The transmission

The Teachers

1,020 who carried the discovery — across Hermetic, Vedic, Sufi, mystic, scientific, and modern streams. Start with the essential few, or browse by family and tradition.

1,020 teachers  ·  42 traditions

Family

51 teachers

Mahavira
Buddhism
Mahavira
Mind-purification, ahimsa, and the shedding of karmic matter
c. 599-527 BCE (traditional; some scholars date him ~100 years later)
Nagarjuna
Buddhism
Nagarjuna
Emptiness (sunyata) of all things
c.150-250 CE
Buddhism
Dignaga
Perception constructs the object
c.480-540 CE
Buddhism
Dharmakirti
Mind-only epistemology, sahopalambha
c.600-660 CE
Huineng
Buddhism
Huineng
Sudden awakening, original nature
638-713 CE
Shantideva
Buddhism
Shantideva
Bodhicitta; exchanging self and other
c.685-763 CE
Kukai (Kobo Daishi)
Buddhism
Kukai (Kobo Daishi)
Buddhahood in this very body/mind
774-835 CE
Buddhism
Huang Po (Huangbo Xiyun)
One Mind, nothing to seek
c.800-850 CE
Linji Yixuan (Rinzai)
Buddhism
Linji Yixuan (Rinzai)
The true person of no rank
c.810-866 CE
Atisa
Buddhism
Atisa
Lojong (mind training); the graduated path
982-1054
Atisha (Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna)
Buddhism
Atisha (Atiśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna)
Tonglen — sending happiness, taking suffering
982-1054
Buddhism
Tilopa
Mahamudra; rest in natural mind
c.988-1069
Buddhism
Naropa
Six Yogas; dream and illusory body
c.1016-1100
Jetsun Milarepa
Buddhism
Jetsun Milarepa
Realization through tummo and song
c.1052-1135
Buddhism
Gampopa
Union of Kadam path and Mahamudra
1079-1153
Buddhism
Eihei Dogen
Practice-realization, being-time
1200-1253
Nichiren
Buddhism
Nichiren
Chanting transforms karma/reality
1222-1282
Buddhism
Longchenpa
Systematized Dzogchen and the nature of mind
1308-1364
Buddhism
Bassui Tokushō
Inquiry into the hearer ('Who is the master?')
1327-1387
Je Tsongkhapa
Buddhism
Je Tsongkhapa
Graduated stages of the path to enlightenment
1357-1419
Buddhism
Bankei Yōtaku
Resting in the Unborn mind
1622-1693
Hakuin Ekaku
Buddhism
Hakuin Ekaku
Koan-driven sudden insight
1686-1769
Soyen Shaku
Buddhism
Soyen Shaku
The Rinzai abbot who first spoke Zen aloud on American soil and sent his student to finish the work.
1860–1919
Anagarika Dharmapala
Buddhism
Anagarika Dharmapala
The homeless wanderer who carried Buddhism out of Ceylon and announced it to the modern West.
1864–1933
D.T. Suzuki
Buddhism
D.T. Suzuki
Satori as direct experience
1870-1966
Buddhism
U Ba Khin
Insight through moment-to-moment awareness of bodily sensation (vedana) and impermanence (anicca)
1899-1971
Mahasi Sayadaw
Buddhism
Mahasi Sayadaw
Moment-to-moment noting of rising and falling
1904-1982
Shunryu Suzuki
Buddhism
Shunryu Suzuki
Beginner's mind
1904-1971
Buddhism
Ajahn Chah
Letting go and the naturally still mind, taught plainly through ordinary monastic life.
1918-1992
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Buddhism
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Recognizing the nature of mind in direct experience
1920-1996
Buddhism
S.N. Goenka
Equanimous observation of bodily sensation (vedana) as a universal, non-sectarian path out of suffering
1924-2013
Thích Nhất Hạnh
Buddhism
Thích Nhất Hạnh
Mindfulness & interbeing
1926-2022
Pema Chodron
Buddhism
Pema Chodron
Leaning into difficulty
b. 1936
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Buddhism
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Dzogchen; dream and natural light yoga
1938-2018
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Buddhism
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Spiritual materialism critique; basic sanity
1939-1987
Buddhism
Reginald Ray
Somatic Dzogchen; the body as ground
1942-present
Buddhism
Genpo Roshi
Voice-dialogue facilitation into awakened mind
1944-present
Buddhism
Joseph Goldstein
Mindful insight (vipassana)
b. 1944
Jack Kornfield
Buddhism
Jack Kornfield
Western Buddhism, spiritual bypassing
1945-present
Sogyal Rinpoche
Buddhism
Sogyal Rinpoche
Nature of mind; bardo awareness
1947-2019
Lama Surya Das
Buddhism
Lama Surya Das
Western Dzogchen; awakening the mind
1950-present
Sharon Salzberg
Buddhism
Sharon Salzberg
Lovingkindness (metta)
b. 1952
Tara Brach
Buddhism
Tara Brach
Radical acceptance / RAIN
1953-present
Buddhism
Anam Thubten
No-self; immediate awakened awareness
c.1960s-present
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Buddhism
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Bon dream and sleep yoga
1961-present
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Buddhism
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
The joy of living / meditation and the brain
1975-present
Buddhism
Asanga
Yogacara 'mind-only' (cittamatra)
c.4th century CE
Bodhidharma
Buddhism
Bodhidharma
Direct seeing into mind
c.5th-6th century CE
Gautama Buddha
Buddhism
Gautama Buddha
Mind precedes all things
c. 5th-4th c. BCE
Padmasambhava
Buddhism
Padmasambhava
Recognizing the nature of mind
c. 8th century
Vasubandhu
Buddhism
Vasubandhu
Mind-only (Yogacara) cognition
c. 4th-5th century CE