Today’s Afterlife TV episode is a special one. I talk with an up-and-coming broadcaster about many of the personal and professional experiences I have had in my life, including: the profound experience that resulted when I saw a psychologist at age 15…the power we have to affect the world with our thoughts…understanding where science and spirituality meet…living with a glass half full perspective vs glass half empty…people who have been killed for presenting new ideas in the world…the amazing open-mindedness among many Millennials to new ideas…predicting any person’s interest in a spiritual subject…and, finally, whether paper books are taking a step back in the digital age.
This interview, presented by my 13-year-old nephew, Ryan, was mentioned in last week’s episode, and those of you who listened to it on The Magic Mala‘s website raved about it. So I thought, why not make it a featured episode so everyone can enjoy it? We cover a range of topics from meditation to family to religion and spirituality. Truthfully, we were simply playing around in the studio to show Ryan the equipment, yet Ryan’s obvious interview talent turned this playful exercise into something very special. I hope you enjoy it.
I would love to hear your feedback on Ryan’s interview in this special episode. As always, if you enjoyed the show, we’d appreciate your review on our iTunes podcast (link below). All photos on video are courtesy of my wife, Melissa. “See” you next time…
If you’d like to watch this video, Your Power To Change Your Life & The World!, visit www.afterlifetv.com/?p=2969
Afterlife TV is presented by Afterlife Investigator & Psychic Medium Researcher Bob Olson, who is the author of Answers about the Afterlife: A Private Investigator’s 15-Year Research Unlocks the Mysteries of Life after Death.
Check out Bob Olson’s other sites: BestPsychicDirectory.com (a directory of hundreds of psychics & mediums by location with reviews & Instant Readings) & BestPsychicMediums.com (his personal recommended list of tested psychics and mediums) or visit Bob’s Facebook Page. Bob also has a popular workshop for psychics and mediums at PsychicMediumWorkshop.com.
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Bob: Hey everybody. Bob Olson here, with Afterlife TV. You can find us at afterlifetv.com. This is where we search for evidence of life after death, and answer the meaningful questions you have around that subject. Today’s episode is sponsored by bestpsychicdirectory.com. Best Psychic Directory has over 800 psychics and mediums, and animal communicators, and even energy healers right there. You can read public reviews by people who have had sessions or readings with them, which is my favorite part, I think, is extra special to be able to read all these reviews about them, and help you to make your selection. Each person was screened and approved by me, so do check out bestpsychicdirectory.com.
I am very excited about today’s episode because, well, I just consider it a special episode. It’s one that I recorded a few months ago with my nephew, Ryan. He was 13 years old at the time. He had just read “The Magic Mala” my new book that just came out, May 3rd. And I wanted to know if he could understand it as a 13-year-old. Now, if you feel like you’re having déjà vu, it’s just because I happened to mention this last week, in the last episode. And I told people where they could find it, on my author website.
And a few people did, and those people who did, absolutely raved about this interview with Ryan. And a few other people couldn’t find it, they had a little difficulty with it. So, because some people wanted to listen to it and couldn’t find it, and others who did listen to it, loved it and raved about it, I thought I should just play this as an official episode, really. Put it out there as an official episode, so that everyone can hear it. I think it’s that special.
Now, this is what I call a teaching book. If you’re familiar with the “The Alchemist”, “The Celestine Prophecy”, “Way of the Peaceful Warrior”, those are teaching books. They are fictional stories that are written with the intention of being able to teach certain concepts, and that’s what “The Magic Mala” is. Within the fictional story, you will learn everything that I have learned about life while investigating life after death.
So over the past 18 years, I have been investigating the afterlife. I’ve talked enormously about what I learned about the afterlife in those investigations. These teachings within “The Magic Mala” are everything that I learned about life. They run the gamut. There’s a lot of different things that are being taught in this book, mostly it’s about conscious creation. So if you recognize that in the afterlife, we merely need to think of what it is that we want to create and boom, it’s instantly there, we can do the same thing here, except we live in the dense physical world, everything happens a little less instantly, but in the same way.
