OM SHRI GANAPATAE NAMAH

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA 
OM GURU OM

GREAT YOGA MASTERS OF OUR TIME
Human evolution has no limits. What seemed impossible fifty years ago is now reality.
In the history of Man we have examples of men and women who realised a greater 
spectrum of consciousness and who tried to share their experiences with those around 
them. Jesus, Buddha, Rama and Krishnas are some examples of such achievements.
The goal of this book is to share with humanity the reality and achievements of a few men 
who realised themselves and achieved superconsciousness in the last two centuries.
These men and women had the same means that we all have, yet they made a great effort 
in a certain direction, and this made them able to achieve Self­realisation.
After Self­realisation one becomes the entire human family, therefore it becomes one’s 
goal to improve the quality of human life everywhere and in the best possible way.
BABAJI LAHIRI MAHASAYA SRI YUKTESWAR YOGANANDA
NITYANANDA MUKTANANDA GANAPATI 
SHIVANANDA CHIDANANDA SATCHIDANANDA VENKATESHANANDA
MAHAVATAR BABAJ
Babaji is well known to everyone who has read
Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi.
The Creator of Kriya Yoga in the early 1800's, Babaji
was the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya, who, in turn, was
the guru of Yoganandaji's guru, Shri Yukteswar.

Unlike all other Spiritual Masters, Babaji is regarded

as an Immortal, the continual incarnation of the Lord
Shiva, the supreme Hindu God.

Over the past 8000 years. Babaji has continued to

appear from time to time to give comfort and restore
faith and righteousness in the world.

After a 50 year absence from His cave at the base of

Mount Kailash on the Gautama Ganges, Babaji
reappeared in 1970, and for the next 14 years, was
visited by many Westerners at His ashram in
Herakhan, near the city of Kathgodam in the district
of Nainital, Uttar Pradesh, India.

This Immortal Master, Babaji, has brought the

message of Truth, Simplicity, and Love, and has
urged the constant practice of the repetition of the
Mahamantra. Om Namaha Shivaia, translated as "I
surrender to the Will of God." People of all faiths are
receiving and being guided by this message. Babaji's
message leads to the wisdom, peace, light, and joy
of God within.

Babaji also founded other temples, ashrams, and

centers in India and in many Western countries.
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 Sathya Sai Baba was born Sathyanarayana Raju to 
Pedavenkappa Raju and Easwaramma, a poor agrarian family in the 
remote village of Puttaparthi, located in Anantapur district, Andhra 
Pradesh. Since he was born after the Sri Sathyanarayana puja, he was 
named after the deity. It was said that instruments played on their own 
accord in his household when he was born [11].
According to professor Narayana Kasturi (Sathya Sai Baba's official 
biographer), in his book Easwaramma - The Chosen Mother, Sathya 
was conceived through a Virgin birth, which was supported by 
Easwaramma's claim that she found out she was pregnant after a huge 
sphere of blue light rolled towards her, merged into her and made her faint 
[12].
According to Kasturi's biography (which the British journalist Mick Brown of 
the The Telegraph called a hagiography), on March 8th, 1940 Sai Baba 
started behaving as if a black scorpion had stung his foot. However, 
nobody found the scorpion, according to Kasturi. Kasturi further wrote that 
for one night after this strange event Sai Baba entered a state similar to 
coma, which his devotees call the state of "leaving his body". Kasturi 
continues by writing that after he got out of this state he started behaving in 
a way that worried his parents ­ he didn't want to eat, he would often keep 
silent for a long time, recite ancient Shlokas or elaborate on holy Hindu 
scriptures. Finally, according to Kasturi's biography, on May 23rd, 1940 the 
young Sathya claimed to be the reincarnation of the fakir Shirdi Sai Baba 
and subsequently took the fakir's name.
According to his own assertion and the biography by Kasturi he stopped 
going to school in the town of Uravakonda on October 20, 1940 to start his 
mission. However, he is listed in the 1942 school record of the nearby 
village Bukkapatnam.[13] Though the exact year on which he started his 
mission full­time is uncertain, it is a fact that in the 1940s he took the fakir's 
name. Kasturi's biography mentions several miracles by and signs of 
divinity of the young Sathya. According to Howard Murphet, in his book Sai
Baba Man of Miracles, the young Sathya was a vegetarian and was 
known for his aversion to animal cruelty and compassion for the poor, 
disabled and elderly. According to Kasturi and to Sathya Sai Baba himself, 
the young Sathya composed bhajans spontaneously (even as young as 8 
years of age) and was talented in drama, dance, music and poetry. In a 
discourse in 1963 he claimed to be a reincarnation of Shiva and 
Shakti.[14]In the same discourse SSB said that Shirdi Sai Baba was an 
incarnation of Shiva and that his future reincarnation Prema Sai Baba
would be a reincarnation of Shakti and repeated this claim in 1976.[15] In 
contrast, Kasturi’s biography/hagiography stated that Shirdi Sai Baba was 
to be Shakti incarnated and that Prema Sai Baba was to be an incarnation 
of Shiva. According to Donald Taylor in a 1987 article titled "Charismatic 
authority in the Sathya Sai Baba movement”, SSB's 1963 declaration that 
he would be reincarnated as Prema Sai Baba was SSB's strategy to 
defuse the problem about his succession and thus continue to have all the 
authority in his hand.[16] This is refuted. [citation needed]
In the late 1960s he attracted Western spiritual seekers and became 
increasingly popular. One of those spiritual seekers was the Hollywood 
screenwriter Arnold Schulman, who wrote in his 1971 book called Baba
that "For any episode of Baba's childhood, there are countless contrasting 
versions and, at this point, the author discovered that it was no longer 
possible to separate the facts from the legend." According to Schulman, 
contrasting versions about Baba's childhood may be due to the fact that he 
needed interpreters to interperet other interpreters (as in the case of his 
interview with Baba's sister). Schulman concluded that what the translators 
said may well have been quite different from what was actually said.[17]
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Miracles
Sathya Sai Baba's followers report many, sometimes spectacular, miracles 
of various kinds that they attribute to him. Daily, he is observed to allegedly 
manifest vibuthi (holy ash), food and small objects such as rings, 
necklaces and watches. Sathya Sai Baba explained the phenomenon of 
manifestation as an act of divine creation, but refused to have his 
materializations investigated under experimental conditions because he felt 
that the approach used by critics was improper.[15] Critics claim that these 
materializations are done by sleight of hand.
In books, magazines and articles, there are numerous reports that Sathya 
Sai Baba can heal diseases and will sometimes take on the illnesses of 
devotees on himself [25].
In devotee's houses all around the world, there are international claims 
from neutral observers, journalists and devotees that vibuthi, kumkum, 
turmeric powder, holy water, siva lingams, statues of deities (brass and 
gold), sugar candy, fruits, herbs, amrita (a fragrant, nectar­like honey), 
gems, coloured string, writings in ash and various other substances 
spontaneously manifest and materialize on the walls, furniture, pictures 
and altars of Sathya Sai Baba  [26] [27]
   [28]
   [29]   .
   [30]
The Icelandic psychology professor Erlendur Haraldsson wrote that 
although he did not get Sathya Sai Baba's permission to study him under 
controlled circumstances, he investigated and documented the guru's 
alleged miracles and manifestations through first­hand interviews with 
devotees and ex­devotees. Haraldsson's research yielded many 
extraordinary testimonies. Some of the miracles attributed to Sathya Sai 
Baba included levitation (both indoors and outdoors), bilocation, physical 
disappearances, changing granite into sugar candy, changing water into 
another drink, changing water into gasoline, producing objects on demand, 
changing the color of his gown into a different color while wearing it, 
multiplying food, healings, visions, dreams, making different fruits appear 
on any tree hanging from actual stems, controlling the weather, physically 
transforming into various deities and physically emitting brilliant light [2].
These devotees and ex­devotees also claimed that they witnessed Sathya 
Sai Baba materialize many substances from his hand such as vibuthi, lost 
objects, statues, photographs, Indian pastries (both hot and cold), food 
(hot, cold, solid and fluid), out of season fruits, new banknotes, pendants, 
necklaces, watches and rings [2]. Haraldsson wrote that the largest 
materialized object that he saw was a mangalsutra necklace, 32 inches 
long, 16 inches long on each side.[31] Haraldsson wrote that some miracles 
attributed or performed by the Baba resemble the ones described in the 
New Testament, but also with some differences. According to Haraldsson, 
although healings certainly figure into Sai Baba's reputation, his impression 
is that healings do not play a prominent role in SSB's activities as in those 
of Jesus [32].
[edit]Teachings
Sathya Sai Baba is a prolific orator about religious topics in his native 
language Telugu and he is regarded by some as an excellent speaker. He 
asserted that he is an Avatar of God in whom all names and forms 
ascribed by man to God are manifest [33]. He also says that everybody else 
is God and that the difference is that he is aware of this and others have 
yet to realize it. [15]. He further claims to be that he is omniscient, 
omnipotent, omnipotent, and able to create matter from mere thought [15]. 
He also stresses he and humans should always free from desires and 
states that desires bring mental pain (depression, anger jealousy etc). [15]
Sathya Sai Baba preaches love and the unity of all world religions and 
asserts that people who follow him do not need to give up their original 
religion. His teachings are sometimes seen as completely syncretic (uniting 
all religions) and sometimes as Hindu. [1] He teaches among others a 
rather traditional form of Hinduism that has come from many sects and 
movements including advaita, occasionally drawing from other religions 
like Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam and Christianity. One of the Christian 
influences can be felt in the institution of regular Sunday School sessions 
for devotees. He says that he has come to restore faith in, and encourage 
the practice of the teachings in the Vedas. Several books and discourses 
by him, such as the book Ramakatha Rasavahini teach the literal 
interpretation of Hindu mythology and advocate the practice of Hindu 
Dharma.
Across the globe local Sathya Sai Baba groups assemble to sing bhajans
(Hindu devotional songs), study Sathya Sai Baba's teachings, do collective 
community service (called seva), and teach Education in Human
 
