Fethullah Gulen Cited among Watkins’ 2019 the Most Spiritually Influential 100 Living People


Date posted: December 5, 2019

We are delighted to share with you Watkins’ 2019 list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People – spiritual teachers, activists, authors and thinkers that change the world. The list comes out in print in the Spring issue, #57 of Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine on February 29 (you can get a copy of this issue here or take out a full year 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.

2019 Spiritual 100 list at a glance:

1 Pope Francis
2 Oprah Winfrey
3 Dalai Lama
4 Eckhart Tolle
5 Desmond Tutu
6 Rhonda Byrne
7 Edith Eger
8 Alejandro Jodorowsky
9 Neale Donald Walsch
10 Julia Cameron
11 David Lynch
12 Russell Brand
13 Sam Harris
14 Ken Wilber
15 Tony Robbins
16 Thich Nhat Hanh
17 Paulo Coehlo
18 Deepak Chopra
19 Teal Swan
20 Steve Taylor
21 Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev)
22 Gabor Maté 
23 Arianna Huffington
24 Alice Walker
25 Matthew Fox
26 Fethullah Gülen
27 Brian Weiss
28 Brené Brown
29 Iyanla Vanzant
30 Bob Dylan
31 Elizabeth Gilbert
32 Gabrielle Bernstein
33 Byron Katie
34 Marianne Williamson
35 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
36 Ruby Wax
37 Mooji
38 Ram Dass
39 Esther Hicks
40 Amma
41 Francis Chan
42 Robin Sharma
43 Don Miguel Ruiz
44 Jon Kabat-Zinn
45 James Lovelock
46 Erich von Däniken
47 Clarissa Pinkola Estés
48 Vandana Shiva
49 Rupert Sheldrake
50 Michael Bernard Beckwith
51 Rob Bell
52 Graham Hancock
53 Hamza Yusuf
54 Thomas Moore
55 Justin Welby
56 Martin Seligman
57 Richard Bach
58 Abdullah II of Jordan
59 Rowan Williams
60 Karen Armstrong
61 Alex Grey
62 Robert Thurman
63 Pema Chödrön
64 Ervin Laszlo
65 Prem Rawat
66 Andrew Weil
67 Richard Rohr
68 Daniel Goleman
69 Gary Snyder
70 Jack Canfield
71 Eben Alexander
72 Dan Millman
73 Daisaku Ikeda
74 Andrew Forrest
75 Anita Moorjani
76 Gregg Braden
77 Ajahn Brahm
78 Bruce Lipton
79 Stanislav Grof
80 Zainab Salbi
81 Daniel Pinchbeck
82 Robert Bly
83 Sherin Khankan
84 Jack Kornfield
85 Satish Kumar
86 Caroline Myss
87 Adyashanti
88 Starhawk
89 David Frawley
90 Elaine Pagels
91 Richard Rudd
92 Daniel J. Siegel
93 Tara Brach
94 Elizabeth Lesser
95 Lee Carroll
96 David Deida
97 James Redfield
98 Lorna Byrne
99 Vadim Zeland
100 Sharon Salzberg

To discover more about each spiritual teacher, get a copy of issue 57, Spring 2019.

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, 2019
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.

Source: Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine , February 18, 2017


Related News

Former US Ambassador Ricciardone: Hizmet members not terrorists

Former US Ambassador to Turkey Frank Ricciardone has said that the US government does not regard members of faith-based Hizmet movement as terrorists.

Pro-gov’t dailies call Japanese foundation ‘parallel’ to denigrate award for Gülen

Several pro-government dailies have run stories with far-fetched allegations that a prestigious peace award was presented to Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen thanks to the sponsorship of a “parallel” — a defamatory term invented by the ruling party to describe Gülen and his sympathizers — foundation, even though the organization was founded in Japan.

More than 60 countries attend panel organized by GYV at UN

Representatives of more than 60 countries attended a panel discussion organized by the İstanbul-based Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) at UN headquarters in New York.

New Zealand politicians attend iftar dinner of Turkish foundation despite embassy’s warning

A number of politicians from New Zealand attended an iftar dinner organized by a foundation of Gülen movement sympathizers in the country, despite Turkish embassy’s written warnings against the event.

Kimse Yok Mu reaches out to orphans in Mongolia

International charity organization Kimse Yok Mu extended helping hand to orphanages in Mongolia during the holy month of Ramadan. Monoglian officials also thanked to the KYM and Khen ch baikhgui for their efforts and presented certificate of appreciation them.

Mr. Gulen is trying to interpret the broad humanistic principles of the Qur’an for the modern world

Mr. Gulen reminds me of other important figures in the 20th and now early 21st century thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. who also translate their religious traditions into an idiom that made sense to people who wanted to live peacefully and in harmony with their neighbors and their wider community.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Faith Compatible with Science

Today is another Human Rights Day, but atrocities persist | Opinion

Mr. Gulen is trying to interpret the broad humanistic principles of the Qur’an for the modern world

Factory settings of Turkey as a nation-state

Turkish Airlines discriminates against critical newspapers on planes

One of his sons is with the PKK, the other is with the Gulen movement

The Istanbul Cultural Center hopes to build bridges though food

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News