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Prem Rawat
Born	December 10, 1957 Haridwar, India
Spouse	Marolyn Rawat
Children	Premlata Rawat, Hans Rawat, Dayalata Rawat, Amar Rawat.
Parent(s)	Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, Rajeshwari Devi

Prem Rawat (b. Prem Pal Singh Rawat, December 10, 1957 in Haridwar, India) also known as Maharaji (formerly Guru Maharaj Ji) and Balyogeshwar has been a speaker on the subject of inner peace since the age of eight, as well as offering instruction of four meditation techniques he calls Knowledge.

In June 1971, Rawat left India to speak in London, Paris, Heidelberg and Los Angeles, where he was the subject of substantial media attention. Tens of thousands were immediately attracted to his message, largely from the hippie culture. Rawat made his home in the U.S. and began touring and teaching world wide. When he turned 16, Rawat became an emancipated minor and was able to take a more active role in guiding the movement.

Over time, his teachings became more universal and less Indian, and in the early 1980s he dropped the title "Guru" and abandoned the Indian traditions from which the techniques originated. In 2001 The Prem Rawat Foundation was established to contribute to global humanitarian efforts and to promote his message, which is now available throughout the world via print, TV, cable and satellite. Rawat continues to tour extensively.

Rawat has been criticized for lack of intellectual content in his teachings, and for leading a sumptuous lifestyle.

Childhood

Prem Rawat was born in Haridwar, northern India, on December 10, 1957. The fourth and youngest son of guru Shri Hans Ji Maharaj and his second wife, Jagat Janani Mata Shri Rajeshwari Devi, Rawat attended St. Joseph's Academy elementary school in his hometown of Dehra Dun. At the age of three he began speaking at his father's meetings, and when he was six his father taught him the "techniques of Knowledge." During the 1960s Americans in India searching for spiritual guidance discovered his father's Divine Light Mission, founded in 1960, and a few became initiates (i.e., “premies,” or “lovers of God”). When his father died in 1966, the eight-year-old Rawat was accepted by his family and his father's followers as the new Satguru. From that time on, Rawat spent his weekends and school holidays travelling as his father had, addressing audiences on the subject of Knowledge and inner peace.

In the late 1960s, British followers in India invited him to visit the West. In 1969 he sent one of his closest Indian students (known as Mahatmas) to London to teach Knowledge on his behalf. An article in Time Magazine at that time reported that his mother and three older brothers kissed his feet as a demonstration of worship. In 1970, many of his new Western followers flew to India to see him, and were present at India Gate, Delhi, when, still only twelve years old, he delivered an address known as "The Peace Bomb," which marked the start of his international work.

Adolescence

On 17 June 1971, at the age of thirteen and during his school holidays, Prem Rawat flew to England without his family. His arrival attracted substantial media interest. On 20 June, he spoke at the Glastonbury Fayre, and on 17 July, after brief trips to Paris and Heidelberg, flew to Los Angeles to begin an American tour.. A number of Americans were initiated into the Knowledge meditation some of whom became committed followers, setting up an organisation called Divine Light Mission Incorporated. This entity was registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a church with its headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. A separate DLM was created in the UK in 1972, subsequently other Nationally independent DLM organisations were created in Australia, South Africa, and Canada, as well as in several European and South American countries.

In October, Prem Rawat returned to India to celebrate the anniversary of his father's birth, and in 1972 came back to America, this time accompanied by his mother, eldest brother Satpal, and an entourage of mahatmas and other Indian supporters. A festival which the newly formed American Divine Light Mission held in Montrose, Colorado was attended by 2000 people. An article in Time Magazine reported that his mother and three older brothers kissed his feet when they were in his presence as a demonstration of worship.

An event in August 1973 threatened to destroy the Rawat movement’s claim to be concerned with ‘peace’. Following an incident in which the young Rawat had a shaving foam ‘pie thrown in his face, the pie thrower, radical journalist Pat Halley was viciously attacked with a hammer by devotees of Guru Maharaj Ji.

In November 1973, Divine Light Mission booked the Houston Astrodome for "Millennium '73," a three-day celebration of the birthday of Prem Rawat's father. The attendance was estimated at twenty thousand. The event was covered satirically in the award-winning U.S. documentary Lord of the Universe broadcast by PBS Television in 1974. The documentary featured Rennie Davis, a former member of the Chicago Seven, speaking for the group, counter-pointed by Abbie Hoffman, another Chicago Seven member, who commented: "If this guy is God, this is the God the United States of America deserves." When asked in 1971 if he was God, Rawat replied: "No. My Knowledge is God."

Schism

The rapid growth in Prem Rawat’s following presented challenges both to Rawat and to his followers. According to Foss and Larkin, by 1973 the American Divine Light Mission had developed a centralized bureaucracy with “rampant titleism and a penchant for office forms and organizational charts” and that while “failures and bungling were repeatedly demonstrated on the part of the Mission staff the symbolic form of organizational seriousness and managerial competence had a compelling emotional appeal to both the Mission staff itself and to many potential converts”. Foss and Larkin go on to say that “the significance of the activities of the Mission lay in "service" to and execution of the "Divine Plan" of Guru Maharaj Ji, Perfect Master and Lord of the Universe. But Guru Maharaj Ji was himself a supremely incongruous divinity: chubby, squat, enamoured of expensive cars and other gadgets, and in no way saintly in his dealings with his followers.”

Rawat’s own role within the Mission organisation was poorly defined, part honorary CEO, part source of divine wisdom; Foss and Larkin quote from a DLM board meeting: “Once we had a board meeting with Maharaj Ji and we had all these reports from him. Michael (Bergman), who was treasurer at the time, said to Maharaji Ji, "I remember just before Millennium you told me that if I had only told you about the money shortage you would have given me grace to get the money together. I'd like to officially ask for grace now because we really need it!" Maharaj Ji laughed and said, "Don't ask for grace officially because if you do I'll give you what I have in my pocket-two cents. Work hard and grace will come." This ambiguity in Prem Rawat’s role within the Mission organisation was reflected in the minds of rank and file followers.

