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Prem Pal Singh Rawat (Prem Rawat), also called Maharaji and formerly called Guru Maharaj Ji, was born on December 10, 1957 in Dehradun, India. At the age of four he gave his first published address about the practice of "Knowledge", that was being taught by his father and teacher Hans Ji Maharaj. At the age of six he was taught the techniques of Knowledge by his father and succeeded him when he passed away in 1966, being accepted by his father's followers as their satguru (Sanskrit: true teacher) and assuming the role of "Perfect Master" at his father's funeral. He thereby became the recognized leader of the Divine Light Mission (an organization started by his father) and began taking his message to people throughout the Indian subcontinent.

In 1971 he was invited to speak in London and Los Angeles and attracted substantial media attention, some of which referred to the 13-year old Prem as the "boy guru"In 1972 he began touring the world talking about inner peace and teaching Knowledge, revisiting the UK and the US and speaking at events for the first time in Switzerland, Germany, Kenya, South Africa, Japan, and Australia. His marriage to a westerner in 1974 precipitated a family rift and Prem Rawat's mother and his eldest brother Satya Pal Singh (Satpal) secured the leadership of the DLM in India through legal proceedings. In the 1980s he began the slow dissolution of the Divine Light Mission headquarters, and stepped away from the trappings associated with an Indian guru or Perfect Master and continued to appear to audiences as Maharaji, a teacher and public speaker, promoting the same message and offering the same techniques of Knowledge for finding peace within. At that time, non-profit, charitable organizations with a minimal structure manned mainly by volunteers were established in several countries called Elan Vital, whose main purpose is organizing events to which Prem Rawat is invited to speak.

According to The Prem Rawat Foundation, since his childhood beginnings as a teacher, Prem Rawat has continued to promote a means to achieve a lifelong, individual experience of inner peace, and that his message is that "it is only by individuals finding peace for themselves can the world be at peace" and that he is able to assist in this endeavor. Starting in 2001, he has been invited to address various institutions on the subject of peace, and has through the Prem Rawat Foundation spearheaded various humanitarian initiatives.

Although a source of inspiration for his students, Rawat attracted controversy in the '70's for what some critics considered a lack of intellectual content in his teachings, leading a sumptuous lifestyle, and making what some critics and religious scholars regarded as personal claims of divinity.

Between tours , Prem Rawat lives with his wife in Malibu, California in the U.S. They have four grown children. He is an experienced airline-transport-rated pilot and holds a number of pilot ratings on jet airplanes and helicopters. His resume discusses skills in computer graphics, computer-aided design, and development of aviation software. He is listed as co-inventor on a U.S. Patent for a world-time watch for aeronautic applications. A US citizen since 1977, he reports that he supports himself and his family as a private investor, and that he has contributed to the success of several startup companies in various industries, including software.

Childhood in India

Prem Rawat was born in India where he attended the Catholic-run St. Joseph's Academy elementary school in Dehra Dun. He is the fourth and youngest son of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj and his second wife, Jagat Janani Mata Shri Rajeshwari Devi.[ Shri Hans was considered a satguru by his students, who affectionately called him Shri Maharaji or simply Guru Maharaj Ji. In 1960 Shri Hans formed the Divine Light Mission (DLM) to support his work

He began speaking about fulfillment, love and peace as early as age three at his father's meetings.[ In these early days Prem Rawat was known both as Sant Ji and as Balyogeshwar. When he was six years old, his father taught him the techniques of Knowledge, including the young Sant Ji among his other students.

Succession

Prem Rawat succeeded to the leadership of the DLM upon his father's death in 1966, which was unusual since it was not in accordance with Hindu tradition of primogeniture. His family told American reporters during the early 1970s that Shri Hans was away from home at the time of his death, and that shortly beforehand he had written a letter home to his family essentially naming Sant Ji as his successor. There is a witness account by Shri Hans' personal driver that refers to Shri Hans' request that Prem succeed him and also reports that some of the family were discussing alternatives. His mother and eldest brother were meeting with senior mahatmas to discuss what to do, when eight-year-old Prem walked on stage to comfort the grieving crowd . Speaking much like his father, he assured them that the master would always be with them and that he would continue his father's work. His succession was generally accepted when the crowd responded to him as their teacher. Afterwards, his mother and brothers came on stage to pay their respects to him

Prem Rawat remained in India for five more years, continuing to offer the Knowledge his father had championed. In the late 1960s a small number of young western seekers, many of them hippies, had come across Maharaji at his home in Dehra Dun. Several of them asked him to vist the West, where, they said, many young people would be interested in what he had to offer. In October 1969 he sent a mahatma to London to begin teaching Knowledge on his behalf. In doing this he was fulfilling the prediction of his father, who having heard his son speak a few months before his demise, said that "one day this boy will take the teaching of Knowledge to all four corners of the world." In 1970 many of his new western followers traveled to India to see and hear him and were present when he announced at a gathering at India Gate in Delhi that he was ready to begin the task of bringing peace to the world. This gathering of 1,000,000 people on8 November, was reported to be one of the largest ever in the history of New Delhi and was the culmination of an 18-mile long procession. According to the Dutch religious scholar and minister Reender Kranenborg, this speech called 'the 'Peace Bomb' marked the start of the Maharaji's mission to the west .

Maharaji’s first trip to the West

Prem Rawat first came to the West at age thirteen on June 17 1971 visiting the U.K., U.S. and Canada at a time of attraction in the West for all things Indian.

He arrived in London for a short school vacation visit, travelling without his family, and reported that he arrived with only twenty-five pounds sterling in his pocket. His reception was such that, in response to his mother's entreaties that he return to India to complete his education, he said that he was doing what he would be doing with his life, whether he completed his education or not. He was interviewed on the BBC, and spoke at the first Glastonbury Festival, where he again offered people peace. He made brief trips to Paris and Heidelberg, Germany, and on July 17 flew to Los Angeles and began a tour of American cities. In November 1971 he returned to India accompanied by several hundred of his new western students.

At that time his teaching was enmeshed in Indian traditions and lifestyle, which he was later to renounce as unnecessary. The practice of Knowledge was called meditation, a term he later changed to distinguish it from other practices and teachings to which the term usually referred. He advised his new followers, who were to a large degree wedded to the drug and hippie culture of the time, that successful practice of Knowledge was incompatible with drug use, and he was acknowledged for taking many young people from dependency on drugs.

In the first years of his arrival, Rawat received the keys to the cities of New York, New Orleans, Monterey, Oakland, Detroit, Miami and Macon in the United States, and Kyoto, in Japan.

Establishment in the West

At Prem Rawat's request and after his first tour, U.S. Divine Light Mission, or DLM, was formed in September 1971 in Denver, Colorado. The DLM organization coordinated Rawat's subsequent U.S. tours and events. The DLM produced a monthly magazine, And It Is Divine, and a weekly newspaper, Divine Times. It also operated a film and publishing company called Shri Hans Productions, a thrift shop, wholesale electronics firms, aviation and travel services, and a large vegetarian restaurant in New York City. In early 1973 it organized a fifty-six-piece rock band called Blue Aquarius, conducted by one of Prem's older brothers. Its headquarters was moved in 1979 to Miami Beach, Florida.

In the early 1970s the DLM established ashrams in South America, North America, Europe, and Australia. Those who chose to become members of the renunciate order's ashrams were required to take a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. They performed service, and drinking alcohol and consuming drugs were prohibited. Vegetarianism was encouraged.By 1973 there were twenty DLM ashrams in New York city.

During that time he became widely known as the young guru and attracted considerable media attention. Virologist Robert Gallo, now Director, Institute of Human Virology of the University of Maryland, approached the young Rawat to ask where he might find the origin of cancer, to which Rawat answered: "Look within the mysteries of life itself."

Rawat returned to the U.S in 1972, this time accompanied by his mother and eldest brother, Satpal, and an entourage of mahatmas and other supporters. That year the organization held a multi-day event at Montrose, Colorado at which two thousand people attended.

During this time he was the focus of some media attention and publicity generated by the organization. The DLM made two feature-length films about him during this period, and Shri Hans Productions released a book of student testimonials and Rawat's lectures, or satsang, entitled Who Is Guru Maharaj ji? published by Bantam Books.

The organization booked the Houston Astrodome for a three-day gathering in November 1973, coinciding with Shri Hans's birthday and called "Millennium '73". Prem Rawat wrote in a letter to followers in September 1973 "As you all know Millenium '73 is being prepared for now. This festival has been organized by Divine Light Mission each year since 1967, in the memory of the late Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaji on His birthday. This year the most Holy and significant event in human history will take place in America.". Reporters in attendance estimated various days' attendance at between seven and twenty thousand. Rennie Davis, a former member of the Chicago Seven, was a prominent spokesman for the group at that event. Jesus freaks, Hare Krishnas, Jews for Jesus, and the Family of God staged small protests outside. The event lost $600,000,- for the organization , but Rawat expressed his satisfaction with it.

