The Power of the Heart: Finding Your True Purpose in Life (40 page)

Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual teacher and author whose profound yet accessible teachings have helped countless people all over the world find inner peace and greater satisfaction in life. Born in Germany, he studied at the University of London and the University of Cambridge. He is the author of the
New York Times
bestseller
The Power of Now
, which has been published in thirty-three languages, and its follow-up,
A New Earth
. Both are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our age. At the core of his teachings is the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening he sees as the next step in human evolution. Eckhart Tolle is a much-sought-after speaker and teaches and travels all over the world. Many of his lectures and seminars have been published on CD and DVD. On
EckhartTolleTV.com
, he provides monthly lectures, leads live meditations, and answers viewers’ questions. For more information, go to
www.eckharttolle.com
.

 NEALE DONALD WALSCH

Neale Donald Walsch is a contemporary spiritual teacher whose words have touched people all around the world. His book series Conversations with God has been translated into no fewer than thirty-seven languages and has changed the lives of millions of people. In addition to this series he has published a further sixteen books. His dialogue book series Conversations with God is now available around the world and has made it onto the
New York Times
bestseller list. His work has brought him from the stairways of Machu Picchu in Peru to the steps of the Shinto shrines of Japan, from the Red Square in Moscow to St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican to Tiananmen Square in China. Wherever he goes, he detects a hunger among people for a new way of life in peace and harmony. He has managed to teach people a new understanding of life and of God. For more information about Neale Donald Walsch, you can visit
www.nealedonaldwalsch.com
.

 MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

Marianne Williamson is a much-praised spiritual author and teacher and a popular guest on television shows such as
The Oprah Winfrey Show
,
Larry King Live
,
Good Morning America
, and
Charlie Rose
. Four of her ten books were
New York Times
bestsellers, including
A Return to Love
, a book widely regarded as an authoritative work within the new spirituality field. Her work is based on a New Thought approach that sees love and forgiveness as key to human interaction. In a
Newsweek
opinion poll in 2006 she was named as one of the fifty most influential baby boomers. Other well-known works by Marianne Williamson include
The Age of Miracles
,
Enchanted Love
,
Illuminata
,
A Course in Weight Loss
,
The Gift of Change,
and
The Law of Divine Compensation
. For more information, please go to her website at
www.marianne.com
.

 GARY ZUKAV

Gary Zukav is a spiritual teacher and the eloquent author of four successive
New York Times
bestsellers. He graduated from Harvard University and was a Special Forces officer in Vietnam before he wrote his first book,
The Dancing Wu Li Masters
. It won the American Book Award for Science. His second book,
The Seat of the Soul
, about the personality’s alignment with the soul, appealed to millions. It wound its way into the
New York Times
bestseller list thirty-one times, where it remained a total of three years. His insight, thoughtful presence, and infectious enthusiasm have made Gary Zukav much loved by millions of television viewers. He has made thirty-six appearances on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
and has sold six million copies of his books in thirty-two languages. In 1993 he met Linda Francis, his spiritual partner and another Co-creator of
The Power of the Heart
. Together with Linda, he founded the Seat of the Soul Institute, an organization that seeks to help people create meaning, purpose, creativity, health, joy, and love. For more information about both Gary Zukav and the Seat of the Soul Institute, please see
www.seatofthesoul.com
.

From the bottom of my heart I would like to acknowledge and express my gratitude to the eighteen Co-creators of
The Power of the Heart
: Isabel Allende, Maya Angelou, Michael Beckwith, Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho, Joe Dispenza, Linda Francis, Jane Goodall, John Gray, Rollin McCraty, Howard Martin, Ruediger Schache, Marci Shimoff, Dean Shrock, Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, and Gary Zukav. Through their insights and inspiring stories, they have made unique contributions to my own vision and journey.

The Power of the Heart
is a project that I have completed together with two very precious friends: Arnoud Fioole and Mattijs van Moorsel. I wish to thank both of them for joining me in this wonderful adventure. Without them, this project would never have become reality. Special thanks to Arnoud for joining me in writing this book.

I also wish to thank my dear friends Steven Goldhar, Allan Hunter, Evelien Peelen, Ivo Valkenburg, Gary Zukav, Linda Francis, and Marci Shimoff for their unlimited love and support.

Thank you also to the following people:

Judith Curr, the driving force behind Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books, and her magnificent team, including her excellent editor Leslie Meredith. And, of course, the team of VBK/Kosmos in The Netherlands: Wiet de Bruijn, Martine Litjens, Dorien van Londen, Pieter de Boer, Simone Regouin, and Yolande Michon.

Alain de Levita and his dedicated team of NL Film, and Drew Heriot, the director of the movie
The Power of the Heart
.

A couple of special supporters of our project: Annemarie Fioole-Bruining, Rietje van Moorsel, Fleur van Dijk, Carolyn Rangel, Kim Eng, Wendy Zahler, Simon Greiner, Frans Schraven, Han Kooreneef, Richard Rietveld, Ted Baijings, Fred Matser, Aldo de Pape, Bob Levine, Lilou Mace, Gaby Boehmer, Kim Forcina, and Len Branson.

And finally, my dear parents, Thera Lubbe Bakker and Arnold de Pape.

BAPTIST DE PAPE

Baptist de Pape, born in 1977 in Brasschaat, Belgium, is a spiritual explorer, an author, and a filmmaker. He attended the Tilburg Law School in The Netherlands, but after graduation—and with a lucrative job offer before him—he underwent a spiritual awakening that caused him to abandon the strictly practical world of law.

De Pape explores the realm of the heart and what it means to live from that space, rather than living merely from the head. This change of emphasis led directly to some astonishingly synchronistic events.

From his spiritual awakening blossomed the concept of a movie in which he would interview the leading spiritual teachers, authors, and scientists of today. Baptist went on to film and become good friends with many of his interviewees and was generously helped by Gary Zukav, Eckhart Tolle, Maya Angelou, Isabel Allende, and others. For more on the book and film, please visit
www.thepoweroftheheart.com
.

www.thepoweroftheheart.com

The Power of the Heart

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