Cart is empty 
We are delighted to share with you Watkins’ 2026 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 issue 84, the Winter 2026 edition of Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine on January 9th and 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 impact.
1 DALAI LAMA
2 SADHGURU (JAGGI VASUDEV)
3 NEW: POPE LEO XIV
4 ECKHART TOLLE
5 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH
6 NEW: JOE ROGAN
7 GWYNETH PALTROW
8 NEW: YUVAL NOAH HARARI
9 MEL ROBBINS
10 DR JOE DISPENZA
11 RAINN WILSON
12 JAY SHETTY
13 OPRAH WINFREY
14 JORDAN B. PETERSON
15 ALAN MOORE
16 URI GELLER
17 TEAL SWAN
18 DEEPAK CHOPRA
19 GRAHAM HANCOCK
20 NEW: ACHARYA PRASHANT
21 PEMA CHÖDRÖN
22 ALICE WALKER
23 GABOR MATÉ
24 AMMA – MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI
25 PAULO COELHO
26 MARIANNE WILLIAMSON
27 SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
28 WIM HOF
29 JULIA CAMERON
30 ROBERT THURMAN
31 GREGG BRADEN
32 VANDANA SHIVA
33 ARIANA HUFFINGTON
34 BARTHOLOMEW I OF CONSTANTINOPLE
35 ROWAN WILLIAMS
36 ESTHER PEREL
37 RICHARD ROHR
38 RUPERT SHELDRAKE
39 BESSEL VAN DER KOLK
40 MARK MANSON
41 ERICH VON DÄNIKEN
42 MICHAEL POLLAN
43 RUBY WAX
44 ANTHONY WILLIAM
45 PREM RAWAT
46 JON KABAT-ZINN
47 MARTIN SELIGMAN
48 THOMAS MOORE
49 ESTHER HICKS
50 EDITH EGER
51 GARY SNYDER
52 KEN WILBER
53 MICHAEL A. SINGER
54 ROBIN SHARMA
55 HAMZA YUSUF
56 NEW: JOSEPH MERCOLA
57 RICHARD BACH
58 ROB BELL
59 RHONDA BYRNE
60 DANIEL GOLEMAN
61 GEORGE NOORY
62 NEW: BERNARDO KASTRUP
63 KAREN ARMSTRONG
64 BRUCE H. LIPTON
65 ALEX GREY
66 ELAINE PAGELS
67 SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR
68 DON MIGUEL RUIZ
69 BRIAN WEISS
70 ANDREW WEIL
71 IYANLA VANZANT
72 STANISLAV GROF
73 RUPERT SPIRA
74 ANITA MOORJANI
75 STEVE TAYLOR
76 NEW: SWAMI RADHANATH
77 EBEN ALEXANDER
78 BYRON KATIE
79 NEALE DONALD WALSCH
80 CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS
81 JACK KORNFIELD
82 VISHEN LAKHIANI
83 NEW: INDIA ARIE
84 RONALD HUTTON
85 MOOJI
86 PICO IYER
87 GARY LACHMAN
88 MATHIEU RICARD
89 TARA BRACH
90 RICHARD RUDD
91 CAROLINE MYSS
92 RAYMOND MOODY
93 NEW: YONGEY MINGYUR RINPOCHE
94 NEW: THOMAS HÜBL
95 THERESA CHEUNG
96 FRITJOF CAPRA
97 DR NICOLE LEPERA
98 NEW: LISA MILLER
99 SUZANNE GIESEMANN
100 MATT KAHN
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 December 2025.
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. Ultimately, this list is meant to celebrate the positive influence of today’s spiritual teachers.
To discover more about each spiritual teacher, pick up a copy of issue 84, Winter 2026 here.
