Stoic philosopher, polititian, author, and first great Western thinker to describe the importance of relationship gratitude; Seneca taught and advised emperor Nero and for his efforts was forced to commit suicide. Humanist saint still popular and influential today, he influenced Dante, Chaucer, Petrarch, Erasmus, John Calvin, Shakespeare, Montaigne who was considered a "French Seneca,” and Joseph Hall considered “an English Seneca." Slandered by contemporaries, historians, and modern novelists as a sycophant to Nero and hypocrite, he did compromise to political expediency but also balanced faith and freedom promoting a simple and accepting lifestyle beyond anger, just politics, and global citizenship.

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Early Greek Virgin Mary

Early prototype for the Virgin Mary, “earth mother,” daughter of Cadmus, the first Greek hero, founder and first king of Thebes; Semele gave birth to the early Jesus-figure, Dionysus who was born on December 25th, changed water into wine, was the son of god and a mortal woman, died and resurrected after 3 days. Worshipped by the Athenians, in Roman mythology, she became the goddess Stimula, in Neoplatonic philosophy she personified “intellectual imagination,” and during the Enlightenment became a popular theme for operas. Incinerated because of seeing too deeply into the nature of a god, she represents the Icarus-principle of hazards from too much of a good thing.

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From the lowest wrung of untouchables and a wild, aboriginal tribe, the Śabaras; Shavaripa became a forefather of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage and a famous teacher. From a tradition known for crazed sexual passion, smoking marijuana, and drinking alcohol from a skull cup; he and his wife transformed their tradition into a potent symbol for tantric Buddhist practice. From a skilled and proud hunter, Shavaripa became a beacon of vegetarianism. Known as “Saraha the Younger” and a student of Nagarjuna, he transmuted aggression into loving kindness for all beings and through his disciple Maitipa transmitted this tradition to Marpa who brought it to Tibet.

Saul Alinsky (1909 – 1972)

“Founder of modern community organizing,” “creator of a backyard revolution in cities across America,” champion of the poor and powerless; Alinsky became a strong influence on Cesar Chavez, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Dolores Huerta but his methods and strategies were also studied and used by Tea Party organizers. Dedicating his own work to improving the living conditions in poor communities, he was active in the labor movement, poverty alleviation across the USA, in black ghettos, and California barrios. Reviled and banned by establishment politicians but admired and imitated by counterculture-era organizers; he was described by William F. Buckley Jr. as an “organizational genius,” by Adlai Stevenson as “a most faithfully reflect[ion] our ideals of brotherhood, tolerance, charity and dignity of the individual,” and according to Time magazine he “altered democracy.”

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Mahasiddha #75

A born hungry, low caste man with an enormous appetite, Sarvabhaksha constantly dreamed about food, even after a huge feast. A chance meeting with the great siddha Saraha led to a vision of hungry ghosts—wretched wraiths with mouths like the eye of a needle and stomachs like an empty mountain—and a spiritual practice based on generosity and compassion. His insatiable desires shifted from food for himself to happiness for all sentient beings and he became a great teacher himself. His story demonstrates the the reality-changing power of visualization, both for the positive and the negative—on one hand the capacity of a Hitler to create a black magic hallucination creating the holocaust; on the other, positive visions like the American Dream, the Christian “Heaven on Earth”, and the Eastern Shambhala myths.

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Earliest Mahasiddha, founding father of the Buddhist Vajrayana and Mahamudra tradition; Saraha was expelled from a monastery for drinking alcohol, found a young low caste bride, became a maker of arrows, and went on to write the main Mahamudra meditation text and become a great yogi and master song writer. Like Lao Tzu, he followed the same “Inborn Natural Way” and began the lineage which descended through time to Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milareapa and now to the Gyalwang Karmapa.

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Going against her SC Supreme Court chief Justice father who held hundreds of slaves and opposed women’s rights, Sarah supported Abraham Lincoln and her writings fueled and inspired the beginning of the women’s suffrage movement. When she was 5 years old after watching a slave whipping, she tried to leave her state and find a place without slavery. Breaking the law, she taught a slave to read, taught slaves Bible lessons, and against the culture secretly advanced here own "unwomanly” education. One of the first women public speakers in America and under constant criticism and attack, she wrote the first serious essay advocating equality for women and became the first American woman working to end slavery.

“One of the finest actors of all time”

“The most famous actress the world has ever known", “one of the finest actors of all time,” “first international entertainment icon,” and “notorious liar;” Sarah Bernhard acted and sang for over 60 years starring in many of the earliest films ever made. Admired by everyone from Sigmund Freud to Mark Twain to Czar Alexander III, her mother was a prostitute and Sarah forged a birth certificate to claim French citizenship. Expelled from her first acting school for slapping a fellow actress, Sarah became mistress to a Belgian prince, to a famous courtesan, and slept in a coffin to better understand tragedy. During a war she converted her theatre into a hospital and took care of wounded soldiers.

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“The Poetess” and most famous Greek woman

The most beautiful singer of her age, a political force when only 19, one of the great “Nine Lyric Poets” of ancient Greece, called by Socrates, “The Beautiful,” by Plato the Tenth Muse, and “the Poetess” by all the Greek world; Sappho is the most famous Greek woman. In fear of her pen, politicians banished her twice and her poetry continued to inflame autocratic leaders for centuries – even Medieval Church leaders in Rome and Constantinople tried to burn all her 9 volumes of poetry in 1073 and remaining scraps of these weren’t found until 1897, some not until 2014. She started history’s first “finishing school” for girls and lived “laughing love’s low laughter… lost in the love trance."