Prem Rawat, along with his brothers and mother was able to set, or at least influence Mission policy; Foss and Larkin describe how abrupt changes brought about by competing decisions made by different members of the Rawat family were rationalised by followers in terms of ‘Divine Lila’, essentially a game played by supra mortals whose motives were incomprehensible to mere devotees.

Maeve Price, writing primarily about the UK DLM has suggested that the rapid growth of a large membership had left organizers (and by implication the Rawat family) without a clear idea where to lead the following and as a consequence “the mission moved into a recessionary phase which lasted until the Autumn of 1975". Price identifies the most significant contribution to the weakening of the mission (in terms of loss of members and decline in recruitment), as being the marriage of Prem Rawat and the subsequent conflict within the Rawat family.

Despite being only 16 Prem Rawat was able to marry without his mother’s permission having achieved emancipated minor status in California and in May 1974 he married 25-year-old Marolyn Johnson, one of his American followers. The marriage was disapproved of by Prem Rawat's mother and two of his elder brothers, as well as by many of his Indian devotees and it provided a focal point for a schism within the international Divine Light Mission. The movement split into Eastern and Western branches with the majority of American and European adherents remaining faithful to Prem Rawat.

Interegnum

Prior to Prem Rawat’s marriage, the Rawat family had collectively formed the DLM movement’s international leadership hierarchy. The family conflict and consequent religious schism was accompanied by a period of doctrinal instability in the American and European DLM. Prem Rawat’s mother issued a damning indictment of her youngest son and series of legal claims were pursued by the administrators of the Indian DLM to ensure Prem Rawat was denied any claim on Mission property and the eldest Rawat son, then know as Balbagwan Ji, now Satal Maharaj was declared the new DLM satguru.

Separated from its Indian root the portion of the DLM movement loyal to Prem Rawat underwent a series of fluctuating changes, there was an attempt to smother its Hinduistic background and Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) was emphasized as a personification of ideology with a consequent diminution of the significance Hans Ram Singh Rawat, the movement's founder. Initiation policy underwent change, before 1975 it was sufficient to have a desperate longing for "Knowledge", after 1975 one had to accept Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) as a personal saviour in order to become a member. Although Prem Rawat's marriage had precipited the crisis in which change was engendered Prem Rawat was not the only originator of change and leadership competition within the American DLM movement was only resolved by the departure of among others, the DLM president Robert Mishler

Charismatic Leadership

With his mother and eldest brother having no legal claim within the US, and with opposition from within the American organization neutralized, Prem Rawat was free to exercise the role of lone charismatic leader to the Western branch of the Divine Light Mission. The first evidence of assertion of his control came in late 1976 when a policy of ashram closures that had been begun earlier that year under Mishler’s influence was reversed, while at the same time moves towards democratisation within the DLM following were curtailed Devotionalism became an even greater aspect of Prem Rawat’s ‘teaching’ and the millenarian ideology of the early 1970s fell from use. As the single charismatic leader, unencumbered by competing family members or challenged by assertive officials Prem Rawat reprised, albeit in a north American context, the distinctive role of a Sant Mat Guru.

Membership of Prem Rawat’s following had begun to change from 1975, according to Derks and Lans pre 1975 followers had been attracted by DLM’s Hinduistic ideology which “offered them an opportunity to legitimate their already existing rejection of the Western utilitarian world view”, while after 1975 new members included those who “had been very religious in their preadolescent years.” Derks and Lans suggest that this preadolescent religiosity, primarily Christian had been lost in adolescence but refound in the ‘satsang’ of Divine Light Mission. The new followers came to see Prem Rawat and their relationship with him as a source of continuous religious experience making Rawat much more important for them than he had been for many of the pre 1975 members.

In the mid-1970s several ex-members became vocal critics of Rawat's movement, including Robert Mishler, the former president of DLM. A number of these critics made claims of brainwashing and mind control. Although there were still residues of belief in his divinity, by 1976 the vast majority of students viewed Rawat primarily as their spiritual teacher, guide and inspiration. In January 1976 Rawat encouraged students to leave the ashrams and to discard Indian customs and terminology.

His appearance at an event on 20 December 1976 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, wearing a traditional Krishna costume for the first time since 1975, signaled a resurgence of devotion and Indian influence. His followers returned to elevating Rawat to a higher level in the conveyance of "Knowledge", with many returning to ashram life and shifting back from secular tendencies towards ritual and messianic beliefs. In 1977 Rawat became a US citizen.

By 1979 Rawat's following was still considerable, despite rising mistrust of cults. His tens of thousands of followers in the West do not see themselves as members of a religion, but the adherents of a system of teachings that extol the goal of enjoying life to the full. Staff at the Denver headquarters were reduced from 250 to 80. In 1979, Rawat moved to Miami Beach, Florida with his wife and three children, and DLM headquarters relocated there. Prem Rawat returned to India in October 1980 after an absence of five years, and spoke to over 38,000 people in Delhi. He also toured South America and Europe that year.

Westernization

In the early 1980s, the Hindu traditions and religious parables that had been prominent in Prem Rawat's teachings were abandoned as obstacles to a wider western acceptance of his message, and gave way to an exclusive focus on "Knowledge", a set of instructions about living life. Formerly considered the "Perfect Master", Prem Rawat abandoned his "almost divine status as guru". Spiritual growth was no longer attained by the grace of the guru, but from the teachings and their benefit to individuals.

In 1983 the downsized Divine Light Mission changed its name to Elan Vital, and Rawat closed the last western ashrams, marking the end of his use of Indian methods for international objectives.

