SOLVING THE COMBINATION LOCK TEST
A protocol for exploring the “combination lock test.”
Recently the NY Times wrote an article about Ian Stevenson’s “Combination Lock Test.”
Do You Believe in Life After Death? by Saskia Solomon. The article details the research that Dr. Tucker has done in the shadow of Ian Stevenson at the Department of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) at the University of Virginia (UVA). Here’s something in the article that jumped out: “One thing is certain: whoever takes up the mantle as director of DOPS will become the new custodian of Dr. Stevenson’s experiment. After all, there are more than a million possible combinations to the lock, and no coincidence in guessing the right one. Many have tried, some even attempting to retrieve the code from Dr. Stevenson himself by enlisting the help of spiritual mediums, to no avail.”
Actually, I was the fellow who suggested that. Because I talked to Ian Stevenson on the flipside, and he gave me the “idea of the answer.” (It’s hard to create sound on the flipside, they’re frequency is exponentially faster than ours, they’re slowing down to communicate with someone who is trying to get glimpses of an answer. Like a super sonic pilot slowing down to talk to someone in a VW Van on a bumpy road with the windows rolled up. Hard to communicate.)
It’s about filters on the brain that block awareness. Dr. Wambach mentions them in her clinical case studies of people under hypnosis (“Reliving Past Lives”) and Dr. Greyson mentions them in his book “After.” (pg 125). We have filters that “block information not conducive to survival.” It’s about bypassing those filters to be able to communicate with people who’ve left the stage. It’s what I’ve been doing for the past fifteen years; (best selling kindles “Flipside” “It’s a Wonderful Afterlife” “Divine Councils in the Afterlife” etc).
Excerpts of the three methods hypnotherapy, mediumship and meditation are in the films FLIPSIDE, TALKING TO BILL PAXTON and HACKING THE AFTERLIFE on Amazon Prime or Gaia.
To those familiar with the test, it comes from Ian Stevenson at UVA. He spent decades studying reincarnation, and two of his students, Carol Bowman (“Children’s Past Lives”) and Dr. Jim Tucker (“Before”) have studied thousands of historically accurate reincarnation cases. Not only the ones he examined, but many after he retired, and Dr. Tucker formally took over his research until his upcoming retirement.
Ian Stevenson left behind a lock that uses an alphabet to open it. He chose a six letter word or phrase for the combination, and left it locked. Since then it’s been in an office at UVA in the locked position.
The NY Times article mentioned how “a medium tried to solve the combination but failed.” That’s not accurate. A filmmaker, (Me) asked a medium who works with law enforcement (FBI, NYPD) to see if she could interview someone named Ian. She had no idea who he was. After correctly identifying him as a professor who taught in Virginia (and other details) I asked him a question that didn’t reveal why I was asking.
“I want to ask you about a puzzle you left behind” or words to that effect. She saw an image of the phrase “E = MC 2” — and said aloud, “I’m seeing the theory of relativity.” I asked a number of questions related to that.
Here’s the actual video: (the question is asked at 17:18 in the clip — the phrase is answered at 26:18) I cut the answer out of the posted clip — which was “He’s showing me an image of E equals MC squared.” It’s in this extended clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbCXUcbBqSE (I don’t know why YouTube says this clip has to be viewed on YouTube — but that’s the address, so go to YouTube, paste it in, then scan down to 26 minutes in for her direct answer) Meanwhile here’s the edited version:
In the notes, I wrote: “Ian Stevenson was a scientist from UVA who passed away in 2007. He left behind a locked safe in his office, and said that he would share the “phrase” or “word” that would unlock the safe if someone was able to connect to him on the flipside.
In this talk, we begin with a discussion of Dr. Bruce Greyson’s new book “After” — Bruce was at UVA when Ian brought him into to the Dept of Perceptual Studies (funded by a grant from the founder of Xerox.) For three decades, Ian travelled the world studying reincarnation. Dr. Greyson started examining near death experiences along with his colleague Dr. Ray Moody. (Who coined the term “near death experience.”)
