list

 Ancient gurus and wise men

Vedic period
  • The Saptarishi: The "Seven Sages" mentioned in the Vedas and other sacred texts are considered the ancient founders of the Brahmin clans (gotras). Lists vary, but generally include figures like Vashistha, Atri, Vishvamitra, and Bharadvaja.
  • Maharishi Valmiki: The author of the epic Ramayana, Valmiki was a sage who chronicled the life of Lord Rama.
  • Veda Vyasa: Considered the original guru in some traditions, he is credited with compiling the Vedas and composing the epic Mahabharata and the Puranas.
  • Sage Patanjali: Referred to as the "Father of Modern Yoga," he codified the principles of yoga in his Yoga Sutras, a foundational text for the practice. 
Post-Vedic era
  • Gautama Buddha: The spiritual teacher upon whose teachings Buddhism was founded in the 6th century BCE.
  • Mahavira: The 24th Tirthankara, or supreme spiritual teacher, of Jainism who established the core tenets of the religion around the same period as Buddha.
  • Adi Shankaracharya (8th century CE): A philosopher and theologian who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism). He traveled extensively across India to spread his teachings and established four monastic centers (mathas).
  • Ramanujacharya (11th–12th century CE): A Hindu philosopher who founded the Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) school of Vedanta.
  • Madhvacharya (13th–14th century CE): Another key Vedanta philosopher and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school.
  • Kabir (15th century): A mystic poet and saint whose writings influenced India's Bhakti (devotional) movement. His verses often transcended Hindu and Islamic boundaries.
  • Guru Nanak (15th–16th century): The founder of Sikhism and the first of the Sikh Gurus. He taught a message of devotion to a single creator God and is revered by both Sikhs and Hindus. 
Modern gurus and wise men
19th and 20th centuries
  • Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–1886): A Bengali mystic and saint who emphasized the harmony of all religions and practiced multiple spiritual paths. His teachings greatly influenced his most famous disciple, Swami Vivekananda.
  • Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902): A key figure in introducing the philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. He represented Hinduism at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, where his speeches earned him widespread acclaim.
  • Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950): An Indian philosopher, yoga guru, and nationalist who developed a concept of "Integral Yoga," which synthesizes yoga and Western philosophy.
Ramana Maharishi  ("Bhagavan"-1879-1950) was a 20th century South Indian sage who continues to radiate peace and self-awareness to the global community of spiritual seekers ..
  • Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952): Introduced Kriya Yoga to the West and founded the Self-Realization Fellowship. His Autobiography of a Yogi is a spiritual classic that has been read by millions.
  • Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 11 December 1931 – 19 January 1990), also known as Acharya Rajneesh,and commonly known as Osho  was an Indian godman, philosopher, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement.
  • He was a controversial new religious movement leader during his life
  • He spoke on major spiritual traditions including Jainism, Hinduism, Hassidism, Tantrism, Taoism, Sikhism, Sufism, Christianity, Buddhism, on a variety of Eastern and Western mystics and on sacred scriptures such as the Upanishads and the Guru Granth Sahib.
  •  his ideas were  rooted in Hindu advaita, in which the human experiences of separateness, duality and temporality are held to be a kind of dance or play of cosmic consciousness in which everything is sacred, has absolute worth and is an end in itself.
  •  While his contemporary Jiddu Krishnamurti did not approve of Rajneesh, there are clear similarities between their respective teachings

  • Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918–2008): Popularized Transcendental Meditation (TM) and brought meditation to a global audience, famously teaching the technique to The Beatles.
  • Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) (born 1953): Known as the "Hugging Saint," Amma travels the world, offering solace and spiritual guidance through her embrace. Her organization, Embracing the World, runs extensive humanitarian projects.
  • Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986): A philosopher who rejected the role of a traditional guru, emphasizing self-awareness and liberation through direct insight rather than prescribed path