They've been friends for more than 30 years and he wrote the forward for her new book, The Wizard of Us. Plus, they just happened to tape "Super Soul Sunday" on the very same day! During some downtime in filming, Jean Houston and Deepak Chopra sat down with our backstage crew to discuss their longtime friendship.

What are the greatest lessons these thought leaders have learned from one another? Watch to find out:

While reminiscing about some of their favorite stories, Jean shares a moment from Deepak's childhood that always stuck with her. Hear the story:

Finally, Deepak says there's one very good reason everyone should tune in for Jean and Oprah's conversation this Sunday. He reveals it here:

According to philosopher and author Jean Houston, the greatest truths of your own life can often be found in pages of your favorite stories. Her new book, The Wizard of Us, uses the classic story as an example of how the life lessons found in the greatest myths of our time can help you become the hero of your own life—a life full of purpose, heart and courage.

Q: So what is a myth?
Jean: Well, a myth is a great story. A myth is a kind of story that puts us on the road of adventures, shows us that we are larger than we ever thought we could be. Gives us experiences that enlarge our humanity. Experiences that often begin in a call. I feel called to something—'I'm in a state of yearning.'

Just like little Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. She feels called to move beyond an outmoded situation in dreary old Kansas, "somewhere over the rainbow." In fact, sometimes it takes a big thing to get you going, like a tornado. And she lands in Oz, where she meets the parts of herself that have been put down: Her mind, her heart, and her courage. And therein often myths are filled with these symbolic characters, as in The Wizard of Oz.

I wrote a book about this called The Wizard of Us. She meets the Scarecrow for the mind—who turns out to have a brilliant mind, though he thought he didn't have one. The Tinman, who is stuck and she helps him. She has tremendous compassion, and she helps him release and become able to move again. And he has incredible love and sympathy and gentleness. And then the Cowardly Lion, who turns out to be able to do extraordinary things.

It's like the world today. We are in teams. We are working together across the great divide of otherness. We really take on the larger venture, the larger experience of finding out what our deepest challenges are that hone our pluck and cunning, make us grow up into who and what we can be, and in our own way, save our world. That's what a myth does.

Q: Are there any telltale signs you're on the journey you're meant to be on?
Jean: Well, there are many different parts of it. You may feel called, and you don't know for what, but you know you have to get out of an outmoded situation. You may find curious allies showing up. Sometimes the book opens to the right page. Or, that telephone call, or that unexpected grace of a meeting. But mostly, it is a yearning that will not go away.

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An encore of Oprah and Jean Houston's full conversation airs Sunday at 11 a.m. ET/PT.

Teachers have been instrumental to Oprah's Book Club 2.0 author Ayana Mathis. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie writer credits her mentor, Pulitzer Prize-winner Marilynne Robinson, with giving her three invaluable pieces of advice about writing. Watch as she reveals them to Oprah.

Learn how you can participate in Oprah's Book Club 2.0! Then, tune in Sunday, February 3, at 11 a.m. ET/PT for Oprah's television interview with Ayana Mathis on "Super Soul Sunday."

She made headlines with a White House scandal, but she's best known for being a force in the spiritual world. "Jean Houston, one of the originals—and she's got a lot of perspective to share," Oprah says.

Tune in Sunday as Oprah talks with Jean Houston, an American philosopher and one of the elders of the personal growth movement, about being the hero in your own life and living authentically.

More on Jean

• Learn more about Jean at JeanHouston.org
• Jean's new book is The Wizard of Us.