Everything that we think about, everything that we say, we’re constantly communicating to the universe. Whether that’d be in the positive or the negative, what this book does, in it’s very essence, is teach us how to use our thoughts, and our words, and our actions properly so that we’re not creating the life we don’t desire, and we are creating the life we do desire.
So I had my nephew, Ryan, in the studio here with me because he has an interest to be a sports broadcaster. He has been interested in this for a few years, and he actually practices it, and has become very good at it. And the way he does this is, his younger brother plays hockey and his father is the coach of a high school hockey team.
So Ryan goes to all the games, his father’s games, his brothers games, and he records them with his video camera, and as he’s a recording them, he calls the game, just as a sports broadcaster would. He then puts these games up on his channel, on YouTube, so that anybody can listen to them and watch them, and specifically so that the hockey players, and their families, and friends who are not able to attend the games, are able to then go on to this channel and watch them later.
Anyway, it’s pretty amazing. I’ll put a link to Ryan’s YouTube Channel, and you can watch some of the games there, and just get a sense of him calling the games. It’s kind of amazing when you recognize that this is a 13-year-old doing it. You’re going to feel the same way when you listen to this interview. Just keep in mind that when Ryan interviewed me, we were playing around in the studio. And I just happened to say, “Hey, you wanna interview me about the book?” He did not have any time to plan, to even think about it. He certainly didn’t have any questions written down, and this is what ensued.
I think you’re really gonna enjoy it. I think you’ll be impressed by him. I think you’ll enjoy the interview itself because he’s a great interviewer, and he came up with amazing questions. So, I look forward to listening to it. So here it is, enjoy.
Ryan: Hello, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and welcome to Surprise Topic. Today, we sit down with author, Bob Olson, talk about his new book, “Magic Mala”. Bob, thanks for being here.
Bob: Ryan, I really appreciate you having me. This is a great honor.
Ryan: All right, Bob, I wanna start out with an interesting question, to start it off. I know this isn’t your basic book question. While reading your book, your main character, Robby is sitting down with Matt. And over the course of the book, Matt that never uses Robby’s name in context, he just uses all these different little childish nicknames to describe him. I was very impressed, how did you come up with all these different nicknames?
Bob: Well, that’s a great question. That’s a very surprising question. I actually was using names that were in my head through probably about half the book, and then eventually I started to run out of names. And so, I did a search for something like, “names guys call each other” and then you’d be surprised what comes up. And not…a lot of them, I couldn’t use.
Ryan: Yeah, I’m sure. I’m sure.
Bob: Some of them reminded me of other names, you know, from my childhood or whatever growing up, but that was sort of how I did it. And I tried to never use the same name twice, just to keep it interesting and fun, for me and for the reader.
Ryan: Now, do you think this relates to a lot of different boys, young boys through adolescence and up, do you think they’re called a lot of these names? Do you think this definitely is reality in the book?
Bob: Well, you know, I think it’s reality for, especially for their age. They’re around 30-years-old. And so, for guys that age, that would have been something that they kind of grew up with, and it’s certainly something I grew up with. We didn’t use as many names as Matt used for Robby…
Ryan: Yeah. That’s a lot.
Bob: Yeah, that was a lot.
Ryan: You could probably make a list of a hundred something names.
Bob: It really was a lot. But a lot of them were names that, you know, me and my friends would call each other over the years. And I chose, even when I ran out of names in my head, I chose names that I was familiar with.
Ryan: Familiar with.
Bob: Yeah.
Ryan: Yeah. We’re gonna switch to another theme. And I wanna talk to you about the, I think it’s Gregorian monk chants. I was very impressed with your knowledge of that. Now, can you describe to me how you were…how you learned of these monks and your, I guess, interest in that.
Bob: Yeah. I mean, it’s something that I had always enjoyed, was listening to the chanting of Gregorian monks, and it was something that I was aware of. For one, I worked in the Mind, Body, Spirit field for many years, so it’s not that uncommon. Most people who are familiar with that kind of stuff, especially the spiritual field, are familiar with it. But then I don’t always trust my own memory of these kinds of things. So what I would do is, after the writing, I don’t mean when the book was done, but after the writing of that section, when I introduced that music, I went back online and just to make sure that my facts were correct. And in that case, I didn’t find any errors.
