Madonna is opening up about her spiritual life in a big way.
On Monday, the 67-year-old pop icon will appear on On Purpose with Jay Shetty for her first-ever podcast interview. PEOPLE confirmed that the episode features an honest conversation about her decades-long spiritual journey, which began in 1996 before the birth of her first child, Lourdes Leon. She also discusses forgiveness, success, and how studying spirituality, especially Kabbalah has shaped her life.
“You need to be spiritual to be successful. Success is having a spiritual life, period. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have one.”
Madonna explains that for her, real success isn’t about fame or wealth but about inner growth and helping others. She says the most meaningful work happens when you bring light to dark places and that her purpose is to share that light through everything she does.
“What have I done for others? That’s really the only way you can be successful in life,” she tells Shetty. “It’s like the greatest amount of light is where there’s darkness and you can reveal the most amount of light. When you’re in a dark room, you turn on the light. When you’re in a room that’s already light, what do you, there’s no, um, effort made. So should we look for darkness?”
She reflects on how she once felt trapped by other people’s opinions but eventually learned to embrace being different, believing that “not fitting in” has protected her.
“My soul’s purpose is to reveal light in the world through whatever I do,” she continues, later adding, “I want it all, but I want it for the sake of sharing, not to keep it for myself.”
Joined later in the episode by her Kabbalah teacher Eitan Yardeni, Madonna also talks about their new course, The Mystical Studies of the Zohar, which launches on September 29.
