DATE: Sunday, November 16, 1997             TAG: 9711160016

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BETSY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   67 lines

SPIRITUALIST AND AUTHOR TO MAKE STOP IN SUFFOLK

Marianne Williamson is the spiritual guru of folks such as Oprah Winfrey, Bette Midler and Richard Gere. The itinerary of this author/speaker/philanthropist's recent book tour, ``The Healing of America,'' reads like a Where's Where of America's top cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Boston, and - Suffolk.

Yup, Suffolk. Williamson will speak at 3 p.m. today at Temple Beth El off Bridge Road. In a telephone interview with Pilot religion columnist Betsy Wright, Williamson tells why she's here and answers other questions.

Theologically, you're an unusual mixed bag. You're Jewish, but your messages contain decidedly Christian exhortations. Sometimes that Christian message is very mainstream, and other times it sounds very New Age. . . . Theologically, how do you define yourself and your message? Also, who are your followers?

First of all, I don't have followers. I have an audience, and there is a distinct difference.

Secondly, we are living at a time where across the board - with our intellectual, spiritual, political and psychological institutions - the artificial boundaries are fading. Mystical truths and universal spiritual themes are at the heart of all the religious teachings of the world, and I am interested in all truths.

Now, that doesn't diminish the importance of specific religious systems, but neither does that diminish the yearning many of us feel for an experience of our underlying unity, which is, after all, God's love.

What do you think is America's most pressing problem?

The biggest problem is that the American mind has gone to sleep. We are not awake intellectually, emotionally or spiritually. . . . Americans are . . . disassociated from full participation in the public and political domain, and as a consequence we have abdicated that field to voices that often do not represent the highest sensibilities of either side of the political spectrum.

We watch too much television. We read too little. We spend too much time on ultimately meaningless pursuits. The transformation of the country begins with a lifestyle decision on the part of a critical mass of Americans. It begins with our deciding to look at the world around us and take personal responsibility for our collective existence as well.

In the book, you talk so much about materialism. How do you ``walk that talk'' in your own life?

Capitalism has been very good to me. I've sold many books and received the rewards. I am an enthusiastic capitalist because I recognize its upside. The only way, however, that a free market system can thrive - and this point was originally made by Adam Smith himself - is within an ethical context.

In (John F. Kennedy's) inaugural address, he said that `the free society which does not take care of its many who are poor will not be able to save its few who are rich.'

I realize there is no amount of money that I can make which can guarantee my child will be buffered from the horrors that will explode in this country if we do not attend to the business of providing all American children with the most excellent education they can get, so that they might have a fair shot at experiencing the same opportunities that I've had. . . . I don't believe that taking care of America's children is a charitable issue; it is a justice issue. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Marianne Williamson

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