We come to the planet to have an experience with our loved ones, friends, animals. "It's over in the blink of an eye."  If one takes away anything from this session it's to realize that it's possible they still exist, that it's possible that we can communicate with them, it's possible that our pets, animals, loved ones still exist, are able to help us, reach out to us - keep an eye on us.

Two things: the reference to the "monkey scene" in the film "Five Easy Pieces" (written by Robert's friend Carol Eastman (listed as Adrien Joyce) and directed by his pal Bob Rafelson.  It's possible he's referring to favorite dialogue, instead of "favorite lines he wrote" - because I have no awareness of his writing scenes for this movie (even though he did it for so many others, sometimes without credit like Bonnie and Clyde, Godfather and others).  But here's the dialog that he's referencing:

Excerpt from “Five Easy Pieces” : Helena Kallianiotes is an over talkative hitchhiker:  Jack Nicholson is driving. (Just after the infamous table clearing scene)  Helena: (Palm) “Fantastic! .. I would have just punched her out... People... oof  (shakes her head) Animals are not like that... always cleaning themselves.  Pigeons! Always picking bugs out of their hair. Monkeys too. Except  monkeys do things out in the open that I don’t go for.”  Bobby’s eyes glazed over as he stares out through the windshield.  Helena: “I was in this place once, store with snakes, monkeys, everything  you could imagine. I walked in, had to run out. It stunk! They didn’t  even have incense.. Filth you wouldn’t believe! I don’t even want to talk about it!”  (From “Five Easy Pieces” written by Robert’s pal, Luana’s roommate,  Carole Eastman, directed by Robert’s pal Bob Rafelson, starring their pal Jack Nicholson. 1970) (Interesting to note; this dialog is in the script, but doesn't appear in the filmed version, some of the lines do, but the monkey part does not.  Robert like to say writing was "monkeys at a typewriter" until they get it right. When he left his deal at Warner Bros over the editing of "Personal Best" we took everything out of his bungalow except a giant stuffed toy ape that Warners had given him, and set him behind a studio typewriter with the page quoting Robert about monkeys at a typewriter. (Not his idea, mine and Richard Prince's)

With his daughter's permission, here is the poem that Robert references in the podcast that Kate wrote about him:

"I met the love of my life the day I was born.
My father put stars in my eyes and words in my heart. When reading a poem to me when I was 10, the word god appeared. I asked him if he believed in god and pointing to the words he said,” I believe in this.”

When I was about 6 it was my dad’s 50th birthday. I looked up at him and with a shiver in my heart I said, “you’re half of a hundred.”
It drove me to distraction the rest of my life knowing the inevitability. I have endlessly bargained with this grief, chased and run from shadows and dreaded this painful thing until it shaped every part of me.

He knew I could be morose and in his later years could gently point that out and boy, did it feel like home to be known by him.

I don’t know how to say I love you I love you I love you I will never let you go I will always be dreaming of you and I will always look for you in poems and magic hour and cats.
Thank you for the apologies and the tenderness and the time. It wasn’t perfect. It was better.

“The wages of dying is love.”- GK

In the podcast Robert refers to the last line being funny - "It was better."

I gasped when I read it, because it was a surprise to see.  Maybe me weep with the memory of my pal.

I did this interview at his request, and am sharing it as per his request.  Not only for his loved ones and friends, but for those on the planet who are suffering because their loved ones have "left the stage." Know that they are not gone. They just aren't here.  And we can access them if we need to or want to.

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Luana Anders, Fred Roos and Robin Williams

It was Jennifer's birthday week, she tells the story of how her daughter sent a message in the sand from Malta, shows it to the audience and how her son magically found the exact same birthday card for her - that she was going to give her mom before she passed.  Jennifer sends her love and thanks to everyone who sent her birthday wishes.

Then a conversation with Fred Roos, Luana Anders' friend whose memorial was this week.  I went to the memorial, a number of very unusual conversations were had. 

