100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in 2012
Early in March, the Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine published their list for the 100 most spiritually influential people in the world in 2012. The Watkins Mind Body Spirit is a quarterly magazine published by London’s largest and oldest independent esoteric bookshop. This publication is their 29th issue since John Watkins published his first volume which featured book reviews, occults news and excerpts from recommended books.
The magazine gradually developed into a respectable publication that remained independent from the main stream market. Previously the magazines were given away for free, but due to the respect they gained from the public, the content within their publication has now become valuable… and only obtainable upon purchase. They are all sold at leading bookstores, such as Barnes and Noble, Whole Foods, and WHSmiths.
The top 100 names on the list are filtered from a database of approximately 500 candidates. The first list came out in 2011… and it turned out to be extremely popular as it served as a positive guide to some of the leading spiritual teachers. The list is based on the following 3 criteria’s:
- The person has to be alive
- The person has to have made a unique and spiritual contribution on a global scale
- The person is frequently Googled, appears in Nielsen data, and is actively talked about throughout the internet
Below is the second year Watkins publication has compiled their top 100 most spiritually influential people in the world. It has been released in the latest issue of Watkins Mind Body Spirit.
Do take a look at the list people… there is also a short summary of the top 10.
Tsem Rinpoche
The 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People
Watkins’ Mind Body Spirit Magazine, Issue 29, March 2012
- Dalai Lama
- Eckhart Tolle
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- Deepak Chopra
- Paulo Coelho
- Elizabeth Gilbert
- Iyanla Vanzant
- Ken Wilber
- James Redfield
- Rhonda Byrne
- Alice Walker
- Nelson Mandela
- Dr Wayne W Dyer
- Doreen Virtue
- Michio Kaku
- Oprah Winfrey
- Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Mantak Chia
- Desmond Tutu
- Alex Grey
- Peter Russell
- Byron Katie
- Ram Dass
- Esther Hicks
- Bernie Siegel
- Richard Bach
- Brian Weiss
- Andrew Cohen
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
- Robin Sharma
- Steve Taylor
- Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi
- Andrew Harvey
- Marianne Williamson
- Lisa Williams
- Francis Chan
- Don Miguel Ruiz
- Masaru Emoto
- Gregg Braden
- Andrew Weil
- Erich von Daniken
- Adyashanti
- Krishna Das
- Sonia Choquette
- Joseph Ratzinger
- Louise Hay
- Amma
- Vladimir Megre
- Ervin Laszlo
- Elaine Pagels
- Jeff Foster
- Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- Neale Donald Walsch
- Drunvalo Melchizedek
- Pema Chodron
- Diana Cooper
- Bruce Lipton
- Dan Millman
- Karen Armstrong
- Graham Hancock
- David R. Hawkins
- Jack Canfield
- Clarissa Pinkola Estes
- Sogyal Rinpoche
- Swami Ramdev
- Philip Berg
- Caroline Myss
- Michael Newton
- Daisaku Ikeda
- Vadim Zeland
- John Bradshaw
- Richard Bandler
- Jean Houston
- Starhawk
- Daniel J. Siegel
- James Lovelock
- Judy Hall
- Gary Snyder
- Patrick Holford
- Oberto Airaudi
- Dr Azmayesh
- Mother Meera
- Rabbi Michael Lerner
- Lynne McTaggart
- Michael Beckwith
- Satya Narayan Goenka
- Satish Kumar
- Paramahamsa Nithyananda
- Rowan Williams
- Prem Rawat
- Mooji
- Stanislav Grof
- Grant Morrison
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Dolores Cannon
- Gangaji
- Shakti Gawain
- Claudio Naranjo
- Mastin Kipp
- Marion Woodman
100 Spiritual List Statistics:
Male: 72%
Female: 28%
Oldest: Nelson Mandela at 93 years old
Youngest: Mastin Kipp at 30 years old
Summary of the Top 10
1. Dalai Lama
Born Lhamo Dondrub, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama. Tibetan Buddhists believe him to be a reincarnation of his predecessors and the Buddha of compassion. He is a vocal activist for Tibetan independence and has made an incredible contribution to global spirituality. His visit to Mongolia in November 2011 was criticized by China, but his popularity shows no sign of waning. Time Magazine call him “The most influential person in the world”, while The Times commented “He draws crowds that no other spiritual leader or politician could hope to match…he seems to look at life in a different way to everyone else”. His latest book Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World was published in January.
www.dalailama.com | Born in Taktser, Tibet, 06/07/1935 | Spiritual Leader
2. Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart’s profound yet simple teachings have helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. His books, The Power of Now and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth are two of the best-selling Mind, Body, Spirit books in the world. Eckhart Tolle TV is a subscription service offering monthly live streamed guided meditations and new teachings with Eckhart, an on-line community, and more.
