James Redfield is an American author, lecturer, screenwriter, and film producer. He is notable for his 1993 novel ''

The Celestine Prophecy ''The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure'' is a 1993 novel by James Redfield that discusses various psychological and spiritual ideas rooted in multiple ancient Eastern traditions and New Age spirituality. The main character undertakes a journ ...

''.

Biography

Redfield grew up in a rural area near

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He studied

Eastern philosophies Eastern philosophy or Asian philosophy includes the various philosophies that originated in East and South Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Korean philosophy, and Vietnamese philosophy; which are dominant in East Asia, ...

, including

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

and

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

, while majoring in sociology at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. He later received a master's degree in counseling and spent more than 15 years as a therapist to abused adolescents. During this time, he was drawn into the

human potential movement The Human Potential Movement (HPM) arose out of the counterculture of the 1960s and formed around the concept of an extraordinary potential that its advocates believed to lie largely untapped in all people. The movement takes as its premise the be ...

and turned to it for theories about intuitions and psychic phenomena that would help his clients. In 1989, he quit his job as a therapist to write full-time, synthesizing his interest in interactive psychology, Eastern and Western philosophies, science,

futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

, ecology, history, and

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

. When Redfield

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

,'' his first novel, in 1992, the interest from booksellers and readers led to its becoming one of the most financially successful self-published books of all time.

Warner Books Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hachett ...

bought the rights and published the hard cover edition in March 1994. The book quickly climbed to the No. 1 position on the

New York Times Best Seller List ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

. According to ''Publishing Trends,'' ''The Celestine Prophecy'' was the No. 1 international bestseller of 1996 (#2 in 1995). The novel spent over 3 years on the New York Times Best Seller List. As of May 2005, ''The Celestine Prophecy'' had sold over 20 million copies worldwide and had been translated into 34 languages. In 1996, the sequel, '' The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision'' (Warner Books), also became a bestseller. The two books spent a combined 74 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List, making their author the best-selling hard cover author in the world in 1996, as cited in BP Report (January 1997). In his non-fiction title, ''The Celestine Vision: Living the New Spiritual Awareness'' (Warner Books, 1997), Redfield explored the background of the "emerging spirituality" discussed in his novels. The Celestine series of adventure

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

s continued in 1999 with the publication of '' The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight'' (Warner Books). In 2002, Redfield joined author

Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer ...

and filmmaker Sylvia Timbers in a collaborative non-fiction work entitled '' God and the Evolving Universe'' (J.P. Tarcher). The novel was the basis for a 2006

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

of the same name. Redfield produced, co-writing the screenplay with Barnet Bain and Dan Gordon. James and Salle Redfield are the founders of the Global Prayer Project, a bi-weekly webcast which offers guided prayer and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

. Redfield's newest offering, ''The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision'', was published by Grand Central Publishing in February 2011.

Awards

In October 1997, Redfield was awarded the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Senate at the XXIII Pio Manzu International Conference in Rimini, Italy. In the spring of 2000, Redfield joined

Millard Fuller Millard Dean Fuller (January 3, 1935 – February 3, 2009) was the co-founder and the former president of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit organization known globally for building houses for those in need. Fuller also was the ...

, founder of

Habitat For Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

, as the two recipients of Humanitarian of the Year honors from their alma mater, Auburn University. Two months later, he received another Humanitarian of the Year award from the

International New Thought Alliance The International New Thought Alliance (INTA) is an umbrella organization for New Thought adherents "dedicated to serving the New Thought Movement’s various branches, organizations and individuals".

Bibliography

* ''

'' (1993) Warner Books: New York, NY * ''The Celestine Prophecy: An Experiential Guide'' (1995) co-written with Carol Adrienne. Warner Books:New York, NY * '' The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision'' (1996) Grand Central Publishing: New York, NY. * ''The Tenth Insight: Holding The Vision: An Experiential Guide'' (1996) co-written with Carol Adrienne. Diane Publishing Company:Darby, PA * ''The Celestine Vision: Living the New Spiritual Awareness'' (1997) Grand Central Publishing:New York, NY. * '' The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight'' (1999) Warner Books:New York, NY * ''God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution'' (2002) co-written with Sylvia Timbers and

Tarcher Books, New York, NY * '' The Celestine Prophecy: The Making of the Movie'' (2006) co-written with Monty Joynes

Hampton Roads Publishing Company Hampton Roads Publishing Company, founded in 1989 by Frank DeMarco and Bob Friedman, is a publisher of self-help books, and books on alternative medicine, visionary fiction, New Thought, New Science, Nagualism and psychic realms. Hampton R ...

:Newburyport, MA. * ''The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision'' (2011) Grand Central Publishing:New York, NY.

References

Sources

*"Celestial reasoning." ''People Weekly''. New York: Apr 25, 1994. Vol.41, Iss. 15; pg. 85 *McDonald, Marci. "Celestine prophet." ''Maclean's''. Toronto: Oct 10, 1994. Vol.107, Iss. 41; pg. 54

External links

Official Web Site: CelestineVision.com

The Twelfth Insight
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redfield, James Living people American Methodists American male screenwriters American film producers Auburn University alumni People from Auburn, Alabama American male writers Screenwriters from Alabama Year of birth missing (living people)