Influential People

Who do you remember the most?
Which people have influenced you most? (Might be good or bad)
Are there people that you would thank for their influence or effect on your life?
Perhaps there may be people that have had a direct effect on the way that you think and feel, or on the very things that you do, or have done, with your life?

My teacher, (I recoil from the concept of Guru) and one of the most influential people in my life, would say…

To the awake mind everyone and everything is a Guru
But only if you are awake enough to see it

The influence that we get from another person maybe positive or negative. A person’s behaviour maybe so bad, that they teach you how not to act. My father was both one of the greatest influences in my life, in all senses, thinking, feeling and doing, but he was also one of the most negative people I have ever known.

As I look backwards over life I am aware of so many people that have effected who I am. So in the spirit of gratitude I need to acknowledge and thank all of them, all the people that I have ever met and have worked with because they have all taught me so much. Even my father who was a musician and without that influence in early childhood I do not think I would have done the many things that I have done with music and performing.

Once I begin to look at it there have been so many. My school teachers, brother and sisters and, of course my mother, my aunts and uncles, friends and enemies have all played a part in the creation of my thoughts, ideas, emotions and actions. Wow, aren’t people amazing?

The most profound people are those that I see as my teachers. They stand out for me as those that taught me meaningful things, some of which I would like to term spiritual, though they were not religious, and philosophical, and they we not dogmatic. They taught me things about the game of life, and about some of the rules needed to play the game in a fulfilling way.

I have attempted to add to that store of information and pass it on to those that have crossed my path. I work on one simple principle…

If we all look after each other we can have heaven on earth right now

I realise and acknowledge that I have come to that conclusion through the teachers that have influenced my thinking and my work. I also acknowledge my own learning through experience and the hard work of living a life and trying to live it the best way that I can.

If I have to decide on someone who has been the greatest influence on my life it is a simple monk, a Brahmin call Ramaji. His voice, ideas and understanding live in my head as a constant point of reference. His training that was Ayurvedic and Yogic is the basis of my life philosophy and my training as an Ashtanga Yogi that came a long time before my Western psychotherapeutic training.

So, who influenced you the most?
What are the loudest voices in your head?
Where do they come from?

I guess the other side of that coin would be who have you influenced?

Take care be happy acknowledge the good influences in your life and try to be a good influence on others.

Sean x