Millions of people dream of making changes that will be for the better; Robbins will help to make this dream a reality for six people and their families around the country. In his first network television series, Robbins, who has dedicated himself to giving through both his work and philanthropic endeavors, will inspire people to find the tools to change their own lives, and also to reach out and help others as well. Guiding the participants through a series of tough challenges that will bring them to the precipice of change, Robbins will help empower each of them to reach their personal goals.

Breakthrough premieres tonight on NBC at 8pm. For more information, you can visit http://www.nbc.com/breakthrough-with-tony-robbins/

I had a chance to interview M.J. Rose about the Past Life TV series and the challenges of turning her book, “The Reincarnationist,” into a TV show. You can read highlights of our interview below or listen to our 15 minute interview by clicking the play button.

Matt Welsh: So tell us a little bit about Past Life. What’s the TV show about?

M.J. Rose: Well, the novel, The Reincarnationist, has at its heart an institute called the Phoenix Foundation where a group of reincarnationists work mostly with children helping them work with their present day crises that are based on past life problems…Warner Brothers found the book and read it. They were very interested in the idea of the foundation that studied past lives and saw that as a potential jumping off point for a TV show. So, they optioned the book and they wrote a script….They took that foundation and changed it a little so it would work for TV and added some different characters for it and that’s what the show is about. So every week…the people at the foundation work on a different case with a different person who has present day issues that really have past life roots.

Matt Welsh: What were some of the challenges of turning your book into a TV show?

M.J. Rose: The executive producer and I worked for a little while on a list of all different past life stories. In all the research I did, what were some of the great stories I heard. You know, somebody who felt like they were being suffocated in their present life and did a past life regression and found out they had been buried in a tomb in Ancient Egypt. Just like a really long list of that to show the people at Warner Brothers just how rich a field it was. Basically you could find any problem in the present and come up with a past life reason for it existing. But (Warner Brothers) was interested in focusing on crimes and crisis problems. So, we did that list and (Warner Brothers) was excited by the potential.

Then (Warner Brothers) found this brilliant writer, David Hudgins, who had been a writer for Friday Night Lights and for Everwood. They gave David the book and they said we are interested in developing this. Would this be something you would be interested in?… And, David told me the story. It was very synchronistic or karmic because he really didn’t know much about reincarnation at the time, but his wife had just seen the show on Oprah and had just become really fascinated by it. So, when he showed her the book, she was like all “…I’m really into reincarnation and that’s so interesting.” So, he read the book and saw the potential and he became the writer and the executive producer. So, he and Lou Pitt went to work on creating the show.

In general, the challenge is that you can’t turn a book into a TV show. You can turn a book into a movie more likely, but a TV show has its own requirements. It’s going to be week after week…What was exciting was that David really took the issues at the heart of the book and was really inspired by it, but turned it into something that is very much his own and his own vision.

And, I love it. It’s really a great show. The pilot episode is something that television usually isn’t. It’s fast paced and a tear jerker and very emotional. There aren’t a lot of shows on TV that are very emotional that are dramas and that have action in them. So, I think that even if viewers are not interested in reincarnation, they are going to be really excited by the format and the quality of the writing and the acting and the story.

Matt Welsh: Where can we go for more information on the show?

M.J. Rose: For more information you can visit www.MJRose.com or my blog on reincarnation at www.reincarnationist.org

Last week Unbeaten screened for some of the military’s Wounded Warriors recovering from devastating injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In the CNN interview below, you can hear how the Wounded Warriors were inspired by the film’s message to NEVER QUIT.

For more information about Unbeaten, you can listen to an 8 minute interview that Spiritual Media Blog did with one of the documentary’s producers, Tamara Henry, by clicking the play button below below.

You can also find out more by visiting Unbeaten’s web site at http://www.unbeatenthemovie.com

I live with 3 chronic illnesses and find life a bit of a struggle much of the time. Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn to spiritual stories with a darker twist.

I found a deep spiritual message about the value of friendship, and choosing how we want to live our lives, from the episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” called “Normal Again.” This is the episode where Buffy is given a choice: to believe in a world that makes sense (that she might really be a delusional teen, confined to a mental hospital); or to believe that she really is The Slayer (and lives in crazy world full of dangerous vampires).

Buffy chooses friendship, loyalty and love even though it means struggling in a world fraught with danger. This dark story asks the question, “Would you, could you, SHOULD you, choose to believe you are helpless and weak?”

All this sounds like meaningless fantasy, till you live with pain that feels like a sword stabbing through your chest (like I do), or know that you are dying of a terrible curse for a crime you don’t remember committing (as many people with cancer might feel). Then, suddenly, these dark fantasy stories take on a much deeper, most profound meaning. For something that is supposed to be mindless escapism, it is a strange and wonderful spiritual gift.