As noted in the podcast, people who know Fred will know how accurate this interview is - people who don't know him will hear references to friends of his both on and off the planet. I can verify that Jennifer doesn't know any of these people, and doesn't know who I'm referring to (except in some instances where I concur what who she is seeing or hearing from.)  If one compares the previous conversation with him prior to this one - everyone that was mentioned (first names only) in the last podcast who was at the memorial, I was able to pass along Fred's messages to them.

It was uncanny that I was able to do so.  One in person, another a message for a relative.

Luana Anders knew Fred for 60 years. She spoke to him on her last day on the planet, and was the person who introduced me to him 40 years ago.  Luana left in 1996, but over the years Fred and I spoke often, not only about Luana's script "Real Feelings" but also when his close friend Harry Dean Stanton passed away, and had private messages for his closest pals including Fred - which I dutifully passed along.

Harry passed in 2017, and as noted in the podcast, those private, personal messages, along with Harry Dean's recollection of driving to the Monterey Pop festival with Fred and Luana (something I didn't know, never heard, but Fred confirmed when I asked him about it) allowed him to believe in the possibility of the idea that life goes on.

As I point out - in the future, more people will do something like this. That is - a loved one leaves the stage, and the family gets together with some of the best mediums (anyone whose filters are askew, or are not properly in place, because it's an issue of "filters on the brain that block information not conducive to survival" (see pg 125 of Dr. Greyson's book AFTER for a science discussion of those filters) - and then - comparing the dreams, messages, conversations with their loved one - at the memorial they share them, bringing all those messages of love, of observation, or insight from the flipside. 

They are not gone. They just aren't here.

I have been filming people bypassing those filters for over fifteen years. it's how I met Jennifer 8 years ago, and why we have been meeting up like this weekly to talk to people offstage. Anyone can do it.  It helps if you have someone like Jennifer who works with law enforcement agencies nationwide. (Flipside, Talking to Bill Paxton, Hacking the Afterlife films have examples.)

In this podcast, I did edit out some of the more personal commentary, and have passed those details along to his loved ones.  That doesn't mean people I pass messages along to are suddenly "going to believe" their loved ones still exist... as I've noted before, we spoke directly to someone offstage, passed a transcript to the family members which we were asked to pass along, the message came back; "I wish every day that I could speak to my relative, but I don't believe you guys are."

That's fine. That's logical.  But the reason we do this work is to show people the process, the way to access them on their own. One doesn't need a medium - it helps - but one does need to allow for the possibility.  We've been at this weekly for 8 years.

One method we got from hypnotherapist Michael Newton on the flipside - he came to tell us (it's in on camera in the film HACKING THE AFTERLIFE on Amazon or Gaia) "1. Say their name. 2. Ask them questions (you don't know the answers to).  Don't judge the replies. 3. When they answer a question before you've been able to ask it (often visually) you'll know you've made a connection."

Anyone can. 

We all experience grief, loss, sadness - but we can add to that mix nostalgia, and realize that they aren't suffering, they're home. They know where they are, and will do their best to help us on our path.  It helps that I get to work with Jennifer Shaffer, who spends a third of her day helping law enforcement agencies nationwide, who does that work pro bono - who graciously allows me to ask her any question and she answers it without knowing who I'm speaking with.  As is evidenced in this podcast. "Why am I hearing "Russo" or "Rooster?"  Clearly wasn't aware we'd interviewed him a few weeks earlier.  She's like an Etch a Sketch - once the session is over, all the information evaporates. That's why it's so cool I get to film and record this information.

Love love. Oh, and Robin Williams has the last word. (He did 2 films with Fred.)

