{"id":5513,"date":"2016-02-21T17:22:53","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T00:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=5513"},"modified":"2016-02-24T15:00:03","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T22:00:03","slug":"dalai-lama-tops-list-of-100-most-spiritually-influential-living-people-list-in-2016-several-other-buddhists-included","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2016\/02\/dalai-lama-tops-list-of-100-most-spiritually-influential-living-people-list-in-2016-several-other-buddhists-included.html","title":{"rendered":"Dalai Lama tops list of 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in 2016, Several Other Buddhists Included"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cIf you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is just one of the many often-quoted statements from the Dalai Lama that continue to land him on top of global lists of influential and inspiring world religious leaders.\u00a0For several years now, Watkins Magazine has placed the Dalai Lama at the top of their list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.\u00a0He was #1 in 2015, 2014, 2013 (when Thich Nhat Hanh was #2!), and 2012.<\/p>\n

In their 2016 list<\/a>, published earlier this month, the Tibetan spiritual leader is once again #1.<\/p>\n

From their website\u2019s 2015 list<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Born in Taktser, Tibet\/\u00a06 July 1935 (Cancer\/Pig) \/ Spiritual Leader\"1\"<\/a><\/em>
\nBorn Lhamo Dondrub, Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama and the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Tibetan Buddhists believe him to be a reincarnation of his predecessors and the Buddha of compassion. He is a vocal activist for Tibetan independence and has made an incredible contribution to global spirituality. During his first trip to the University of Minnesota in 2011, he was given their highest award, an Honorary Doctor of Letters. On his return trip to Minnesota in March 2014, he spoke at Macalester College which awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. In September 2014, the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag published an interview with the Dalai Lama where he stated \u201cthe institution of the Dalai Lama has served its purpose\u201d, adding that \u201cWe had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama.\u201d The Chinese government responded by saying they would select their own Dalai Lama regardless of his decision. 2014 also saw the release of the documentary film Monk with a Camera and the film Dalai Lama Awakening.His latest book Buddhism: One Teacher,Many Traditions<\/a>, written with Thubten Chodron, was published in hardback in December. (www.dalailama.com<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Dalai Lama with Italian politician Marco Pannella (2007) Flickr C.C. Mihai Romansiuc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other notable Buddhists\/Buddhist-inspired individuals include:<\/p>\n

#4. Eckhart Tolle:<\/strong> Love him or hate him, the uber-spiritual little guy with a fuzzy beard and cute laugh and quotes like: \u201cRealize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have<\/i>\u201d and \u201cLife is the dancer and you are the dance<\/i>\u201d ranks among the richest self-help gurus in the world, due in part to sprinklings of Buddhist wisdom.<\/p>\n

#15. Arianna Huffington: <\/strong>Best known to most as the founder of the Huffington Post, Huffington recently took up meditation after succombing to exhaustion related to over-working, as told in her best-selling book\u00a0Thrive<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

#20. Karen Armstrong:<\/strong> Not a Buddhist, but a former Roman Catholic sister and scholar of comparative religion. Her 2001 book,\u00a0Buddha<\/em><\/a> is an excellent and widely read introduction to the religion\u2019s founder and early start. Read more about her here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#21. Jon Kabat-Zinn:<\/strong> Also not a Buddhist per se, but Kabat-Zinn did study with a number of Buddhist teachers before developing the now wide-spread\u00a0Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). One can\u2019t speak about mindfulness practice in America today without acknowledging his enormous role in the field.<\/p>\n

#25. Sam Harris:<\/strong> One of the \u201cFour Horsemen\u201d of New Atheism, Harris has taken up the practice of vipassana<\/a>, derived from the early Buddhist tradition, and even teaches it \u2013 stripped of aspects he considers religious<\/a>. His recent book,\u00a0Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality without Religion<\/a><\/em>\u00a0develops this merging of Buddhist practice and Atheism.<\/p>\n

#34.\u00a0Daniel Goleman:<\/strong> A\u00a0well known psychologist and long time scholar of meditation who has worked closely with the Dalai Lama for over a decade. One of his breakthrough books was\u00a0Emotional Intelligence<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(1995), and later works include\u00a0 Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama<\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(2003) and\u00a0Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence<\/a><\/em> (2015).<\/p>\n

#36 is Gary Snyder, #38 is Pema\u00a0Ch\u00f6dr\u00f6n, #50 is Robert Thurman, #65 is Thich Nhat Hanh, #66 is Jack Kornfield, #68 is Ajahn Brahm, #78 is Tara Brach, #82 is Huston Smith (another wonderful scholar of many world religions, including Buddhism), #89 is Richard Gere, #95 is Sogyal Rinpoche, and #99 is Sharon Salzberg.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Did I miss any? Several others could be included in the \u201cinfluence by\u201d category, as that allows for plenty of grey area. If you think any of the others listed at Watkin\u2019s Spiritual 100 List of 2016<\/a> should be included here, drop a note in the comments below.<\/p>\n

Watkins Magazine is produced\u00a0by the Watkins Bookshop, London\u2019s oldest bookshop specializing in esotericism, mysticism, occultism, Asian\u00a0religions and contemporary spirituality. According to their website, the criteria \u2013 along with being alive as of Jan 1st \u2013 are:<\/p>\n

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