The DLM was reporting that 60,000 individuals were practicing the techniques Knowledge in 1974 in the United Kingdom and "it was a successful movement because it stressed access to the inner world, the attainment of peace and certainty ('never leave room for doubt in your mind'), direct experience of God within and the use of guaranteed methods".

The 1970's

It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article. (Discuss)

The Western followers who gathered around Prem Rawat in the early 1970s were generally young and extremely loyal and passionate about his capacity to teach about "Knowledge" and inner peace. Many devoted considerable amounts of their time to help Rawat spread his message.

In an autobiographical book by an early student, who was quite involved with the DLM in the 1970s, Sophia Collier writes "In the Divine Light Mission there are two groups of people.There are those who sincerely believe that Guru Maharaj Ji is the Lord of Creation here in the flesh to save the world. And then there are those who know him a little better than that. They relate to him in a more human way... to them he is more of a teacher, a guide, a co-conspirator in their personal pursuit of a more heavenly way of life. I have always been in this second group of people... as charming and wise as Guru Maharaj Ji has seemed to me on occasion, I have never found any basis on which to nominate him Lord". Although Colliers writes that " Maharaj Ji did not make a definitive statement on his own divinty, he generally encouraged whatever view was held by the people he was with", Rawat frequently and explicity stated that a human being couldn't be God. In 1971, several years before Collier wrote her book Rawat said "What is God? You don't know what God is. God cannot be a human being. God is Light; God is power. God cannot talk" . In Westminster in 1971 Rawat said "The world thinks, people think, that God is man. People think that God has got ears, nose, teeth, and he rises daily in the morning, brushes his teeth and washes his mouth. And they think he is an old man and has a beard. All these things people think. But no, God is energy. God is perfect and pure energy" . And again in Colorado in 1971 Rawat said - "Some people think that God is a human being but he is not. God hasn't got ears like us. nose like us,teeth, tongue, lungs, chest, bones. He isn't like that" . In an interview in 1973 with Tom Snyder host of "The Tomorrow show" TV series, Snyder asked Prem Rawat: "Now I'm not trying to be disrespectful but I've got to ask you this question: Many of your followers say that you are God. What do you have to say about this?" To which Rawat replied: "No, I am not God. I am only a humble servant of God" . In 1971 in response to a question about the position of the guru Rawat said that "The highest manifestation of God is Guru. So when Guru is here, God is here ". According to a January 1974 Penthouse magazine article, Rawat said to the multitude in 1971 that "guru is greater than God," an expression also voiced by Brahmanand and Kabir, and somewhat in correspondence with the elevated status that some traditional Indian saints gave their gurus. In a proclamation published in 1975, Rawat also said, "I do not claim to be God, but do claim I can establish peace on this Earth by our Lord's Grace, and everyone's joint effort". In another interview, this time with John Wood, a journalist of the Boston Globe in 1973, he confirmed the view that there has been steady succession of Perfect Masters and that will be another one after him, but described that he was not a prophet or messiah, and that "I can teach them what is perfectness, so they call me Perfect Master", referring as his ability to teach "perfectness within inside". When asked about his personal opinion of himself in an interview that took place in Tokyo in 1973, he said that he did not know if he was a Perfect Master or not, but that he was "...a servant of God, here to do service to preach this Knowledge to human beings."

Those that claimed the young Maharaji was "The Lord of Creation", "The Supreme Master", "The Lord of the Universe" etc. were supported by his mother, the Indian mahatmas and their own understanding of the many Indian expressions, examples and activities that Rawat brought with him from India such as addressing a guru with the terms "Master" and "Lord." His early 1970s events featured the singing to him of Hindu devotional songs such as the arti and the performance toward him of the Hindu devotional ritual of darshan. A religious scholar wrote that Rawat claimed to be, as many Sant Mat leaders do, a "Perfect Master", an embodiment of God on earth, , and another wrote that he used a speaking style that resembles a lot what happens in some Christian evangelization campaigns: in which one is "requested to surrender to the Lord, in this case Maharaj ji himself" In three articles of that time, an American pulp fiction magazine Argosy incorrectly claimed that Rawat had announced that he was "the Lord of the Universe ; Viva, an erotic magazine for women, facetiously wrote that Prem Rawat told of "the One Almighty Lord is the divine, perfect, supreme, fifteen-year-old Shri Guru Maharaj Ji" and Time magazine in 1975, reported that the 17-year-old Guru Maharaj ji was worshiped as the "Lord of the Universe" by devotees of the DLM around the world.

Materials written by students during this period and included in DLM publications featured comparisons of Guru Maharaj ji with Rama and Krishna who Rawat claimed taught the same Knowledge and the 1973 book Who is Guru Maharaj ji? that was presented as his authorized biography described him as the "Satguru Maharaj ji" and on its back cover asked the semi-rhetorical question, "Why do more than six million people around the world claim he is the greatest incarnation of God that ever trod the face of this planet?" In the same book, Prem Rawat was asked: "Guru Maharaj Ji, are you God?" to which he replied "No. My Knowledge is God." At a press conference during the 1973 Millennium gathering, Rawat denied to the press that he believed himself to be the Messiah, characterizing himself instead "as a humble servant of God trying to establish peace in this world." A reporter from the Rolling Stone magazine then asked him about "a great contradiction" between what he said about himself and what his students were saying about him, and he responded by suggesting that the reporter ask the students making those claims themselves about that. In a still-later speech, Rawat was to characterize as mistaken the early Western reaction to him upon his arrival, saying, "when people saw me at that time, they really didn't understand what it was all about."

During the 1970's Rawat frequently praised his "Guru Maharaj Ji" and talked about "Guru Maharaj Ji" in divine terms, He said in 1975 that the word guru is not a name, but a function of a person.

In 1972, when he was 14 years old, he said that the only one who can bring peace to the world is the "Perfect Master", the incarnation of God Himself, who comes to Earth to save mankind. In 1971 or 1972 Maharaji said that he was permanently in God-consciousness and when he was asked whether was is a divine incarnation or other things said about him, he responded by saying, “You yourself must realize the truth.” In 1972 Prem Rawat was asked how it felt to be The Lord of the Universe to which he replied that “ When you become Lord of the Universe, you become a puppet, really! Nothing else; not 'you'. Not 'I', not 'you' no egos, no pride, nothing else. One with humbleness; servant. Very, very beautiful. Always in divine bliss. ”

Kranenborg wrote in a 1982 article about the then-defunct DLM, that Maharaji's speaking style resembled Christian evangelization campaigns and a terminology in which one is requested to surrender to the Lord, in this case Maharaj ji himself, but that the content of the message was not Christian. J. Gordon Melton another religious scholar, wrote in 1986 that Maharaj Ji, who he considered a Sant Mat leader, claimed to be a Perfect Master, an embodiment of God on earth, and a fitting object of worship and veneration.

In the preface to his personal website on January 1999, Prem Rawat writes: People through the years have tried to place me in a mold, and from the very early years I have not been able to oblige them. When I was very young, people were looking for the "old silver-haired Guru with flowing white robes." I was only eight. When people were flocking to India for their search, I was in the West. When people were looking for sophisticated discourses, I spoke of simple things. When people wanted nirvana, I said, "You need peace." When people said, "Tell us of the scriptures," I said, "Look within you." When people asked, "What is your qualification?" I said, "Judge me by what I offer." To this day, some people see me the way they want to. After all, I guess it is rather inconvenient to see things as they really are. I have evolved, but my message stays the same. Externally, I have changed but within me, something stays the same. In that same article Rawat states that people wanted to see him as a figurehead and as a leader but that he does not want to be one or the other, and that all he wanted to do is speak to those who wanted to hear him, and impart the Knowledge to those that sought it. He also said that if people like what is given, to practice it and if not, to leave it.

The same website presents the traceable story of "Masters" that according to Prem Rawar, referred to the techniques of Knowledge since 1780, including Totapuri, Anandpuri Ji, Dayal Ji, Swarupanand Ji, and his father Hans Ji Maharaj

Marriage and family rift

In May 1974 at age sixteen Prem Rawat married Marolyn Johnson, twenty-five year old flight attendant and one of his early American students . The marriage to a Westerner apparently precipitated a rift between Prem and his mother. A period of intense conflict in 1974 between Rawat and his mother and brother ensued. At that time Rawat took control of the Western DLM away from them, and his mother disowned him and returned to India with two of his brothers. According to a report in the People magazine (June 16 1975), she announced that his son was corrupted by Western ways, strayed from the holy Hindu path and claimed he drank alcohol, ate meat and visited night clubs. She managed through legal actions to appoint the eldest brother, Satpal, as leader of the DLM in India. The other two brothers split in allegiance, one siding with Prem and one siding with Satpal. Most of the mahatmas in the West either returned to India with his mother or were fired.