Rawat continued to teach the techniques of Knowledge and affirmed his own status as a master rather than a divine leader. The original religious movement was essentially defunct. Scholars such as Kranenborg and Chryssides describe the departure from divine connotations, and the new emphasis that the Knowledge is universal, rather than Indian.Sociologist Hunt claims that Rawat "left his more ascetic life behind and does not personally eschew material possessions. Over time, critics have focused on what appears to be his opulent lifestyle and argue that it is supported largely by the donations of his followers. His tens of thousands of followers in the West see themselves as adherents to a system of teachings that extol the goal of enjoying life to the full."

He toured extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and spoke publicly in over 40 countries, in places as culturally diverse as Japan, Taiwan, the Ivory Coast, Slovenia and Venezuela. 1999 saw the commencement of regular satellite broadcasts to North America and other countries.

2000s

Between January 2004 and June 2005, Prem Rawat delivered 117 addresses in Asia, Europe, and North America focusing on a universal message of peace and self-fulfillment. His message is currently distributed in eighty-eight countries in print and on video, and his program Words of Peace is broadcast on TV channels such as Canal Infinito in South America, Channel 31 in Australia, Eurobird: SKY Open Access 2 in Europe and Dish Network in the U.S.A.

In 2001, The Prem Rawat Foundation was founded as a Public Charitable Organization, largely for the production and distribution of materials promoting Rawat's message. TPRF also funds world-wide humanitarian efforts, providing food, water and medical help to war-torn and impoverished areas. In 2007 after an evaluation by the Better Business Bureau, TPRF became a Recommended Charity of the Wise Giving Alliance.

In 2005, Prem Rawat introduced The Keys, a program of five DVD packs which prepare the student for receiving Knowledge. The techniques are taught in Key Six, a multimedia presentation produced in fifty languages.

In 2007, during a two-month tour of India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, Prem Rawat spoke at 36 events, addressing over 800,000 people, and by live satellite broadcasts reached an additional 2.25 million.

Teachings

Prem Rawat teaches a process of self-discovery using four meditation techniques to which only he has the keys, that can take "all your senses that have been going outside all your life, turn them around and put them inside to feel and to actually experience you."

His early western discourses were based largely on references from Indian mythology. After his marriage in 1974, he began to draw more on his growing personal experiences as a teacher, parent and international traveller, and colored his talks with stories and allegories. According to several scholars, his teachings began in the traditions of the North Indian Sants, who dismiss ritual and dogma and focus on direct inner experience. In accordance with Sant precepts he has never developed a systematic doctrine, and the core of his teaching has remained the process of self-discovery, summed up by his statement, "That which you are looking for is within you."

Practitioners describe Knowledge as internal and highly individual, with no associated social structure, liturgy, ethical practices or articles of faith. Rawat advises students that for maximum benefit the techniques should be practised daily for at least one hour..

Reception

Estimates of the number of Rawat's adherents vary, and became less certain over time. Petersen states that Rawat claimed 7 million followers worldwide in 1973, with 60,000 in the US. Rudin & Rudin give a worldwide following of 6 million prior to the family schism of 1974, of which 50,000 were in the US. According to these authors, these figures had fallen to 1.2 million for Prem Rawat's personal worldwide following in 1980, of which just 15,000 were in the US. In 1997, Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View estimated a general membership of appoximately 1.2 million worldwide, with 50,000 in the U.S.

Army Pamphlet 165-13 (1978, reprinted 2001) estimates for the US 50,000 adherents, of which 10,000 to 12,000 very active. Melton & Moore suggest a US following of no more than 3,000 committed followers in 1982 out of some 50,000 who had been initiated into the Knowledge meditation. By 1993 it was no longer possible to obtain estimates from Rawat's organisations. The Prem Rawat Foundation publishes annual reports regarding its finances and activities, available through its website.

Several scholars have criticized Rawat's teachings. Kent described a Rawat talk as banal. Others have described them as lacking in intellectual content, and as emphasizing the superiority of subjective emotional experience over intellect. James Randi described Rawat as a fraud.

Some of the criticism leveled at Prem Rawat derives from Bob Mishler, a former president of DLM, and Robert Hand after they parted ways with Prem Rawat in the 1970s. According to Melton, Mishler's complaints — that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaji's personal use — found little support and did not affect the progress of the Mission.

Other

Prem Rawat holds an Airline Transport Pilot License and has type ratings for a number of multi-engined aircraft and helicopters. He is listed as co-inventor on a U.S. patent for a world-time aviational watch.

