The term enlightenment has different meanings depending upon the context of its use. Many great spiritual teachers of our time are considered enlightened. Find out how to follow in their path and become enlightened, too.
What is Enlightenment?
How do you define enlightenment? Can we identify the signs of an enlightened person? What are the signs of spiritual enlightenment? By answering these questions, we can give you a roadmap or path to spiritual enlightenment.
The dictionary breaks down the term enlightenment into two categories: general and spiritual.
The first is the general meaning, which revolves around acquiring knowledge, insight, and understanding. It’s the analytical and intellectual side of enlightenment. The second is the philosophical context that comes from a movement in the 18th century that highlighted rational thought and individual rights. It was a departure from the traditional religious focus on divinity and the supernatural.
Eastern philosophies, like Buddhism, focus on walking the path of personal and spiritual development. Today, the term enlightenment is a mixture of these three, with an emphasis on balancing spiritual and personal development.
Identifying The Great Spiritual Teachers of Our Time
People are interested in how they, too, can embark on the path to spiritual enlightenment. The popularity of seeking modern spiritual mentors began in the early 1900s when Paramahansa Yogananda made the US his headquarters. He even visited the White House in 1927, which gave all Indian teachers credibility. This spiritual enlightenment movement gained momentum in the 1970s, when teachers like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced Transcendental Meditation to the West.
There are more enlightened people in the world than you think. You need to learn how to spot them. To make our spiritual teachers’ directory manageable, we needed to narrow its scope. So, here are the criteria we use.
1. Objective evidence: they were a real person.
2. Lived in the last 300 years.
3. Demonstrate the highest spiritual virtues.
4. Promote progressive ideals.
5. Show the signs of enlightenment listed below.
The Signs of Spiritual Enlightenment
It is essential to distinguish between myths, stories, legends, and real people.
The above criteria would exclude all famous historical religious figures of Western religion, such as Jesus of Nazareth, Moses, and Mohammad. These parameters have solid justifications. Don’t judge truth by its popularity, which applies to all avatars and gods, from Apollo to Zeus. Also, just because you are famous does not mean you are enlightened. It is obvious when we look at other cult leaders like Jim Jones, Joseph Smith, and Donald Trump.
There is clear evidence that the main legendary personalities of Abrahamic traditions are composite characters of many anecdotal stories told over eons before being canonized by these religions.
Criteria for Great Spiritual Teachers of Our Time
Next, we wanted to identify the attributes of an enlightened person. What does it mean to be enlightened? Here are the characteristics of those on the modern spiritual mentor’s roster:
1. They show positive values of peace and harmony.
2. They are people who promote progressive values, equity, and equality.
3. Possess a high level of Self-awareness and Self-observation.
4. Enlightened people are freethinkers with sharp intellect
5. Demonstrate deep insight and wisdom in word and deed
6. Shows kindness, compassion, and friendliness
7. Demonstrate Oneness and connection with the less fortunate
8. Reject Commercialism
9. Champion inclusive spiritual values versus sectarian prejudice
10. Shows intuitive and analytical problem-solving ability
The Notable Contemporary Spiritual Teachers Directory
This list is alphabetical by last name or title, not a ranking. It provides examples of people who demonstrated wisdom and guidance and lived lives with positive values. Apply their wisdom to shape your spiritual path.
The signs of an enlightened person are the breadcrumbs on the path. Use their wisdom to help you become a better person. The world needs people who are awake. The spiritual teachers’ directory will show you what is possible. You may not gain notoriety and publicity, but that doesn’t mean you can make similar contributions.
Adyashanti — Stephen Gray
Our modern spiritual mentors’ roster starts with Stephen Gray, born on October 26, 1962. He goes by the Sanskrit name Adyashanti, which means primordial peace. He is best known as an American Zen Buddhist spiritual writer and teacher. He can teach you about personal autonomy, enlightenment, and perception.
Amma — Mata Amritanandamayi
Amma is the Indian term for Mother. She was born on September 27, 1953, and has dedicated her life to helping those less fortunate. As one of the great spiritual teachers of our time, she stands as a beacon of compassion and love. Her teachings showcase what it means to defend those less fortunate. An enlightened person does not sit on the sidelines of injustice. Amma is a perfect example of compassion in action. She is a shining light of enlightenment.
