Ammachi (550)
I met Ammachi in the summer of 2005 in DC and was happily surprised at what I found. She has been one of my greatest inspirations ever since.
Bob Moog (826)
Bob Moog (pronounced Mogue, as in 'rhymes with vogue') I had the great fortune to study with him during his last year teaching at UNCA. For those of you who don't know, his influence on commercial theremins and keyboard synthesizers is legendary. What he taught me went way beyond electronic music. In fact, to paraphrase his first lecture, he said "It is senseless for me to teach you how to use a particular piece of equipment or software because technology is constantly changing. I prefer to teach you how to teach yourself". The intensity and lessons from the courses I took from him dramatically shaped how I approach life and technology.
Darren Main (461)
Darren would not want to be called a guru, mentor or anything similar but he still teaches some great yoga classes in my opinion. When I lived in San Francisco I found myself attending a lot of his classes at Yoga Tree SF. I've also enjoyed reading his books "Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic" and "The Findhorn book of Meditation". His website also has a lot of good general yoga information and resources so check it out.
Ed Littlefox - Soquili Center (878)
I met Ed Littlefox, a Cherokee Saponi elder, when I was 15. At the time I had lost faith in Christianity and knew there was something deeper to be found. In my search for a "new religion" I came across Littlefox. He mentored me till the age of 21 or so and taught me that I didn't need drugs to get high and that the greatest textbook was the world around me. If it weren't for him, I would probably be either dead or some junkie loser. Though I still battle with the feelings of being a loser from time to time, the junkie part never happened. hehe Anyways, Littlefox now has a piece of land where he keeps about 40 horses and runs an educational and Cherokee ceremonial center in North Carolina.
Eustace Conway - Turtle Island Preserve (547)
Eustace came to my elementary school years ago, setup a tee pee, and demonstrated all sorts of primitive skills and storytelling. He lived in a tee pee for over 14 years before he upgraded to a cabin(still without electricity). I met him before Ed and Tom. He taught me the most humble respect for tools and hard work.
Tom Brown, Jr. - Tracker School (829)
From 1993 - 1997 I took over 15 of his weeklong intensives and volunteered to help with over 30 more. Ed Littlefox taught me to open my eyes, that the world around me was the greatest textbook. Tom taught me to read. My mom actually introduced me to him via his book The Vision. Little did my mom know how much it would change my life.
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