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Q: Would you agree that "The Celestine Prophecy" supports the notion that everything happens for a reason?

A: Absolutely. And not just that; one can really get into what I call a heightened awareness. There's something about expecting mysterious coincidences to happen that can enhance lives. It actually brings it on. It seems to activate it.

Q: Is it directed by a higher power?

A: Yes, yes, I think so. I think what we are getting in touch with is a deeper connection with the divinity within ourselves. The divinity behind the world.

Q: Are people evolving into more spiritual beings?

A: Well, I think we are tuning in. I think there's a deeper more spiritual life out there to be had, and I think we are hard-wired for it. But we are moving past belief into a deeper experience.

Q: But at the same time it's such a consumer-oriented society?

A: Well, you are going to see a long transition. We are definitely, you know, improving economically around the world, and at the same time we are trying to live on this planet in the right way. I think it's the spiritual life that guides us into the right lifestyle for us.

Q: Is the idea to tap into what Carl Jung called the collective unconscious and direct it toward peace and understanding?

A: I think that is the ultimate result. What happens is we all become more genuinely spiritual and live that lifestyle and that ethic toward other people. We do tap into a sense that we are all very much alike as human beings in the world. We have different belief systems that we hold dear, but the experience is much the same in connecting with a greater purpose in our lives, and that is what can bring about a more unified and peaceful world.

Q: The 11th insight is the power of prayer. That seems as if it would be the first one most people are exposed to at a very young age.

A: You know these things are not always experienced in order. When I talk about discovering the greater power of prayer out there, I'm really pointing to the research on prayer. Much of it is very, very good. It shows that prayer works. Praying for another person who is ill works. So I really think more than ever we really can believe in prayer and believe that it works. Also the more people praying together, the more powerful it is.

Q: Is energy a non-entity?

A: Energy is something we feel. It's described in the book because we are having the experience of it out there. In the movie we depicted that with visual effects so that we can get a sense of how energy does move into us from the divine. All the founders of every religion talked about the Transformative Energies, the spirit, the connection with the divine. That is something that can be felt. Also we can feel the energy of the divine as it goes out to another person. That other person can also feel a hit of energy coming from us. So those are real describable phenomena that we can test out and see for ourselves.

Q: In the movie the people who practice the insights seem a little cult-like.

A: [Laughs.] Cult-like? It's interesting that you say that because they are all focused on that information, but you know one of the things that "The Celestine Prophecy" is, is an anti-cult book. "The Celestine Prophecy" is the story of us coming to our own direct spiritual experience and not being involved with someone who is dictating to us what that experience should be or what it should feel like, but experiencing it for ourselves. So in a sense it's an anti-cult book. Most people relate to it that way. I think what you are seeing (in the movie) is that they are in Peru, and they are running from being oppressed with the information of the prophecy. But there is absolutely nothing cultish about this information. It's bringing a kind of truth that can be proven experientially.

Q: Could it all be boiled down to Norman Vincent Peale's power of positive thinking?

A: I think that's the force of a kind of fateful life that he described, but I wouldn't say it can be boiled down to that. That is one aspect of it, but there are so many other rich experiences of the spiritual life that are more than just positive thinking. They are really a connection with a greater divinity behind the world and behind our own lives.