In this interview, he refers to Dr. Moody, to Bruce Greyson, has messages for him and Dr. Jim Tucker, Ed and Emily Kelly PhD — member of DOPS that I meant when I presented my research from the documentary and book “Flipside” when I visited their offices in 2011.
As noted, I am planning to have three different mediums access Ian Stevenson for the “secret code” to his safe — but in this one, he states that it’s E=MC2 written in long hand (E equals M C squared” or perhaps “EEqualsMC2”) I badgered Jennifer about it — and because of knowing how she works with law enforcement agencies about missing person cases, I asked for images that could lead us to the answer. First she got Albert Einstein (“about four or five times”), then she got “He’s showing me a battery or electrical charge” and finally; “he’s showing me E=MC2” — I repeated it a few times, and asked about it — and she said “He’s saying “spell it out.”
Jennifer has no idea there’s a puzzle or a contest to open his safe. I never mention the safe — I say that it’s like a crossword answer — and it’s a phrase or a word that I was looking for. I have reached out to my friends at DOPS, Dr. Greyson, Dr. Tucker and Ed Kelly to see if we can arrange to film them trying these various combos — of “E equals MC squared” to see if that opens the safe. Or maybe it’s simply EMC2 or E=MCsquared — some variation on that theme, as noted in the clip.
This was my idea — my demonstration or experiment — Jennifer didn’t know anything about the “contest” or “puzzle” left by Ian Stevenson, and I just asked him to repeat the concept or show Jennifer images that relate to the concept “that I was thinking of.” Will let you know if it opens the safe. (It did not. But am eager to see if variations would work!)” (end of notes from the video posted above)
This was posted some years ago.
The reason I didn’t submit those variations to Dr. Tucker is 1. I didn’t want to be a gadfly sending him answers every week, and 2. I’m not interested in “proving” that people are conscious after being onstage.
I’ve been doing that for fifteen years. I have 12 books that details those conversations. They include transcripts.
I have three documentaries that demonstrate the same FLIPSIDE, TALKING TO BILL PAXTON and HACKING THE AFTERLIFE on Amazon Prime or Gaia.
(By the way, if I was writing the article for the NY Times, I would have asked for the mediums who said they’d contacted Stevenson. It’s a simple enough question and easy to follow up.)
It’s the protocol I used in the documentary film “Talking to Bill Paxton” that I recommend for people who might want to solve the riddle.
In that instance, I had three different mediums ask questions to my old friend, questions that only he could answer. (“Where did we meet.” “What were you doing when we met.” “What work we do together?” “Show the medium what your occupation was.” “Who greeted you offstage?” “What are you doing now?” Etc)
Recently, the actor Rob Lowe had a medium on his podcast ( Rebecca Rosen) who said she was speaking to Bill Paxton, and Bill said the same relative things to his old friend, including that “He has learned to surf.” (People report we can create the experiences mentally offstage, of any endeavor, including surfing, not something Bill did in life, but does now.)
In the three-medium-experiment I did, the first conversation was with Jennifer Shaffer whom I had just met ten years ago. She said that “Bill had come into the room” — and I was filming an interview with her, at first, didn’t know which Bill she was referring to, until she said “He’s showing me the Titanic.”
In the second instance, I met a medium for the first time (Kimberly Babcock) in a restaurant (with her mom) and during the course of our conversation, she said that “your friend Bill is in the room” wanting to speak with me.
I asked the same questions I’d asked Jennifer.
And in the third interview (via Dr. Medhus and Raylene Nuanes) I wasn’t in the room when she asked questions to a medium. I supplied the questions via email.
I wasn’t there when they were asked.
The medium Raylene answered them all the same as the other two (correctly). For those concerned with projection, it’s an example of a double blind study. I supplied the questions, was not in the room, nor aware of when they were asked.
