The Conscious Library
Universal timeline
Fifteen millennia on a scale that does not crush the last centuries: each band takes the space its teachers give it.
Before 1000 BCE
No teachers in this band yet: the library keeps growing.
Axial age (1000 BCE – 1 CE)

c. 599 BCE – c. 527 BCE
Mahāvīra
Jainism

c. 571 BCE – ?
Laozi
Taoism

c. 570 BCE – c. 495 BCE
Pythagoras
Pythagoreanism · Presocratic philosophy

551 BCE – 479 BCE
Confucius
Confucianism

c. 535 BCE – c. 475 BCE
Heraclitus
Presocratic philosophy

c. 515 BCE – ?
Parmenides
Presocratic philosophy

c. 494 BCE – c. 434 BCE
Empedocles
Presocratic philosophy

c. 480 BCE – c. 400 BCE
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha
Buddhism · Theravada

c. 469 BCE – 399 BCE
Socrates
Socratic philosophy

c. 428 BCE – c. 348 BCE
Plato
Platonism

c. 412 BCE – c. 323 BCE
Diogenes of Sinope
Cynicism

384 BCE – 322 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotelianism

341 BCE – 270 BCE
Epicurus
Epicureanism

c. 334 BCE – c. 262 BCE
Zeno of Citium
Stoicism

c. 5 BCE – c. 30
Jesus of Nazareth
Christianity · Catholicism
Antiquity (1–500)
Middle Ages (501–1500)

638 – 713
Huineng
Zen / Chan · Mahayana

c. 685 – c. 763
Śāntideva
Mahayana · Buddhism

VII century – ?
Padmasambhava
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) · Tantra

c. 717 – c. 801
Rabia al-Adawiyya
Sufism · Islam

c. 788 – c. 820
Adi Shankara
Advaita Vedanta · Hinduism

c. 858 – 922
Al-Hallaj
Sufism · Islam

c. 1052 – c. 1135
Milarepa
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) · Buddhism

c. 1058 – 1111
Al-Ghazali
Islam · Sufism

1098 – 1179
Hildegard of Bingen
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

c. 1138 – 1204
Maimonides
Judaism · Aristotelianism

c. 1145 – 1221
Attar
Sufism · Islam

1165 – 1240
Ibn Arabi
Sufism · Islam

1173 – 1263
Shinran
Mahayana · Buddhism

c. 1182 – 1226
Francis of Assisi
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

1200 – 1253
Dōgen
Zen / Chan · Mahayana

1207 – 1273
Rumi
Sufism · Islam

c. 1260 – 1328
Meister Eckhart
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

c. 1315 – c. 1390
Hafez
Sufism · Islam

c. 1342 – c. 1416
Julian of Norwich
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

1347 – 1380
Catherine of Siena
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

1357 – 1419
Tsongkhapa
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) · Buddhism

c. 1380 – 1471
Thomas à Kempis
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

c. 1440 – c. 1518
Kabir
Bhakti · Hinduism

1469 – 1539
Guru Nanak
Sikhism · Bhakti

1486 – c. 1533
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Bhakti · Hinduism

1491 – 1556
Ignatius of Loyola
Catholicism · Christian mysticism

c. 1498 – c. 1547
Mirabai
Bhakti · Hinduism
Early modern (1501–1900)

1515 – 1582
Teresa of Ávila
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

1542 – 1591
John of the Cross
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

1575 – 1624
Jakob Böhme
Christian mysticism · Protestantism

1632 – 1677
Baruch Spinoza
Judaism

1686 – 1769
Hakuin Ekaku
Zen / Chan · Mahayana

1688 – 1772
Emanuel Swedenborg
Christian mysticism · Protestantism

c. 1700 – 1760
Baal Shem Tov
Judaism · Kabbalah

1754 – 1833
Seraphim of Sarov
Orthodox Christianity · Christian mysticism

1807 – 1867
Ignatius Brianchaninov
Orthodox Christianity · Christian mysticism

1815 – 1894
Theophan the Recluse
Orthodox Christianity · Christian mysticism

1821 – 1881
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Orthodox Christianity · Christianity

1828 – 1910
Leo Tolstoy
Christianity · Orthodox Christianity

1831 – 1891
Helena Blavatsky
Theosophy · Hermeticism

1836 – 1886
Ramakrishna
Hinduism · Bhakti

1847 – 1933
Annie Besant
Theosophy · Hinduism

1853 – 1900
Vladimir Solovyov
Orthodox Christianity · Christianity

1855 – 1936
Sri Yukteswar
Yoga · Hinduism

1861 – 1925
Rudolf Steiner
Anthroposophy · Theosophy

1863 – 1902
Swami Vivekananda
Advaita Vedanta · Hinduism

c. 1872 – 1949
G. I. Gurdjieff
Fourth Way

1872 – 1950
Sri Aurobindo
Yoga · Hinduism

1874 – 1947
Nicholas Roerich
Theosophy · Buddhism

1874 – 1948
Nikolai Berdyaev
Orthodox Christianity · Christianity

1875 – 1961
Carl Gustav Jung
Consciousness research · Christianity

1878 – 1965
Martin Buber
Judaism · Secular contemplative

1878 – 1947
P. D. Ouspensky
Fourth Way · Theosophy

1879 – 1955
Helena Roerich
Theosophy · Buddhism

1879 – 1950
Ramana Maharshi
Advaita Vedanta · Hinduism

1880 – 1949
Alice A. Bailey
Theosophy

1881 – 1955
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Catholicism · Christian mysticism

1882 – 1937
Pavel Florensky
Orthodox Christianity · Christianity

1883 – 1931
Kahlil Gibran
Christianity · Christian mysticism

1893 – 1952
Paramahansa Yogananda
Yoga · Hinduism

1894 – 1969
Meher Baba
Sufism · Hinduism

1895 – 1986
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Secular contemplative · Theosophy

1896 – 1982
Anandamayi Ma
Hinduism · Bhakti

c. 1897 – 1981
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Advaita Vedanta · Hinduism
20th and 21st centuries

1904 – 1971
Shunryu Suzuki
Zen / Chan · Mahayana

1909 – 1943
Simone Weil
Christian mysticism · Christianity

1915 – 1973
Alan Watts
Zen / Chan · Taoism

1915 – 1968
Thomas Merton
Christian mysticism · Catholicism

1918 – 1992
Ajahn Chah
Theravada · Buddhism

1926 – 2022
Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen / Chan · Mahayana

1927 – 2012
David R. Hawkins
Consciousness research · Contemporary non-duality

1931 – 1990
Osho
Contemporary non-duality · Tantra

1935 –
The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso)
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) · Buddhism

1936 –
Pema Chödrön
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) · Buddhism
- BKByron Katie
1942 –
Byron Katie
Contemporary non-duality · Secular contemplative

1948 –
Eckhart Tolle
Contemporary non-duality · Secular contemplative

1957 –
Sadhguru
Yoga · Hinduism