Russell Brand
Mr. Brand does not shy away from controversial topics, showing that even enlightened beings can make mistakes. He was born on June 4, 1975. He is an articulate comedian similar to the infamous Don Rickles and his “insult comedy.” Mr. Brand can entertain, insult, and make you think all in the same paragraph. He grew up poor and suffered from drug addiction. He speaks out against social inequity. His path to spiritual enlightenment inspires others.
Joseph Campbell
Thanks to Bill Moyers, Mr. Campbell’s (1904 — 1987) work made comparative religious study a well-known approach to spirituality. He did extensive research, which he passed along to many students in his classes and millions who have read his works. Many of his lectures are online for you to enjoy.
If you hear any of his lectures, it is apparent that he speaks not just from a theoretical point of view but also from personal experience. When he talks, you hear the vantage point of a spiritual explorer. When discussing enlightened people of the world, Mr. Campbell’s name always surfaces. He helped us understand the difference between religion and spirituality. His absence in the realm of spirituality is missed.
Jim Carey
Mr. Carey was born on January 17, 1962. His life experience runs the whole gambit of the socioeconomic classes. He was homeless but became a famous and wealthy actor. And he is fond of saying; I wish everyone could be rich so they would see money is not everything. He says he has done enough and will retire and live. Stepping aside from celebrity status while at the peak of his film career is one choice that answers the question, what does it mean to be enlightened? Learning what is meaningful in life shows he is an enlightened person.
Carlos Castaneda — Spiritual Explorer and Warrior
Carlos (1925 — 1998) was a writer who brought the shamanic journey into the mainstream because of his training with a Yaqui Indian Shaman. If you wish to gain insight into the beings of shamanism and sorcery, Mr. Castaneda is an excellent source. He is one of the most interesting and notable contemporary spiritual teachers. His works are sold as fiction, but they contain many spiritual truths. If you are interested in shamanism, read his books. Find the truth in fiction.
Deepak Chopra —
Deepak, born in 1946, is an author and speaker on spiritual and health issues. He is the creator of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity dedicated to researching alternative medicine. He is a champion of humanitarianism. His mainstream appeal has made him a household name.
Pema Chödrön
Born in 1936, Pema is the author of several dozen books on every subject related to daily life. Her topics range from attachment and healing to the beginner’s guide to Buddhism. She is one of the enlightened individuals who exemplifies dedication to helping others.
Paulo Coelho
Born in 1947, Mr. Coelho is a Brazilian novelist who has written over fifty books. His works revisit many ancient myths of religion and spirituality with new twists and turns. Major themes in his work revolve around the path to spiritual enlightenment.
Wayne W. Dyer
Mr. Dyer teaches about living your purpose and your dharma while avoiding the trappings of the ego. He taught about the principles of Bamboo, learning to bend but not break. His book, Getting in the Gap, is a modern-day reference for the transcendental state of awareness.
He wrote one of the best-selling self-help books of all time, Your Erroneous Zones (1976). This book offers ideas about handling negative habitual thinking patterns. He exhibited the signs of an enlightened person in his daily life. Dr. Dyer exemplifies what it means to be enlightened: compassionate and insightful.
Ram Dass — Richard Alpert
He was a Harvard professor (1931 — 2019), and then, in the late 1960s, he met Maharaj-ji, Neem Karoli Baba, or Neeb Karori Babain. This relationship resulted in a life-changing experience. Afterward, he promoted the use of psychedelic drugs for exploring spirituality. His book, Be Here Now, promoted the concept of presence. He co-founded the Seva Foundation, an organization dedicated to spiritual service.
Mahatma Gandhi — The Epitome of an Enlightened Person
Gandhi (1869 — 1944) is an example of a leader with compassion. He led the effort to stop the rioting in India in 1947. Without his leadership and sacrifices, India would have plunged into civil war. Gandhi is one of the notable contemporary spiritual teachers who showed how to leverage spiritual strength for political activism. His political stance helped to pressure Britain to bring independence to India. Gandhi’s life exemplifies servant leadership.
Gangaji — Merle Antoinette Roberson
Gangaji was born in Texas on June 11, 1942. Her spiritual walk began as a social activist. These interests led her to study Zen Buddhism and Vipassana Meditation. Today, she is a well-known teacher on a range of relationship topics. She is well-known as an acupuncture practitioner.
