Over my spiritual journey I have discovered many wonderful creators – Here is a list of just a few:
List is just in alphabetical order
Just a couple of thoughts before you go through this list or seek your own teachers, gurus, or masters. Do not take anything you read or listen as the truth, investigate yourself. Every human has his/her traps and may be wise but still does foolish things so be aware and don’t just believe things blindly. Also, just because you don’t agree try not to dismiss right away and observe your own internal state
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British writer and speaker known for interpreting and popularising Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, England, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York. He received a master’s degree in theology from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and became an Episcopal priest in 1945. He left the ministry in 1950 and moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies.[2]
Watts gained a following while working as a volunteer programmer at the KPFA radio station in Berkeley. He wrote more than 25 books and articles on religion and philosophy, introducing the emerging hippie counterculture to The Way of Zen (1957), one of the first bestselling books on Buddhism. In Psychotherapy East and West (1961), he argued that Buddhism could be thought of as a form of psychotherapy. He considered Nature, Man and Woman (1958) to be, “from a literary point of view—the best book I have ever written”.[3] He also explored human consciousness and psychedelics in works such as “The New Alchemy” (1958) and The Joyous Cosmology (1962).
Deepak Chopra (/ˈdiːpɑːk ˈtʃoʊprə/; Hindi: [d̪iːpək tʃoːpraː]; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author and alternative-medicine advocate.[4][5] A prominent figure in the New Age movement,[6] his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternative medicine.[7]
Chopra studied medicine in India before emigrating in 1970 to the United States, where he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in endocrinology. As a licensed physician, in 1980 he became chief of staff at the New England Memorial Hospital (NEMH).[8] In 1985, he met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and became involved in the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. Shortly thereafter he resigned his position at NEMH to establish the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center.[9] In 1993, Chopra gained a following after he was interviewed about his books on The Oprah Winfrey Show.[10] He then left the TM movement to become the executive director of Sharp HealthCare‘s Center for Mind-Body Medicine. In 1996, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.[8][9][11]
Chopra believes that a person may attain “perfect health”, a condition “that is free from disease, that never feels pain”, and “that cannot age or die”.[12][13] Seeing the human body as undergirded by a “quantum mechanical body” composed not of matter but of energy and information, he believes that “human aging is fluid and changeable; it can speed up, slow down, stop for a time, and even reverse itself,” as determined by one’s state of mind.[12][14] He claims that his practices can also treat chronic disease.[15][16]
Eckhart Tolle is a spiritual teacher and best-selling author. He is a German-born resident of Canada best known as the author of The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. In 2008, The New York Times called Tolle “the most popular spiritual author in the United States”. Wikipedia
Leo Gura
In Search of Meaning
It’s been an interesting journey. I had my first mid-life crisis at 23. My second came a few years later.
Ever since I was a kid I wanted my life to be extraordinary. I wanted to accomplish amazing things, advance society, and attain lasting fulfillment and peace. I could never foresee then — and it’s still hard for me to believe now — just how much territory would have to be covered to find the kind of meaning I was looking for.
There and Back Again
I’ve been where you are now. I’ve faced lack of motivation, laziness, procrastination, fear, doubt, worry, limiting beliefs, and destructive habits. I’ve had a purpose, lost my purpose, re-created it from scratch, struggled to stay on track, and evolved past plateaus.
Although my career was always the most important thing in my life, I also always struggled to stay on track. There were phases where I’d accomplish a lot in a very short period of time, and others where I’d be lazy, unmotivated, doubtful, fearful, and simply unfulfilled — for years! And even when I was motivated and on track, I would sabotage myself with emotional over-reactions, negative thinking, restlessness, overworking, and the inability to pace.
I got so tired of the inconsistency in my creative output and lack of direction that I became determined to figure this issue out for myself once and for all. The lessons I’ve learned have shown me that there is a real need to teach people the skillset of tapping into your full potential — it’s a complex and fascinating area of research for me. Now, my entire life is devoted to this.
Self-Help
I picked up my first self-help product in 2007 at a Barnes & Noble in Fort Worth, Texas. It was a Tony Robbins audio program called Power to Shape Your Destiny. At the time I was knee-deep into bootstrapping my first online business and I wanted to optimize the way I functioned. Over the years, as I bought more books and programs I became addicted to the idea of improving my performance in every aspect of life. It just made sense that success and fulfillment could only come from personal growth and self-mastery.