www.eckharttolle.com | Born in Lünen, Germany, 16/02/1948 | Spiritual Teacher and Writer
3. Thich Nhat Hanh
Buddhist monk, teacher, author and peace activist. He founded the Order of Interbeing and the Unified Buddhist Church, along with monasteries and spiritual centres in Vietnam, the USA and France, where he now lives. His latest book The Novice, a retelling of an ancient Vietnamese folk tale, proposes a real way of being in the world relevant to the twenty-first century.
www.plumvillage.org | Born in Thua Thien, Vietnam, 11/10/1926 | Spiritual Leader
4. Deepak Chopra
As a writer on Ayurveda, mind-body medicine and spirituality, Chopra has had huge success with titles such as Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. In 2011 he published The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes: Harnessing Our Power to Change the World with his son Gotham and apologised for his “unfair criticism” of Richard Dawkins, after a long-running feud. His latest book, War of the Worldviews: Science vs Spirituality, pits his views against leading physicist Leonard Mlodinow.
www.deepakchopra.com | Born in New Delhi, India, 22/10/1946 | Physician, writer and public speaker
5. Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist is one of the top selling books in history, with over 65 million copies sold in 150 countries. Warner Bros bought the film rights in 2003, but the project stalled. In 2008, Harvey Weinstein bought the rights to the film. Laurence Fishburne is set to direct and play the lead role. Coelho has sold more than 100 million books worldwide and his work has been translated into 67 languages. His latest book Aleph was published in September.
paulocoelho.com | Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 24/08/1947 | Novelist
6. Elizabeth Gilbert
Gilbert is best known for her 2006 memoirs, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything across Italy, India and Indonesia. Oprah Winfrey so enjoyed the book she devoted two episodes of her show. The film appeared in 2010 starring Julia Roberts. Gilbert followed this up with a sequel, Committed: A Skeptic makes Peace with Marriage, covering her life after Eat, Pray, Love.
elizabethgilbert.com | Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA, 18/07/1969 | Novelist and memoir writer
7. Iyanla Vanzant
An inspirational speaker, spiritual teacher, author, and television personality, Vanzant was named one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans by Ebony magazine, which said that “Her books, lectures and television appearances have made her a multimedia high priestess of healthy relationships”. Her latest book is Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through.
innervisionsworldwide.com | Born in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 13/09/1953 | Lawyer, minister, talk show host and author
8. Ken Wilber
Wilber has advocated Integral Thought and influenced figures as varied as Bill Clinton, Deepak Chopra, and Billy Corgan. He founded the Integral Institute and has written about adult development, developmental psychology, philosophy, worldcentrism, ecology, and stages of faith.
www.kenwilber.com | Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, 31/01/1949 | Author and Integral Theorist
9. James Redfield
Best known for The Celestine Prophecy, which he self-published in 1992. Redfield produced and co-wrote the screenplay of the movie, which came out in 2006. Redfield’s latest book, The Twelfth Insight, is now available in paperback.
www.celestinevision.com | Born in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 19/03/1950 | Writer
10. Rhonda Byrne
Well known for The Secret book and DVD, Byrne advocates the belief that we can all transcend our suffering by not falling prey to negative thoughts. She has been listed among Time Magazine’s list of 100 people who shape the world, and has also produced television shows. Her new book The Magic is published in March.
www.thesecret.tv | Born in Australia, 12/03/1951 | Writer and TV/Film producer
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-100-most-spiritually-influential-living-people-2012-03-15
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Found this old interesting blog about the 100 most spiritually influential living people in 2012. The top 3 spots are great Buddhist leaders. Wonderful get to know some of those great names on the list. Thank you Rinpoche fir this sharing.
Wow, very interesting. Didn’t know there are so many famous spiritual celebrities out there.
I’m really interested to know how each and everyone of these spiritual figures has brought meaning to other’s. There are many on the list that I do not know and have not heard of, and even the ones I’ve heard like Deepak Chopra I am not sure what type of spirituality he preaches or how his followers have benefitted from him.
Interesting… looks like it’s time for me to do some googling… hehe
I feel so great and proud to know that H.H. Dalai Lama is on the top of the list. More so, the next 2 in the top list, Eckhart Tolle and Thich Nhat Hanh. It shows that Buddhism is definitely the most recognized spirituality that doing by the world. H.H. Dalai Lama is representing peace, compassion, and wisdom for real.