Footnotes

1. Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN -10: 0-9788694-9-4, pp.206, 215, 219 and 233
2. ^ Mangalwadi, Vishal The World of Gurus revised edition Cornerstone Pr Chicago; Revised edition (July 1992) ISBN 094089503X, pp 137-138
   The Divine Light Mission has not been interested in teachings and philosophies. Balyogeshwar and his brother have consistently rejected "theoretical" knowledge as "useless." I found the DLM devotees most difficult to talk to, because they neither wanted to teach their philosophy to me nor answer philosophical questions and objections. Their one comment was "Take the practical knowledge of the experience of Sound and Light and all your doubts and questions will be answered."
3. ^ Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press -ISBN -10: 0-9788694-9-4
4. Hadden, Religions of the World, pp.428"The meditation techniques the Maharaji teaches today are the same he learned from his father, Hans Ji Maharaj, who, in turn, learned them from his spiritual teacher ." 'Knowledge', claims Maharaji, 'is a way to be able to take all your senses that have been going outside all your life, turn them around and put them inside to feel and to actually experience you...'
5. Goring, Rosemary (Ed.) Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (1997) p.145. Wordsworth Editions, ISBN 1853263540
6. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. pp.141-2. Entry: Divine Light Mission "In 1970 Maharaj Ji announced his plans to carry the knowledge throughout the world and the following year, against his mother’s wishes, made his first visit to the West. A large crowd came to Colorado the next year to hear him give his first set of discourses in America. Many were initiated and became the core of the Mission in the United States. Headquarters were established in Denver, and by the end of 1973, tens of thousands had been initiated, and several hundred centers as well as over twenty ashrams formed.
7. Geaves, Ron, From Totapuri to Maharaji: Reflections on a Lineage (Parampara), paper delivered to the 27th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, Regents Park College, Oxford, 22–24 March 2002 Abstract: During the early years of the 1970s, Divine Light Mission experienced phenomenal growth in the West. The teachings of the young Guru Maharaji (now known as Maharaji), based upon an experience of fulfilment arrived at by four techniques that focused attention inward, spread quickly to Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Japan, South America, Australasia, Canada and the USA. Today, the teachings have gone worldwide to over 80 countries.
8. Downton, Sacred Journeys. "Nearly sixteen, he was ready to assume a more active part in deciding what direction the movement should take. This of course meant that he had to encroach on his mother's territory and, given the fact that she was accustomed to having control, a fight was inevitable."
9. Geaves, Ron, in Christopher Partridge (Eds.), New Religions: A Guide. New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities. pp.201-202, Oxford University Press, U.S.A. (2004) ISBN 978-0195220421. "As Maharaji began to grow older and establish his teachings worldwide he increasingly desired to manifest his own vision of development and growth. This conflict resulted in a split between Maharaji and his family, ostensibly caused by his mother's inability to accept Maharaji's marriage to an American follower rather than the planned traditional arranged marriage."
10. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia of American Religions. "In the early 1980s, Maharaj Ji moved to disband the Divine Light Mission and he personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion. Disbanding the mission, he founded Elan Vital, an organization essential to his future role as teacher."
11. "The Prem Rawat Foundation website".
12. Schnabel, Tussen stigma en charisma ("Between stigma and charisma"), 1982. Ch. IV, p. 99:

    de intellectueel weinig opmerkelijke Maharaj Ji.

    the intellectually quite unremarkable Maharaj Ji.

