People

The best-selling author and spiritual guru has written more than 50 books. His latest, The Third Jesus, comes out Feb. 19.

Your book says we should take a fresh look at the New Testament. Have Christians lost sight of Jesus' message?
It happens with any organized religion. Organizations are full of power-mongering bureaucracy, influence-peddling and corruption.

You have argued that God should be a woman. Why?


The next stage of human evolution has to be survival of the wisest, not survival of the fittest. For that we need intuition, compassion and a woman God.

It has been reported that you spoke with Heath Ledger shortly before he died. What was your impression of him?
That was slightly misreported. Heath called director Shekhar Kapur, and I was sitting next to him. He missed his girl, but it was nothing over the top — Heath wasn't a depressive person.

You also work with comic books. What brought that on?
I grew up reading them and living a mythical life. I think we need to restore mythology for our collective healing. Imagine a Superwoman or Wonder Woman who is the product of an Iraqi and an American. That would bring more healing than all the talk.