Ryan: You obviously were right in your trust in yourself on that one.
Bob: Sometimes a publisher will hire or have on staff, a fact checker and they’ll go, and they’ll do all that for you. But, you know, my feeling on that, I just… I wanted most of that work to be done ahead of time, and I didn’t wanna depend on a publisher doing that for me.
Ryan: Yeah. All right. So we’re gonna go on a surprise topic here.
Bob: Surprise Topics.
Ryan: That’s our name. We’re gonna go off-track, and we’re gonna do a little of the sports world here, and it’s kind of a borderline. You think about the Rio Olympics, do you think more about the excitement of the sports coming up or the tragedy in the, how Rio’s getting ready for it and the pollution, and how they’re not really doing so well with that?
Bob: Well, you know, going along with the theme of the book, is that really the way I look, and just you’re not in, so you kind of have expected this… That’s my outlook on life, is that I try to look at the positive things in life, not focus on the negative. And so, definitely, you know, I’m thinking about the excitement of the Olympics.
Ryan: And the sport.
Bob: …and what they stand for, yeah, the sports.
Ryan: Yeah. So you definitely classify yourself as a glass half full, not a glass half empty?
Bob: Well, I don’t know if that is what comes naturally to me, but I’ve trained myself to try to think in that way.
Ryan: Do you recommend that type of life, the glass half full over the glass half empty definitely?
Bob: Oh, definitely, it’s worked better for me. And again, when I say…I’ve lived both ways. And, you know, it’s like I’ve heard…you know, there’s an old saying, I don’t remember who said it, “I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich, and rich is better” same thing. I’ve thought glass is half full, I’ve thought glass is half empty, glass is half full is better.
Ryan: Yeah, your book focuses on that a lot. In the intention part of it, you want to be intent on the glass half full, being positive, those positive thoughts through your head instead of that negative bit of it.
Bob: Yeah, and it’s amazing how that really works. I’ve tested it, I’ve had more opportunity to test it over the last 10 or 15 years, where I was becoming more and more aware of it, and how it affected my life. And one of the great things about the internet is that, we’re reaching people worldwide, and the possibilities are endless, in terms of who you can reach and connect with.
There was a time once where I had something on a website that…I was thinking about rewriting on one of the websites that I had. I was thinking about rewriting because I thought that someone might misinterpret what it was that I wrote. So, I kind of got a little bit obsessed about it, but in these terms, I’m worrying about something that might happen that had never happened before. And this website had been up with this copy for years, it had never happened. All of a sudden, for some reason, I got worried about it. And I started talking to my friends about it.
Well, one night, we were all hanging out together, and there was three of them. I was trying to convince them of why this was an issue to worry about, and they were doing the opposite. They were taking the opposite side of, “You don’t need to worry about this.” And sure enough, the next morning, I got an email from a woman who was very upset because she had misinterpreted what it was that I wrote, and she was upset with me.
So after years of nobody ever noticing, the very next morning, and that was because of the energy that I put into it. And this is how… these kinds of things have happened to me, both in the positive and the negative, over the years, so I’ve been able to test these things out for myself.
Ryan: And you mention the internet, do you think that this…what you’re selling really in this book, your hardcore thoughts about the intent on positive and doing that, do you think that because of the internet, the almost feel of this is beginning to grow out and become, from a seedling more of to growing into that big tree of thought?
Bob: I do. I think the internet has brought the world together, it’s made the world a smaller place. Everything’s happening faster as a result of that. We can reach more people. We can reach them faster. If you ever…you don’t remember, but there was a time where if I wanted to send somebody a note, I’d have to write them a letter and mail it. And who knew how long it was gonna take. I mean, it doesn’t…even today, mail is faster than it used to be so a week later maybe they get the letter and read it. Now, we can do that within seconds, you know, the second you finish it, you can email it or text it, and they could be reading it, depending on if they’re available or not.