13. Barret, David V. The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions. Pg 65. Cassel (2003). ISBN 1844030407.
14. "Guru Tries to Take Control of Mission" in The Ruston Daily Leader, April 9, 1975: "Earlier this month, the guru's mother issued a statement in New Delhi saying she had disowned her son because of his pursuit of 'a despicable, nonspiritual way of life.' Sources close to Rajeshwari Devi said she was upset because of her son's materialistic lifestyle, including a fondness for expensive homes and sports cars, and because of his marriage last year to his secretary."
15. ^ Hunt, Stephen J. Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp.116-7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8
    The teachings provide a kind of practical mysticism. Maharaji speaks not of God, but of the god or divinity within, the power that gives existence. He has occasionally referred to the existence of the two gods—the one created by humankind and the one which creates humankind. Although such references apparently suggest an acceptance of a creative, loving power, he distances himself and his teachings from any concept of religion. It is not clear whether it is possible to receive Knowledge from anyone other than Maharaji. He claims only to encourage people to "experience the present reality of life now." Leaving his more ascetic life behind him, he does not personally eschews material possessions. Over time, critics have focused on what appears to be his opulent lifestyle and argue that it is supported largely by the donations of his followers. However, deliberately keeping a low profile has meant that the movement has generally managed to escape the gaze of publicity that surrounds other NRMs."
16. A.Cagan. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. p3.
17. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, pp.141-2. Entry: Divine Light Mission "Just six years after the founding of the Mission, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was succeeded by his younger son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who was eight when he was recognized as the new Perfect Master and assumed the title, Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji had been recognized as spiritually adept, even within the circle of the Holy Family, as Shri Hans' family was called. He had been initiated at the age of six He assumed the role of Perfect Master at his father's funeral by telling the disciples who had gathered. Though officially the autocratic leader of the Mission, because of Maharaji's age authority was shared by the whole family."
18. ^ Time Magazine, 2 November, 1972. "Junior Guru" Cite error: The named reference "Time1972" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
19. Geaves, Ron, Globalization, Charisma, Innovation and Tradition: An Exploration of the Transformations in the Organisational Vehicles for the Transmission of the Teachings of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), 2006. "Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies," 2 44-62. "There had been a presence in the UK since 1969, located in a basement flat in West Kensington and then in a semi-detached house in Golders Green, North London. This had come about as a result of four young British members of the counter-culture taking the ‘hippy trail’ to India in 1968 discovering the young Prem Rawat and his teachings and requesting that a ‘mahatma’ be sent to London who could promote the message and show interested individuals the four techniques known as ‘knowledge’.
20. Navbharat Times, 10 November 1970 (from Hindi original) "A three-day event in commemoration of Sri Hans Ji Maharaj, the largest procession in Delhi history of 18 miles of processionists culminating in a public event at India Gate, where Sant Ji Maharaj addressed the large gathering" Hindustan Times, 9 November 1970 (English)"Roads in the Capital spilled over with 1,000,000 processionists, men, women and children marched from Indra Prasha Estate to the India Gate lawn. People had come from all over the country and belonged to several religions. A few Europeans dressed in white were also in the procession." Guinness Book of World Records, 1970
21. Kranenborg, Reender. Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westenpp.64
    English translation "This prediction comes true very soon. In 1969 Maharaj ji sends the first disciple to the West. In the next year he holds a speech for an audience of thousands of people in Delhi. This speech is known as 'the peace bomb' and is the start of the great mission to the West." Dutch original "Deze voorspelling gaat al snel in vervulling. In 1969 stuurt Maharaj ji de eerste discipel naar het Westen. In het daaropvolgende jaar houdt hij een toespraak in Delhi voor een gehoor van duizenden mensen. Deze toespraak staat bekend als 'de 'vredesbom' en is het begin van de grote zending naar het Westen."
22. Pryor, The Survival of the Coolest, p. 148.
23. The Daily Telegraph 21.06.2007Available Online
    Nick Lowe on Maharaji's visit, 1971 I played the Glastonbury Fayre with Brinsley Schwarz to about 1,500 people in a field. It's heresy to say this, but I couldn't bear it - it was so cold and muddy. My abiding memory is of Maharaji, the teenage guru, turning up in a flower-bedecked Ford Zephyr, followed by all these weird Americans. He wanted to address his people while we were in the middle of a really good gig. There was no security in those days, and when we wouldn't get off, the flower children became more and more nasty. We'd finish a tune, and they'd say "The master is here!" Then huge chunks of metal started being dropped on us from the pyramid by his more enthusiastic followers, and eventually they drove us off the stage. He got on, asked the audience for money, got back in his car and cleared off.
24. Ibid.Finch, Michael 11.02.2003 "Maharaji's Start in the West".
25. Colorado Secretary of State Corporate Record
26. California Secretary of State Corporate Record
27. Charity Commission Registration Number 264682 Available Online
28. J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. (New York/London: Garland, 1986; Revised edition, pp.141-145
    "In 1970 Maharaj Ji announced his plans to carry the knowledge throughout the world and the following year, against his mother’s wishes, made his first visit to the West. A large crowd came to Colorado the next year to hear him give his first set of discourses in America. Many were initiated and became the core of the Mission in the United States. Headquarters were established in Denver, and by the end of 1973, tens of thousands had been initiated and several hundred centers, as well as over twenty ashrams which housed approximately 500 of the most dedicated premies, had emerged."
29. Time Magazine, April 28, 1975. One Lord Too Many.
30. Fifth Estate magazine. Guru's Secret September 14, 1973
31. "All Movie Guide profile".
32. J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. (New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, pp141-145. Copyright 1986.
33. Interview with John Wood of the Boston Globe with Guru Maharaj Ji in Newton, Massachusetts, August 3, 1973. Published in And It Is Divine. Dec. 1973, Volume 2. Issue 2.
    "Question: Guru Maharaji Ji, are you God? Answer: No. My Knowledge is God."
34. Foss & Larkin Worshiping the Absurd: The Negation of Social Causality among the Followers of Guru Maharaj Ji Sociological Analysis, Vol. 39, No. 2. (Summer, 1978), pp. 157-164
    Foss and Larkin spent 30 months observing the DLM between 1973 and 1975
35. Foss & Larkin Ibid.
36. Pilarzyk, Thomas The Origin, Development, and Decline of a Youth Culture Religion: An Application of Sectarianization Theory by Thomas Pilarzyk. Review of Religious Research, Vol. 20, No. 1. (Autumn, 1978), pp. 23-43.)
    " The distribution of power and authority in the movement in the early 1970s was officially and symbolically based upon the somewhat ambiguous charismatic appeal of guru Maharaj Ji. Many "rank and file" followers were uncertain about his position in the whole organizational scheme of the movement as well as the claim that he was the only true spiritual master. Devotion to him allegedly was based in his ability to inspire a connection between himself and the "spiritual energy" or "divine light" experienced in meditation.
