Wayne Dyer, the self-help guru whose books and motivational speeches helped shape the lives of millions, has died at age 75.
"Wayne has left his body, passing away through the night. He always said he couldn't wait for this next adventure to begin and had no fear of dying," a statement released by Dyer's family and posted on his Facebook page read. "Our hearts are broken, but we smile to think of how much our scurvy elephant will enjoy the other side. We Love You Forever Dad/Wayne."
Dyer burst onto the scene in 1976 with the success of his first book, Your Erroneous Zone, which quickly became an international bestseller.
Dyer's publisher, Hay House, told NBC News that Dyer died Saturday in Maui, Hawaii, and while the cause of death has not been released, the news station notes that Dyer had battled chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 2009.
According to NBC News, Dyer claimed that he had treated the cancer with positive thinking and psychic surgery, a process he detailed in a two-hour interview with his friend of more than 30 years, Oprah Winfrey.
Dyer was a frequent guest on Winfrey's show and amassed a cultlike following of believers who were attracted to his simple methods and teaching philosophies. He became dubbed the "father of motivation" and wanted only for people to think positively and, as such, attract positivity into their lives.
"Take the last five minutes of your day," Dyer told CBS News Sunday Morning's Tracy Smith in 2014, "and put your attention on everything that you would like to attract into your life: 'I am well. I am healed. I am in perfect health. I am abundant. I am happy.' Say those things to yourself. Then you'll marinate for eight hours, and you'll awaken and you'll begin to attract the things that are in your subconscious mind."
According to NBC News, "Dyer was separated from his third wife and had eight children."
Read more at NBC News.