Celebrities Who Have Embraced the Metaphysical Side of Life

Apparently Even Hollywood Occasionally Stops Long Enough to Meditate

When we think about celebrities, we usually think about movies, music, red carpets, awards, enormous houses, and people who somehow manage to look fantastic while getting photographed leaving a grocery store.

But fame doesn't prevent people from asking the same big questions the rest of us ask:

Why are we here? What is consciousness? Is there something beyond the physical world? Does intention influence our lives? Do we have souls? Have we lived before? And why does the Universe never manifest an empty parking space when we're running late?

Plenty of famous people have publicly explored spirituality, meditation, consciousness, manifestation, reincarnation, energy, and other ideas that overlap with what we call metaphysics.

And some have gone pretty far down the cosmic rabbit hole.

Shirley MacLaine — The Hollywood Metaphysical Pioneer

If Hollywood metaphysics had a Hall of Fame, Shirley MacLaine would probably have her own wing.

Long before talking about reincarnation, meditation and higher consciousness became mainstream celebrity conversation, MacLaine was discussing them publicly. Her famous book Out on a Limb chronicled her spiritual exploration, including reincarnation, psychic experiences and questions about consciousness. She later conducted seminars exploring meditation and what she described as the higher self. 

Oprah has even described MacLaine as one of her great spiritual teachers, and the two have discussed metaphysical subjects together for decades. 

In other words, Shirley wasn't merely dipping her toe into the metaphysical pool.

She cannonballed into it.

Oprah Winfrey — Intention, Connection and Spiritual Growth

Oprah Winfrey has probably done more than almost any modern celebrity to bring conversations about spirituality and consciousness into mainstream popular culture.

She has publicly discussed her own spiritual practices and emphasized ideas involving interconnectedness and spiritual awareness. She has also provided an enormous platform for spiritual teachers and writers through her television programs, interviews, book selections and Super Soul conversations. 

One idea that repeatedly appears in Oprah's spiritual conversations is intention—understanding the motivation and energy behind what we do.

That's metaphysics packaged for daytime television.

And somehow she managed to discuss consciousness without throwing a crystal at the audience.

Jim Carrey — From Comedy to Consciousness

If you only know Jim Carrey from Ace Ventura, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, his philosophical side might surprise you.

Carrey has spoken publicly for years about spirituality, belief, love and mystical ideas. In a CBS interview, he described a personal spirituality drawing from multiple religious traditions and talked openly about believing there are forces in existence beyond what we ordinarily recognize. 

He has also become known for discussing the nature of identity and the ego.

Which creates the wonderful possibility that the man who gave us Ace Ventura might also make you question the fundamental nature of consciousness.

Metaphysics apparently has a very good sense of humor.

Russell Brand — Meditation, Prayer and Higher Consciousness

Russell Brand has also spoken extensively about spirituality.

He has described regular meditation and prayer practices and has discussed ideas involving God, transcendence and higher consciousness. A Vanity Fair profile described his morning routine as including meditation followed by prayer. 

Whatever you think about Brand's broader public persona, spirituality has clearly been a significant part of the worldview he has publicly described.

And They're Far From Alone

Many other celebrities have publicly explored practices or ideas adjacent to metaphysics—meditation, yoga, manifestation, mindfulness, spiritual traditions, astrology, consciousness and alternative concepts of personal growth.

And that's interesting because celebrities seemingly have access to everything our culture tells us will make us happy:

Money.

Recognition.

Travel.

Beautiful homes.

Success.

Fancy award-show gift bags containing things the rest of us didn't even know existed.

Yet many still begin searching inward.

Perhaps that's telling us something.

Fame Doesn't Answer the Big Questions

You can have $100 million and still wonder:

Who am I?

You can win an Oscar and still ask:

Why am I here?

You can have millions of followers and still wonder:

What actually makes me happy?

You can live in a mansion and still sit quietly wondering whether there's something larger connecting all of us.

Money can buy an extremely comfortable meditation room.

It cannot necessarily tell you what you're supposed to meditate about once you get there.

That's where the metaphysical journey becomes universal.

Celebrities Don't Make Metaphysics True—or False

There's an important distinction here.

A celebrity believing something doesn't prove it.

Jim Carrey talking about consciousness doesn't establish a scientific theory of consciousness.

Shirley MacLaine believing in reincarnation doesn't scientifically prove reincarnation.

Oprah discussing intention doesn't demonstrate that thinking about a Ferrari will cause one to materialize in your driveway Tuesday afternoon.

Celebrity isn't evidence.

But their willingness to explore these ideas demonstrates something else that's valuable:

It's okay to ask questions.

It's okay to explore spirituality.

It's okay to meditate.

It's okay to wonder about consciousness.

It's okay to investigate ideas that don't fit neatly into conventional boxes.

And it's also perfectly okay to explore them while maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism.

Maybe We're All Searching for the Same Thing

That's what I find fascinating about famous people who explore metaphysics.

Remove the fame, money, movies, television programs, concert stages and enormous Instagram followings, and underneath everything is simply another human being asking:

“What the heck is all of this?”

Welcome to the club.

We've been trying to figure that one out for thousands of years.

Maybe enlightenment eventually provides the answer.

Maybe consciousness continues beyond this life.

Maybe we're energetic beings temporarily experiencing physical existence.

Maybe the Universe is far stranger than we currently understand.

Or maybe Shirley MacLaine already figured everything out decades ago and the rest of us simply weren't paying attention.

Either way, exploring these questions can make life considerably more interesting.

Because metaphysics isn't necessarily about having all the answers.

Sometimes it's about becoming comfortable enough to keep asking the really big questions.

Celebrity or not, we're all standing beneath the same enormous Universe trying to figure out what we're doing here.

And perhaps that curiosity itself is another step toward Making Peace With Life™.