Values (Sai Sunday School). Baba's movement is not missionary   [34]  and 
Baba discouraged publicity for him in a public discourse in 1968.[35] 
Bhajans are sung at nearly every meeting with the names of the traditional 
Hindu deities as well as saints and prophets of other religions occasionally 
replaced by Baba's name.
Based on Sathya Sai Baba's teachings, his organisation advocates the five 
basic human values. These values are sathya (truth), dharma (right 
conduct, living in accord with natural law), ahimsa (non­violence), prema
(love for God and all his creatures) and shantih (peace).
Other primary teachings are:
▪  Service and charity (seva) to others.
▪  Love for all creatures and objects
▪  Put a ceiling (limit) on one's desires.
▪  Everything that has been created is maya (illusion), only God is real.
▪  Every creature and object is God in form, though most do not experience 
this as their reality.
▪  Vegetarianism
▪  Detachement from the material world
▪  Meditation ­ Baba teaches four techniques, repetition of the name of 
God, visualising the form of God, sitting in silence and jyoti (Light 
meditation).
▪  Inclusive acceptance of all religions as paths to realizing the One (God).
▪  Importance of bhakti (devotion) to God
▪  Developing virtues and eschewing vices of character
▪  japa and other sadhana (spiritual exercise) to foster devotion.
▪  Reverence for parents, teachers and elders
Sathya Sai Baba's teachings are said to be realized by observing the 
following four principles:
▪  There is only one Caste, the Caste of Humanity;
▪  There is only one Religion, the Religion of Love;
▪  There is only one Language, the Language of the Heart;
▪  There is only One God and He is Omnipresent
Prominent Indian newspaper regularly cite Sathya Sai Baba's teachings 
and publish segments to his discourses [36].
Dominic Kennedy, a journalist from The Times, described his teachings in 
2001 as "a collection of banal truisms and platitudes

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AVATAR MEHER BABA

Eric Solibakke

Merwan Sheriar Irani was born February 25, 1894, in

Poona, India, into a Zoroastrian family. His father, a
genuine seeker for God, was informed by the
Spiritual Hierarchy that God Realization would come
to him through his son. He came out of his desert
retreat, married and established a family. Merwan,
his second son, was an exceptionally fair and loving
boy in all respects, and everyone recognized his high
destiny. He attended the Christian High School and
Deccan College.