However, this focus on rumours about Rawat was contested by Bob Mishler, the president of Divine Light Mission at the time. He pointed out that people who looked at individual actions of Rawat like riding motorcycles or marrying an air hostess should look instead at the effect he has on the world, by the mark he leaves on society.

In 1982 Rawat commented to the press on the family rift, saying "They live in India and I think was upset that I married a foreigner. She thought I had married out of my caste or something like that."

Transitions

Discarding the trappings in the 1970s

Ron Geaves, a Professor and Chair in religious studies at the University of Chester, is also a long-time student of Prem Rawat. Geaves asserts that Prem Rawat never intended to create a religious movement or considered his message defined by any lineage or religion. For example, whilst a religion tends to constrain behaviour according to a certain set of tenets, Rawat insisted that his senior staff should not interfere in any decisions that students made about their lives. That is, the emphasis was on people making decisions for themselves.

In 1975, Prem Rawat selected the first group of teachers he called "initiators", replacing the discarded title of "mahatma". This was one of the many and significant changes that took place within the organization in the second half of the decade, many of which were designed to remove elements of Hindu tradition that were unnecessary in the context of the West, and that were not a part of Rawat’s simplified teaching. Thus, the first part of 1976 saw changes that de-empahsized the Hindu associations that had been attached to Rawat from his Indian background, and a refocusing on him as an inspirational teacher. The notion of ahrams, where students lived a semi-monastic existence, was also challenged for similar reasons, and ashram residents were encouraged to consider leaving ; some did, and some of the ashrams closed at that time. Events in the summer of that year were distinctly westernized and were devoid of Hindu trappings; Rawat's clothing changed, and the former darshan lines were abandoned in favor of Western-style reception lines.

Some tension had been developing between Prem Rawat and Bob Mishler — President and Chief Executive of Divine Light Mission — since the early 1970s. Mishler was pivotal in the organisation of the Millennium festival at the Houston Astrodome, which was "hyped up" and mixed with shards of "Christian apocalyptic nonsense." The festival was the first organisational disaster, but there were many in the years that followed — while Mishler was CEO — that led up to "the dissolution of Divine Light Mission in the late seventies." According to John Hampton, an early student and assistant of Rawat, Rawat was concerned that Mishler was not practising the techniques of meditation that were essential for any student. The tension between Rawat and Mishler and others — for example, Michael Dettmers — continued into 1976. Earlier, according to Glenn Whittaker, a former UK spokesperson for Elan Vital, Mishler had wanted to further change the thrust of the organization by de-emphasizing Rawat’s role as teacher and focusing on the humanitarian elements that he (Mishler) considered important. Rawat had rejected these attempts to convert the organization into a purely humanitarian-focused one, as he (Rawat) was dedicated to telling people about “a peace within”, and for that a teacher was essential. During these years, Mishler became increasingly unhappy at this rejection of his vision and he resigned. His replacement was Bill Patterson.

in 1979, several years after he left the organisation, Mishler was interviewed on KOA (AM) — a Denver radio station — a transcript of which was created by a critical former follower and posted on USENET in 1996 In this transcript Mishler claims that "Maharaji billed himself as a humble servant of God who was essentially in charge with the responsibility of revealing this knowledge to people by his father who was his guru. At the same time, although there were some people who would say, well, he has to be a god himself in order to be able to reveal God, he would always deny this". Mishler then says he tried to persuade Rawat to tell his followers that he was not god but a human being. He also claims that Rawat was afraid that such a move would reduce his influence over people and affect his finances. This radio station does not keep an archive for these years, but ex-followers involved in the transcription assert that it is a verbatim transcript. Mishler died that year in an helicopter accident.

According to Dr. George Chryssides, senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, Rawat dissolved the ashrams in the West and went on to deny his divine status and status as a guru.. Also, in 2002, Kranenborg wrote that after the family rift, Maharaji continued independently, abandoned the divine trappings and claims about himself and began to present himself instead an humanitarian leader

Transition in the 1980s

According to the America's Alternative Religions, during the 1980s, Prem Rawat began the slow dissolution of the Divine Light Mission, and eventually stepped away from the image of himself as a "Perfect Master." He continued to appear to audiences as Maharaji, a teacher, and established a minimal organization called Elan Vital. In this new role "he may be reaching more listeners than ever, especially abroad, but his role is that of a public speaker, and the original religious movement is essentially defunct."

The organization that supported Prem Rawat began retreating from Hindu trappings, and this time the trappings did not return. His supporters assert that during this period Rawat was able to free his core message from irrelevant and even hindering religious and cultural connotations to make it more universally appealing.

In an interview by Australian TV host Johnny Young in 1981, Prem Rawat was asked about the meaning of the term "Perfect Master", to which he replied that in layman terms a perfect master is "the one who can teach us the perfectness", and not a prophet, or God as some people may think.

According to a 1982 dissertation about new religious movements and mental health by the Dutch sociologist Paul Schnabel, Maharaji's leadership was one of the purest examples of charismatic authority at that moment. The psychologists of religion Jan van der Lans and Frans Derks of the Catholic University Nijmegen wrote in an article in which they compared adherents of the DLM and the Osho-Rajneesh movement that "in both these new religious movements the devotee’s relation with the guru is considered identical to his relation with God" and that the guru's "request for total surrender and complete trust is grounded in his claim of ultimate authority derived from his godliness." They further wrote in that article that according to Maharaj Ji all evil should be attributed to the mind and that the DLM’s concept of the mind "refers primarily to a state of consciousness characterized by everything but passive, non-rational confidence and trust." Maharaji made a distinction between "mind" and "intelligence", for example, in an address called the "Colorado Satsang", he said Realize why you have come into this world, why God placed you in this human frame, why God made you so handsome, why God graced you with that most intelligent brain. Why did he do that? Know. Only know. Another article by Meredith McMcGuire, also supports the view that Maharaji’s leadership was based on charismatic authority. An article by Lucy DuPertuis, from the University of Guam asserts that the imputation of charisma was an active, conscious process and that the master in person emerged "both theologically and experientially as neither the sole focus nor the unique generator of charisma."

Students who lived through those times and continue to practice Knowledge concurr with DuPertuis. While the tendency for many was to elevate Maharaji to super-human, divine proportions, the direct, personal experience of Knowledge allowed others to view him as someone they deeply admired and enjoyed listening to, but not as an object of worship. In an article by Michael Gawenda that appeared in The Age in March 1982, Prem Rawat is quoted as saying that he is a teacher and guide that can show people how to find the source of all things within themselves, and that through history great prophets have spoken about the "divine light" that is inside of everyone: "I am here for people who have searched everywhere, for answers, for the truth If they want to come to me, I am here to help them." He also is quoted as saying that there can only be one messenger at any particular time, that there have been many before him and that he was chosen as the messenger for this age. He did not say who he believes chose him. He admitted that many of his followers "almost worship him" but said that he does not ask them to do so. "I do not ask people to put me on a pedestal, but I am their teacher and guide and they love me. I love them too. Did Jesus ask to be put on a pedestal? Of course not. His people were so grateful and loved him so much that they wanted to do anything for him. Of course I am not saying that I am Jesus.", he said.

For a time around 1980 the center of operations moved to Miami where activities included a project known as DECA which was concerned with the customization of a Boeing 707 intended for Prem Rawat's work, and the development of a commercial executive aircraft refurbishing facility. Rawat never used the 707 aircraft and it was later sold to a new owner, and the DECA business was sold to Aircraft Modular Products (AMP), a leader in the field of business jet interiors. (AMP was sold in 1998 to B/E aerospace for $118 US million.)

The Western ashrams were closed in 1983, which induced some disaffection among certain members who had been forced to leave upon the closure. Some of them still hold a grudge about this change. The Divine Light Mission, with its name connoting a religious orientation and its past links with the ashrams, was disbanded and replaced by Elan Vital, an educational nonprofit, sometime between 1983 and 1987. Its website notes the change of legal entity was among a multiplicity of changes suggested by Rawat and implemented by its board . Rawat said that the DLM had become too big and too expensive or inefficient; most of its offices were closed and many of the staff dismissed. Local offices of Elan Vital began to be opened sometime later. The title of "Instructor" was now used to denote those who taught the Knowledge techniques. During this time the students were asked to throw away old books, magazines and videos that included forms of veneration. The video production organization was renamed "Visions International," and it began producing video versions of Rawat's addresses. The former title "Guru Maharaj ji" was dropped in favor of "Maharaji," and Rawat discouraged the use of the Indian name that had been given to his wife upon their marriage.