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer Birthday Edition with Prince and others

It's Jennifer Shaffer's birthday week. Today's podcast had a number of people on the flipside show up to wish her happy birthday.  Her mom and da, Prince, who told her he had written a song called "Happy Birthday" - one that neither of us knew, but then looked up online while during the podcast.
A number of old friends stopped by Howard Schultz, Charles Grodin, people who didn't meet Jennifer in life, but who know her from our conversations with them on the flipside. 
There's a discussion of how they celebrate us from over there, and how frequency works to keep us in touch.  Another mind bending podcast from Hacking the Afterlife.
#CharlesGrodin, #Prince, #BillPaxton, #HackingTheAfterlife #Martinizone Martinizone.com, RichMartini.com HackingtheAfterlife.com

How to Bypass Filters on the Brain; an excerpt from my talk at Contact in the Desert

This excerpt was filmed with the permission of Ron Janix; for the full video and other clips from this amazing event, please visit CONTACTINTHEDESERT.COM - This is a bit long for our podcast, but it includes a guided meditation, so please don't do the guided meditation while driving a car or using heavy equipment.

Basically, filming people accessing this information for over fifteen years, and visiting the University of Virginia Lab DOPS, where they explore how consciousness is not confined to the brain, I've heard from Dr. Greyson about the "filters on the brain" that seem to be bypassed during the near death event. (See pg 125 of his book AFTER)   Dr. Helen Wambach also talks about "the filters on the brain" in her book RELIVING PAST LIVES.  She also called them "filters that block information not conducive to survival."

Two scientists who talk about the same filters but 50 years apart from different disciplines.  There's also a reference to Viola Pettit-Neal, whom I was turned on to by Harvard neuroscientist Akeera Weerasakera PhD.  She did some trance sessions where she accessed a classroom on the flipside where they talked about the filters on the brain.

People can bypass them using hypnotherapy, mediumship or guided meditation (also with hallucinogens like DMT, in dreams, during near death events, out of body experiences etc.  I recommend using a Newton Institute hypnotherapist, as their four to six hour sessions are like the ones that Dr. Wambach used. (And one can listen to a 2 hour hypnosis session given by Dr. Wambach on this page). 

The point is - anyone can bypass their filters. Mediums don't have the same ones that other folks have, some children don't have them until the 8th year, see people others cannot, recall previous lifetimes.  Some elderly people lose them prior to passing. According to Dr. Greyson's talk IS CONSCIOUSNESS PRODUCED BY THE BRAIN (also reproduced on this page) refers to the data that 70% of the hospice care workers in the UK report dementia patients who spontaneously recall memories - as Greyson notes "It's as if the filters on the brain are dying with the atrophied brain."

In this talk, courtesy of Contact in the Desert, courtesy of Ron Janix who allowed me to film and share this excerpt, this is a simple method of how to bypass those filters. It includes a guided meditation. 

This information is based on fifteen years of filming people accessing the afterlife, accessing their loved ones via hypnotherapy, mediumship and guided meditation.  I was happy to see that the event was standing room only - people lined up along the walls to get some insight into this research.

The reason it's at Contact in the Desert is when people use guided meditation to access their guides (as reported in DIVINE COUNCILS IN THE AFTERLIFE and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FLIPSIDE KIND) is because during these simple meditations, sometimes people access beings on their council who have never incarnated on the planet. Further, as noted, in the podcast with Simon Bown (see his podcast #119 ) he accessed a "gray alien" who allowed me to ask him a raft of unusual questions with mind bending answers. (Like: "have you ever donated blood to the Red Cross? The people we visit and extract DNA from are people who offered to donate before they incarnated on the planet.)

I offer this as the kind of research anyone can do - people should see if they get different answers or results from their own experiments... people who do this kind of work can be skeptics, disbelievers, doubters, or religions folks who belief their belief system is sacrosanct.  Data needs to be reproducible and consistent to become data.

In fifteen years of filming people accessing this information - it doesn't change, but keeps getting more interesting, deeper, and mind bending.
 We have a forum at Quora called "Hacking the Afterlife" - it's a place to share data, research or personal experiences with the flipside.

Jennifer is at a family event this week, so I took the opportunity to post this talk.  Hopefully we'll be back on the air next week.