Meher Baba, as he came to be called by his

disciples, took up his avataric duties early in 1922
after seven years of intense work with the five
Perfect Masters of the time. Hazrat Babajan, the aged
woman master of Poona, initiated his spiritual
awakening in January, 1914, by kissing him on the
forehead. Almost immediately he entered into a
transcendental state of mind out of touch with
normal gross consciousness. He scarcely ate or slept
for nine months.

Dazed and apparently insane, he made his way

during the next year to Shirdi Sai Baba, the chief of
the five Perfect Masters, who acknowledged him
publically as the Sustainer of the Universe, and sent
him to Upasni Maharaj. As soon as that master saw
the young man approaching, he picked up a stone
and threw it with great force. It struck him on the
forehead exactly where the old woman had kissed
him. Thus began a painful five-year process of
regaining normal consciousness while retaining his
divine state.

During the 1920's he gathered and rigorously

trained his inner circles of disciples while founding an
active spiritual community in Ahmednagar, India,
with schools, hospitals and other public service
projects. In the middle of the decade he became
silent and never again uttered a word. For 44 years
he communicated by spelling words on an alphabet
board and through hand gestures, including two
important books, God Speaks and Discourses.

In 1931 he came to the West for the first time,

traveling on the same ship that took Mahatma
Gandhi to the Round Table Conference in London.
During that voyage, he became Gandhi's spiritual
adviser. In England and America he gathered a select
group of western disciples, some of whom joined him
in India later on. He visited his disciples in the West a
half dozen times before the Second World War.

During the 1940's he traveled all over India in his

work with the poor, with lepers, with the insane and
with masts, a category of mentally disturbed people
seldom found in the West whose afflictions come
from unwise use of powerful spiritual practices,
overwhelming and unbalanced love for God, or
enthrallment by a sudden vision of Divinity. He set up
temporary mad and mast ashrams in every part of
the country where he contacted and served them in
his own silent way.

He established two places of pilgrimage outside of

India during the 1950's, Meher Spiritual Center, in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S.A., and Avatar's
Abode, near Brisbane, Australia. It was necessary to
spill his blood in America, he said, and while there to
dedicate his center, major bones were broken and his
face severely smashed in an car accident. A few
years later he suffered a similar fate in India.

He became well known in the West during the

1960's by opposing the use of LSD and other drugs in
the quest for spiritual experiences. In the last years
he largely withdrew from public life and intensified
his work in seclusion, announcing in the fall of 1968
that his work was completed 100% to his
satisfaction. On January 31, 1969, one month before
his 76th birthday, he left his body, which now lies in
the tomb near Ahmednagar, a place of pilgrimage for
those who love him.

He said that his tomb, called his samadhi, takes the

place of his physical body. For a period of 100 years,
entering his samadhi is equal to coming into his
physical presence. Many pilgrims take advantage of
this opportunity to keep his company. After 70 years,
he said, his samadhi will be the most frequented
place of pilgrimage in the world.
Baba Nityananda was an accomplished and perfectly self realized soul since his birth.
He was a great mistyc master who could transmit the ultimate experience to his devotees 
through his look, touch, thought or sound of the voice.
He was born at the end of the nineteenth century and left his body in 1961, merging with 
the Absolute. His name, “Nityananda” means “Bliss of the Eternal”  and he was the 
perfect and most subtle manifestation of that. 
He was most of the time in deep samadhi, the superconscious state of union with God.
Also known as Bade Baba (elder Baba), he was the Guru of
Swami Muktananda, who often said Bhagawan was a janma
Siddha, a born Siddha or perfected yogi.
In his early years, Bhagawan Nityananda lived in seclusion in
remote areas of Southern India. In later years he came to settle
in the village of Ganeshpuri, in the Indian state of Maharastra. It
was there that he bestowed shaktipat on Swami Muktananda.
The core of Bhagwan Nityananda's teaching is "The heart is the hub of all
sacred places; go there and roam." It was left to Baba Muktananda to put his
teachings into words.
"one must seek the shortest way and the fastest means to
get back home - to turn the spark within into a blaze, to be
merged in and to identify with that greater fire which
ignited the spark" Once one is established in infinite
consciousness, one becomes silent, and though knowing
everything, goes about as if he does not know anything.
Though he might be doing a lot of things in several places,
to all outward appearance, he will remain as if he does
nothing.
Swami Muktananda (1908 - 1982) began the life of a sadhu, a
wandering mendicant in search of spiritual fulfilment, at an
unusually early age. Though as a young man Muktananda gained
recognition for his yogic attainments, Swami Muktananda often
said that his spiritual journey didn't truly begin until he received
shaktipat, spiritual initiation, from the holy man Bhagawan
Nityananda. It was then that Muktananda's spiritual energy,
kundalini, was awakened, and he was drawn into profound states
of meditation. Nine years later Muktananda attained the state of
God-realization.

In the 1970s, on his Guru's behalf, Swami Muktananda brought

the venerable tradition of his master's lineage to the West, giving
the previously little-known shaktipat initiation to untold
thousands of spiritual seekers. Muktananda established Gurudev
Siddha Peeth as a public trust in India to administer the work
there, and founded the SYDA Foundation in the United States
to administer the global work of Siddha Yoga meditation.

Before Muktananda's death in 1982, Swami Muktananda wrote

many books; sixteen are still in print. Muktananda also
established more than six hundred meditation centers and a
number of ashrams around the world. In May 1982, Swami
Muktananda appointed two successors, Swami Chidvilasananda
and her brother, Swami Nityananda.

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HIS HOLINESS SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA

SARASWATI MAHARAJ

Birth and Boyhood

Doctor in Malaya
Renunciation
Sadhana
The Organization
Multimedia Gallery

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD

On Thursday, the 8th. of September, 1887, in the

early hours of the morning, when the star Bharani
was in the ascendant was born a boy-child in the
village of Pattamadai on the bank of the river
Tamraparani in South India. Sri P.S. Vengu Iyer, a
revenue officer and a great Siva Bhakta (devotee of
Lord Siva), and Srimati Parvati Ammal, an equally
great god-fearing lady, were the fortunate parents of
this child. The happy couple christened this last and
third son of theirs Kuppuswamy.

Boy Kuppuswamy was intelligent and mischievous. In

his boyhood itself he showed signs of Tyaga
(renunciation) and love for fellow-beings. He used to
pity the poor, feed the hungry at the door, and make
his father throw a pie into the hands of pauper
passing by. He often got cakes and sweetmeats
from his mother and distributed them liberally to his
younger companions, dogs, cats, crows, and
sparrows, himself not eating a bit. He used to bring
flowers and bael leaves for his father's Siva Puja.

