The Power of the Heart: Finding Your True Purpose in Life (38 page)

 ISABEL ALLENDE

In 1982, Chilean author Isabel Allende made a worldwide name for herself with her first bestseller,
The House of the Spirits
. The book established her as a writer, and also put her on the map as a feminist force in the Latin American literary field. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages and have sold more than 57 million copies worldwide. Her work is both entertaining and informative, as she combines intriguing tales with major historical events. Alongside her writing, Isabel Allende dedicates much of her time to human rights. After the death of her daughter, Paula, in 1992, she established the Isabel Allende Foundation in her honor, which works to protect women and children all over the world. More information about Isabel Allende can be found on her website,
www.isabelallende.com
.

 DR. MAYA ANGELOU (1928–2014)

Dr. Maya Angelou was one of the most celebrated and most influential voices of our time. Her work as a poet, novelist, memoirist, teacher, playwright, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist has been widely praised. Her body of work consists of more than thirty bestsellers, both fiction and nonfiction. She served on two presidential committees, received the Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000 and the Lincoln Medal in 2008, as well as three Grammy Awards, and has been awarded many honorary doctorates. She was nominated for a Tony award, an Emmy award, and a Pulitzer Prize. In 2011, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Angelou worked as a Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest
University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her words and actions touch our soul, nurture our body, free our mind, and heal our heart. For more information, please visit Maya Angelou’s website at
www.mayaangelou.com
.

 DR. MICHAEL BERNARD BECKWITH

Dr. Michael Beckwith is a spiritual teacher and widely read author. Every week, thousands of people gather to hear him speak at the Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City, California, a spiritual community within the New Thought movement. He has made frequent guest appearances on CNN’s
Larry King Live
and on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
. Together with other peace activists and spiritual leaders, such as Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mohandas K. Gandhi, he has a seat on various international panels. He is also one of the co-founders of the Association for Global Thought, an organization dedicated to healing the planet. His numerous books include
Inspirations of the Heart
,
A Manifesto of Peace,
and
Spiritual Liberation
, winner of the Nautilus Book Award. Beckwith has also been widely praised for his work as a humanitarian peace envoy. He is the recipient of numerous humanitarian awards, including the Africa Peace Award and the Thomas Kilgore Prophetic Witness Award. More information is available on
www.agapelive.com
.

 DR. DEEPAK CHOPRA, M.D.

Deepak Chopra is a world-famous physician, author, and speaker, with more than sixty-five books to his name, including twenty-one
New York Times
bestsellers. His work, which has been translated into more than thirty languages, has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. He is one of the best-known and most respected leaders in the field of mind-body medicine and has transformed the way we look at physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being. Deepak Chopra has taught at the medical faculties of both Boston University and Harvard University and has worked as chief of staff at the New England Memorial Hospital.
Time
magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the twentieth century. In 2010, he received both the Humanitarian
Starlite Award and the prestigious GOI Peace Award. He was the recipient of the Einstein Humanitarian Award in 2002, presented by Albert Einstein College of Medicine and in collaboration with the
American Journal of Psychotherapy
. For more information, please visit his website at
www.chopra.com
.

 PAULO COELHO

Paulo Coelho is one of the world’s most widely read authors, as well as the recipient of many prestigious international awards, including the World Economic Forum Crystal Award and the French Legion of Honor. In 2007, he was appointed a United Nations Peace Messenger. In 1986, he undertook the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, which marked a turning point in his life. En route he experienced a spiritual awakening, which he described in his first book,
The Pilgrimage
. The following year he wrote
The Alchemist
. Worldwide,
The Alchemist
sold more than 65 million copies, making it one of the bestselling books in history. It has been translated into no less than seventy-one languages. Altogether Paulo Coelho has sold more than 150 million books in more than 150 countries. In 1996, he established the Paulo Coelho Institute, which provides aid to children and parents with financial problems. For more information, see
www.paulocoelho.com
.

 DR. JOE DISPENZA

Dr. Joe Dispenza is a well-known neuroscientist, chiropractor, teacher, and author. He studied biochemical sciences at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and graduated magna cum laude in chiropractic at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an authority in the field of neurology and neurosciences, brain function, and memory formation. He has written numerous scientific articles about the relationship between the brain and the body, establishing links between thinking and consciousness and the brain and the power of reason. He has shown that when we alter our mind, our brain changes too, and that we can reprogram the brain by breaking certain habits. Joe Dispenza is an honorary member of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners and has received the Clinical Proficiency Citation for clinical excellence. Joe Dispenza’s website can be found at
www.drjoedispenza.com
.

 LINDA FRANCIS

Linda Francis is a spiritual teacher and author. She also worked as a nurse for three decades and is a qualified chiropractor. With her spiritual partner, Gary Zukav, another Co-creator of
The Power of the Heart
, she has written two
New York Times
bestsellers,
The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness
and
The Mind of the Soul: Responsible Choice
. She is also the co-author of
Thoughts from the Heart of the Soul
and
Self-Empowerment Journal: A Companion to the Mind of the Soul
. Together, Linda Francis and Gary Zukav founded the Seat of the Soul Institute, an organization that provides educational programs and events to help people create Authentic Power. For more information about Linda Francis, take a look at
www.seatofthesoul.com
, the website of the Seat of the Soul Institute.

 DR. JANE GOODALL PhD, DBE