Thanks for tuning in. For more info: RichMartini.com - for JenniferShaffer.com - or the podcast MartiniZone.com - also "Hacking the Afterlife" "Talking to Bill Paxton" and FLIPSIDE the film are available on Gaia or via Amazon Prime. 

Excerpt from our Workshop at Contact in the Desert - Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer

This is an excerpt from our Workshop at Contact in the Desert.  For a full edition, please visit ContactInTheDesert.com - and choose the workshop version.

The video for this excerpt can be found at the Hacking the Afterlife page on Youtube - MartiniZone or MartiniProds on Youtube... to see what photos I'm referring to.

Over the course of three days, people gathered near Palm Springs to share research, data, about non human consciousness. 

For those familiar with the podcast, Jennifer and I are sitting next to each other onstage and I'm showing some slides from the presentation. Those pictures can be found at the above mentioned page.

What makes this session worth putting onto our podcast, is that in the middle I do a guided meditation for about 20 minutes.

Anyone can follow along, but I recommend not doing a guided meditation while one is driving... who knows where one might go.

Find someplace comfortable to allow images, thoughts, even sounds to appear while doing that kind of meditation.  Med means measure in Latin - one is measuring thoughts.

The last portion is Jennifer answering questions from random members of the audience - their names are in a box, and Jennifer answers direct questions to people on the flipside - if it's a question about process, I try to field it.

Either way - it's an insight into how the podcast comes together. For eight years Jennifer and I have been meeting weekly - she says "so and so is here" and I then supply the questions.

For the entire session, about 90 minutes, or for other panels at the conference, please visit the website Contact In The Desert.  This excerpt is filmed and used with the permission of Ron Janix who runs the event.  Some amazing speakers this time around.

Check it out!

Hope this helps. 

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Harry Dean Stanton, Fred Roos and friends

Jennifer and I have been doing this form of accessing the flipside for 8 years.  Every week for the past 8 years we've been getting together to see who we can speak with or talk to on the flipside.

In terms of the process; Jennifer works with law enforcement agencies daily; she senses, sees, hears information and does her best to interpret what she is seeing, hearing. 

When someone shows up that I knew, or she knew, it's easier to interpret what they're talking about.  In my case I try to ask them the same relative questions; "Who greeted you when you crossed over?" "Who are you hanging out with?" "Who were you surprised to see?" "What was the journey like?" "What would you like to tell your loved ones?"

Sometimes the people who are on our podcast show up because of their connection to our moderator on the flipside, Luana Anders, my friend who passed away in my arms in 1996.  She began to visit me after that event, then members of my family; at some point I had to acknowledge that she still existed.  My journey into the FLIPSIDE (book and film) was to figure out how that was physically possible.

After about 7 years of filming people using hypnotherapy or guided meditation to access the same hallmarks, Jennifer showed up to demonstrate how talking to someone who was onstage is like having a cellphone to those who are offstage.

And here we are 8 years later.

Occasionally people show up that I knew well, or worked with, or someone like this week's guest who I knew for 40 years.  I heard from his family prior to the podcast about his passing, and they asked me to let them know if I heard anything from him on the flipside.

So in that vein we offer this interview with someone who stepped offstage, who is not gone, just not here.  He talks about things only I know about - in many instances referring to people Jennifer doesn't know, but I do.

To those who have lost a dear friend, a dear family member, someone close to their hearts, it can be difficult to listen to something like this - grief can be overwhelming. The desire to dismiss something like this is strong - and of course this kind of investigation isn't for everyone.

But after doing this for eight years, I can think of no other podcast we've done that is so spot on in terms of what we learn from someone I loved dearly who is no longer on the planet, but has gone back "home" to be with friends and family.

In the books BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE, (1-3) and TUNING INTO THE AFTERLIFE; there are the transcripts of the sessions with the late actor, great skeptic Harry Dean Stanton who was a dear friend of Fred Roos and Luana Anders.