At the Rajah's High School, Ettayapuram, where he

studied, Kuppuswamy always topped the class and
won prizes every year. He had a sweet voice and
wonderful memory. When His Excellency Lord
Ampthil, the Governor of Madras, visited the Kuru
Malai Hills in 1901 for hunting, Kuppuswamy sang a
song of welcome on the Kumarapuram railway
platform. After the completion of the Matriculation
examination, he studied at the S.P.G. College,
Tiruchirapalli. In the college he used to take part in
debates and dramas. He played the part of Helena
beautifully when Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's
Dream" was staged in 1905.

After the completion of the First Arts Examination,

Kuppuswamy went to the Medical School in Tanjore
to study medicine. He used to be tremendously
industrious and never went home during the
holidays. He would spend the entire period in the
hospital. He had free admission into the operation
theater. Kuppuswamy was first in all subjects. He
possessed more knowledge than doctors with
covetable degrees, and in the first year itself he
could answer the papers which the final year
students could not.

Kuppuswamy completed the course and earned the

title of M.B.,C.M. He practiced at Tiruchi. While
practicing, he started a medical journal called "The
Ambrosia". He got one hundred rupees from his
mother for the initial expenses of running the
journal. Later, when his mother wanted a hundred
and fifty rupees for celebrating some festival, Dr.
Kuppuswamy had the money ready for her. Even
then he used to distribute the journal freely; he was
very shy to ask people for contribution.

DOCTOR IN MALAYA (MALAYSIA)

A call came to Dr. Kuppuswamy from Malaya, soon

after the death of his father. He used to have an
adventurous spirit in him. In 1913 he left India in the
"S.S. Tara". Kuppuswamy belonged to an orthodox
Brahmin family and was afraid to take non-
vegetarian food in the ship. So he carried with him a
good quantity of sweets which his mother had
prepared for him. When he arrived in Singapore, he
was almost half dead!

Dr. Kuppuswamy describes his experiences in

Malaya: "Immediately after disembarking, I went to
the residence of Dr. Iyengar. He gave me a letter of
introduction to his friend, Dr. Harold Parsons, a
medical practitioner in Seremban. When I arrived
there, Dr. Parsons introduced me to Mr. A.G. Robins,
the manager of a nearby rubber estate which had its
own hospital. Fortunately for me, Mr. Robins was just
in need of an assistant to work in the Estate Hospital.
He was a terrible man with a violent temper, a giant
figure, tall and stout. He asked me, 'Can you manage
a hospital all by yourself?' I replied 'Yes, I can
manage even three hospitals'. I was appointed at
once. I had been told by a local Indian resident that I
ought not to accept, in accordance with their policy,
anything less than a hundred dollars a month. Mr.
Robins agreed to give me one hundred and fifty to
start with".

The young doctor worked very hard. Unusual

handicaps began to tell upon him and he felt like
resigning the job after some time, but Mr. Robins
would not allow him to go.

Dr. Kuppuswamy was very kind, sympathetic,

humorous, witty, and sweet-speaking. Hopeless
cases came to him, but success was sure.
Everywhere people declared that he had a special
gift from God for the miraculous cures effected in the
patients and acclaimed him as a very kind and
sympathetic doctor with a charming and majestic
personality. In serious cases, he kept vigil all night.
In his private practice, Dr. Kuppuswamy used to
attend to the poor and often not charge them even
visiting or consulting fees. Instead he would give
them money for special diet or to cover their own
expenses after discharge from hospital. He gave
money like water.

Once a poor man, drenched to the skin, came to the

doctor at night. His wife was in birth pangs. The
doctor went there at once to her aid, and after
attending to her, stayed outside the hut in spite of
the heavy rain. Only after the save delivery of the
child did the doctor return home the next morning.

In spite of his busy life, Dr. Kuppuswamy served the

Sadhus, Sannyasins, and beggars. He attended
marriage functions, parties, and other social
gatherings. Once a Sadhu gave him a book "Jiva
Brahma Aikyam" by Sri Swami Satchidananda. It
ignited the dormant spirituality in him. He began to
study the books of Swami Rama Tirtha, Swami
Vivekananda, Sankara, Imitation of Christ, the Bible,
and literature of the Theosophical Society. He was
very regular in his daily worship, prayer and Yoga
Asanas. Study of sacred scriptures like the Gita, the
Mahabharata, the Bhagavata, and the Ramayana
was done with great devotion. Sometimes he
conducted Nandan Charitam and sang Bhajans and
Kirtans. He practiced Anahat Laya Yoga and Swara
Sadhana.

High-class dress, and collection of curious and fancy

articles of gold, silver, and sandalwood always
attracted the doctor. Sometimes he purchased
various kinds of gold rings and necklaces and wore
them all at the same time. He used to wear ten rings
on ten fingers! When he entered shops, he never
wasted his time in selection, haggling, and
bargaining. He gathered all that he saw. He paid the
shopkeepers' bills without scrutiny.

Nothing could tempt the doctor. His heart was as

pure as the Himalayan snow. His immense
philanthropy and spirit of service and renunciation
endeared him to all. People lovingly called him the
"Heart of Love".

The rich doctor did not engage a cook permanently.

He was his own cook though he had work that gave
him no leisure. Occasionally he engaged a cook. One
such cook of his one day wanted to have a
photograph of himself taken. The doctor took him
with great joy to a first class studio, made the cook
put on his own suit, shoes, and hat and had a photo
taken.

RENUNCIATION

As days passed, he reflected more and more and

wanted to renounce the world. His heart was
purified through loving service. At last, Dr.
Kuppuswamy, enjoying a lucrative practice,
renounced the world like Prince Siddartha, in 1923.
He left Malaya for India.

At Madras he proceeded to the house of a friend and

left his luggage there. He began his pilgrimage. At
Benares, he had the Darshan (vision) of Lord
Visvanath. He visited Mahatmas (great souls) and
temples. At Dhalaj, a village on the bank of the
Chandrabaga river, he met a postmaster and lived
with him. He acted as the postmaster's cook, and
when the latter arrived home in the evening, the
doctor was ready to shampoo his legs in spite of his
remonstrances! It was the postmaster who
suggested Rishikesh when the aspiring doctor
wanted a place for solitary meditation.