So in this endeavor of “finding out the answer to the combination lock test” — I sent the original podcast to Dr. Tucker to view, with the suggestion that they (or student at DOPS) do a study based on those parameters.
Find three mediums (preferable ones who work with law enforcement, as they can be demonstrably effective.) If one doesn’t know three talented mediums, then I can suggest a half dozen.
Then — following Dr. Greyson’s maxim he used when creating the NDE scale; put a list of identical questions together. “You can get objective data from subjective experiences if you ask identical questions” (as he notes in AFTER.)
Craft questions that are non-denominational — questions that would reveal that it indeed is Ian they’re speaking with, questions about his career, or life.
Knowing that syntax, nomenclature may be different from medium to medium as they are from person to person — but questions can be specific or in general. “Who greeted you when you crossed over?” (That question requires an awareness that everyone is greeted by someone.) “Who were you surprised to see?” “What have you learned since being offstage?” “Is there something we can do about global climate change?” (The idea is to ask questions that require opinions that are based on their awareness now — not before.)
As we know — the brain can recall things differently.
Asking him “What was your first automobile?” is a fun question, but he won’t be able to use words or create sound (too hard) but he can project an image into the medium’s mind — or use an image already in their mind. Which of course can lead to confusion or misinterpretation… “He’s showing me a Mustang” (the first care the medium owned) “He’s showing me a convertible.” It could be him answering the question “What was the first car that you rode in, or had?” So syntax is key in gathering information — and my recommendation is to ask questions about their experience now — and then compare those to each medium’s answers.
For example, asking Bill Paxton “Who greeted you when you crossed over?” Not many people knew his father John, and while it’s a likely answer, it’s consistent. But the follow up question makes for more information: “And what was that like when you saw them?” His answer; “I was happy and sad. I was happy to see my father, but then that meant that I had died on the operating table.”
Again — I didn’t ask people to “talk to Bill Paxton.” I was told that “my friend Bill was in the room” who is on the other side. And in each instance, they heard directly from the same fellow that I knew for decades, that I wrote a script with, who became a movie star.
So the protocol would be this:
Enlist a number of mediums to do the exercise.
Set aside the awareness that we are all mediums with varying degrees of filters on the brain that “block information not conducive to survival.” (Pg 125 of Dr. Greyson’s book AFTER).
In filming people using meditation, hypnotherapy or mediumship, I’ve found that everyone has different filters — some less so, some more so. Some children don’t have them until the 8th year, can see or hear people others cannot.
As Dr. Greyson noted in his talk “Is Consciousness Produced by the Brain?” (2011) he noted that “70% of hospice care workers in the UK report dementia patients spontaneously recovering memory.”
The post mortem autopsies show the brains had atrophied — should not have been able to remember anything, yet they do. (It’s often reported by hospice care workers I’ve interviewed that their patients “see people in the room that others cannot.”
As if the filters were down.
So how to lower the filters?
Hypnotherapy, meditation or mediumship yield identical hallmarks. It’s what I’ve been filming for fifteen years.
Find the required amount of mediums to see what they can learn from Ian Stevenson. Each works different, Jennifer Shaffer works with a first name. Others work with objects, or photos, or whatever helps them to “dial up the connection.” Then — when they feel as if they’re made that connection, ask them the same questions. Start simply, then get to the question one wants to ask.