Well, when you think of how, if you have an audience, like I have an… I have what they call a platform, I have an audience of, you can call them fans but just, you know, I think of them as people who are interested in the work that I’m doing. Now, I can put out a message and I know thousands of people are going to read that very quickly, thanks to social media, just thanks to people who are aware of my websites and stuff. So, based on that, everything is happening so much more quickly that yes, all the things that this book is teaching have more intensity, more power, for today than any time in the past.
Ryan: Yes, instead of, you know… For these ideas that you’re saying, which I completely agree with and I love in that book, those ideas. Do you think that, you know, they would have to be passed along, trade routes? You now, we learn about that a lot in school, where these old trade routes through Africa, they bring gold and ideas, and now these, the social media platforms, they are new trade routes for ideas, and really they do a good job. And they can be used for bad things, but do you think more of the good things?
Bob: Well, I think the potential can go either way, but I’m more aware of the good ones. But, you know, I know there’s a lot of bad out there, but I don’t focus on those. So I think there’s a lot more than I’m even aware of. But yes, again, if you choose what you wanna focus on, then that’s a great way of looking at it. I never really thought of it that way but, you know, in the way, way past, if you want to… For lack of a better term, long ago, many moons ago, yeah, I mean this is the way people used to share things, is they would tell stories, and that’s what this is. This is… I’m teaching through telling a story, that’s what was done many, many years ago. And now, as you say, we have social media. Interesting, I just never thought of that metaphor, that’s a good one.
Ryan: Well, do you think we’re running out of that in a way? We’re running out of the real life texture books? Do you think we’re running out of that at all? Is that a worry in your mind?
Bob: No, I don’t think we’re ever going to run out of it, because I know there’s people who love books, just they love the feel of a book.
Ryan: Me included.
Bob: Yeah, me too. You know, I think 10 years ago, I think I probably wondered about that. And then I realized… I also was one of those people who just loves a hard cover, paperback, doesn’t matter, but I love the whole, you know, that paper in my hand and turn those pages. There’s just something about it. So, it’s more of a multi-sensory experience that maybe some people aren’t even recognizing that’s why they like it. There’s some books that come through that have a certain kind of paper that I absolutely love, you know? And I really love that. It’s sort of almost, it looks like this… I love the books that sort of on the far edge, it almost looks like it’s been torn.
Ryan: Oh, yes. Yes, I have a few of those books.
Bob: Don’t you?
Ryan: Yes.
Bob: Yeah. And it gives this…the whole thing, the pages seem kind of thick, and it just has this very old look to it, even though it’s brand new. Something about that, that I just really enjoy. I don’t get that from digital copies.
Ryan: It’s even better when they dye the paper like a little bit, like rustic color.
Bob: Yes. And they do that, right?
Ryan: Yeah.
Bob: And it changes the experience for the reader who enjoys those sorts of things. And I think there’s a lot of people out there who do.
Ryan: So you’ve talked about everything, really, from books to how they feel in your hand, to the contact with them. I want to turn to a marketing standpoint now. What audience are you appealing to with your new book?
Bob: Wow, this is a big change for me. So prior to this, I had a very sort of niche-focused audience, and it was a smaller segment of society. This book is something that I think will appeal to anybody who’s looking to change their life in some way. So, anybody who is dissatisfied, unhappy with the way their life is going and they’re wondering how they can change that, I think would be interested in this book.
I wanted you to read it because I was curious about… I mean, you’re very mature and very smart for your age, but I still was interested in how a younger person would be able to understand these concepts, and enjoy the story as well as the teachings. I thought, “Oh, maybe he’ll enjoy the story, but not grasp hold of the teachings,” and obviously that’s not true.
Ryan: No.
Bob: So, I’m excited to know that it reaches a wide range of ages as well as just, you know, pretty much anybody, I guess.
Ryan: So they have in classrooms that once you read a book, you say, give a recommendation. We have to do that at the end of our book talks when we do that in class, give a recommendation, give a star rating. So if you were to give a recommendation, that’s what you would give it to? Give it to anyone, and especially the people that are struggling to grasp what’s wrong in their life?
