I have noticed I lack fundamental knowledge of which gurus/sages/great beings that are so wellknown that you just must have heard of them! Would you help me get some basic education here and join in on some namedropping? New names pop up all the time and a lot of people seem to know about them… and I don’t! I’ll write those I have at least heard of here, but please, fill in the list and please, mention if they are dead or not! And please, write all the name variations that exist! If you feel like it!
(I use # = dead, * = born)
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - #1981
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi - #1950
Swami Vivekananda - #1902
Osho/Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh - # 1990
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - #2008
Swami Janakananda - *1939
Swami Satyananda Saraswati - *1923
Swami Sivananda Saraswati - #1968
Jiddu Krishnamurti - #1986
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa - #1886
Babaji… but see below…
And in the ‘western’ corner we find:
Byron Katie - *1942
Eckhart Tolle - *1948
Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz - *1952
Barry Long - #2003
Adyashanti - * ??
Ram Dass/Baba Ram Dass - *1931
When people mention Babaji… who do they mean? I looked at Wikipedia and found these:
Ananta Das Babaji, a leading religious figure in the contemporary -Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, an influential Vaishnava guru from the Gaudiya tradition.
Haidakhan Babaji, a teacher who appeared in northern India and taught publicly from 1970–1984.
Hariakhan Baba, appeared in many places in northern India near the Himalayas between 1861 and 1924.
Jagannatha dasa Babaji, an acharya from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
Mahavatar Babaji, referred to by Paramahansa Yogananda in his best-selling Autobiography of a Yogi.
I have read a book about Haidakhan Babaji, so that’s “Babaji” to me… Who do you mean when you talk about Babaji? Which one of these is the most wellknown?
Here are some more:
Shirdi Sai Baba - #1918
Sathya Sai Baba - *1926
Meher Baba - #1969
Mooji - *1954
BTW, this Gurusfeet’s guru project looks innovative… I like the fact that it is not just a wiki but a structured directory (with fields such as date born, tradition, locations etc.) and mainly that the users themselves submit, maintain and edit together the gurus profiles. People can post pro/con opinions there about each guru which can serve as a good guidance for selecting a guru…
The direct link for the gurus project is http://www.gurusfeet.com/guru
Generally people talk of Mahavatar Babaji
In that Wiki article it says:
Another teacher who is identified with Mahavatar Babaji has a similar name, Haidakhan Babaji. He lived in northern India and taught publicly from 1970 until his death in 1984. The spiritual teacher Leonard Orr wrote about his encounters with Haidakhan Babaji, and together with Sondra Ray, promoted him as being Mahavatar Babaji
Thank you for adding names!
Shanti, thanks a lot for clearing out the Babaji question!
The globalserve-link was VERY thick with names. Hard to go through everyone and see who’s most well-known. Very good link to have, though, if you start wondering about someone!
Please continue!
Gurdjieff #1949
was one I forgot! I have tried his movements! They are weird, but GOSH - they blew me away quickly!!! Absolutely fascinating!
I bought on eBay the double DVD of the evening talks of
S.N.Goenka during a 10 day course of Vipassana.
Eckhart Tolle during his talks on retraits explains things so
clearly, and a good laugh is allways at hand. But this S.N.Goenka is as good ! ! ! Of course he has an Indian-Burmese accent but that is allright.
By the way : is there someone who followed this 10-day course of vipassana?
The 10-day Goenka retreat is most recommended. I did it several times, it’s much easier than it seems and so so effective, and it is free of charge (you can give a donation at the end only if you did the whole 10 days).
Goenka’s tapes are wonderful and amusing but hardly effective without actually doing the Vipassana course. It is the same case as with many of us that read a lot of spiritual stuff which is partially a candy for the mind but when it comes to meditation and practice they refrain. This is a barrier a true seeker should be aware of and pass. The mind wants the intellectual amusement but not to meditate because meditation weakens it and it fights for its survival…
Sri Yukteswar
Swami Prahbavananda
Sankara Saranam
Lahiri Mahasaya
Ram Dass (richard alpert)
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Daya Mata
Anandamoyi ma
Osho Rajneesh
Jesus Christ
Krishna
Sri Chaitanya
Adi Sankara
Paul Brunton
Master Mahasaya
Swami Satyananda
Swami Pranabananda
Kabir
Buddha (!)
Lao tu
Kamala
Dr Lewis
Hamid Bey
Prabhupada
Swami Rama
Swami Kriyananda
Brother Bhaktananda
Ramacharaka
Babaji is a common name in India. There are lots of Babajis. But all of the recent “commercial” Babaji’s are based on Mahavatar Babaji from the Autobiography of a Yogi.
There is importance to an external guru, he/she counterbalance the dominance of your mighty mind which will do whatever in its power to prevent enlightenment since enlightenment means its distraction.
A self appointed guru, not self appointed guru, a real guru or a fake one - it does not matter - with all you experience lessons you were destined to that will contribute to your development.
The guru is within and without but until you reach the point in which you are capable to listen to the guru within without the noises of the mind - be open to external gurus…
Dear emc,
You don’t need any of them. You are as great as all of them combined. We all are. It’s a case of duality to set up some list, many of the currently living ones are self appointed teachers. Adyashanti, Tolle and Bernie Prior, for example, come to mind:self appointed wise men. They cannot give you anything because you already possess all there is to look for. If AYP stands for anything special it is that we stand alone without a teacher beyond our own skin. Be still and know that I am God.
(Psalms 46:10)
Oh! I didn’t mention Bernie Prior in my list, 'cause he’s not very well-known at all I thought. But now when you mention him, John… I might reconsider…
I appreciate all suggestions of Gurus, thank you! I haven’t read all books of those listed above, so I need a list to know what to read next!
Master Choa Kok Sui (Arhatic Yoga, Pranic Healing #2007)
Padmasambhava
Lama Tenzin Rinpoche (Bon Po Tradition, Ligmincha Institute)
Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (Dzogchen)
Mantak Chia (Taoist Yoga)
Michael Winn (Taoist Yoga)
Sri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandsji, Sri Anandi Ma and Dileepji (Kundalini Maha Yoga)
Bhagavan Nityananda and Swami Muktananda (Siddha Yoga)
Lar Short (Grace Essence Fellowship)
Jack Kornfield
Swami Rudrananda (Rudi) http://www.rudrapress.com/teachers/
Max Christensen http://www.kunlunbliss.com/aboutus.html
If you feel like it!