The Watkins Review, the UK’s Oldest Esoteric Institution has announced its list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.

Honestly, I don’t like the idea of ranking spiritual leaders. That’s just wrong on so many levels. Plus, so many people that should be acknowledged in such a feature were left out in this one (i.e. Joyce Meyer among so many others). Some who have no place on this list of theirs were included (I won’t name names).

It’s great to celebrate people who’ve been spiritually influential but making a list was the wrong way to go about it.

If they continue with a feature such as this, a suggestion would be to include people who are influential not just globally because they are making a difference too. Feature people across the globe who may not be known around the globe but are just as significant where they are. I find it silly that someone can be a great “candidate” for this list but not make it because they are not googled enough. One of the requirements to be on this list is that “the person is frequently googled, appears in Nielsen Data, and is highlighted throughout the blogosphere.” Is google really the main source for people to go to for spiritual influence? Really? This is just one of the many components that need to be used when making a list such as this, not one of three components.

There are quite a number of names that I am unfamiliar with, so it will be interesting to get to know more about them over time. But honestly, I am going in cautiously with this list if at all.

The list ranks spiritual leaders and authors including the Dalai Lama (#2), Paulo Coelho (#7), Nelson Mandela (#19), the Pope (#34), Dan Brown (#42), and Eckhart Tolle at #1.

Here’s a summary of the full list:
Male: 76% Female: 24%
Median Age: 67 years
The Oldest: 104 years (Kyozan Joshu Sasaki)
The Youngest: 30 years (Jeff Foster)

What do you think of a list such as this?

The Watkins Review is sold and published by Watkins Books and is also available on the Apple App store world wide.