Bob: I think so. You know, it’s interesting because, I’ve learned over and over that it’s impossible for me to determine whether I think somebody is going to like a book or a movie, but certainly my books. You know, my first book was about depression, my second book was about The Afterlife and now we have this book. And we’ll just take The Afterlife book, I would come up with a story in my head as to why I didn’t think somebody would be interested in that, and then I wouldn’t tell them about it.
Well, I’ll use an example. My car salesman, his name’s Chris, love Chris. He’s been a car salesman all his life. He has the sort of vernacular and mannerisms of this sort of football player, you know, kind of a guy. And I always imagined, you know, if he and I went out for coffee or a beer or something that he would wanna talk sports, kind of thing. Well, one day we were out looking at a car, and we were walking back to his desk, and he said, “Hey, you know, I watch Afterlife TV. I’ve watched all your videos.
Ryan: Interesting.
Bob: Yeah. And there’s no way I saw, you know, I almost fell over. I mean, it was just like…
Ryan: Awestruck?
Bob: Yeah, totally. And he’s been amazing, I mean, he’s got his sister, his children are all reading that book. And so, he’s like this amazing, not just a fan but a…
Ryan: A follower, a supporter.
Bob: Supporter, right. Somebody who is now recommending to other people. And so, I never mentioned the book or even the show that I do online to him because I sort of thought, “Oh, he’ll never be interested in that,” and so I was wrong. And I’ve made that mistake so many times that I can’t do it anymore. And when this one, this new book, “The Magic Mala”, reaches so many different people, I’d really…it’d be wrong for me to do that anymore.
Ryan: Yeah. So do you think that in this day and age, people are more open to these, not just these topics, but topics that they may not look like they’d be interested in, in the flesh.
Bob: I think so.
Ryan: You do? Because back in the day, you know, how people would be very unaccepting to topics that are unknown to them. You know, I know a story…I learned this in sailing class, actually, where the first person to invent upwind sailing was burnt at the stake because it was a new idea. And you would use the sail only for downward sailing, and not for upwind sailing and the first person to realize that was killed for his ideas, and then one hundred and something years later, look what they’re doing?
Bob: That’s very true. You know, certainly that’s very true for a lot of the people who used to teach some of the things that I’ve talked about over the past 18 years that I’ve worked in this field. We all know the stories of the Witches of Salem and that sort of thing. It wasn’t even people who were teaching obviously, I mean, you have the extreme example that you just gave. They were teaching all sorts of different things. And I really recognize it with the new generations, all the way up to people who are in their 20’s, even 30’s. The people in their 30’s sort of in life, you never know.
Ryan: Crossroads.
Bob: Yeah, they’re right in the middle there. But they, you know, what do you they call them? The new millennials?
Ryan: The millennials, something like that. Something [inaudible 00:23:45] like that.
Bob: Yeah. So open to all the stuff as though it’s just completely a household word to talk about, say a medium. And thanks to TV, you know, TV has been a big part of this. We’ve had a lot of shows on that introduced people to new ideas, so that they’re not so foreign to them anymore. When you see…I’ll use mediums again as an example, but when you see five or six shows with different mediums on there, after a while, you’re just so familiar with that now.
Ryan: Yeah, like talk shows, they bring in different people, different scientists showing this, this, and the other thing, different theorists saying this, this, and the other thing, and people…it changes how people think.
Bob: That’s right. Quantum physics was a great crossover that sort of brought, you know, I talk about in the book, it’s sort of where science and spirituality meet, and is what this book is talking about. And quantum physics is the science part of it and they’ve proven all these things. But if you’re a big skeptic, even that science, you’re not gonna want to look at and you’re gonna discard. But people who are open-minded, and that’s what it’s all about, it helps to be open-minded or we close our selves off, and I think the main character in this book learned that lesson, that he was too closed-minded, so nobody even talked to him about this stuff.