An article published on December 4 1987 in The Times of India, describes Rawat's mission as involving international tours during which he explains to "people in general without any distinction of caste, color, race, stature, or wealth that the source of happiness, peace and contentment lies within one's own self. He is trying to prepare humanity to face and overcome the present day tussle and turmoil prevailing in the world in the name of achieving world peace, on individual basis. In fact what Maharaj Ji is trying to do is not being comprehended by most of the people, with the results that he is included in the category of those persons who have become mere machines to collect wealth, while Maharaj Ji has taken a pledge to complete this huge task without any monetary consideration."

Prem Rawat's activities today

Although based in the U.S.A., Prem Rawat is today still active in India as well. With a more culturally neutral approach, Rawat now concentrates on what he calls a "universal message of peace" and "self-fulfillment" , introducing people to the possibility of inner peace. Rawat's message is currently distributed in eighty-eight countries, largely on video and in print. . The video broadcasts have won awards from various non-related entities.

Access to the techniques

The approach to receiving Prem Rawat's techniques of Knowledge has become much less onerous. During the period when the organization was at its largest, a student's access to the techniques was constrained through a layer of intermediaries. A Mahatma or in later times an Instructor would in a "Knowledge selection" process decide and chose which aspirants would receive the techniques. Once an aspirant was chosen, he or she would then be granted access to a "Knowledge session" in which the techniques were revealed. The use of personal mentors and instructors in smaller groups has largely been abandoned in favor of taped or live instruction by Rawat himself via satellite video or cable television programming along with on-line newsletters for information dissemination , and access to the techniques is now governed by a much less restrictive self-paced and self-assessed preparation process, perhaps reminiscent of a more open attitude prevalent during Rawat's initial foray into the West. However, students must be at least eighteen years old and of legal age in their country in order to prepare for and be taught the techniques of Knowledge.

The Prem Rawat Foundation states that the practice of Knowledge has no bearing or compatibility problem with peoples' existing religious or spiritual belief system.

Kranenborg writes that the techniques of Knowledge, also known as kriyas, originated from the Surat Shabda Yoga or Sant Mat, the Path of the Sound Current. This alleged relationship to Surat Shabd Yoga is neither denied or acknowledged in any literature from the organizations that support Mr. Rawat's work, or by Mr. Rawat himself. Many practitioners regard such history as irrelevant to the peace that the techniques help them to enjoy.

The organizations

In 2001 a new organization, the Prem Rawat Foundation, was founded as a non-profit organization largely for the production and distribution of audiovisual and other materials containing Rawat's message. The Foundation also oversees several humanitarian efforts around the world, providing food and medical relief to war-torn areas and medical care in impoverished areas . On March 24 2006, Prem Rawat inagurated a facility in the tribal area Jharkhand called "Food for People", developed and operated in consultation with local village elders, to provide 45,000 free meals to chlidrem and adults in need each month. The facility is run by fifty local villagers trained by volunteers of the Raj Vidya Kender. The facility was developed with the financial support of The Prem Rawat Foundation.

Elan Vital organizations remain active in the US, the UK, Australia and Switzerland, engaged in event organization, logistics, and fundraising . These entities are much smaller now than the DLM has been in times past, however, with only a small paid staff and volunteers doing most of the work and preparation for events. While these organizations report that they seek and accept Prem Rawat's input, he is not an officer, director, or employee of either organization. They report he receives no income from them for his services or from sale of materials other than reimbursement for documented tour and speaking expenses.

There are many other independent, volunteer-based organizations that promote Prem Rawat's teachings locally in countries of all five continents.

Current activities

Prem Rawat reportedly travels about eleven months out of the year on world-wide speaking and training tours. In addition to speaking at large gatherings of students and interested persons, he speaks at various cultural, educational and community forums He reportedly spoke to more than a million and a half people in a 2005 India tour .

Number of practitioners of Knowledge

According to the organizations, Prem Rawat has over the years engaged over six and a half million people in 250 cities and fifty countries. They estimate slightly more than half a million have been taught the techniques since Rawat came to the West, about 125,000 of this number between January 2000 and April 2004 . Volunteers estimate an additional 125,000 currently in preparation to be taught the techniques, 65,000 having been in preparation five months or more, with these numbers on the increase in many countries. A press release states that 2004 was the first year where the number of new students has exceeded 50,000. Printed and audiovisual materials are available in approximately sixty languages, and the organizations estimate Rawat currently has hundreds of thousands of practicing students worldwide, representing a wide variety of backgrounds and personal situations. Since there is no longer any membership component to the organizations, however, it is difficult to determine with precision the number of persons actually practicing his techniques. Chryssides' Historical Dictionary of New Religious movements (2001), estimates 15,000 people practicing the techniques in the USA and 5,000 in the UK.

'Premie' is the name given to students of Rawat in India and other Eastern countries. It stems from the Hindi word "prem" (prema in Sanskrit), which means "love"; "premie" means "lover." Until the early 1990s it also was the name given to his students in the West, and it is still occasionally used. Nowadays students of Rawat sometimes refer to fellow students as "People that received the techniques of Knowledge," "People with Knowledge," or more generically as "Maharaji's students."

Life work

Prem Rawat has addressed audiences from a few hundreds to hundreds of thousands since the age of three. Between 1965, when his addresses were first documented, and until July 2005, he addressed audiences at 2,280 events around the world. Between January 2004 and June 2005 alone, he delivered 117 addresses in Asia, Europe and North America.

His speaks without a script, and while he always speaks on the same topic — finding peace and fulfillment within — each of his addresses is known to be unique . The range and variety of people that come to him for inspiration and guidance includes people from rural villages of India and Africa, people from all walks of life in Western countries, to diplomats and government officials in large metropoles. Because his message is from the heart, he says, and not from or for the intellect, his words can reach and touch people regardless of their condition or background.

Since 1971, when he was first invited to speak to audiences outside India, Prem Rawat has received proclamations and resolutions that honor his work, and the keys to the cities of New York City; New Orleans, Louisiana; Oakland, California; Kyoto, Japan; Detroit, Michigan; Miami, Florida and Miami Beach, Florida.

For accolades by business leaders, academics and government leaders see Wikiquote.

"Peace needs to be in everyone's life. Of all the things we have tried in this world, there is one thing we have never given a chance. That one thing is peace. If we want to hope for something, maybe we could hope in our heart that peace will come in our life. The peace that we are looking for is within. It is in the heart, waiting to be felt, and I can help you get in touch with it. It is not the world that needs peace; it is people. When people in the world are at peace within, the world will be at peace." — Maharaji

Criticism

Disillusioned ex-students existed in the U.S. as early as 1973, some of whom spoke to reporters during the Astrodome gathering. Other students became disillusioned later, expressing anger and a sense of loss. Some ex-students disaffection appears to have stemmed from their former belief in Prem Rawat's personal divinity and consequent dissonance with his image as human teacher, whilst others claim that following Prem Rawat effected their lives in various other negative ways. Supporters claim that Rawat's efforts to throw off anachronistic Hindu religious and cultural trappings necessarily resulted in the disaffection of some students. They suggest that the latter valued the trappings over Prem Rawat's core message and so were unwilling to move with his changes.

Most current criticism derives from a number of former followers that call themselves "ex-premies". A website that claims to represent their viewpoints lists their main 14 objections. In turn, Elan Vital, characterizes these critics as an "an insignificantly small hate group of no more than a handful of individuals that constantly harass Rawat and his students," and dismiss the criticism or Prem Rawat generally as fallacious, ill-intended, and unfounded hearsay. Such allegations are addressed within the FAQ sections of their official websites. Individual critical former students have denied being members of a hate group and in turn describe such allegations as ridiculous and defamatory.

Much of the criticism levelled at Prem Rawat derives from key personnel who, after they parted ways with Prem Rawat and the related organizations, began making allegations against him about purported anxiety and alcoholism. These key personnel included Robert Mishler (who died in the late 1970s) and later Michael Dettmers. In turn, current students claim that during the 70's Mishler was an autocrat with an inappropriate personal agenda who ruled Divine Light Mission and Divine United Organisation with little reference to anyone, especially Prem Rawat, and that he was to blame for much of what happened in those years. To support this allegation they point out that Mishler had appointed David Lovejoy, to be "in charge" of Australia from 1972 to 1975 and then, as CEO of the United Kingdom in 1975 without notifying Prem Rawat of the significant change. Lovejoy wrote "I had not really anticipated that I would be taking agya from Bob Mishler" and accused Mishler of continuing "his policy of exerting total control". (See Agya.)