37. Foss & Larkin Ibid.
    " Abrupt changes in Mission policy apparently due to decisions of Guru Maharaj Ji or other members of the Holy family were also defined as lila by premies in the provinces. Following Bal Bhagwan Ji's (Guru Maharaj Ji's eldest brother) visit to Denver in April 1973 the Mission made some public gestures toward "relevance." And It Is Divine magazine started to print articles on subjects of major concern to the broader youth population, such as the fad for Quaaludes and the feminist movement. The July issue featured a cover story on lesbian women (though it is suggested with great delicacy that the demands of the women's movement could be satisfied through celibacy and meditation). Rapprochement with feminism was sought through a Divine Organization of Women which raised women's issues within National Headquarters and planned propagation activities using a feminist-tinged approach. In June Mata Ji (Maharaj Ji's mother) and Guru Maharaj Ji arrived in Denver. Guru Maharaj Ji reportedly examined the July issue of AIID (the two women on the cover whom the reader was to take to be lesbians were actually celibate ashram premies) with great disgust, saying "This is divine?" The cover photo of the August issue, which was to show a premie dressed up as a Palestinian guerrilla, was scrapped in favor of a picture of a little girl licking an ice cream cone; the editorial content was correspondingly changed to sugar-n'-spice pablum. The Divine Organization of Women was disbanded. Meanwhile, back in New York one day in June we were doing service at an ashram by washing the dishes and mopping the floor. We heard some premies making some remarks about lila; it seemed that they were now prohibited from using certain materials for purposes of propagation. We asked whether different members of the Holy Family represented divergent policy positions within the Mission. The housemother pointed out that members of the Holy Family could do whatever they pleased because "they're not human," and therefore speculation about their possible motives was entirely futile and presumptuous.
38. Price, Maeve (1979): The Divine Light Mission as a social organization. Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296
39. Cagan, Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN -10: 0-9788694-9-4pp.200. p197.
    "In Denver in April 1974, Maharaji applied to become an emancipated minor, because he and Marolyn were now engaged and he knew his mother would not condone his marriage at sixteen (or any other age, considering the American wife he'd chosen). With his emancipation, he could obtain a legal marriage licence without his mother's signature. After spending about forty five minutes with a judge, he was granted his request." Note. Cagan’s Book is promoted on many Rawat associated websites and is in effect an authorized biography.
40. Björkqvist, K (1990): World-rejection, world-affirmation, and goal displacement: some aspects of change in three new religions movements of Hindu origin. In N. Holm (ed.), Encounter with India: studies in neohinduism (pp. 79-99) - Turku, Finland. Åbo Akademi University Press.
41. Derks, Frans, and Jan M. van der Lans. 1983. Subgroups in Divine Light Mission Membership: A Comment on Downton in the book Of Gods and Men: New Religious Movements in the West. Macon edited by Eileen Barker, GA: Mercer University Press, (1984), ISBN 0-86554-095-0 pages 303-308
42. Pilarzyk, Thomas The Origin, Development, and Decline of a Youth Culture Religion: An Application of Sectarianization Theory by Thomas Pilarzyk. Review of Religious Research, Vol. 20, No. 1. (Autumn, 1978), pp. 23-43.)
    " guru Maharaj Ji's marriage in 1974 to an older American woman premie in a Western civil ceremony also held important implications for his leadership position and for grass-roots commitment to his authority. It represented an important break with Hindu tradition and caused greater dissension among the movement's leadership hierarchy, especially with members of the holy family and some traditionally-inclined mahatmas.
43. Pilarzyk, Thomas Ibid.
    " In addition, by April, 1973, the Divine United Organization (DUO) was established as the financial arm of the movement. While guru Maharaj Ji began to participate in the development of the movement's publications, most major organizational decisions were still made by the premies at the Denver headquarters in conjunction with the guru's older family members.
44. Pilarzyk, Thomas Ibid.
    " This internal friction within the DLM authority hierarchy was evident in a written denouncement of the guru as the "perfect master" by Shri Mataji, the movement's "holy mother." His mother claimed that Maharaj Ji, "under the instigation of certain bad elements in the United States Divine Light Mission, has continuously disrespected my will by adopting a despicable, nonspiritual way of life."
45. Civil Proceedings: C. L. Tandon v. Prem Pal Singh Rawat, AIR 1978 Delhi 221
    " "One valuable touchstone for determining whether the matters in issue are directly and substantially the same is whether the decision in the prior suit will bring the principle of res judicata into operation in the subsequent suit. Because the removal of Prem Pal Singh Rawat by Mataji and the nomination in his place of Satya Pal Singh Rawat and the competence of Mataji to do the same, issues of utmost importance, are alien to the Patna suit, the disposal of the suit at Patna will not stand in the way of the trial of the said issues by the appropriate courts."
46. Manavdharam|http://www.manavdharam.org/ssjm/1_brief_into.html
47. Derks, Frans, and Jan M. van der Lans Ibid.
48. Price, Maeve Ibid.
    At the conference in Frankfurt in November I976, Maharaj Ji had announced that the International Headquarters were dissolved and that henceforth he would guide the mission, with his brother, Raja Ji, as his ambassador. In fact what had occurred was the removal from power of his closest adviser , who had been the International President since the headquarters were set up in the United States. It is apparent that Maharaj Ji resented the advice given to him by his chief subordinate and dismissed him when a clash of wills occurred.The dismantling of the International Headquarters did not in fact take place, although staff numbers were greatly reduced, at the national level as well, and officials are very cautious now, afraid to take initiative while they try to guess what it is their Guru really intends.
49. Price,M. Ibid.
    At the same time the stress on the community premie, which had led to what was now viewed as excessive democratization, which was strongly repudiated by Maharaj Ji at Frankfurt, has now been controlled by the simple device of blocking public communication channels upwards to the head office. For more than twelve months now, the national publication which carried letters from premies, often extremely critical of other premies and the head office, (but never of Maharaj Ji), has not been printed. Instead premies receive an exclusive diet of full transcripts of Maharaj Ji's satsang at various festivals across the world. Maharaj Ji made it known that he disliked his satsang to be edited and only extracts of it published. At present then, premies have neither a public platform for discussing the mission's policies nor a vehicle for receiving an interpreted policy via the mission's officials. Such a situation, though increasing Maharaj Ji's control over the movement, does so at the cost of expansion and middle-management confidence.
50. Björkqvist, K Ibid.
    During the latter half of the 70's, the movement clearly returned towards greater world-rejection, although perhaps not reaching the same level as in 1971-73. The millenarian ideology had lost its credibility owing to a slowdown in the expansion rate, and the millenarian jargon gradually disappeared completely. Emphasis was placed on devotion to the guru, ashram life was again encouraged, and satsang meetings were arranged every evening.