Dr. Kuppuswamy reached Rishikesh on the 8th of

May, 1924. On the 1st of June, 1924, there came His
Holiness Sri Swami Visvananda Saraswati. The doctor
saw a Guru in the monk and the monk saw a Chela
(disciple) in the doctor. After a brief exchange of
words, Dr. Kuppuswamy was initiated into the
Sannyas order by Swami Visvananda. Swami
Vishnudevanandaji Maharaj, the Mahant of Sri Kailas
Ashram, performed the Viraja Homa ceremonies.
The Guru named the doctor Swami Sivananda
Saraswati. Swami Visvananda wrote the necessary
instructions about Sannyas Dharma from Benares.
Swami Sivanandaji stayed at Swargashram for
Sadhana.

SADHANA
Swami Sivananda dressed to clothe himself, ate to
live, and lived to serve humanity. A small
dilapidated Kutir (hut), not resorted to by others and
infested with scorpions, protected him from rain and
sun. Living in that Kutir, he did intense Tapas
(austerities), observed silence, and fasted. Often he
fasted for days on end. He would keep a good stock
of bread in his room, and for a week have this,
together with Ganges water. He would stand up to
the hips in the ice-cold Ganges in winter mornings
and commence his Japa, coming out only when the
sun appeared. He would spend more than twelve
hours in daily meditation. With all his intense Tapas,
Swamiji did not neglect service of the sick. He
visited the huts of the Sadhus with medicines, served
them, and shampooed their legs. He begged food on
their behalf and fed them with his own hands when
they fell sick. He brought water from the Ganges and
washed their Kutirs. He attended upon cholera and
small-pox cases. If necessary, he kept vigil through
the night by the side of the bed of the ailing Sadhu.
He carried sick persons on his back to the hospital.
With some money from his insurance policy that had
matured, Swamiji started a charitable dispensary at
Lakshmanjula in 1927. He served the pilgrims and
saw Narayana in them.

Swamiji practiced all the various Yogas and studied

the scriptures. After years of intense and unbroken
Sadhana, he enjoyed the bliss of Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
He had come to the end of his spiritual journey.

He used to gather bits of paper and used envelopes,

and stitch them into little notebooks. He entered
some self-instructions in them. Some of the
instructions found in them read thus: "Give up salt,
give up sugar, give up spices, give up vegetables,
give up chutnies, give up tamarind". In another we
read: Serve Bhangis, serve rogues, serve inferiors,
remove faecal matter, clean clothes of Sadhus - take
delight, carry water". In another page: "Do not
revenge, resist not evil, return good for evil, bear
insult and injury". On some neat little pages we again
read: "Forget like a child any injury done by
somebody immediately. Never keep it in the heart. It
kindles hatred. Cultivate Maitri (friendship), Karuna
(compassion), Daya (mercy), Prema (love), Kshama
(forgiveness)". In another paragraph we see:
"Develop good manners, extreme politeness,
courtesy, etiquette, good demeanour, nobility,
gentleness, mildness. Never be rude, harsh, or cruel.
There is nothing to be hated in the world. Hatred is
ignorance. All contempt for anything or being must
be removed through love and Vichara (enquiry)".

Swamiji traveled the whole length and breadth of

India during his Parivrajaka (wandering monk) life.
He visited important places of pilgrimage in the
South, including Rameswaram. He conducted
Sankirtan and delivered lectures. He visited
Aurobindo Ashram and met Maharishi Suddhananda
Bharati. At Ramana Ashram, he had Darshan of Sri
Ramana Maharishi on the Maharishi's birthday. He
sang Bhajans and danced in ecstasy with the
Bhaktas of Ramana. Swamiji went on a trip to Kailas-
Manasarovar and Badri.

THE ORGANIZATION
He returned after the pilgrimage, to Rishikesh, and in
the year 1936 sowed the seed of The Divine Life
Society on the bank of the holy Ganga. He found an
old Kutir, dilapidated and disused, which looked like
an abandoned cowshed. To him it was more than a
palace. It had four 'rooms'. He cleaned the Kutir, and
occupied it. Then, the increasing number of disciples
who sought his lotus-feet, undaunted by forbidding
conditions of living, necessitated expansion. They
found more cowsheds, vacant, but uninhabitably
filthy. In one room, an old cowherd was living; the
others were full of hay and dung. In about a year or
so, the old cowherd also vacated his 'room', and the
Divine Life army completed the occupation. Thus
began the early life of The Divine Life Society.

From this small beginning the Society grew

imperceptibly and it is now the headquarters of a
world-wide Organization having a large number of
Branches both within the country and outside. He
got the Divine Life Society Registered as a Trust in
the year 1936, with the main objects of
dissemination of spiritual knowledge and selfless
service of humanity. The free distribution of spiritual
literature drew a steady flow of disciples of Sri
Swamiji. With the getting of able hands, he started
the various departments of the Society to provide
suitable fields of activity for the purification of their
hearts and to grow spiritually. The publication of the
monthly journal, 'The Divine Life', was commenced in
September 1938, to coincide with the celebration of
his birthday. The world was in grip of the 2nd world-
war and in order to release a continuous stream of
peace-current in the whole world, to help the
distressed minds of the people, he started the
Akhanda Mahamantra Kirtan (non-stop chanting of
the Mahamantra, Hare Rama Hare Rama; Rama
Rama Hare Hare; Hare Krishna Hare Krishna; Krishna
Krishna Hare Hare, round-the-clock) on the 3rd of
December 1943, and also instituted the Lord Sri
Visvanath Mandir with three-time regular worship,
daily, on the 31st December 1943.

Swami Sivananda believed in synthesis in everything,

in Yoga as well as in the alleviation of human
suffering. The Allopathic treatment was inseparable
from him and the Society, even from the earliest
days of his life at Swargashram. He now felt the need
to serve the people with genuine Ayurvedic
preparations out of the rare Himalayan herbs. He
therefore instituted the Sivananda Ayurvedic
Pharmacy in 1945, which now has grown to such an
extent that it is even unable to cope up with the
increasing demands from people.