Other criticisms of Prem Rawat include allegations that he exploited his students to build a luxurious lifestyle for himself, that his personal behavior was and is hypocritical and inconsistent with one claiming to have found inner peace, and that he and the organizations engage in various deceptive practices to falsely magnify his perceived significance and prestige.

In 2004 in Australia, lawyers acting on behalf of George Laver, Karin Conrad and the Ivory's Rock Conference Centre (a conference facility near Brisbane in which hosts events with Prem Rawat) successfully brought legal proceedings against two ex-premies for misappropriating data from Laver's computer. During the legal proceedings with the Supreme Court of Queensland, the ex-premies signed affidavits that the underlying purpose of the ex-premie group is to harass, defame and annoy Rawat and his students, and to purposefully interfere with the rights of people to experience their own spiritual discovery and their right to peacefully assemble. . In one of these two affidavits, an ex-premie apologized for his participation in the ex-premie schemes, and said that many of the people in the ex-premie group were "irrational, obsessed, and motivated by ill-directed anger and that when they purport to report on factual matters they are frequently false and defamatory, unsupported by actual fact basis, and motivated in many instances by hatred, ill will and spite." In one affadavit the former student apologized for his participation in the ex-premie schemes. The other attempted to retract his affidavit claiming he was coerced but the the judge ruled that no illegitimate pressure was brought to bear and refused to allow the withdrawal of his earlier affidavit.

Several scholarly articles from the 1970 and 1980s about the DLM and other new religious movements included various critical observations and comments about Rawat and his students: the DLM having no substantial contents was claimed by the sociologist Ralph Larkin in 1978; irrationality among students was claimed in a 1981 article about the DLM by a student of religion named Wim Haan that appeared in the magazine about religious movements of the Free University of Amsterdam ; materialistic, spoilt, and intellectually unremarkable and Rawat discouraging critical thinking was claimed in a 1982 Ph.D. thesis about new religious movements and mental health by the sociologist Paul Schnabel;Rawat having become a charlatan, leading privately a life of idleness and pleasures hidden from the average followers by the professor of psychology of religion Jan van der Lans in a 1981 book about followers of gurus written upon request for a Dutch Catholic institute (he did not provide sources for this assertion); concern about financial exploitation of followers by the psychiatrist Saul V. Levine. Details about their comments, the context in which they were made, the sources (or the lack thereof) they used for their research is discussed in detail in the Criticism of Prem Rawat article.

Other scholars and authors that have written about this subject but who do not level criticism against Prem Rawat include: Andrew Kopkind, Charles H. Lippy , John Bassett McCleary,, Ruth Prince and David Riches, Bryan Wilson, Dennis Marcellino, Erwin Fahlbusch, Tim Miller, Raymond Lee, Rosemary Goring, George D. Chryssides, David V. Barrett, Lucy DuPertuis Gordon J. Melton, and James Lewis. Barret, Dupertuis, Melton and Lewis mention criticism by the media, Rawat's mother, Bob Mishler, and anticultists respectively. Stephen A. Kent makes self-admitted subjective criticism (lacking substance) based on his personal experience with Prem Rawat and treats the criticism by the countercultural left on him in the 1970s.

References and footnotes

1. Goring, Rosemary (Ed.). Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions (1997) p.145, Wordsworth Editions, ISBN 1853263540
2. "Maharaji's quotes @ Wikiquote". 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-03. Birthday Celebrations, Prem Nagar (Haridwar), August 21 1962 as published in "Hansadesh" magazine, Issue 1, Mahesh Kare, January 1963
3. Beit-Hallahami, Benjamin The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults, (1997), ISBN 0823915050 p. 85 "Divine Light Mission". "When the founder died in 1966, the eight-year old Pretap stood up at the funeral to announce his ascent to the throne and became the movement's recognized leader. Maharaj Ji was considered satguru, or the Perfect Master."
4. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp.141-2 entry Divine Light Mission Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
   "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."
5. ^ U. S. Department of the Army, Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains (2001) pp.11-5, The Minerva Group, ISBN 0898756073
   "Following his death, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj appointed the youngest of his four sons, Sant Ji, as the next Perfect Master and thereby he assumed head of Divine Light Mission as decreed by his father. Since that time, Guru Maharaj Ji has inspired a world wide movement and the Mission is active in 55 countries."
6. Hinnells, John (Editor) The Penguin Dictionary of ReligionsISBN 0140512616 1997 entry Sant Mat page 451
   "Sant Mat concepts and practices include Anukul Thakur, Maharaj-ji -the so-called "boy guru" - who led the Divine Light Mission - and John Roger Hinkins, who led a spiritual movement in Southern California. "
7. "What happened in 1972". 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-14.
8. "About Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj". 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-06.
9. 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."
10. Lippy, Charles H. Pluralism Comes of Age: American Religious Culture in the Twentieth Century p.114, M. E. Sharpe (2002), ISBN 0-765-60151-6
    "The Divine Light Mission, for example, in the 1980s became Elan Vital and dropped most of its Asian trappings."
11. Miller, Tim (Ed.) America's Alternative Religions (S U N Y Series in Religious Studies) p.364 (1995) State University of New York Press. p. 474 ISBN 0791423972
    "e may be reaching more listeners than ever, especially abroad, but his role is that of a public speaker, and the original religious movement is essentially defunct."
12. Maharaji on peace. (Retrieved Feb 2006)
13. "Prem Rawat speaks at Australia's Parliament House on the United Nations' International Day of Peace". 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-04.
14. "Leading Thai University Welcomes Prem Rawat". 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-04.
15. "Prem Rawat Brings Message of Peace to Members of Italian Parliament". 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-04.
16. Press releases of 2005 tours, Retrieved April 2006
17. US Patent Office
18. "Guru Maharaj Ji becomes a citizen of the US", Rocky Mountain News, Wednesday, October 19 1977, Denver, Colorado, USA
19. ^ "Maharaj.org". 1999. Retrieved 1999-01-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
20. Hans Jayanti (2000), pp.24-37. DUO, New Delhi, Book published in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Hans ji Maharaj's birth.
21. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America,(1986), pp.141-2 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5.
22. Ram Lila Grounds, Delhi, India, October 29 1966 (translated from Hindi
    "Today I will speak about love. What is love? How can one get love? Why should one get it? There are two kinds of love. One is the worldly connection. The other is attained through Knowledge. In this human body exists the love we have to discover. You should love one another and behave lovingly because when love comes, everything comes. You should speak to one another with love and humility. Love is the essence."
23. About Prem Rawat (retrieved Nov 2005) "Born in India, he started addressing audiences at the age of three and gave his first published address when he was only four. At eight, he started presenting his message of peace throughout the Indian subcontinent. At thirteen, he was invited to speak in London and Los Angeles."
24. Lee, Raymond L M. Sacred Tensions: Modernity and Religious Transformation in Malaysia (1997) pp.109-110 The University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1570031673 "Upon the death of his founder in 1966, one of his sons, Guru Maharaj ji, assumed leadership of the movement and won the hearts of many young Westerners." (p.109)
25. Aagaard, Johannes. Who Is Who In Guruism? (1980) "During the first 6 years of the new movement its head was Shri Hans, the father of the young Maharaj Ji, who, at the age of 8 years, succeeded his father in 1966."
26. Singh, Bihari. Maharaji accepted by his father's students, Retrieved Jan 2006.
    "Right after Shri Maharaj Ji’s death, the family and several mahatmas were discussing who would become Master after the 13 days of mourning were over. They were thinking about Bal Bhagwan Ji, who was the eldest son. When they asked me what I thought, I said, “Shri Maharaj Ji told us when Maharaji was born, ‘He’s going to take my message all over the world.’ Some were suggesting that there be several gurus (all four brothers or some group of 5 or 7 gurus), and others were still in the Bal Bhagwan Ji camp. Particularly in India, when a father dies, the older son steps into his place. Twelve days after Shri Maharaj Ji’s death, Maharaji went on stage with a handkerchief on his head and spoke for about 45 minutes to the people who had gathered. After listening to him, everybody accepted him as their Master."
27. Fahlbusch E., Lochman J. M., Mbiti J., Pelikan J., Vischer L, Barret D. (Eds.) The Encyclopedia of Christianity (1998). p.861, ISBN 9004113169<br.>"At the funeral of Shree Hans, his son Prem Pal Singh Rawat comforted those who mourned his father's death with the thought that they still had perfect knowledge with them. The son himself had become the subject of this knowledge, the perfect master, in the place of his father, and took the title of "guru" and the name of Maharaj Ji, or great king, a title of respect of which other titular names were added. The honors paid him by his followers gave him the characteristic of a messianic child. These were supposedly his by nature and they helped him to eliminate rival claims from his own family."
28. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America,(1986), pp.141-2 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "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."
29. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedia of American religions, (1978) p.370-1, McGrath Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8434-643-7
    "As they bewailed their loss at his funeral, one of the four sons, then only eight-years old arose and addressed the crowd. Thus Maharaj Ji proclaimed his lordship and established himself as the new head if his father's mission"
30. Cameron, Charles (Ed.). Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji? (1973), Bantam Books, Inc.
31. Rawat, Prem and Wolf, Burt. Inner Journey: A spirited conversation about self-discovery TC 0:21:45 (DVD). ISBN 0-9740627-0-7
    He was the rock. And the next thing you know, he's not there. And it's like, "Do I really understand this? Do I really understand the dynamics of this?"And then I remember being in this hall where all these people had come to pay their respects to him. And they were waiting and crying. And I came on stage and I said, "Don't cry. Don't weep. Because what you really loved is still here and will always be there with you." And it was a powerful moment. It was very genuine. I saw these people weeping and I felt this is something that I can do. I want to help."
32. 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 processionits culminated in a public event at India Gate, where Sant Ji Maharaj addressed the large gathering"
33. Hindustan Times, 9 November 1970 (English)"Roads in the Capital spilled over with a 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."
34. Guinness Book of World Records, 1970
35. Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen ("Eastern faith movements in the West") (Dutch language) ISBN 9021049651 page 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."
36. Pryor, William. The Survival of the Coolest: A Darwin's Death Defying Journey Into the Interior of Addiction (2004), p. 148. Clear Press, ISBN 1904555136
37. Partial list of honors The Prem Rawat Foundation website
38. Downton, James V. Sacred journeys: The conversion of young Americans to Divine Light Mission,(1979) Columbia University Press. ISBN # 0231041985
39. Ibid. Religious Requirements and Practices p. 1-6
40. Crewdson, John. Science Fictions p.15 (2003) Back Bay Books ISBN 0316090042
41. Prem Rawat September 31, 1973 , published in 'Special Millenium '73 Edition' of the Divine Times, page 2, under the heading 'A Festival for the Whole World'
42. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp.141-2 entry Divine Light Mission Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
43. Leech, Keneth. Soul Friend (2001) Morehouse Group, ISBN 081921888X
44. Collier, Sophia. Soul rush: The odyssey of a young woman of the '70s, Morrow (1978), ISBN 0688032761 contains link to excerpts
    "In the Divine Light Mission there are two groups of people. There are those who sincerely believe that Guru Maharaj Ji is the Lord of Creation here in the flesh to save the world. And then there are those who know him a little better than that. They relate to him in a more human way... to them he is more of a teacher, a guide, a co-conspirator in their personal pursuit of a more heavenly way of life. I have always been in this second group of people... as charming and wise as Guru Maharaj Ji has seemed to me on occasion, I have never found any basis on which to nominate him Lord.Guru Maharaj Ji, though he has never made a definitive statement on his own opinion of his own divinity, generally encourages whatever view is held by the people he is with."
45. The Living Master -Quotes from Guru Maharaj Ji - Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2 1971
46. "Who is Guru Maharaj JI" Bantam Books
47. "Who is Guru Maharaj JI" Bantam Books
48. Marcellino, Dennis Why Are We Here?: The Scientific Answer to This Age-Old Question (That You Don't Need to Be a Scientist to Understand) (1996) p.129 Lighthouse Publishing, ISBN 0945272103
49. Prem Rawat Alta Loma Terrace Satsang, 1971 - reproduced from Elan Vital magazine, vol. II, issue 1
    "Who is Guru? The highest manifestation of God is Guru. So when Guru is here, God is here, to whom will you give your devotion? I want that the general should sign some papers. I need not go to his office when he is sitting in my home. Is it necessary to go in his office when his is sitting in my home? When God has come here, then what is the need to give devotion to God there?"
50. Interview with John Wood of the Boston Globe, August 3 1973
    Wood: In our discussion before you came down, this question of Who is Guru Maharaj Ji resolved into many other pretty large questions: what is light? why are we here? Can these be answered?
    Maharaj Ji: Answered verbally — might not be possible. But yes — there is a very practical answer to it. And that's the realization itself. Language was made for communication, a frequent communication between people. And it is so finite, it's so little, it's just not perfect to relate what is perfect within inside of us. But when we understand the energy, when we understand the source, that is the whole answer.
    
