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We are delighted to share with you Watkins’ 2021 list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People – spiritual teachers, activists, authors and thinkers that change the world. The list came out in print in the issue 64, Winter 2021 of Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine on January 12 (you can get a copy of this issue here or take out a full year’s subscription here).
Watkins bookshop in London has been encouraging spiritual discovery and providing seekers with esoteric knowledge for over 120 years. In 2011, we started publishing the 100 list with the goal of celebrating the world’s living spiritual teachers. Our special magazine issue features 16 pages dedicated to interesting details, bios, photos and highlights about each person on the list. As you read through this list, we hope that you feel as inspired as we are by each individual’s significant
Watkins bookshop in London has been encouraging spiritual discovery and providing seekers with esoteric knowledge for over 120 years. In 2011, we started publishing the 100 list with the goal of celebrating the world’s living spiritual teachers. Our special magazine issue features 16 pages dedicated to interesting details, bios, photos and highlights about each person on the list. As you read through this list, we hope that you feel as inspired as we are by each individual’s significant impact.
| 1 Pope Francis 2 Dalai Lama 3 Black Lives Matter NEW 4 Eckhart Tolle 5 Desmond Tutu 6 Oprah Winfrey 7 Sadhguru 8 Alice Walker 9 Deepak Chopra 10 David Attenborough NEW 11 Paulo Coelho 12 Russell Brand 13 Matthew Fox 14 Wim Hof NEW 15 Rhonda Byrne 16 Iyanla Vanzant 17 David Lynch 18 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 19 Rupert Sheldrake 20 Uri Geller NEW 21 Abdullah II of Jordan 22 Marianne Williamson 23 Sam Harris 24 Arianna Huffington 25 Sri (Mata Amritanandamayi) 26 Mark Manson NEW 27 Esther Hicks 28 Francis Chan 29 Jay Shetty NEW 30 Robin Sharma 31 Teal Swan 32 Don Miguel Ruiz 33 Jon Kabat-Zinn | 34 James Locklock 35 Vandana Shiva 36 Michael Bernard Beckwith 37 Pema Chödrön 38 Rob Bell 39 Graham Hancock 40 Hamza Yusuf 41 Thomas Moore 42 Justin Welby 43 Dr Joe Dispenza 44 Martin Seligman 45 Richard Bach 46 Rowan Williams 47 Karen Armstrong 48 Thich Nhat Hanh 49 Marilynne Robinson NEW 50 Alex Grey 51 Ken Wilber 52 Robert Thurman 53 Prem Rawat 54 Gabrielle Bernstein 55 Andrew Weil, M.D. 56 Richard Rohr 57 Tim Freke 58 Daniel Goleman 59 Gary Snyder 60 Neale Donald Walsch 61 Jack Canfield 62 Ruby Wax 63 Eben Alexander 64 Julia Cameron 65 Dan Millman 66 Caroline Myss 67 Daisaku Ikeda | 68 Anita Moorjani 69 Andrew Forrest 70 Brian Weiss, M.D 71 Gregg Braden 72 Ajahn Brahm 73 Bruce H. Lipton, PhD 74 Byron Katie 75 Stanislav Grof, M.D. 76 Zainab Salbi 77 Steve Taylor 78 Esther Perel NEW 79 Robert Bly 80 Mooji 81 Jack Kornfield 82 Fritjof Capra 83 Satish Kumar 84 Adyashanti 85 James van Praagh 86 A.H. Almaas NEW 87 Starhawk 88 David Deida 89 David Frawley 90 Elaine Pagels 91 Daniel J. Siegel 92 Lisa Sterle NEW 93 Neil de Grasse Tyson NEW 94 Tori Hartman NEW 95 Sharon Salzberg 96 Christiane Northrup, M.D. 97 Elizabeth Lesser 98 Lee Carroll 99 Cynthia Bourgeault NEW 100 Tara Brach, Ph.D |
To discover more about each spiritual teacher, pick up a copy of issue 64, Winter 2021 or read more right here on our website:
To read the list from 100–71, please click here.
To read the list from 70–41, please click here.
To read the countdown from 40–11, please click here.
To read the Top 10 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in 2021, please click here.
There are several factors that were taken into account when compiling the list. The main three criteria are:
1) The person has to be alive as of January 1st, 2021
2) The person has to have made a unique and spiritual contribution on a global scale
3) The person is frequently googled, appears in Nielsen Data, has a Wikipedia page, and is actively talked about throughout the Internet. By taking into account the amount of times that a person is googled or how many times their Wikipedia profile is viewed, the list gains a highly democratic and transparent parameter. Additionally, we were highly selective in creating this list and did our best to remove candidates who spread messages that were hateful or intolerant. Ultimately, this list is meant to celebrate the positive influence of today’s spiritual teachers.
[…] To see the full list, please click here. […]
Where is Greta? She was #3? She’s speaking out now in a speech to coincide with Davos. Her omission leads to more emissions.
I see that Amma was on the 2020 list at #32 but has been dropped from the 2021 list. Curious how you make a decision to drop Amma from #32 to not being on 2021 list? Thank you
So wonderful to see BLM included. The movement has been such an important spiritual teacher to us all. Thank you to all the staff at Watkins 🙏
Thank you for the list Watkins! In general, always inspiring. Love that David Attenborough, BLM and similar are there. But I’m shocked Christiane Northrup is listed: this year she has shown that she’s a supporter of QAnon, a Trump supporter and spreads dangerous disinformation – medical, spiritual and political, as well as racism. Possibly the reason she’s been googled so much is because previous supporters of her have been shocked, disappointed, disillusioned and even somewhat traumatised at what she has been sharing through social media.
Very interesting indeed. Thank you for sharing. CN has just started populating my newsfeeds, too.
You can’t please all the people all the time! 😉
Thank-you for the list.
[…] To see the full list, please click here. […]
Why not Rupert Spira, he is also great spiritual teacher. …
[…] To see the full list, please click here. […]
Glad to see Rupert Sheldrake is on your list.
Even the Watkins Spiritual List has become politicized.
I’m very shocked that Dr Sue Morter is not on this list, she is an amazing soul with incredible energy, heart, divine connection and teachings.
Master Choa Kok Sui is missing on the list.
Yes I agree Master Co has helped me heal and in return I can support others in their journey!
[…] For more info click here: https://www.watkinsmagazine.com/watkins-spiritual-list-for-2021 […]
BLM ? …what an embarrassment. Your lack of wisdom and discernment is staggering.