Your ability to think is your ability to create the life you desire.
The only problem was that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. I struggled with self-help for 3 years, hitting points where I’d doubt whether it could work at all. I didn’t want incremental change. I wanted a radical improvement in how I felt about my life.
After much trial and error I eventually broke through. I found what works and what doesn’t work. I found why certain principles work and why others don’t. Now I’m a self-development guinea pig — it’s what I love to do most. I study tens of thousands of dollars-worth of self-development material every year: from books to seminars to watching my own behavior patterns and those of my clients. I do this first-and-foremost to achieve amazing results in my own life.
My Results
One thing I’ve never liked about the self-help community is the hypocrisy and cliched positivity — that sappy New-Age vibe. Sometimes it feels like a pyramid scheme: if enough people buy a product, the thing becomes self-justifying, at least to the creator, who then uses his own success as social proof to sell even more. I toyed with the idea of getting involved in self-help professionally for a long time. I held back because I wanted to see real results on myself.
My results have amazed me:
- Gained total financial independence
- Lost 65 lbs, hit 11% body fat
- Completely changed what I eat and put in my body
- Made several major career transitions
- Designed a new life purpose for myself from scratch
- Turned down lucrative opportunities in internet marketing to start my dream business
- Went from shy nerd to socially confident and successful with beautiful women
- Increased my creative output by upgrading my work habits
- Greatly reduced negative thinking and worry
- Increased my motivation, confidence, and happiness substantially
Osho
Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain, 11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh,[1] Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh, and later as Osho (/ˈoʊʃoʊ/), was an Indian godman,[2] mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement.
During his lifetime he was viewed as a controversial new religious movement leader and mystic. In the 1960s he travelled throughout India as a public speaker and was a vocal critic of socialism, arguing that India was not ready for socialism and that socialism, communism, and anarchism could evolve only when capitalism had reached its maturity. Rajneesh also criticised Mahatma Gandhi[3][4][5] and the orthodoxy of mainstream religions.[6][7][8] Rajneesh emphasised the importance of meditation, mindfulness, love, celebration, courage, creativity, and humour—qualities that he viewed as being suppressed by adherence to static belief systems, religious tradition, and socialisation. In advocating a more open attitude to human sexuality[8] he caused controversy in India during the late 1960s and became known as “the sex guru”
Preston Smiles (born August 1, 1981) is a self-help guru and influencer who focuses on personal wellness and positivity. He is based in Los Angeles, California. [2]
Biography
Smiles mission is to mentor and guide people on loving themselves and seeking fulfillment. He is the author of Love Louder: 33 Ways to Amplify Your Life and Now Or Never: Your Epic Life in 5 Steps. He has been featured in LA Weekly, Los Angeles Magazine, and Origin magazine. He is also a regular contributor to Huffington Post, The Daily Love, Good Guy Swag, and has appeared on top podcasts such as Lewis Howes’ The School of Greatness and Addicted2Success. He recently won Elixir Magazine’s Millennial Mentor Award and is also one of the youngest members of ATL (Association of Transformational Leaders), founded by Jack Canfield. [9]Smiles is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is married to Alexi Panos.
Ralph Okrafo-Smart (3/3/86) is a British spiritual vlogger known for being one of the most viewed YouTuber in the area of Alchemy and Counseling. [10] For nearly a decade he has traveled the world to five different continents and has also helped people become their greatest versions and human potential. [10] [16] He is three-time winner of the YouTube Gold Award. [13]
Jaggi Vasudev (born 3 September 1957),[2] known publicly as Sadhguru,[2][a] is an Indian yogi and author.[6][7][8]
Vasudev earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Mysore and has been teaching yoga in southern India since 1982. In 1992, he established Isha Foundation near Coimbatore, which runs an ashram, hosts a yoga centre, and has been involved in various activities in spirituality, education, and the environment.
Vasudev is the author of several books, including Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy (2016). As a public speaker he has spoken at the United Nation‘s Millennium World Peace Summit, the British parliament’s House of Lords, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the International Institute for Management Development. He has also spoken at the annual World Economic Forum in 2007, 2017 and 2020.
In 2017, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award, by the Government of India for his services in social services.
I’ve listened to quite a few of these people, including Osho and Sadguru. What I find fascinating is a lot of self-help “gurus” will tell you to seek your own understanding, while providing you with information about how to live lol
Haha that’s so true! It’s very paradoxical. Thanks for sharing