    Wood: Would your role be analogous then to John the disciple or to Jesus the Christ?>
    Maharaj Ji: Well, I just don't put myself in any of those. I'm just a humble servant trying to preach this Knowledge to people.
    Wood: A humble servant of?
    Maharaj Ji: Of God. Of this most Supreme Energy. I don't say I am a messiah, I don't say I'm a prophet, I don't say all those things.
    Wood: They are said of you...
    Maharaj ji: People say, people say... actually the most common thing they say about me is that I am a Perfect Master. And what they mean by Perfect Master is the one who can reveal perfectness. Like one who teaches you math, you call him a math master, one who teaches you science, you call him a science master, one who can teach you perfectness, you call him a Perfect Master. And I can teach them what is perfectness, so they call me Perfect Master.
    
    Wood: The Knowledge can be realized through that spirit?
    Maharaj Ji: No. It has to be revealed. By a Perfect Master.
    Wood: By a living Perfect Master?
    Maharaj Ji: By a living Perfect Master. I was going to give you an example of Kennedy and Johnson. When Kennedy left his body, they didn't say all right, Kennedy is still going to be President. They put Johnson in.
    Wood: I've never understood what you are in India. Your father was also Perfect Master -
    Maharaj Ji: Yes, he was Perfect Master, and then, when he left his body he commanded me to continue his job.
    Wood: But didn't your father have a following before there was a Divine Light Mission?
    Maharaj Ji: Before there was a Divine Light Mission, there was a Guru to my father also.
    Wood: Then there has been a steady succession of Perfect Masters -
    Maharaj Ji: There have always been Perfect Masters coming into this world.
    Wood: Will there be another one?
    Maharaj Ji: Yes. After me."
51. Interview, Tokyo, October 3 1972
    Q:Are you an incarnation of God?
    A:See, about incarnations. don't ask me, but if you want to ask me who I am, what is my personal opinion about me, I can give you. I know one thing, partly who I am. I don't know about incarnations, I don't know if I am Perfect Master, or so on, I know something who I am. And if you want to know, I can tell you.
    Q: Please go ahead
    A I am a servant of God, here to do service to teach this Knowledge to human beings. That's what I am. Servant of God.
    