Ryan: And do you think that that movement to open-mindedness, do you think not only Robby resembling this in the book, do you think that relates to other people’s movements towards open-mindedness as well?
Bob: Here’s something that I learned when I wrote my first book which was on depression, Mos[SP] and I used to go out and we’d talk to support groups and stuff like that. We’d go to mental health hospitals and do talks. And afterwards, a lot of…there was family members there as well as patients, but a lot of people would come up to us, and talk to us privately and say, “Nobody knows this but I’m taking antidepressants,” or something like that. “I’ve been diagnosed with depression.” And this is very common.
This happens all the time, no matter really what the subject matter is, even when I was talking about the afterlife, we’d have people come on up and say, “I don’t get to talk to anybody else about this, but I’m very interested in the subject.” So this has been going on for so many years, that people are finally realizing, we need to be more open-minded about things, we don’t have to believe in everything. It’s just be open-minded to new possibilities and recognize we don’t know it all.
And I think we have gone from a time where people needed safety and security, and they looked to others to tell them what to believe because that would make them safe to, “I don’t need that anymore, and I’m gonna learn to think for myself.” And we have a lot of people who say they’re spiritual but not religious. And the religion…I think religion is a great place to be and it’s wonderful, but one of the things is, that is one of those places that you would go if you need somebody to tell you, this is what you need to believe. And those people who still…and there’s still people out there who, “I wanna feel safe so tell me what to believe, and I’ll believe that and I’ll feel safe” to then those people who go, “This is a great foundation for me, but I need to think for myself too.” And so, by doing that, I’m gonna look into other types of religions or beliefs or what have you, and they do, and they kind of make up their own religion, is what they’re doing.
Ryan: Yeah, the old saying, “To each his own” also comes into that. You talked about meditating in your book as well and how…the similarities between this and prayer. Where do you think the best part is to meditate? Have you any recommendations, I guess?
Bob: You know, it’s interesting…it’s really a personal thing I’ve learned, over time. I’ve recognized that, for myself, as much as I’d like to, and I’m hoping that someday I will be that person who is able to have a regular practice where I sit quietly and meditate, sort of in the traditional sense, and maybe listening to some quiet music or something in the background. But the meditation that’s worked best for me over the years is, one, what I call guided meditation, and that’s where I’m actually listening to a CD or an MP3 or something where somebody is sort of walking me through a story that I can visualize, and that story helps me to relax.
There’s a story in the book that’s actually true in my life. When I was younger, just a little…I think around 15, my father was an alcoholic, and we went to an AAA meeting once, and then afterwards we met with his counselor. And like the whole family was there, and so she was asking people questions. And when she asked me a question, I just broke down crying. And so she recommended to my parents, “You know, you should get him some counseling of his own.”
And so, I went to a psychologist and the psychologist was helpful in helping me understand my father, in helping me understand alcoholism. But one of the nicest things that I ever experienced with him was that he brought me through, he called it a relaxation technique, and it’s just meditation. And it’s one that I describe in the book, where you relax your scalp, and you relax your ears, and you relax your nose, and you relax your chin, and your neck, and your shoulders, and your arms, and you go all the way down to your toes. And by the time you get there…
Ryan: You’re numb.
Bob: You’re numb, you’re tingling, you’re vibrating. And then he sort of took me out of it, and he could see the difference, how relaxed I was. And he…I quote it in the book, it’s true, he said, “Wow, I’d never used this before. I didn’t know it could work so well.” And I guarantee he worked…he used it with other patients after that. And I was in such a relaxed state that I went into this city parking lot, it’s like six floors of parking in the parking garage, and I just sat in this dank, disgusting, dark parking garage, and I just sat in my car, because I didn’t want that feeling to go away, and I knew that as soon as I got into the city traffic, it was going to.
And I probably stayed there for 20 minutes to half an hour just enjoying it. And so, that’s called guided meditation, when somebody sort of walks you through something like that. And that’s always what’s worked for me. Now, I say that but then I’ve learned, as I’ve got older, to have that little moments of meditation. And so, for me, using the Mala, is actually one of those moments that I have. I mean, it takes me 10 or 15 minutes to go through my Mala with a particular mantra. It’s very relaxing to me, to just focus my mind on this one mantra, this one intention that I wanna create in my life. And for 10 or 15 minutes, maybe once or twice a day, that can be enough and it can be life-changing for me, and that’s my meditation now.