51. DuPertuis, L. (1986): How people recognize charisma: the case of darshan in Radhasoami and Divine Light Mission. Sociological Analysis, 47, Page 111-124. University of Guam
    Charisma in Sant Mat / Radhasoami / DLM tradition can best be understood in terms of darshan for which, according to Bharati, "absolutely no parallel" can be found "in any religious act in the West . . . " (1970:161, cited in Eck, 1981:5). Darshan means "sight" - of the deity or the guru who embodies him/her, usually for the purpose of imbibing his/her divine powers or grace (Babb, 1981; Eck:1981). It implies sight on a rich multiplicity of symbolic and spiritual levels which demonstrate a complex mix of doctrinal and mythic, perceptual and visionary, interactional and experiential dimensions in the relationship between a charismatic spiritual leader and his or her followers.
52. Downton, James V., Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission, (1979) Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04198-5 p199
    "Although there were still residues of belief in his divinity, in 1976, the vast majority viewed the guru primarily as their spiritual teacher, guide, and inspiration but his appearance at an event on December 20th, 1976 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, wearing a Krishna costume for the first time since 1975, signaled a resurgence of devotion and Indian influence. Rawat was elevated to a much greater place in the practice of Knowledge, many people returned to ashram life and there was a shift back from secular tendencies towards ritual and messianic beliefs and practices.
53. Downton, James V., Ibid.
    "Signs of rededication both to Guru Maharaj Ji and the inner guru became quite apparent. Most of the premies who left the ashrams in the summer of 1976 began to return in 1977, when more than 600 signed up to enter the ashrams in just a few month's time.
54. Derks, Frans, and Jan M. van der Lans. Ibid.
    One of the characteristics of these new members is that they had been very religious in their preadolescent years. In those years their religiosity had been characterized by the experiential dimension; they had felt a warm personal relation with Jesus. But this religiosity had disappeared, partially because they had been taught by their religion teachers at secondary school to think in a rational way about religious matters. They lost their capacity for religious experiences, and as a result, the Christian religion lost its plausibility for them. In Divine Light Mission they recognized, during "Satsang,” the religious experiences they had had during their childhood. They came to see Guru Maharaj Ji and their relationship with him as a source of continuous religious experience. This made Guru Maharaj Ji much more important for them than he had been for the pre 1975 members.
55. Downton, James V. Sacred journeys: The conversion of young Americans to Divine Light Mission. Pg 5. Columbia University Press (1979). ISBN 0231041985.
56. ^ Brown, Chip, Parents Versus Cult: Frustration, Kidnapping, Tears; Who Became Kidnappers to Rescue Daughter From Her Guru, The Washington Post, February 15, 1982
57. Lewis, James R. The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Pg 210. Prometheus Books (2001). ISBN 1573928887.
58. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia Handbook of Cults in America. Pg 143. Garland Publishing (1986). ISBN 0824090365.
59. Downton, James V., Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission, (1979) Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04198-5 p199 "Although there were still residues of belief in his divinity, in 1976, the vast majority viewed the guru primarily as their spiritual teacher, guide, and inspiration.
60. Downton, Sacred Journeys. "The guru had inspired greater autonomy by saying in January 1976: 'Don't expect that all these premies who are in the ashram right now are going to stay in the ashram. I hope they don't.' This comment had the effect of producing a widespread exodus from the ashrams that year, which gave rise to an individualistic attitude ... Changes in terminology were made in an attempt to divorce the Mission from its Indian trappings. 'Festivals' became 'regional conferences.' 'Holy Company,' a term used to describe the state of being in the presence of other premies, fell from use, as did the customary Indian greeting."
61. Downton, James V., Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission, (1979) Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04198-5. p211. "To the surprise of everyone who had come to the Atlantic City program at the close of 1976, Guru Maharaj Ji appeared in his Krishna costume, a majestic looking robe and crown he had not worn since 1975. The sight of him in his ceremonial best brought premies to their feet singing, as nostalgia for the early days caught them up in feelings of devotion once more.... With so many premies coming out in support of devotion, there has been a shift away from secular tendencies back to ritual and messianic beliefs and practices....elevating the guru to a much greater place in their practice of the Knowledge.
62. Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN -10: 0-9788694-9-4. p228
63. Downton, Sacred Journeys. "Signs of rededication both to Guru Maharaj Ji and the inner guru became quite apparent. Most of the premies who left the ashrams in the summer of 1976 began to return in 1977, when more than 600 signed up to enter the ashrams in just a few month's time.
64. "Guru Maharaj Ji becomes a citizen of the U.S." Rocky Mountain News, Wednesday, October 19, 1977, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
65. "Malibu Guru Maintains Following Despite Rising Mistrust of Cults" Mark Foster, Los Angeles Times January 12 1979 pg. 3
66. Stephen J. Hunt Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp.116-7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8
67. Downton, Sacred Journeys. "The staff in Denver was 250 just a couple of months ago. Now it is 80."
68. Cagan. A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN -10: 0-9788694-9-4 page ?
69. Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN -10: 0-9788694-9. p. 229
70. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia of American Religions. Maharaji had made every attempt to abandon the traditional Indian religious trappings in which the techniques originated and to make his presentation acceptable to all the various cultural settings in which followers live. He sees his teachings as independent of culture, religion, beliefs, or lifestyles.
71. Miller, America's Alternative Religions, pp.474
72. Kranenborg, Reender. Neohindoeïstische bewegingen in Nederland: een encyclopedisch overzicht, pp.178
    "Zij onterfde hem spiritueel, in feite werd hij de beweging uitgezet. Maharaji ging zelfstandig verder, zij het met minder pretenties dan voorheen. Zo sprak hij sindsdien niet meer in goddelijke termen over zichzelf, maar noemde zich 'humanitarian leader'" (translation: "She disinherited him spiritually. In fact, he was expelled from the movement. Maharaji continued on independently, with less claims pretensions than in the past, no longer speaking with divine terms about himself, but calling himself instead a 'humanitarian leader'.")
73. ^ Chryssides, George D. Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements pp.210-1, Scarecrow Press (2001) ISBN 0-8108-4095-2 This Knowledge was self-understanding, yielding calmness, peace, and contentment, since the innermost self is identical with the divine. Knowledge is attained through initiation, which provides four techniques that allow the practitioner to go within...and emphasizing that the Knowledge is universal, non Indian, in nature.
74. Hunt, Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction, Pg 117.
75. Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN -10: 0-9788694-9- pp255, 266
76. Melton, J. Gordon Encyclopedia of American Religions. "He sees his teachings as independent of culture, religion, beliefs, or lifestyles, and regularly addresses audiences in places as culturally diverse as India, Japan, Taiwan, the Ivory Coast, Slovenia, Mauritius and Venezuela, as well as North America, Europe and the South Pacific."