Swami Sivananda organized the All-world Religions

Federation on the 28th December 1945 and
established the All-world Sadhus Federation on 19th
February 1947. The year 1947 saw a great
expansion in the activities of the Society. It was the
year of the Diamond Jubilee of the Great Soul, when
a number of buildings sprang up. The Yoga-Vedanta
Forest Academy was established in the year 1948 to
give a systematic spiritual training to the resident
Sadhaks, and also to benefit the visiting seekers.

Swami Sivananda undertook a lightning All-India and

Ceylon (Sri Lanka) tour in 1950 to deliver his divine
message throughout the length and breadth of the
country. He virtually awakened the moral and
spiritual consciousness in the hearts of the people.
The effect was tremendous. Since then there was an
incessant flow of seeking souls to the Ashram, as
also a greater inflow of letters from aspirants from
the entire country, which demanded more intense
dissemination of knowledge. The Yoga-Vedanta Forest
Academy Press was established in September 1951,
a powerful means of wide dissemination of
knowledge. Sri Swamiji convened the World
Parliament of Religions in 1953, at the
Sivanandashram.

The small dispensary that was inseparable from

Swami Sivananda, grew slowly and became regular
Hospital with X-Ray and other facilities. The
Sivananda Eye Hospital was formally opened in
December 1957. The Hospital has 10 beds for in-
patients at present and is being expanded to have 30
beds.

The Publication League had published almost all the

writings of the Master and a need was felt by his
disciples to do research in his works. This gave rise to
the establishment of the Sivananda Literature
Research Institute in 1958, which, among many
things, decided to get the works of the Master
translated and published systematically in all the
regional languages in India. Thus the S.L.D.
Committees was established in 1959 which has
Regional Committees for each language.
The Society's Silver Jubilee was celebrated in 1961,
by which time the Master saw the fulfillment of his
mission in his own lifetime.

Swami Sivananda radiated his divine and lofty

message of service, meditation and God-realization
to all parts of the world through his books, running to
more than three hundred, through periodicals and
letters. His devoted disciples are drawn from all
religions, cults and creeds in the world.

Swami Sivananda's Yoga, which he has significantly

called the 'Yoga of Synthesis', effects a harmonious
development of the 'hand', 'head' and 'heart'
through the practice of Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and
Bhakti Yoga.

On the 14th of July 1963, the Great Soul Swami

Sivananda entered Mahasamadhi (departure of a
Self-realized saint from his mortal coil) in his Kutir on
the bank of Ganga, in Shivanandanagar.

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PADRE PIO DA PIETRELCINA

photo
“Far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).

Like the Apostle Paul, Padre Pio da Pietrelcina placed

at the centre of his life and apostolic work the Cross
of his Lord as his strength, his wisdom and his glory.
Inflamed by love of Jesus Christ, he became like him
in the sacrifice of himself for the salvation of the
world. In his following and imitation of the Crucified
Christ he was so generous and perfect that he could
have said: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal
2:20). And the treasures of grace which God had
granted him so lavishly and unceasingly he passed
on through his ministry, serving the men and women
who came to him in ever greater numbers, and
bringing to birth an immense host of spiritual sons
and daughters.

This worthy follower of Saint Francis of Assisi was

born on 25 May 1887 at Pietrelcina in the
Archdiocese of Benevento, the son of Grazio Forgione
and Maria Giuseppa De Nunzio. He was baptized the
next day and given the name Francesco. At the age
of twelve he received the Sacrament of Confirmation
and made his First Holy Communion.

On 6 January 1903, at the age of sixteen, he entered

the novitiate of the Capuchin Friars at Morcone,
where on 22 January he took the Franciscan habit
and the name Brother Pio. At the end of his novitiate
year he took simple vows, and on 27 January 1907
made his solemn profession.

After he was ordained priest on 10 August 1910 at

Benevento, he stayed at home with his family until
1916 for health reasons. In September of that year
he was sent to the friary of San Giovanni Rotondo
and remained there until his death.

Filled with love of God and love of neighbour, Padre

Pio lived to the full his vocation to work for the
redemption of man, in accordance with the special
mission which marked his entire life and which he
exercised through the spiritual direction of the
faithful: the sacramental reconciliation of penitents
and the celebration of the Eucharist. The pinnacle of
his apostolic activity was the celebration of Holy
Mass. The faithful who took part witnessed the
summit and fullness of his spirituality.

On the level of social charity, he committed himself

to relieving the pain and suffering of many families,
chiefly through the foundation of the Casa Sollievo
della Sofferenza (House for the Relief of Suffering),
opened on 5 May 1956.

For Padre Pio, faith was life: he willed everything and

did everything in the light of faith. He was
assiduously devoted to prayer. He passed the day
and a large part of the night in conversation with
God. He would say: “In books we seek God, in prayer
we find him. Prayer is the key which opens God's
heart”. Faith led him always to accept God's
mysterious will.
He was always immersed in supernatural realities.
Not only was he himself a man of hope and total
trust in God, but by word and example he
communicated these virtues to all who approached
him.

The love of God filled him, and satisfied his every

desire; charity was the chief inspiration of his day: to
love God and to help others to love him. His special
concern was to grow in charity and to lead others to
do so.

He demonstrated to the full his love of neighbour by

welcoming, for more than fifty years, countless
people who had recourse to his ministry and his
confessional, his counsel and his consolation. He was
almost besieged: they sought him in church, in the
sacristy, in the friary. And he gave himself to
everyone, rekindling faith, dispensing grace, bringing
light. But especially in the poor, the suffering and the
sick he saw the image of Christ, and he gave himself
particularly to them.

He exercised to an exemplary degree the virtue of

prudence, acting and counselling in the light of God.

His concern was the glory of God and the good of

souls. He treated everyone with justice, frankness
and great respect.

The virtue of fortitude shone in him. He understood

very early in life that his would be the way of the
Cross, and he accepted it at once with courage and
out of love. For many years, he experienced spiritual
sufferings. For years he endured the pains of his
wounds with admirable serenity.

When he had to submit to investigations and

restrictions in his priestly ministry, he accepted
everything with profound humility and resignation. In
the face of unjust accusations and calumnies he
remained silent, trusting always in the judgement of
God, of his immediate superiors and of his own
conscience.

He habitually practised mortification in order to gain

the virtue of temperance, in keeping with the
Franciscan style. He was temperate in his attitude
and in his way of life.

