Fiona Rose:
I feel most fortunate, honoured, 
to have been able to meet and work for Swami Vishnu-devananda in his home at the Sivananda Ashram in Val Morin, Quebec in 1990. These blessed moments spent in his uplifting company, together with his yoga teachings, are cherished and bring me daily inspiration and a strong sense of commitment towards furthering my own practice of yoga as well as introducing others to it.
Om Shanti.
Swami Vishnu-devananda
(1927 - 1993)
a world renowned authority on classical yoga, and one of the many exceptional disciples of Sri Swami Sivananda. Swami Vishnu-devananda came to San Francisco in 1957, on the instruction of Swami Sivananda, to spread the practice of Yoga in the west. After several years of lecturing and demonstrating asanas throughout the United States, he established the international network of Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and Ashrams.
After observing the patterns of living in the West, he synthesized the wisdom of yoga into five basic principles proper relaxation, proper exercise, proper breathing, proper diet, positive thinking and meditation which westerners could incorporate into their lifestyle to provide a foundation for the experience of health and peace. Swami Vishnu-devananda was dedicated to the cause of world peace.
Venerable Godwin Samararatne
(1932 - 2000)
Godwin Samararatne was one of the best known lay meditation teachers in Sri Lanka in recent times, based at his meditation Centre at Nilambe in the central hill country near Kandy. After his death in March 2000 letters and tributes poured in as many people around the world attested to the impact that Godwin and his teaching had made on their lives. I met Godwin during the Vipassana meditation retreat at the Ixopo Buddhist centre, South Africa, in 1991, and continued to attend retreats and meditations under his kind guidance in the U.K., Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, over subsequent years.His gentle and wise methods of teaching have inspired me such that to this day I feel incredibly grateful for the efforts which Godwin took to help and teach others about meditation and living with awareness. I could not have found a better teacher. There are transcriptions and recordings of his talks on the website:
http://www.godwin-home-page.net/