77. Contact Info - Broadcasts
78. Conversation with Prem Rawat, Available online. (Retrieved January 2006)
79. "Words of Peace" by Maharaji receives TV Award in Brazil" Press release.
80. Humanitarian Initiatives The Prem Rawat Foundation (Retrieved January 2006)
81. "Charity report". BBB Wise Giving Alliance. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |retrieved= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
82. http://thekeys.maharaji.net/home/?group=en&language=en
83. Over 3 million people participate in events with Prem Rawat in India
84. Price, Maeve in Sociological Review The Divine Light Mission as a Social Organization nr. 27, 1979 p.279-96
    "Essentially, premies believe that the key to understanding themselves, the gateway to happiness, love and that peace of mind 'which surpasseth understanding' lies in meditating on the knowledge of Guru Maharaj Ji, and that, this knowledge is there inside each human being. Only Maharaj Ji has the key to it and only his appointed mahatmas or initiators may give Maharaj Ji's knowledge. This crucial fact that knowledge may only be revealed by Maharaj Ji, legitimates the leader's supremacy to the believers and ensures that seekers achieve these benefits from a single source."
85. ^ Hunt, Stephen J. Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp.116-7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8".
    The major focus of Maharaji is on stillness, peace, and contentment within the individual, and his 'Knowledge' consists of the techniques to obtain them. Knowledge, roughly translated, means the happiness of the true self-understanding. Each individual should seek to comprehend his or her true self, which brings a sense of well-being, joy and harmony. The Knowledge includes four meditation procedures: Light, Music, Nectar and Word. The process of reaching the true self within can only be achieved by the individual, but with the guidance and help of a teacher. Hence, the movement seems to embrace aspects of world-rejection and world-affirmation. The tens of thousands of followers in the West do not see themselves as members of a religion, but the adherents of a system of teachings that extol the goal of enjoying life to the full.
86. Hadden, Religions of the world, pp.428 The meditation techniques the Maharaji teaches today are the same he learned from his father, Hans Ji Maharaj, who, in turn, learned them from his spiritual teacher . 'Knowledge', claims Maharaji, 'is a way to be able to take all your senses that have been going outside all your life, turn them around and put them inside to feel and to actually experience you... What you are looking for is inside of you.'
87. Cite error: The named reference Hunt (2003) #2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
88. Melton, J. Gordon The Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. p.143, Garland Publishing (1986) ISBN 0-8240-9036-5 The Divine Light Mission is derived from Sant Mat (literally, the way of the saints), a variation of the Sikh religion which draws significant elements from Hinduism... In any case Hans Maharaj Ji claimed a Sant Mat succession which he passed to Maharaj Ji.
89. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia of American Religions. Maharaji had made every attempt to abandon the traditional Indian religious trappings in which the techniques originated and to make his presentation acceptable to all the various cultural settings in which followers live. He sees his teachings as independent of culture, religion, beliefs, or lifestyles.
90. Melton, J. Gordon; Partridge, Christopher (Eds.). New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities. pp.201-202, Oxford University Press, U.S.A. (2004) ISBN 978-0195220421. Rawat is insistent that it is not the product of any one culture or the property of any religious tradition and that it can be practiced by anyone. Consequently, Maharaji asserts that he is not teaching a religion and there are no particular rituals, sacred days, pilgrimages, sacred places, doctrines, scriptures or specific dress codes, dietary requirements or any other dimension associated with a religious lifestyle.
91. Geaves, Ron, Globalization, Charisma, Innovation, and Tradition. He does not demand obedience, in that no outer requirements or prohibitions are placed on those taught the techniques. The simple axiom, 'If you like it, practice it, if you don’t, try something else,' is applied on frequent occasions in his public discourses. Neither does Prem Rawat regard himself as an exemplary leader, a role often ascribed to religious founders.
92. ^ "Elan Vital" in Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains by The Institute for the Study of American Religion (J. Gordon Melton, Project Director - James R. Lewis, Senior Research Associate). 1993 - online edition at Internet Archive, last updated 30 May 2000. The 1993 version already contained:
    Elan Vital Maharaj Ji has continued a policy of not relating to outside information gathering efforts. Recent attempts to gain status reports on the organization by researchers have been completely ignored by the leadership.
93. Petersen, William J. Those Curious New Cults in the 80s. New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing (1982); pg. 146.
94. Rudin, James A. & Marcia R. Rudin. Prison or Paradise: The New Religious Cults. Fortress Press: Philadelphia (1980); pg. 63.
95. Palmer & Keller, Religions of the World, pp.95.
96. Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains by U. S. Department of the Army, published 2001 by The Minerva Group, Inc. ISBN 0898756073 - reprint of Army Pamphlet 165-13, published in 1978 by Kirchner Associates in Honolulu
97. Melton, J. Gordon & Robert L. Moore. The Cult Experience: Responding to the New Religious Pluralism. New York: The Pilgrim Press (1984 ); pg. 142.
    The Divine Light Mission grew quickly in the early seventies but suffered a severe setback in 1973 . In the late seventies the Mission became a low-key organization and stopped its attempts at mass appeal. Recently, Maharaj Ji quietly moved to Miami. The Mission has reportedly initiated over 50,000 people, but only a few thousand remain in the chain of ashrams that now dot the nation.
98. About The Prem Rawat Foundation
99. Kent, Stephen A. From slogans to mantras: social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam war era, Syracuse University press, 2001, ISBN 0-8156-2948-6
100. Jan van der Lans in a 1981 book commissioned by the KSGV, a Christian-inspired Dutch association KSGV: Objectives
     "Het KSGV onderneemt zijn activiteiten vanuit een christelijke inspiratie."
101. Lans, Jan van der (Dutch language) Volgelingen van de goeroe: Hedendaagse religieuze bewegingen in Nederland page 117, written upon request for the KSGV published by Ambo, Baarn, 1981 ISBN 90-263-0521-4
102. Premies Versus Sannyasins by Jan van der Lans and Dr. Frans Derks Update X 2 June 1986 http://www.dci.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=599:premies-versus-sannyasins&catid=163&Itemid=36
103. Barret, David V. The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions. Pg 65. Cassel (2003). ISBN 1844030407
104. James Randi and Arthur C. Clarke 'An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural' New York: St Martin’s Griffin. ISBN 0-312-15119-5 - http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/Maharaj%20Ji.html Retrieved 2008-02-11
105. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America pp.144-5 "However as the group withdrew from the public eye, little controversy followed it except the accusations of Robert Mishner , the former president of the Mission who left in 1977. Mishner complained that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaj Ji's personal use. Mishner's charges found little support and have not affected the progress of the Mission."
106. Cagan, A., Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat, pp.228
107. U.S. Patent Office

• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view disputes from February 2008
• Prem Rawat
• 1957 births
• Living people
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• Indian Americans