Best wishes, Rodney Robbins, Creator of http://www.onLIFEandLIVING.com

A documentary on Buddha will premiere this Wed, April 7 at 8 p.m. EST on PBS. The documentary filmmaker, David Grubin, says, “We try to set his life in its historical context, but it’s so long ago that we don’t know what he really did…But what…matters is the story and the meaning of that story and the message of hope that the story carries. And so you won’t find in this film a searching for the historical Buddha. What do find is a great story with great interpreters of the story.”

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is Joan of Arcadia. The series is available on DVD. I recently watched the first season again and found it just as touching, funny and insightful as I did when it first debuted on television.

In this sweet, divinely inspired show, the main character Joan (Amber Tamblyn), a high school student, keeps meeting God in many different guises: an old woman at a bookstore; the telephone line repairman; the lunch lady in the school cafeteria; the rebellious peer at school. In each instance, God asks something of Joan, always something Joan does not want to do. When the request is first made, Joan cannot see the workings of the Divine Mind. God’s request appears – and is – completely illogical to her. Yet, as Joan consciously chooses trust over fear, she allows God to work in and through her. And as she does, she brings light into the world.

This is, indeed, the way the Universe works. Divine Will arises within us as an impulse, a feeling that we want to do something, a sense (often illogical) of what steps we need to take. Unaware that these impulses have a Divine origin, most of us then reason ourselves out of the impulse, deferring instead to the voice of the fear-based ego that seeks to protect us.

The intelligent story lines in Joan of Arcadia make clear just how intimately connected all lives are. As Joan listens to and follows the suggestions of God, she touches one life, which then touches another, which then touches another . . . until
an intricate, elaborate web of connection is revealed for all to see. Joan is then blessed with something most of us will see only in our life review: the profound impact we had on others.

Joan of Arcadia beautifully illustrates how Divine Will wants to and will work through us to enlighten the world – if only we will allow.

This post was written by Robert Schwartz. Robert is the author of Your Soul’s Plan: Discovering the Real Meaning of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born. A free PDF with a large sample of the book is available on Mr. Schwartz’s web site at www.yoursoulsplan.com.

You can purchase Joan of Arcadia on DVD on Amazon if you Click Here

On October 2, 2006 Charles Carl Roberts IV took hostages at West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, and eventually shot and killed five girls (aged 6-13) before taking his own life in the schoolhouse. At the center of this tragedy was the Amish community’s response and willingness to forgive the gunman.

A member of a nearby neighborhood, Jack Meyer, said “I don’t think there’s anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts.” Additionally, one Amish man held Robert’s sobbing father in his arms, for as long as an hour to comfort him according to some reports.

The impact of their act of forgiveness was powerful on a local and national level. Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace and mercy. She wrote, “Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you’ve given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.”

Some people criticized the Amish for forgiving the killer. However, their willingness to practice a radical and unconditional type of forgiveness had a transformative and healing effect on not only the killer’s family but also on them and because of the national media attention, their forgiveness also had a similar healing effect on parts of the world at large. Forgiveness is not necessarily for the person you are forgiving. It is for you because the moment you forgive someone, you are actually healing yourself on a conscious and unconscious level by letting go of anger, grievances or resistance that might be weighing you down.

This Sunday, March 28th at 8pm EST/5pm PST, Lifetime will be airing Amish Grace, a movie based on the Amish community’s willingness to forgive Charles Roberts for the Oct 2, 2006 schoolhouse shootings. You can also watch it online for free at http://www.mylifetime.com/watch-full-movies-online/amish-grace.

For more information on tonight’s televised debate on the future of God, visit ABC’s Nightline Face-Off homepage at http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/

“The world has opened up so much to intuition. People are hungering for the wisdom of their inner voice, and less afraid than ever to express intuition freely. On tour I had the honor of being a guest on The Dr. Oz Show…Dr. Oz is an amazing bridge between mainstream medicine and intuition.”

Click here to find your local listings and national air times for Dr. Oz’s show on “medical intuition” featuring Dr. Judith Orloff M.D.

Liz Gilbert recently appeared on ABC News to do an interview on whether or not she still practices the spiritual techniques she recommends in her popular memoir, “Eat Pray Love.” She says that although she does not utilize all of the techniques, such as meditation, as much as she did while living in India, she still makes it a priority to keep her mind calm. She says it is a community service to take control of your own personal happiness and contentment because that is the best way you can truly have enough “reserves” to be of service and assist others.