In those sessions, I asked Harry "at what point did you realize there was an afterlife?" and he told us that at first he thought he was dreaming - had "entered a happy memory" of his trip with Fred Roos and Luana Anders to the Monterey Pop festival in 1967 (where they arrived to see Jimi Hendrix.)  I know this is accurate, because in Harry's account from the flipside, I confirmed everything he said with Fred Roos, who was in the car with Luana and Harry Dean - something I wasn't aware of, but he was.

And then, Fred described the same "soft landing" they had constructed for him. The memory of those fairgrounds, of being young and seeing one's pals offstage.

This is about as mind bending a session as we've ever done. 

As noted, Jennifer and I will be at the Contact in the Desert conference this coming week; I appear on Friday the 31st at 10:30, then Jennifer and I appear together on Saturday June 1st at 10:30 am in the Independence Room, and then I will be speaking solo about "filters on the brain" on Sunday at 2:30 at the event.

Hope some can make it - or tune in via their website at ContactIntheDesert.com

Again, I'm sorry to have a close friend of mine leave the planet after a fantastic 90 year run - and for some listening in the names of the people I ask him to talk about are easy to discern for those who might have known the great, Oscar winning producer Fred Roos.

For those who don't know the references, that's okay as well, because the important part is to realize they aren't gone; they just aren't here.

I ask for a message for his life long pal Francis: "Tell Francis that there's nothing to be afraid of; if I can make it to heaven anyone can." (Fred's dry sense of humor.)  I ask about his life long pal Jack:  Laughing, he says "He's not going to heaven." Then "He needs to make that film about his life with his daughter Lorraine." For his pal the writer Robert; "Tell him I'm still talking to him, that I loved our conversations recently - they talked about their friend (Nick Coster)   They talked about life after death." For his friend Sofia, he says, "I can’t wait to see everything that she’s doing. We’re celebrating her dad over here.” (Meaning they're celebrating her father's recent successes on the flipside.) To his friend Harrison; “He’s not going anywhere. He needs to stop being such a hypochondriac. He gets anxiety and he should relax."  Any comment about his friend   George? He says, "Lucky. Lucky son of a gun. " (Jennifer asks "Did he get married again?" Fred says, "It couldn’t have happened to a better guy, finding love again." To his friend Mike Figgis: "Thank you. Whatever went sideways he’d figure it out – so appreciative of all the work that he did."

Those are verbatim messages from a loved one offstage to his friends back onstage. Those who know Fred will know who he's referring to.

But it serves to remind everyone; Fred is asked about advice he'd give someone on the planet; he says to not take any day for granted. 

I'm sharing this because I know it will help some people, it's helped me to realize that our loved ones are not gone; they're just not here. 

These past two podcasts, with friends Roger Corman, Fred Roos and their mutual friend Eleanor represent a comprehensive chat with people that I personally knew who are offstage and confirm what these past fifteen years of filming people offstage demonstrate.

Anyone can do this. Anyone can access their loved ones offstage.  We can do so with mediumship, guided meditation or hypnotherapy.  It's healing and helpful to know about the process in some small detail - but that everyone leaves the stage and returns home.

Hope this helps. 

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Luana Anders, Roger Corman, Bill, Chuck and Eleanor

An extra long episode for today - caught Jennifer at the end of her long day instead of in the middle of it.

We start off by talking about some day to day issues, reminding the audience we're going to be appearing together at the ContactInTheDesert.com event on June 1st, at 10:30 "How to Talk to One’s Council: Including ET’s Workshop with Jennifer Shaffer and Richard Martini Saturday, June 1, 2024 10:30am–12:05pm
Location: Independence Room (Contact In the Desert) 

Jennifer asked me how folks could sign up to do a guided meditation with me, they can by sending me an email at MartiniProds@gmail.com - 

We invited Luana Anders to come and talk to us about two friends of hers who had crossed recently. Both friends and colleagues of hers.  In the first instance, I name the individual, who was famous in Hollywood, but not so much outside the business.

The second person, her first name is used; she was a close friend of Luana's and those who know Luana and her story will likely recognize the name, those who aren't aware of it, will not.

