(Newswire.net — September 9, 2015) –Wayne Dyer, the author of several books on self-help topics, has passed away at the age of 75 years. The news of his death was released by his family on social media on Sunday.
Wayne passed away at night. He longed for this moment and was never afraid of dying. Though we mourn because of his death, we smile from the thought of how much he is enjoying his life in heaven. We will always love you, our father, Wayne, his family wrote on Dyer’s Face book status.
Dyer’s was born in 1940 in Detroit. He was an orphan, an experience that made him learn to rely on himself. Dyer spent his childhood in foster homes and orphanages. He studied educational counseling at Wayne State University and earned a doctorate. He proceeded to teach at New York’s St John University before his book, “Your Erroneous Zone” changed his entire career.
In an interview with Success Magazine, Dyer stated that he grew up in an area where there was a lot of poverty, hunger and scarcity. He never woke up with the negative thought of being an orphan or full of self pity. Though there were many affluent people in his neighborhood, Dyer never thought he was inferior to them. Instead, he thought of them as having what they were rightly entitled to and that if he wanted those same things, he would easily get them.
Dyer became famous after his first publication in 1976, “Your Erroneous Zone”, became a best seller internationally. This was the beginning of Dyer’s career as a motivational speaker and author and earned him millions of fans who regarded him as a motivation icon. The book, Your Erroneous Zone, offers step by step instructions on escaping negative thoughts and controlling your life. Dyer preached this same philosophy in his over 30 self help publications including “Stop the Excuses”, “The Power of Intention” and “How to Change Lifelong Thoughts”. His main message was a person should have happy beliefs and think positively for them to live a happy and positive life. Until his demise, Dyer remained busy spreading messages on positive attitudes to his followers on Twitter.
He was often regarded as a favorite teacher of wisdom on public television. Dyer was a favorite feature on PBS for several years. However, his career was not without its share of challenges. Dyer was involved in a controversial incident following claims that he was preaching a religion that violated PBS’ editorial statutes. Dyer’s philosophy was seen to be a mixture of non denominational spirituality and self actualization theory. He believed that Jesus was a model of self reliance and at the same time distanced himself from religions arguing that they were stifling bureaucracies.
Dyer was often accused of simplifying and appropriating the work of other thinkers. There is a specific case where Dyer was sued for stealing some parts of two publications on Buddhism by a poet- Stephen Mitchell. The case was later dismissed.
A majority of readers worldwide regarded Dyer’s teachings as concepts on clearing the mind and achieving success. Among the people who embraced Dyer’s teachings was Oprah Winfrey, whose network broadcasted documentaries and interviews by him. As a tribute to Dyer, Oprah Winfrey’s website features a 2012 interview of Dyer on Sunday evening. Dyer was listed by the spiritualist magazine, “Mind Body Spirit” as among the 10 most influential spiritual leaders in the world. In last year’s listings, Dyer came in at number eight as the magazine’s most spiritually influential icons.
Dyer’s message was very simple: “If you think positive, positive things will happen”. In an interview with CBS in 2014, Dyer stated that people should focus the final minutes of their day on the things that they would like to happen in their lives. You should affirm to yourself that you are well, healed, in good health, abundant and happy. When you wake up in the morning, you will attract those things that are tucked in a hidden part of your mind.
In 2009, Dyer announced that he had lymphocytic leukemia. Dyer’s family did not disclose the reason for his death. Dyer lived in Maui and was married three times. He was the father of eight children and was separated from his third wife.