52. Text of arti as sung in the Divine Light Mission with an introductory comment, available on the website of critical former followers
53. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America,(1986), pp.142 entry Divine Light Mission Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "In any case Hans Maharaj Ji claimed a Sant Mat succession which he passed to Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji, as do many of the other leaders, claims to be a Perfect Master, an embodiment of God on earth, a fitting object of worship and veneration."
54. Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen ("Eastern faith movements in the West") (Dutch language) ISBN 9021049651 page 64
    English translation "In the satsangs of Maharaji one can notice a speaking style that resembles a lot what happens in some Christian evangelization campaigns: a pressing request, an emphasis on the last moment before it is too late and a terminology in which one is requested to surrender to the Lord, in this case Maharaj ji himself, but the content of the message is not Christian." Dutch original "In de satsangs van Maharaj ji merken we een stijl van spreken die veel lijkt op wat men in sommige christelijke evangelisatiecampagnes doet: een klemmende oproep, een nadruk op de laatste mogelijkheid voor het te laat is en een terminologie waarin wordt opgeroepen tot overgave aan de Heer in dit geval Maharaj ji zelf. De inhoud van de boodschap is echter niet christelijk."
55. Baxter, Ernie The Multi-million dollar religion ripoff in Argosy magazine (August 1974)
    “Five years later the young Guru made his public debut in India and promptly announced that he was the "Lord of the Universe." In 1971 he made his first American trip to hold a Guru Puja-or Guru worship-festival in the heady atmosphere of the Colorado mountains, adding some 2,000 American converts in the process”
56. Choate, Gilbert, "People You Should Forget Guru Maharaj Ji" in Viva, The International Magazine for Woman November 1973, page 100.
    “As sure as there's a sucker born every minute, so every age has its sage, and the present presence on earth of the All and the One Almighty Lord is the divine, perfect, supreme, fifteen-year-old Shri Guru Maharaj Ji ("The Kid")-at least to hear him tell it.”
57. Time Magazine April 28 1975One Lord Too Many
    "the 17-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji is worshiped as the "Lord of the Universe" by devotees of the Divine Light Mission in many countries round the world."
58. Levi, Richard M,. "Who is your guru" in The Seventies: A Tumultuous Decade Reconsidered", p.104. Rolling Stone magazine. Little, Brown and Company (2000). ISBN 0316815470
59. Kranenborg, Reender, Neohindoeïstische bewegingen in Nederland: een encyclopedisch overzicht, Kampen Kok cop. (2002), p.178 ISBN 9043504939. "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 in divine terms about himself, but calling himself instead an 'humanitarian leader'."
60. The Living Master" Orlando, Florida; November 8 1975. "Rather than being a noun, it's a verb. What that really means is, it shows action. "Guru" is not a noun; it's not a name. It's a function of a person, of somebody who comes into the world to save us.
61. Maharaji in Tokyo October 3 1972 (Published in the DLM magazine "And it is Divine ", July 1973)
    ”The greatest problem all around the world today, whether in America, Japan, China, Russia, India or anywhere else in the world, is that people are not in peace. People want peace. Today, if two people fight, the government is supposed to settle them down. But when governments fight, who is going to settle them down? The only one who can settle the governments down is the Perfect Master, the incarnation of God Himself, who comes to Earth to save mankind. “
62. The Living Master - Quotes from Guru Maharaj Ji (1978), Divine Light Mission Inc. (Various excerpts: Toronto, Canada; September, 1971 - Johannesburg, South Africa; May 3 1972 - London, England; February 28 1972 - London, England; November 1971.)
    Q: Guru Maharaj Ji, are you permanently in God-consciousness?
    A:Yes. I am permanently in God-consciousness.
    Q: Some people say you are a divine incarnation, and some people say other things about you. What's the truth?
    A:You yourself must realize the truth
63. From an extract of a question and answer session given by Guru Maharaj Ji in Portland, Oregon, June 29 1972. Printed in 'Elan Vital' magazine Volume II Issue 2, Summer 1978
    Question: Guru Maharaj Ji, what does it feel like to be Lord of the universe?
    Maharaji: What should I tell you about it?
    Question: Just what it's like.
    Maharaji: What it's like? Nothing. Because you are not in yourself; somewhere else; one with someone else.
    Question: How is it to be like a puppet?
    Maharaji: You don't know.... Do you? When you become Lord of the Universe, you become a puppet, really! Nothing else; not 'you'. Not 'I', not 'you' no egos, no pride, nothing else. One with humbleness; servant. Very, very beautiful. Always in divine bliss. Creating your own environment - wherever you go, doesn't matter. Like my friends used to play and I used to sit right in the corner of my ground and meditate (laughter).
    She wants to change places with me! I wish I could change places with everyone, and give one hour of experience to everyone! But it's not possible.
64. Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen ("Eastern faith movements in the West") (Dutch language) ISBN 9021049651 page 64
    "In de satsangs van Maharaj ji merken we een stijl van spreken die veel lijkt op wat men in sommige christelijke evangelisatiecampagnes doet: een klemmende oproep, een nadruk op de laatste mogelijkheid voor het te laat is en een terminologie waarin wordt opgeroepen tot overgave aan de Heer in dit geval Maharaj ji zelf. De inhoud van de boodschap is echter niet christelijk."
65. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America,(1986), pp.142 entry Divine Light Mission Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "In any case Hans Maharaj Ji claimed a Sant Mat succession which he passed to Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji, as do many of the other leaders, claims to be a Perfect Master, an embodiment of God on earth, a fitting object of worship and veneration."
66. "Maharaj.org: Masters". 1999. Retrieved 1999-01-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
    "Even though references to the technique of Knowledge are made earlier than 1700, this is the traceable story so far"
67. Barret, David V. The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions (2003) p.325, Cassel, ISBN 1844030407
68. "Making the First Step: Bob Mishler at a Staff Meeting, 10 June 1974." Divine Times 3, no. 3 (July 1974)
69. ^ Gawenda, Michael, Guru Maharaj Ji Puts his Case The Age March 24 1982
70. Geaves, Ron (2002). From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital and Beyond: an Exploration of Change and Adaptation, 2002 International Conference on Minority Religions, Social Change and Freedom of Conscience, University of Utah at Salt Lake City (Note: Geaves is a student of Prem Rawat).
71. Baker, Willow. "Organizations not to come between Maharaji and his students" . Accessed 3 February 2006
72. David Lovejoy. Between Dark and Dark: A Memoir. Mullumbimby, NSW: Echo Publications, 2005, p130
73. Lovejoy. ibid
74. John Hampton. “Agendas in the Organization”. . Accessed 5 February 2006.
75. Jon Knight. “Competing Visions for Maharaji’s Work.” . Accessed 5 February 2006.
76. Glen Whittaker. “A Change in Management” . Accessed 5 February 2006
77. Whittaker. “A Change in Management.
78. Mishler Transcript Part I, Mishler Transcript Part II, and Mishler Transcript Part III
79. George D. Chryssides Chryssides, George D. (2001). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, pp. 108-109, 115-116. The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland and London, 2001. ISBN 0-8108-4095-2
80. Kranenborg, Reender, Neohindoeïstische bewegingen in Nederland: een encyclopedisch overzicht, Kampen Kok cop. (2002), p.178 ISBN 9043504939. "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, not no longer speaking with divine terms about himself, but calling himself instead an 'humanitarian leader'."
81. Miller, Tim (Ed.) America's Alternative Religions (S U N Y Series in Religious Studies) p.364 (1995) State University of New York Press. 474pp. ISBN 0791423972
82. Elan Vital, FAQs - History. Available online (Retrieved Jan 2006)
83. Interview by Johnny Young. Miami Beach, Florida, August 4 1981
    "Some people may think that okay, when we say Perfect Master, we’re talking about God, or we’re talking about prophet, or we’re talking about something like that. But really, in laymen’s term, to explain it, is that if somebody is a flight instructor, you would call them a flight instructor, or a flight teacher, or one who teaches about airplanes. If one was a professor of maths, he had mastered it, then you would call him teacher in maths, or instructor in maths the definition of a Perfect Master is the one who can give us the perfectness, one who can teach us the perfectness. "
84. Schnabel, Paul Dr. (Dutch language) Between stigma and charisma: new religious movements and mental health Erasmus university Rotterdam, Faculty of Medicine, Ph.D.
85. Lans, Jan van der and Dr. Frans Derks Premies Versus Sannyasins in “Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements”, X/2 (June 1986)
    "DLM and Rajneeshism are comparable in that in both, the Indian guru is the central object of devotion. While in the Christian tradition the spiritual master is only an intermediate between the individual and God, standing outside their personal relation, in both these new religious movements the devotee’s relation with the guru is considered identical to his relation with God. The guru is accepted as the manifestation and personification of God. His request for total surrender and complete trust is grounded in his claim of ultimate authority derived from his godliness."
86. Lans, Jan van der and Dr. Frans Derks Premies Versus Sannyasins in “Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements”, X/2 (June 1986)
    "According to Maharaj Ji, all evil should be attributed to the mind, while for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the ego is the responsible agent. Apparently, these merely represent linguistic variants to indicate the same obstacle of freeing oneself from former bonds, but in essence they refer to different realities. DLM’s concept of mind refers primarily to a state of consciousness characterized by everything but passive, nonrational confidence and trust."
87. Colorado Satsang, September 1971
    "Dogs bark but the elephant carries on. When an elephant passes in India, all the dogs come round and bark, bark, bark. The elephant never even sees them. The elephant isn't aware of what is happening around him. If you don't realize why you have come into this world, if you don't use every single moment, then you are like an elephant, having nothing to do with Knowledge and having nothing to do with time. Everything is saying, "Know, know, know, know me," but you aren't interested. Realize why you have come into this world, why God placed you in this human frame, why God made you so handsome, why God graced you with that most intelligent brain. Why did he do that? Know. Only know.
88. McGuire, Meredith B. "Religion: the Social Context" fifth edition (2002) ISBN 0534541267 Chapter. 5 "The dynamics of religious collectivities", section “How Religious Collectivities Develop and Change’’, sub-section "Organizational Transformations" page 175
    "As Weber pointed out, the long-term impact of a movement hinges on transformation of bases of authority and leadership from a charismatic mode to either traditional or legal-traditional rational structures. When a movement becomes established, there is a strong tendency for the organization to calcify around the memory of the early dynamism; its own tradition becomes the rationalization for why things should be done in a certain way.
    Early stages of a movement organization involve simple structures such as the charismatic leader and followers or leader, core followers, and other followers. The transition to legal-rational structures is typically accompanied by the elaboration and standardization of procedures, the emergence of specialized statuses and roles, and the formalizing of communication among members. The early years of the Divine Light Mission (DLM) in the United States were characterized by rapidly growing, loosely affiliated local ashrams (i.e., groups of devotees, usually living communally), united mainly by the devotion to the ambiguous charismatic figure of Guru Maharaj Ji. " (Thomas Pilarzyk ‘’The origin, development, and decline of a youth culture religion: An application of the sectarianization theory’’ in Review of Religious Research 20, 1:33-37, 1978) ”
89. DuPertuis, Lucy (Summer 1986), (note: DuPertuis was a follower of the DLM) University of Guam. How people recognize charisma: the case of darshan in Radhasoami and Divine Light Mission in Sociological Analysis, Vol 47, No 2, Page 111-124.
    The three aspects of darshan discussed — of Satguru as Absolute, as living master, and within the community off devotees — suggests the imputation of charisma on three interrelated levels. The master in person emerged both theologically and experientially as neither the sole focus, nor the unique generator of charisma. Rather he represented a conceptual link which defined an integrated a diffuse set of experiences.
90. B/E Aerospace to buy Aircraft Modular Products. The South Florida Business Journal, April 1998 [Available online
91. Elan Vital FAQs - About Elan Vitak, Inc. Available online (Retrieved Jan 2006)
92. Visions International website. (Retrieved Jan 2006)
93. Ibid. America's Alternative Religions p.421
94. The Times of India, December 4 1987
95. Conversation with Prem Rawat, Available online. (Retrieved Jan 2006)
96. The Prem Rawat Foundation About
97. "Words of Peace" by Maharaji receives TV Award in Brazil" Press release.
98. Visions International, Broadcast schedule of Maharaji's addresses (Retrieved Jan 2006)
99. Inspire ' e-newsletter with highlights of Prem Rawat's work (Retrievved Jan 2006)
100. Frequently Asked Questions Available online (Retrieved Jan 2006)
101. Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen/Eastern faith movements in the West (Dutch language) ISBN 9021049651
102. Guidestar report for non-profit organizations. Available online
103. Humanitarian Initiatives The Prem Rawat Foundation (Retrieved Jan 2996)
104. Prem Rawat Inaugurates First 'Food for People' Facility in Northeastern India (Retrieved March 25 2006)
105. Elan Vital Foundation website http://elanvitalfoundation.com/; Elan Vital; Australia http://www.elanvital.com.au/; Elan Vital, UK http://elanvital.org.uk
106. Elan Vital About (Retrieved Jan 2006)
107. Volunteer-based organizations (Retrieved (Feb 2006)
108. Forum of Cultures, Barcelona, 2004, Italian ParliamentSalamanca University. (Retrieved Feb 2006)
109. "More than 1.5 million people seek Prem Rawat’s inspiration and guidance" (Retrieved Feb 2006)
110. Annual report TPRF(retrieved Jan 2006)
111. Maharaji at Griffith University (2004) ISBN 0-9740627-2-3
112. The Prem Rawat Foundation presents: Maharaji at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University (2005) ISBN 0-9740627-3-1
113. Maharaji at The House of Parliament Conference Hall Rome, Italy (2005) ISBN 0-9740627-4-X
114. Peace Is Possible: an event with Prem Rawat hosted by the United Nations Association of Malaysia with the United Nations Development programme. (2005) ISBN 0-9740627-5-8
115. The Unchangeable: Maharaji at the University of California at Berkeley (2004) ISBN 0-9740627-6-6
116. Maharaji at the Universal Forum of Cultures in Barcelona, Spain(2004) ISBN 0-9740627-7-4
117. The Voice of Maharaji: Maharaji on Life and the Possibility of Peace Within (Retrieved Jan 2006)
118. A letter from Prem Rawat (Retrieved Jan 2006)
119. 14 Objections, An Open Letter to Prem Rawat Followers
120. Opposition to Maharaji and his message – Detractors and the negative message they convey
121. Elan Vital 'Hate Group' Allegations
122. Lovejoy, David. Between Dark and Dark: A Memoir Mullumbimby, NSW: Echo Publications, (2005). pp 146 "Although the whole movement necessarily operated through delegated authority (it was the very essence of my job),I had not really anticipated that I would be taking agya from Bob Mishler" 150-1, 156.
123. Ibid. Encyclopedic Handbook 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."
124. Ivory's Rock Conference Centre
125. Affidavit by John Murray Macgregor, Affidavit by Thomas R. Gubler
126. State Reporting Bureau - Supreme Court of Queensland, Order 9538 01/03/2004 p.5-7 "The affidavit also makes it plain that the interaction between those present on this occasion was not stressful and that no illegitimate pressure was brought to bear. Gubler suffers from the credibility handicap of having sworn one thing in one occasion and another on a later occasion after having spoken to a party to the proceedings about his evidence" J. Muir.
127. Haan, Wim (Dutch language) De missie van het Goddelijk licht van goeroe Maharaj Ji: een subjektieve duiding from the series Religieuze bewegingen in Nederland: Feiten en Visies nr. 3, autumn 1981 (Article is based on the Dutch branch of the Divine Light Mission) ISBN 90-242-2341-5. Note: Haan was part of a critical movement within the Catholic church.
128. Schnabel, Paul Dr. (Dutch language) Tussen stigma en charisma: Nieuwe religieuze bewegingen en geestelijke volksgezondheid ("Between stigma and charisma: new religious movements and mental health") Erasmus university Rotterdam, Faculty of Medicine, Ph.D. thesis, ISBN 90-6001-746-3 (Deventer, Van Loghum Slaterus, 1982), Chapter II, page 33, Chapter IV page 99, page 101-102, Chapter V, page 142
129. Lans, Jan van der Dr. (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 9026305214
130. Levine, Saul V. Life in the Cults, article that appeared in the book edited by Marc Galanter M.D., (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
131. Kopkind, Andrew. The Thirty Years' Wars pp.233-4. Verso, ISBN 1-8598-4096-5
132. Lippy, Charles H.Pluralism Comes of Age: American Religious Culture in the Twentieth Century p.114, M. E. Sharpe (2002), ISBN 0-765-60151-6
133. McCleary Bassett, John. The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s. p.140, Ten Speed Press(2004), ISBN 1580085474
134. Prince Ruth & Riches Davies, The New Age in Glastonbury: The Construction of Religious Movements, pp.99-100, Berghahn Books (2001), ISBN 1571817921
135. Wilson, Bryan, New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response. pp.268-9, Routledge (UK), ISBN 0415200490
136. Fahlbusch E. (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Christianity (1998). p.861, ISBN 9004113169
137. Goring, Rosemary. Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions. p.145, Wordsworth Editions (1997), ISBN 1853263540