And I prefer it that way - because that allowed her to speak about her journey directly from the flipside - since Jennifer had no idea who this woman was.

Jennifer also didn't know who Roger Corman is or was, and why these interviews are so unusual - because we are demonstrating how easy it is for ANYONE to speak to their loved ones offstage.

Literally invited them to come and share details about their journey.

I've been doing this with Jennifer for over 8 years, have been filming people talking to their loved ones via hypnotherapy or meditation for another 7 years, for a total of fifteen years.

It's not opinion, theory or belief that people can speak to, learn new information from people offstage - it's footage, data or in the science from the University of Virginia lab DOPS that demonstrates consciousness is not confined to the brain.

We had some visitors as well - Kobe stopped by to say "hi" (Jennifer has worked with members of his family) Bill Paxton stopped by to tease Jennifer about always forgetting his name, Charles Grodin made a short appearance - and people who know me, know that Luana and Charles were best pals for over 30 years, and I was close with him for 20.  Every time he shows up, I know that I'm getting something fun to hear from my friend who is godfather to my kids. 

Bill and I met early on, while he was shooting Aliens in London, remained pals, but I rarely saw him outside of Cannes.  But he's shown up so many times that there's a film "talking to Bill Paxton" on Amazon where I had three different mediums ask Bill the same identical questions - only questions he could answer - and in one instance did so via a third person (blind study) who read my questions to the medium. I wasn't anywhere near them when they filmed that. Bill answered the same every time.

As noted at the end of this podcast, everything that Jennifer said - including the moment I was driving in Westwood and heard my friend's voice in my head saying "I went there!" when driving by the UCLA sign. (Funny, I just looked that detail up to confirm it and yes, she did).

Life does not end.

Our loved ones still exist.

One can access them, ask them questions.

It doesn't require a medium, but it can help.

Meditation works, so does hypnotherapy. 

They want to continue the conversation.

Let them.

We are all heading home either way - as Ram Dass put it: 'We are all just walking each other home."

Indeed.

Try to enjoy the ride.

Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Luana Anders, Ma Durga, Five, Hira, Harry Dean Stanton

Jennifer returned from her trip to Mexico and we dive into what people in our class on the flipside wanted to talk about; the upcoming "Contact in the Desert" workshop on Saturday, June 1st. (ContactInTheDesert.com)

First up was Ma Durga, the Hindu deity who has appeared in a number of conversations with people on the flipside. Jennifer's father identified her as the 8 armed teacher from his astrophysics class.

She's shown up in other conversations, guided meditations - and after asking her multiple questions. she is seen by most people as this kind of 8 armed octopus time person/woman. She told us previously that she was incarnated as a young girl on earth, as well as an octopus, and "kept the 8 arms because they're useful as a teacher." 

She's funny, slightly off beat - and has offered to show up at our workshop on Saturday to talk about "aliens" and how we don't need to fear what we don't understand. Mind bending stuff. She was interrupted by "Five" - the Akashic librarian that we've interviewed before, that I've also seen or met in multiple other avenues, during someone's hypnotherapy session (Divine Councils in the Afterlife) as well as during guided meditations with people (Architecture of the Afterlife) as well as multiple times on our podcast. (Search "Five")

He uses the number because it's non denominational, has no gender.  He's a sage, wise person, a bit like Yoda in stature.  But he too has offered to show up at our workshop (Not literally, but to answer questions that I pose to him). 

Again, I can't see him or Ma Durga, but Jennifer can (and Ma Durga is a bonafide Hindu deity - look her up).  Then we had a visit from Harry Dean Stanton.

Oddly enough I was reading Ed Begley Jr's hilarious autobiography, which mentions Harry a number of times. ("To the Temple of Tranquility and Step On It!") Harry Dean Stanton is/ was quite a character, funny, and much beloved by his closest pals (like Fred Roos). 