Jane Goodall
Ms. Goodall, born April 3, 1934, is a scientist, investigator, and environmentalist. She documented chimpanzees using tools, which was thought to be a distinctly human skill set. She started as a scientist studying primates, leading to her becoming an activist. When you think about signs of an enlightened person, Ms. Goodall comes to mind.
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff
Born in present-day Armenia (1866 — 1949), he became a world traveler, explorer, and spiritual pioneer. He believed that most people were asleep and needed to be awakened. Gurdjieff used the strategy used to create many religions. He combined and renamed several systems into one of his own. His Gurdjieff Dance movements are one of the most interesting and creative personal development methods created in the 19th century. He easily earned a place in the spiritual teacher’s directory.
Carl Gustav Jung
Jung is still one of the most powerful voices in spirituality and psychology (1875 to 1961). He took psychology from mysticism to the realm of valid science. Along the way, he created analytical psychology.
He researched spiritual traditions to find valid techniques for modern psychology. This quest made him enemies within the camps of science and religion, but his wisdom survived his adversaries. Jung wrote over 50 books that have been translated into all major languages. His collective works comprise 20 volumes, making them larger than most exhaustive dictionaries. They contain his work with Sigmund Freud and his investigation of the paranormal.
Jack Kornfield
Mr. Kornfield is a teacher and writer who was born in 1945 in the USA but has lived in India, Thailand, and Burma. He studied under Ajahn Chah in Thailand and Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma. Today, he teaches Vipassana and mindfulness meditation.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
There is some debate over his exact birthdate. It was 1895 or 1896. Jiddu contracted Miliaria in 1903 and had psychic experiences after that. He sought employment with the Theosophical Society in India, where he met Charles Webster Leadbeater, the headteacher in India. Charles groomed Jiddu to be an Ascended Master or World Teacher. Jiddu left the sect after WW I war and settled in Ojai, California, in 1922 and began his own quest.
He showed that to be enlightened is never to stop learning. He has been in the public domain since his early introduction to the Theosophical Society, writing many articles and books. His first book was written when he was 14, At the Feet of the Master, penned under the Alcyone, a pseudonym assigned to Krishnamurti by one of his mentors. He traveled and gave lectures in the 1960s and 1070s. He succumbed to cancer in 1986. His career accomplishments make him one of the great spiritual teachers of our time.
Terence McKenna
Mr. McKenna (1946 — 2000) advocated for studying traditional knowledge and using plants and psychotropics. He saw how indigenous cultures used them for medical and spiritual purposes.
His career became overshadowed by his promotion of the “novelty theory,” which he linked to the Mayan calendar, which ended in 2012. Many people believed the world would end. He wrote several books on consciousness exploration aided by shamanic drums and psychotropic additives.
Mooji — Anthony Paul Moo-Young
He was born in 1954 in Jamaica and migrated to the UK when he was one-year-old. He currently lives in Portugal. His teachings are appreciated for being inclusive and easy to grasp. Mooji is a disciple of the Advaita master, Sri H.W.L. Poonja or Papaji, and has written about ten books. He can talk about spiritual things without using jargon. He shows how to live a life of kindness and generosity.
Thích Nhất Hạnh
He was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk (1926 — 2022). Nhất Hạnh was a teacher, author, and creator of the Plum Village Tradition. In the West, he was known as the father of mindfulness.
Robert Green. Ingersoll
(1833 — 1899) His father was a preacher, so the family moved often. His orthodox Christian family sparked his interest in freethinking. He became a lawyer and leader in the Union Army. He became active in politics, and his liberal thinking and criticism of the Church gave him the moniker “the great agnostic.” His most influential works are the documents of his speeches. He believed man created the idea of God, an unpopular stance for any politician.
David G. McAfee
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
(1844 — 1900) He was a remarkable mind. At 24, he was the youngest to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869. Nietzsche resigned in 1879 because of health problems, which persisted for the rest of his life. His writings were not popular during his life because many of his works were published by the 3rd Reich. After WWII, his works were resurrected, influencing philosophy and psychiatry.
His life showed how genius and mental illness are not opposite ends of the spectrum. After his death, his sister rewrote his writings, which often contradicted his stances on issues like antisemitism. Later authors restored them, and his ideas gained more visibility in the 1950s and 1960s. The threads of his ideas became the shaping forces of philosophy and psychology.