Conscious of the commitments which he had

undertaken when he entered the consecrated life, he
observed with generosity the vows he had professed.
He was obedient in all things to the commands of his
Superiors, even when they were burdensome. His
obedience was supernatural in intention, universal in
its scope and complete in its execution. He lived the
spirit of poverty with total detachment from self,
from earthly goods, from his own comfort and from
honours. He always had a great love for the virtue of
chastity. His behaviour was modest in all situations
and with all people.

He sincerely thought of himself as useless, unworthy

of God's gifts, full of weakness and infirmity, and at
the same time blessed with divine favours. Amid so
much admiration around him, he would say: “I only
want to be a poor friar who prays”.

From his youth, his health was not very robust, and
especially in the last years of his life it declined
rapidly. Sister Death took him well-prepared and
serene on 23 September 1968 at the age of eighty-
one. An extraordinary gathering of people attended
his funeral.

On 20 February 1971, barely three years after the

death of Padre Pio, Pope Paul VI, speaking to the
Superiors of the Capuchin Order, said of him: “Look
what fame he had, what a worldwide following
gathered around him! But why? Perhaps because he
was a philosopher? Because he was wise? Because
he had resources at his disposal? Because he said
Mass humbly, heard confessions from dawn to dusk
and was – it is not easy to say it – one who bore the
wounds of our Lord. He was a man of prayer and
suffering”.

Even during his lifetime, he enjoyed a vast reputation

for sanctity, because of his virtues, his spirit of
prayer, sacrifice and total dedication to the good of
souls.

In the years following his death, his reputation for

sanctity and miracles grew steadily, and became
established in the Church, all over the world and
among all kinds of people.

God thus showed the Church his desire to glorify on

earth his faithful servant. In a short time the
Capuchin Order took the steps prescribed by canon
law to begin the Cause of Beatification and
Canonization. After examining the case, the Holy
See, in accordance with the norm of the Motu Proprio
“Sanctitas Clarior”, granted the nihil obstat on 29
November 1982. The Archbishop of Manfredonia was
thus enabled to introduce the Cause and set up the
informative process (1983- 1990). On 7 December
1990, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
recognized its juridical validity. When the Positio had
been completed, there was the usual discussion on
whether the Servant of God had exercised the virtues
to a heroic degree. On 13 June 1997 the Special
Meeting of the Theological Consultors was held and
gave a positive judgement. In the Ordinary Session
on 21 October 1997, with Bishop Andrea Maria Erba
of Velletri-Segni, the Proposer of the Cause, together
with the Cardinals and Bishops, recognized that
Padre Pio da Pietrelcina had lived to a heroic degree
the theological, cardinal and associated virtues.

On 18 December 1997, in the presence of Pope John

Paul II, the Decree on heroic virtue was promulgated.

For the Beatification of Padre Pio, the Postulation

presented to the competent Congregation the
healing of Signora Consiglia De Martino of Salerno.
The regular canonical process on this case was held
at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Archdiocese of
Salerno-Campagna-Acerno from July 1996 to June
1997. On 30 April 1998 at the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints the Medical Board examined the
miracle, and on 22 June 1998 the Special Meeting of
Theological Consultors gave its judgement. On 20
October 1998 the Ordinary Congregation of the
Cardinals and Bishops belonging to the Congregation
was held in the Vatican. On 21 December 1998 in the
presence of Pope John Paul II the Decree on the
miracle was promulgated.

On 2 May 1999, in the course of a solemn

concelebrated Mass in St Peter's Square, Pope John
Paul II by his apostolic authority beatified the
Venerable Servant of God Padre Pio of Pietrelcina,
naming 23 September as the date of his liturgical
feast.

For the canonization of Blessed Padre Pio of

Pietrelcina the Postulation presented to the
competent Dicastery the cure of the young Matteo
Pio Colella of San Giovanni Rotondo. The regular
canonical process on the case was held at the
Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Diocese of Manfredonia-
Vieste from 11 June to 17 October 2000. On 23
October the documents were forwarded to the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On 21
November 2001 the medical testimony was
examined by the same Congregation. The
Theological Consultors held a special Congress on 11
December and on 18 December the ordinary Session
of Cardinals and Bishops took place. On 20
December, in the presence of John Paul II, the Decree
on the miracle was promulgated. Finally, on 28
February 2002 the Decree of Canonization was
promulgated.
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Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian.

By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I
belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely
to the Heart of Jesus. ”Small of stature, rocklike in
faith, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was entrusted with
the mission of proclaiming God’s thirsting love for
humanity, especially for the poorest of the poor.
“God still loves the world and He sends you and me
to be His love and His compassion to the poor.” She
was a soul filled with the light of Christ, on fire with
love for Him and burning with one desire: “to quench
His thirst for love and for souls.”

This luminous messenger of God’s love was born on

26 August 1910 in Skopje, a city situated at the
crossroads of Balkan history. The youngest of the
children born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu, she was
baptised Gonxha Agnes, received her First
Communion at the age of five and a half and was
confirmed in November 1916. From the day of her
First Holy Communion, a love for souls was within
her. Her father’s sudden death when Gonxha was
about eight years old left in the family in financial
straits. Drane raised her children firmly and lovingly,
greatly influencing her daughter’s character and
vocation. Gonxha’s religious formation was further
assisted by the vibrant Jesuit parish of the Sacred
Heart in which she was much involved.

At the age of eighteen, moved by a desire to become

a missionary, Gonxha left her home in September
1928 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. There she
received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St.
Thérèse of Lisieux. In December, she departed for
India, arriving in Calcutta on 6 January 1929. After
making her First Profession of Vows in May 1931,
Sister Teresa was assigned to the Loreto Entally
community in Calcutta and taught at St. Mary’s
School for girls. On 24 May 1937, Sister Teresa made
her Final Profession of Vows, becoming, as she said,
the “spouse of Jesus” for “all eternity.” From that
time on she was called Mother Teresa. She continued
teaching at St. Mary’s and in 1944 became the
school’s principal. A person of profound prayer and
deep love for her religious sisters and her students,
Mother Teresa’s twenty years in Loreto were filled
with profound happiness. Noted for her charity,
unselfishness and courage, her capacity for hard
work and a natural talent for organization, she lived
out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her
companions, with fidelity and joy.