Anyways, a conversation with Harry Dean about telling people not to get hung up over the word "God" or the concept of "God" - but to just allow that there are things, beings, people that exist that are higher intelligences than us - and that's okay, also that whatever one believes doesn't change the fact that there is an afterlife. (Something he argued against for much of his career.)

He had a private message for Ed Begley Jr. so I will forward it to him. Thanks Jennifer!

Hacking the Afterlife Podcast with Jennifer Shaffer, Luana Anders, Tom Petty, Linda Medlyn, Robin Williams

Another one of those mind bending podcasts.

In the first half, there's a visit from the one and only Tom Petty.  When he first showed up to talk to us, years back, I asked him "how is it you're appearing to Jennifer in this restaurant in Manhattan beach? I didn't meet you when I was a music critic at Variety, and I don't think Luana met you in her lifetime.  How did you show up?"

His reply was "You have no idea how many people are in line to talk to you guys. It's like your friend Luana has a clipboard at the VIP section backstage and you need to be on the list."

Which is how the name for the books came about BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE books 1, 2 and 3, and later TUNING INTO THE AFTERLIFE about all the musicians we've interviewed in the past 8 years.

I asked Tom what he wanted to say and at the time it was a personal thing for his family.  So I transcribed that session, figured out how to get an email to a family member, told them the circumstances of how this "interview" happened... to which they politely replied, "Thanks, but I wish every day we could talk to him, and I don't think you and Jennifer are speaking to him."

Which is fine, logical, completely understandable. So the next time he showed up I said to him "They didn't want to hear from us, it's best you communicate directly to them" to which he replied "It takes time. It's the first of many examples." 

So that being said - I'm not posting this interview to "claim that we have a direct line" to anyone on the flipside. As I've always done - in the past 8 years of working with Jennifer - I ask the same questions to everyone we meet on the podcast. "Who greeted you, what was that like?" etc.  As noted in the podcast, Tom had told us before that he was "greeted by his father" on the flipside, and that was unusual for him as they were estranged (and I later found that was reportedly the case based on interviews with Tom.)

But here we are years later - and I asked him "What's in like for you to revisit us - this many years later? He said "Like the time it takes to turn around."

Which is what people consistently report. Roughly, that "25 years on earth feels like 5 or 10 minutes to someone offstage." That things that occurred years ago, feel like seconds ago.  (And this is repeated in the book FLIPSIDE where I had two hypnotherapy sessions two years apart, yet the second one picked up where I had left off, just a few seconds later.

He came to give some simple musical advice.  "Pick up an instrument and play.  It will do you a world of good." I'm paraphrasing as the comment was directed towards our son, who is a virtuoso on the piano. (His grandmother was a concert pianist, so I'm aware of the term).

Tom wants him to continue to play. After the podcast ended, we did just that. Jammed for a bit. Thanks Tom.

Then Jennifer's mom stopped by - Linda. Whose birthday was this week - she passed recently, and this was Jennifer's first birthday of hers without her - however, as noted there was an unusual bouquet of flowers that appeared on her doorstep that day.

Then Robin Williams stops by, briefly at the end... fans of the podcast, of the books know that he's been showing up for 8 years. Allow me to repeat the story that when he first showed up, he told Jennifer to tell me to "put his chapter back in my book."

I had told no one that the night before I had deleted that chapter - as it was too much about me meeting him, Jonathan Winters, than it was about him. As ordered, I put it back into the book HACKING THE AFTERLIFE.
My wife Sherry was in a class where the teacher had written down "Elvis" as the name of the person they wanted to see if the class could do a "remote viewing" and read what was the name on the paper she'd written.

And as reported, Robin showed up doing his Elvis imitation. Funny enough, last night, happened to turn on the TV and the ad for the The Movie Channel has Robin doing that imitation and then there's a clip of Elvis doing the same thing. (Check it out.) 

Anyways, another mind bending podcast that will have to last us two weeks until Jennifer returns.

Meanwhile, catch you on the flipside!  Our podcast HACKING THE AFTERLIFE on quora has had 52 million views. Join the conversation.