Ryan: You’ve talked in your book about Father Burke. He and Dave really realized together the similarities between religion and the spirituality and how you know what…I said it, prayers and meditation, prayers and Mala. Do you think people realize how similar those two things are? Because I know certainly I didn’t before you really illustrated that to me.
Bob: It’s interesting. So when I wrote this book, I did something very different than I normally do. Normally I would outline the book, and I would have this chapter, this chapter, and these things are gonna happen in chapter one, and these things are going to happen in chapter two, I didn’t do that. I just sat down and started writing, and out poured a book.
Ryan: That’s how I like to write too.
Bob: It’s so fun that way.
Ryan: It is.
Bob: And the only reason that it worked is because I wasn’t really planning on showing it to anybody. The only reason I allowed myself, in other words, to do it was because I had no intention on anybody reading it. It was just for my own fun. Really what happened, was my wife gave me a new keyboard. It was like an old typewriter, and it felt like an old typewriter, and it sounded like an old typewriter. And so, again, sort of multisensory experience, I just wanted to use the keyboard. And so, I decided to start writing a book, and when I did, this thing poured out.
And after a few days, I would wake up in the morning go, “I can’t wait to see what’s gonna happen with the characters here.” So I had no intention of, what you just described, this teaching how, you know, religion and spirituality are the same, and where the crossover is, and how nobody needs to be threatened by one or the other.
Ryan: You learned that yourself?
Bob: I learned it myself. And so, it came through…and when Father Burke is talking to Robby about, this is a great scene, where they’re in the chapel and Father Burke is talking to Robby about how these two things meet, I guess, without giving anything away in the book. But to me, you know, I even thought, “Well, that’s brilliant” like I couldn’t believe how well Father Burke taught this lesson to him. And in that way, I don’t take credit for it. I feel as though…
Ryan: Yeah. You feel the characters and the upper…
Bob: Yeah, I feel as though it was being taught through me. You know, you could say channeling… I’m not trying to be weird about it just, I believe that many writers write that way, the book is already written, it’s just coming through them and they’re the vessel that, you know, that puts it from an idea on to paper. And the reason…one of the reasons I think that’s true is because all of a sudden, you’ll see like three movies come out around the same time, and they’re all about the same subject. How do you think that happens? Why does this happen so often?
I believe that, we talk about the universe, we call it the universe in the book, you call it God, whatever, that it’s putting it out there. We want this message to get out there, we’re gonna put this out there, and they put it out there so anybody can grab hold of it. And a few people do, out of the millions of possible people who could, and only a few people ever bring it into something that where it goes into fruition as actually seen, or read, or heard by other people. And so, that’s the way I feel with this book.
And the teachings were impressive to me as well. And I say that because I’m not taking credit for it, but that’s the way it felt. And I loved how both Dave and Father Burke have this ability to sort of take away the separation between spirituality and religion and bring them together, and see how they both work in the same way.
Ryan: I just find it absolutely fascinating that…what you said about the keyboard part of it, and how almost…now reading your book, I almost think that was a messenger to you, would you agree with that?
Bob: Oh my god, I learned so much because of it. My wife, Melissa, thinks that maybe I was a writer of some sort in a past life. And so, just working with that keyboard brought me back this memory of how I maybe used to write, but there’s no way I ever would… If I had planned it, there’s no way ever would have just allowed myself to free write in this way. I didn’t trust that the characters could be so rich, and that something that happened in chapter two would be so significant in chapter twelve, and then maybe the ending, whatever…you know, things built upon themselves as they went along. And I don’t think I could have done that on purpose if I wanted to. So, there’s, yeah, there was something magical going on with that keyboard…
Ryan: That’s unbelievable.