Here’s an example of ten questions I’d ask:
1. Who greeted you when you crossed over, if anyone?
2. Who are you hanging out with?
3. Who were you surprised to see?
4. What have you learned since leaving?
5. Are you taking a class or teaching one on the flipside? What is it?
6. What’s your opinion of the work being done since you left?
7. Have you encountered anyone that you studied?
8. Are you planning on returning anytime soon?
9. What’s the answer to the puzzle that I’m interested in learning?
10. How is that related to a six letter word or phrase, can you be more specific?
Each answer can elicit another question. For example, “Are you teaching or taking a class on the flipside?” Everyone reports taking classes. If the subject says “No, I’m not taking or teaching a class” that’s fine — but they generally don’t. They’ll say “I’m taking a class in this subject.” The follow up question is “can you tell us about the class? What’s the subject being taught? Can we speak to the teacher of this class? What’s your opinion of what we’re doing, asking these questions?” Don’t be afraid to follow up wherever the thread may lead — it’s new information after all. (Cannot be cryptomnesia if it’s new answers from people offstage who have new observations.)
The idea is to open one’s mind up to the possibility that one can have a conversation. And it’s not in doing it one time — it’s in the multiple times that one makes the attempt.
The reasons for why answers become questions become answers is that they don’t know if the person asking the question is capable of understanding the answer. It’s like speaking to a child in a sandbox asking questions about airplanes or rocket ships. The first answers can be simple, or complex — depending on the person responding. But the more questions that get asked, the more answers can be examined, parsed, etc.
And then — getting to the question “what’s the answer to the puzzle?” The medium doesn’t have to know what one is asking about — if they’re actually connected to the person offstage. The person offstage knows why the question is being asked. And — this is fun to be observe — sometimes they tease an answer. Sometimes they don’t respond at all — but the follow up question should be “Are you not responding because I’m not supposed to know the answer, or that you don’t know the answer?”
Think of this as an extended episode of Colombo. Peter Falk always having one last question before he leaves. Again — I’ve been doing this for fifteen years, and it’s because I like to ask questions that I never get tired of hearing answers, and then coming up with new questions. And it’s in the “new information” where one can differentiate between wishful thinking or getting an answer. Because in the midst of their answer to a mundane question, sometimes they give information the questioner is not aware of — nor were they when they were on the planet. It’s new information; could not be cryptomnesia.
And to be clear — I’ve been using two other methods to gain the same information. Guided meditation: doing a simple meditation with people who have had some experience with meditation (transcripts are in the book DIVINE COUNCILS IN THE AFTERLIFE where scientists, clergy, doctors did a simple meditation and learned new information from people offstage they didn’t know existed.)
The other method is the one that brought me to DOPS in the first place. That is filming people under four to six hours of hypnotherapy — the kind practiced by the late Michael Newton — but also reported by Dr. Helen Wambach in her clinical case studies (and Dr. Brian Weiss in his books “Many Lives Many Masters.”) Using hypnotherapy WITH SOMEONE WHO KNEW IAN STEVENSON only means that they’re aware of his frequency, and make an ideal candidate to ask the same questions. That is — during the hypnosis session, ask “Is it possible to speak to the professor you knew named Ian?” and see if he’ll come forward. Then the hypnotherapist (who has been given those same questions) can ask the identical questions and see if the story changes.
Because it’s in the identical answers where we find the data. As Dr. Greyson notes in AFTER “we can get objective data from subjective experiences by asking the same questions” whether to a medium, someone using meditation or someone using hypnotherapy. It doesn’t matter how one bypasses the filters on the brain — because the answers would remain the same if accurate.
This combination lock test is a bit like the “Sword in the Stone” — the one with a “true heart” or “pure intention” will be able to pull the sword from the stone. The folks on the flipside know why we’re asking the question. And it’s been repeated over these past years that “not everyone is supposed to know how the play ends” — because becoming aware that life goes on, that we are not only fully conscious after the performance onstage, could potentially upset all the known institutions, from justice to education, from health issues to climate change.
The reason I do this work is because I like the planet. And if it’s possible I might be able to one day return, doesn’t it make sense to leave behind fresh water, air and earth — if not for our children, but then our own possible return?
Just want to go on record; I was the one who supplied the answer, and the method for how to open the lock, by asking a talented medium like Jennifer Shaffer what she was seeing. The rest will be up to history to consider this accurate.