Born in San Diego as Sharyn Kelly on July 6, 1945, Shanta Gabriel, 80, passed away peacefully on Dec. 11, 2025, in Falmouth, after a series of strokes.
She moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 2020 during the upheaval of the pandemic and found here a beautiful island and a vibrant community that made her want to settle down and stay forever.
The daughter of Betty and Jack Kelly, a Navy commander stationed on Coronado Island, Calif., she grew up moving with her father’s relocations to the Philippines and then back to San Diego. Shanta continued moving a number of times to new places: Mexico, Hawaii, Michigan, Santa Cruz, and Mount Shasta in California, and finally to Martha’s Vineyard.
In 1978, Sharyn embraced the spiritual name Shanta, derived from the Sanskrit word shanti, meaning peace. This was given to her by her beloved spiritual teacher Dhyanyogi Madhusudandas, fondly known as Guruji — an Indian yoga and meditation teacher who began teaching students in the U.S. in the 1970s. From when she met Guruji, his teachings gave her a new guiding light — one of meditation, spiritual practice, and personal transformation.
She spent her career in the then-cutting-edge New Age movement, studying with various wisdom teachers, but always with Guruji’s gentle guidance. She worked as a massage therapist when it was still very new in the U.S., as a yoga teacher, and later as a lecturer and spiritual counselor.
She was the author of the book “The Gabriel Messages: Compassionate Wisdom for the 21st Century from the Archangel Gabriel,” following an experience she had of connecting to the angelic frequency in her meditations, most specifically with the Archangel Gabriel. She later legally changed her name to Gabriel. Her teachings remain available at ShantaGabriel.com.
Shanta loved to travel, and taught in many parts of the country. She started the Compassionate Wisdom Circle, an online group dedicated to the evolution of consciousness on Earth. Her online spiritual classes and workshops attracted many students over the years, helping them to find ways to release fear and find peace within. She wrote her Sunday blog up until six months before she died.
While on the Vineyard, Shanta led nature walks at Polly Hill Arboretum called “forest bathing,” based on the Japanese practice called shin-rin yoku. She also taught various health and wellness classes through the West Tisbury library and Council on Aging.
She was a committed member of the Federated Church choir in Edgartown, and she briefly worked at the M.V. Hospital in the nutrition department, a job she enjoyed.
Shanta is survived by her son, Erik Stauber, his wife, Rosie, and their children, Makoy Stauber and Cydni Whittington, of Phoenix, Ariz., as well as her brother, Pat Kelly, his wife Christine, and their daughter, Brenna Frost of Temecula, Calif.
A memorial service will be held in her honor on Jan. 10 at 2 pm at the Federated Church in Edgartown.
