I
Ed Sharrow
The life examples and lessons of the following people
have significantly improved my life
Paramahansa Yogananda, founder of Self-Realization Fellowship and my Guru, is pictured at left with his disciple Swami Premananda in 1939.
In 1987 Yogananda took my broken body and mind and gave me a clear image of what I can become.
Today, I still work to achieve my highest good with his help.
Sri Daya Mata, pictured below, is the current president of Self-Realization Fellowship and an outstanding example of a life lived successfully. You may click on either picture to be taken to the Internet home of the Self-Realization Fellowship.
Swami Rama Tirtha., lived a full life in a short 33 years. He was born poor, married young, excelled in his studies, had two children, set up the care for his family and became a God-realized swami. He then travelled the world, preaching non-sectarian Vedanta philosophy. He spent 1902-03 in the United States primarily in California lecturing in English. His spirit lives on. Yogananda immortalized one of Swami Rama Tirtha's poems in the chant 'Swami Ram Tirtha's Song."
Mahatma Gandhi, at left, paved the way for nations and diverse groups to find alernatives to violence for conflict resolution. It is both easy and acceptable to elevate his accomplishments to the rare peaks of prophets and saints.
However, for me the greatest inspiration is found in his conscious transformation through the exercise of free will and persistence. He developed from a young barrister (lawyer) with a strong sense of justice and Indian nationalism to an international leader calling upon the conscience of the world to address hatred with love and to resolve conflicts with non-violence.
Martin Luther King, Jr., pictured below was the rare sort of person who could take the example of another (Gandhi), combine it with his own experience and will to create a unique expression of non-violence for his own countrymen.
President Abraham Lincoln, pictured on the battlefield below, is the single greatest leader to be born in, raised in and to serve the United States of America.
Abraham Lincoln was the living embodiment of the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence and that were further codified in the Constitution of the United States.
Lincoln gave hope both to his generation and to future generations that the United States could fulfill it promise as a nation of spiritual Light and worldly accomplishment in this new age of mankind.
Not everyone agrees with my assessment, as evidenced by the recreation of a Civil War era poster shown below.
Thank you for your interest. These are a few people who have made a difference in my life.
©2006 Edwin Sharrow
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