External links

Official websites of Prem Rawat

• 'Maharaji', Prem Rawat's personal website - Content and design by Prem Rawat. Available in 16 languages.
• The Keys website - Keys for preparing to receive the techniques of Knowledge
• The Prem Rawat Foundation
• Visions International a dba of Elan Vital, Inc. USA
• Elan Vital, United Kingdom
• Elan Vital, Australia
• Broadcasting Maharaji's message, Europe
• Raj Vidya Kender, India
• Portal for contact information
• Elan Vital's FAQ comments concerning opposition and legal judgments against some ex-premies.

Multimedia excerpts

• Address at Barcelona Forum 2004.
• Excerpts from recent addresses
• slideshow and audio excerpt of address at Griffith University in early 2004 (requires QuickTime)

Other

• Biographic eyewitness reports
• Testimonials from students
• Blog of Maharaji activities
• Links to various websites related to Prem Rawat
• WordPaint - featuring excerpts of Prem Rawat's recent talks available in 20 languages
• Elan Vital aka Divine Light Mission article on the website of the University of Virginia, written by Eugene M. Elliott, III, a student of the late Jeffrey Hadden

Critics

• ex-premie_org, a critical ex-followers' website, owned by John Brauns
• Another critical ex-followers' website. This page critizes this article accusing it of " apologism" (July 2005), owned by John Brauns.
• Maharaji's Divinity Claims: Spurious Academic Denials and Misplaced Pages] Essay by Mike Finch (a critic of Maharaji after 30 years of being his follower). Essay is critical of this article, its editors and of Misplaced Pages's NPOV content policy.

• Prem Rawat
• 1957 births
• Living people