Osho, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
Osho (1931 — 1990) is one of the most controversial spiritual teachers of the century. He was eclectic in his approach to spiritual exploration and promoted the idea that institutional religions were inferior. His early career was as a professor at the University of India until 1953. He left to travel, research, and then create his own approach to personal development.
Osho is undoubtedly one of the modern spiritual mentors who elicits both positive and negative emotions. Some see him as one of the great spiritual teachers of our time; others see him as nothing more than a cult leader.
By the 1970s, the political climate in India began cracking down on independent schools like his. In the 1980s, he attempted to set up a community in the rural northwest United States. Netflix did a documentary called Wild, Wild Country. It was a failed attempt to create a utopian community. He underestimated the power of religious bigotry in the USA.
He has an extensive library of writings and recordings and is known for injecting humor into his lectures and works. His teachings ranged from the mind and ego to different meditation processes. He even provided his own ten commandments.
1 Do not obey the orders of anyone unless it is coming from within you.
2 Life is the only God.
3 Truth is within you; do not search for it elsewhere.
4 Love is prayer.
5 Becoming a nothingness is the door to truth. Nothingness itself is the means, the goal.
6 Life is now and here.
7 Live wakefully.
8 Do not swim—float.
9 Be new in each moment.
10 Do not search. That which is. Stop and see.
The 14th Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Rinpoche
You cannot create a notable contemporary spiritual teacher’s directory without adding the Dalai Lama. At two years old, he became the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. The order’s monastic disciples chose him, identifying him by undisclosed spiritual signs and visions. His life proves that some spiritual traditions can be accurate.
Keanu Reeves
Keanu’s name means cool breeze over the mountain in Hawaiian. He has an unusual name for someone born in Berit and raised in Canada. Keanu is a successful actor known for his generosity and random acts of kindness, including making large donations to children’s hospitals. He takes pay cuts for other actors to be a part of the productions. Keanu was born on September 2, 1964.
Sogyal Rinpoche
Sogyal was a Tibetan Dzogchen lama, (1947 — 2019). He revised the Tibetan books of the Dead and Living. He taught at conferences and was known for his sense of humor. His teachings focused on Buddhist philosophy. His career was overshadowed by allegations of the misuse of funds and sexual abuse just before his death.
Ángel Ruiz Macías or Don Miguel Ruiz
Don is an author of Toltec shamanism. His work focuses on ancient teachings as a path to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Perhaps his most famous work is The Four Agreements. He was born in 1952.
Eckhart Tolle
Born in Germany in 1948, he is an author and teacher on a wide range of topics in spirituality and psychology. His most popular book is The Power of Now. He also speaks about social issues of inequity and racism.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa (1893 — 1952) was one of the first Indian gurus to teach meditation and Kriya Yoga in the West through his organization, the Self-Realization Fellowship.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
If we were to rank these sages based on their wisdom and contribution to society, then Maharishi would be number one. Maharishi (1918 — 2008) was a powerful force in making meditation acceptable in Western culture.
Maharishi helped millions to learn the simple but powerful technique to reach the 4th state of awareness. Japa, or the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, is one mental tool with many health benefits. The signs of spiritual enlightenment are evident in his books and extensive video library.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
He is the founder of the Isha Foundation, based in India. Born in 1957, he was among the second wave of gurus to teach about awareness and environmental stewardship. Early in his life, he built a poultry farm before selling it to become a teacher. He has written over 30 books, the most successful of which is Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy.
Greta Thunberg
She was born in 2003 in Sweden and is one of this century’s youngest and most influential environmental activists. She is not afraid to confront anyone about the effects of climate change.
Alan Watts
Last but not least, on the modern spiritual mentor roster is the late Mr. Alan Watts (1915 — 1973). Mr. Watts fancied himself a philosophical entertainer. His career took off when he became a radio broadcast host in Berkeley, California. He studied and taught his brand of Zen Buddhism.
Many of his books and audio recordings are still used in popular media. He discussed a wide range of subjects, focusing on consciousness and culture. If you want to learn about the impact of spirituality and its collision with religion and commercialism, Mr. Watts can help you sort out the facts from the fiction.
Final Thoughts on the Modern Spiritual Mentors Roster
This list shows us what is possible. Many of these enlightened individuals had humble beginnings. Several were destitute and homeless but defied the cultural conventions to rise above the circumstances.
If you find one of these teachers resonates, we suggest reading all their publications. This could be a significant undertaking, as some of these sages have extensive written and audio libraries.