On 10 September 1946 during the train ride from

Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, Mother
Teresa received her “inspiration,” her “call within a
call.” On that day, in a way she would never explain,
Jesus’ thirst for love and for souls took hold of her
heart and the desire to satiate His thirst became the
driving force of her life. Over the course of the next
weeks and months, by means of interior locutions
and visions, Jesus revealed to her the desire of His
heart for “victims of love” who would “radiate His
love on souls.” “Come be My light,” He begged
her. “I cannot go alone.” He revealed His pain at the
neglect of the poor, His sorrow at their ignorance of
Him and His longing for their love. He asked Mother
Teresa to establish a religious community,
Missionaries of Charity, dedicated to the service of
the poorest of the poor. Nearly two years of testing
and discernment passed before Mother Teresa
received permission to begin. On August 17, 1948,
she dressed for the first time in a white, blue-
bordered sari and passed through the gates of her
beloved Loreto convent to enter the world of the
poor.

After a short course with the Medical Mission Sisters

in Patna, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta and
found temporary lodging with the Little Sisters of the
Poor. On 21 December she went for the first time to
the slums. She visited families, washed the sores of
some children, cared for an old man lying sick on the
road and nursed a woman dying of hunger and TB.
She started each day in communion with Jesus in the
Eucharist and then went out, rosary in her hand, to
find and serve Him in “the unwanted, the unloved,
the uncared for.” After some months, she was joined,
one by one, by her former students.
On 7 October 1950 the new congregation of the
Missionaries of Charity was officially established in
the Archdiocese of Calcutta. By the early 1960s,
Mother Teresa began to send her Sisters to other
parts of India. The Decree of Praise granted to the
Congregation by Pope Paul VI in February 1965
encouraged her to open a house in Venezuela. It was
soon followed by foundations in Rome and Tanzania
and, eventually, on every continent. Starting in 1980
and continuing through the 1990s, Mother Teresa
opened houses in almost all of the communist
countries, including the former Soviet Union, Albania
and Cuba.

In order to respond better to both the physical and

spiritual needs of the poor, Mother Teresa founded
the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963, in 1976
the contemplative branch of the Sisters, in 1979 the
Contemplative Brothers, and in 1984 the
Missionaries of Charity Fathers. Yet her inspiration
was not limited to those with religious vocations. She
formed the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick
and Suffering Co-Workers, people of many faiths and
nationalities with whom she shared her spirit of
prayer, simplicity, sacrifice and her apostolate of
humble works of love. This spirit later inspired the
Lay Missionaries of Charity. In answer to the requests
of many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began
the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests as a “little
way of holiness” for those who desire to share in her
charism and spirit.

During the years of rapid growth the world began to

turn its eyes towards Mother Teresa and the work she
had started. Numerous awards, beginning with the
Indian Padmashri Award in 1962 and notably the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, honoured her work, while
an increasingly interested media began to follow her
activities. She received both prizes and attention “for
the glory of God and in the name of the poor.”

The whole of Mother Teresa’s life and labour bore

witness to the joy of loving, the greatness and
dignity of every human person, the value of little
things done faithfully and with love, and the
surpassing worth of friendship with God. But there
was another heroic side of this great woman that was
revealed only after her death. Hidden from all eyes,
hidden even from those closest to her, was her
interior life marked by an experience of a deep,
painful and abiding feeling of being separated from
God, even rejected by Him, along with an ever-
increasing longing for His love. She called her inner
experience, “the darkness.” The “painful night” of
her soul, which began around the time she started
her work for the poor and continued to the end of her
life, led Mother Teresa to an ever more profound
union with God. Through the darkness she mystically
participated in the thirst of Jesus, in His painful and
burning longing for love, and she shared in the
interior desolation of the poor.

During the last years of her life, despite increasingly

severe health problems, Mother Teresa continued to
govern her Society and respond to the needs of the
poor and the Church. By 1997, Mother Teresa’s
Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members and were
established in 610 foundations in 123 countries of
the world. In March 1997 she blessed her newly-
elected successor as Superior General of the
Missionaries of Charity and then made one more trip
abroad. After meeting Pope John Paul II for the last
time, she returned to Calcutta and spent her final
weeks receiving visitors and instructing her Sisters.
On 5 September Mother Teresa’s earthly life came to
an end. She was given the honour of a state funeral
by the Government of India and her body was buried
in the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity.
Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and
prayer for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike.
Mother Teresa left a testament of unshakable faith,
invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her
response to Jesus’ plea, “Come be My light,”
made her a Missionary of Charity, a “mother to the
poor,” a symbol of compassion to the world, and a
living witness to the thirsting love of God.

Less than two years after her death, in view of

Mother Teresa’s widespread reputation of holiness
and the favours being reported, Pope John Paul II
permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization.
On 20 December 2002 he approved the decrees of
her heroic virtues and miracles.
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Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II), (Italian: Giovanni

Paolo II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (help∙info) (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 
2005) reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from October 16, 1978 until 
his death more than 26 years later, making his the second­longest 
pontificate in modern times after Pius IX's 31­year reign. He was the first 
(and only) Polish Pope and the first non­Italian Pope since the Dutch 
Adrian VI in the 1520s. According to the Time 100, he is one of only four 
people in history to have shaped both the 20th century and the early 21st.
His early reign was marked by his opposition to communism, and he is 
often credited as one of the forces which contributed to its collapse in 
Eastern Europe.[1] In the later part of his pontificate, he was notable for 
speaking against consumerism, unrestrained capitalism, war, dictatorship, 
fascism, abortion, relativism and what he deemed the "culture of death". 
During his reign, the pope traveled extensively, visiting over 100 countries, 
more than any of his predecessors. As part of his special emphasis on the 
universal call to holiness, he canonized a great many people. He was Pope 
during a period in which Catholicism's influence declined in developed 
countries but expanded in the Third World.
John Paul II was fluent in numerous languages: his native Polish and also 
Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Croatian, Portuguese, Russian 
and Latin.
In 1992, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. On 2 April 2005 at 
9:37 p.m. local time, Pope John Paul II died in the Papal Apartments while 
a vast crowd kept vigil in Saint Peter's Square below. Millions of people 
flocked to Rome to pay their respects to the body and for his funeral. The 
last years of his reign had been marked by his fight against the various 
diseases ailing him, provoking some concerns that he should abdicate. On 
May 9, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, John Paul II's successor, waived the five 
year waiting period for a cause for beatification to be opened.[2]