Bob: …and the whole process. And I will now, I feel…now that I feel like I’ve done it once, I feel like I can do it again. So, now I know what that feels like… This kind of goes back to this theme in the book about, you don’t know what you don’t know, and I didn’t know how to do that. I did it by accident, now I know how it feels, and I could write another book using the same process.
Ryan: That’s definitely special, that’s… I guess, impressive but…
Bob: It’s changed my… I think it’s changed my life, being able to be able to write in a completely different way. I always wanted to write fiction, but I was too in my head about it, and I never could get a book out.
Ryan: I’m a little awestruck by that. I’m talking…that’s pretty cool. It’s very cool.
Bob: Well, that you recognize, you know, the magic in that is exciting to me. So I’m happy that you understand it and feel that way.
Ryan: Yeah, it’s … Well, Bob, I wanna thank you for being here today. It’s been quite the conversation we’ve had together. Always a pleasure.
Bob: Well, thank you so much. You’re an incredible interviewer. I will do your show any time. And I’m very grateful to you, so thanks so much, Ryan.
Ryan: Thank you.
Bob: All right, that’s it for another Afterlife TV episode. I hope you enjoyed that, I certainly did. I wanna thank Ryan for doing that incredible interview. I’m very grateful to you. I’d love to hear your feedback on Ryan’s interview, and his amazing abilities as an interviewer. I think anybody, twice his age, that would have been an impressive interview. So welcome your feedback at all the regular places, Facebook, Twitter, afterlifetv.com, and YouTube, of course.
You can find The Magic Mala on Amazon, both in Kindle and Paperback. You can find it on Barnes and Noble paperback, and NOOK. You can also find it on iTunes, iBooks and Kobo. Before we go, I wanna thank the people who have left a review. Our reviews on Amazon are amazing.
Bessie Gant[SP] says, “This book is so valuable to me. Since reading it, not a day goes by that I don’t use or think of its principles and characters. This book has the potential to change your life depending on how far you take its ideas. But just reading it alone will give you plenty to think about, and plenty of ways to pursue your life’s goals in a more promising and fulfilling way. I highly recommend this book. I’ve read it three times, and I’ve picked up on additional ideas from it every time. I plan on rereading it every time I need a positive refresher on life.”
Thank you Bessie for that. Joyce Bowling says, “I received my book this past Wednesday, and I just can’t seem to put it down. It’s so empowering and full of great wisdom that can be applied to any and everything that anyone could ever imagine having in their life. It will be my life’s manual now, rather than just a fictional book.” Thank you so much.
And then we just have Amazon reader, not sure who that is, but I wanna thank you too. “I thoroughly enjoyed reading “The Magic Mala.” I just couldn’t wait to turn the next page. I was engrossed in the book. This is a very inspiring and uplifting book. I plan on introducing this book to the book club I just joined, which is really cool to me. I also plan on buying the book for friends.” Thank you so much. That’s the greatest compliment anybody can give an author.
She goes on to say, or he goes on to say, “For me, to miss a “Seinfeld” episode to want to read this book means that I really enjoyed reading it. Read it in no time, not wanting it to end, I highly recommend it.” Thank you. Thank you to you, and everybody else who left reviews on Amazon, I’m grateful to you. I’m glad you liked it. I’m glad so many people are enjoying it, and getting so much out of it. I know it’s not just your average fictional story, there’s a lot more to it than just that.
So if you wanna learn more about it, you can go to bobolson.com, all the links to all the different places you can buy it are there. Anyway, thank you so much, everybody, for listening. And until next time, have a great week.
Afterlife TV is presented by Afterlife Investigator & Psychic Medium Researcher Bob Olson, who is the author of Answers about the Afterlife: A Private Investigator’s 15-Year Research Unlocks the Mysteries of Life after Death.
Check out Bob Olson’s other sites: BestPsychicDirectory.com (a directory of hundreds of psychics & mediums by location with reviews & Instant Readings) & BestPsychicMediums.com (his personal recommended list of tested psychics and mediums) or visit Bob’s Facebook Page. Bob also has a popular workshop for psychics and mediums at PsychicMediumWorkshop.com.
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