I have the good fortune to have read Dalai Lama and Eckhardt Tolle’s books, I have heard that Paulo Coelho writings has spiritual leanings to them, I think many people would be rolling their eyes now. Well better late than never right? Hope I have some time to look at his books his writings is well sought out through out the world!
HH Dalai Lama is still the top of the list as the most influential person in the world and the amazing thing is that the top 3 are Buddhist. In the near future, Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s name will in this list!
Richard Bandler, co developer on NLP is on the list! 🙂
Looked thru the list twice hoping to find Rinpoche’s name there but it’s not. Soon it will be!
Male: 72%,
Female: 28%
There should be more girls/women. Does EVERYTHING have to be male dominated? Great article though! thank you Rinpoche!
Topping the top of the list, HH The Dalai Lama obviously makes the rightful choice for the selection as expected. Not only does he fits in to the required 3 criterias like a fiddle, he is also obviously “The most influential person in the World,” as described in the Time Magazine. The Nobel Peace Price winner’s influence has escalated so much and so rapidly in China, that they have to create an enactment order of China to curb and control the rapid growth of the Dalai Lama’s popularity. In spirituality, the Dalai Lama is a renown fiqure of compassion, wisdom and patience. He is his own beleaquered country’s spokesman, fighting tirelessy for Tibet’s autonomy from China. The Dalai Lama possesses an unusual brand of Celebrity, though he still calls himself a “simple Buddhist monk”.
Don’t really understand what constitutes spirituality but, YES without a doubt The Dalai Lama should be on top of the list! Buddhist leaders taking the top and third spot is great news and an eye opener for all.
Amazing… the Top 3 – 1st spot & 3rd spot are Buddhist leaders and at the 2nd spot, Eckhart Tolle’s works showed very strong Buddhist influence. I rejoice 🙂
Yep our Rinpoche should be in the list.
Where is our own Tsem Tulku Rinpoche? I certainly hope that one day his reputation and incredible love and Boddhicitta is seen and felt loud and clear beyond the confines of Malasia/Tibet and a scattering of students across the earth.
Wow. This list is a definite way of making you feel proud of humanity. 🙂
I wonder what they consider as “spiritual”. I suppose it is as important to be seen as spiritual as being spiritual itself. I’m happy that Buddhists appear within the top 3. I’m also very surprised to not find the Pope anywhere on the list, or is he known by another name, or perhaps he is considered beyond “people” therefore should not be measured among the rest of the people as he is beyond “spiritual” by default?
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing this information. But my list, Tsem Tulku Rinpoche will be listed TOP! 🙂
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this list with us.
It is not surprising that Dalai Lama is still on the top of the list. He has brought Tibetan buddhism to a great height and with his fame and popularity, I pray for his long life to continue to spread buddhism around the globe.
Among the 100 names, few that struck my eyes are :
1) Thich Nhat Hanh
A Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France where he was in exile for many years. He joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. Upon his ordination as a monk in 1949, he assumed the Dharma name Thích Nhất Hạnh. He is often considered the most influential living figure in the lineage of Lâm Tế (Vietnamese Rinzai) Thiền, and perhaps also in Zen Buddhism as a whole.
Nhất Hạnh has published more than 100 books, including more than 40 in English. Nhat Hanh continues to be active in the peace movement, promoting non-violent solutions to conflict. He has also been featured in many films, including The Power of Forgiveness showcased at the Dawn Breakers International Film Festival.
2)Pema Chodron
Pema Chödrön is a notable American figure in Tibetan Buddhism. A disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she is an ordained nun, author, and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage which Trungpa founded.
A prolific author, she has conducted workshops, seminars, and meditation retreats in Europe, Australia, and throughout North America. She is resident and teacher of Gampo Abbey, a monastery in rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.
3) Soygal Rinpoche
Sogyal Rinpoche, born 1947 is a Tibetan Dzogchen Lama of the Nyingma tradition. He has been teaching for over 30 years and continues to travel widely in Europe, America, Australia and Asia. He is also the founder and spiritual director of Rigpa—an international network of over 100 Buddhist centres and groups in 23 countries around the world—and the author of the best-selling book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which has been printed in 30 languages and 56 countries
Interesting list… That’s all I can say.
Many who are listed are expected, several I can’t understand why they were included, e.g. Judy Hall.. I guess the definition of Spirituality was loosely used?!
Interestin’! Maybe next year I make this list. It’s a list 1 can aspire to. I’d be in very good company!!!
http://ymaa.com/publishing/authors/dr.yang_jwing-ming
fyi…
The Amazing thing is that I can’t see Dr.Yang Jwing-Ming among them – how strange…