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Powerfully influential, true-to-himself philosopher/poet

Poet first, philosopher second, novelist, Harvard dropped-out professor, Christian-atheist, free-thinking cultural critic; Santayana mixed his poetic genius with deep, philosophic insights; beauty with truth. Born in Spain, he brought an old European flavor and aristocratic appreciation to his new but temporary American homeland saturated with the idealism and individualism of Emerson and Thoreau. Many of his aphorisms have progressed from words of wisdom to cliché to truism. ("Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it") Professor to students like T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Gertrude Stein, Walter Lippmann, W. E. B. Du Bois, Conrad Aiken, and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter; major influence on thought-leaders like Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead; Santayana’s influence on awakened evolution continues

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Iconoclastic philosopher, artist, composer, author, and evolutionary theorist

Friend and student of Charles Darwin, serio-comic satirist, champion of small-is-beautiful everyday experience; Butler composed Handelian-style cantatas and piano pieces, painted works of art hung in London museums, and translated the Iliad and the Odyssey that he believed were written by a Trojan and by a Sicilian woman. In his book Erewhon, crime is considered a disease while disease and physical imperfections are considered crimes. Aldous Huxley thought Butler's ideas transformed Western culture's attitudes toward crime, technology, and 'progress'.

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One of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism

Controversial philosopher, neuroscientist, popular podcast host; Sam Harris gained public awareness with his uncompromising attacks on organized religion focused on Islam ("utterly deranged by its religious tribalism"), Judaism ("intrinsically divisive; a lightning rod for intolerance"), Catholicism ("a ghoulish machinery [that]demonizes human sexuality, attracts pedophiles, and increases poverty), and religion in general ("one of the most perverse misuses of intelligence we have ever devised"). Scathing but well-written, his attacks—translated into 20+ languages—have international recognition. Although a self-proclaimed liberal, the Southern Poverty Law Center accused him of helping to "channel people into the alt-right" and by Chris Hedges of "advancing Neoconservative agendas."

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Fearless antagonist of Islamic fundamentalism

Prolific, award-winning, and fearless writer, Rushdie’s novels combine magical realism with historical fiction and concentrate on the interplays between Western and Eastern civilization. An antagonist of religious extremism and advocate for Islamic reform, his books were banned in many Muslim countries, he was put on an Al-Qaeda hit list, and the spiritual leader of Iran—Ayatollah Khomeini—issued a fatwā ordering his execution. When knighted on the English Queen’s birthday in 2007, mass demonstrations against him broke out in Malaysia and Pakistan while many Muslims campaigned publicly for his death. He supported Barack Obama’s election and the UK vote to stay in the EU, criticizes the Republican Party, champions ways to end racial discrimination, and actively supports feminism.

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The most famous Kurd in history, Saladin’s Sun-Tzu-like strategy, success during the Crusades, and his conquering of Jerusalem have become a symbol for the Arabian struggle against the West. His eagle symbol was adopted by Egypt, the UAR, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, and Yemen. During times of deep European corruption and savagery, his tolerance, generosity, and justice - although not often emulated - have also become an important example for modern times. Respected as a chivalrous knight by Christian lords and European culture for hundreds of years, he dedicated himself to the happiness of people, gave away much of his personal wealth, and faithfully honored his agreements.

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Tibetan spiritual leader, scholar, doctor, scientist, poet, and politician; Sakya Pandita spent his early life as a monastic scholar and his late life applying his experience and understanding to the secular world as an advisor to the Mongol court. Born into a noble family; he began his religious studies at only 5 years old, became a monk at a very early age, and studied in Kashmir, India, and Nepal bringing an international view to his teachings. After Genghis Khan conquered Tibet in 1206, his descendants – drawn by the shamanistic similarities between the Sakya and Mongol traditions – brought Sakya Pandita into the government in an attempt to legitimize Mongol rule. At court he cured the Prince of a serious illness, was given authority over much of Tibet, and became the main agent of the Mongols in Tibetan affairs. He prevented more devastating invasions of Tibet, established an almost 100-year secular Sakya rule, and wrote some of the most influential Tibetan works of literature, many that are still part of the educational curricula today in Tibet, India, and Bhutan.

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When 12, kidnapped and claimed by a rival tribe after a battle, when 13 won as 2nd wife by a gambling trapper, when 17 hired as guide and translator by the Lewis and Clarke expedition; Sacagawea traveled thousands of difficult miles sometimes surviving on only candles but saving and assuring the expedition’s success while opening communication with many isolated groups and spreading understanding. Immortalized in the names of rivers, mountains, parks, and trails; on a US 1$ coin, in literature, and in music from Phillip Glass to Stevie Wonder; she was considered a hero and taken as an example of strength, independence, and self-worth by the Women’s Suffrage Association.

One of the greatest Persian poets and literary influences in medieval times and an influence on the West through people like Goethe, Hegel, Pushkin, and Barack Obama; Saadi - with a Zen-like approach similar to the great Tibetan teacher, Marpa - blended a mystical Sufi realization with a practical traveling merchant lifestyle. Escaping the hardship and poverty of his Baghdad youth, he traveled widely for 30 years including 7 years of imprisonment enslaved to hard labor. He then wandered 20 more years during the Mongol invasions mingling with ordinary people, bandits, refugees, spiritual teachers and farmers translating their experiences into poetry and wisdom teachings.

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Poet, journalist, photographer, secret service agent, and author; Kapuściński was called ”The master of modern journalism", "Translator of the World,” "The Greatest Reporter in the World", "Herodotus of our times", and "Third World chronicler.” He lived through and reported on 27 revolutions and coups, was jailed 40 times, lost his career-journalism job because of his Polish pro-democracy support, and survived 4 death sentences. “One of the most credible journalists the world has ever seen" and a deep, compassionate thinker; he used innovative literary techniques including “magical journalism” to record his philosophical reflections on decolonization, political corruption, and major world events as well as on their their psychological significance.

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