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Prem Rawat
Prem Rawat at the Forum of Cultures in Barcelona (June 14, 2004)
Born (1957-12-10) December 10, 1957 (age 67)
Haridwar, India
SpouseMarolyn Rawat
ChildrenPremlata 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 as Balyogeshwar in India, is a speaker on the subject of inner peace, as well as offering instruction in 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 worldwide. 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 a lack of intellectual content in his teachings, and for leading a sumptuous lifestyle.

Childhood

Further information: Hans Ji Maharaj
Prem Rawat at age 6

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 (“premies,” from the Hindi prem, lit. "love"). When his father died in 1966, the eight-year-old Sant Ji Maharaj (as Prem Rawat was then known) 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.

Leaving India

Los Angeles Airport, 17 July 1971. Rawat arrives for the first time in the United States

On 17 June 1971, during his school holidays, Rawat flew to England alone. 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.

In September 1971 the U.S. Divine Light Mission (DLM) was established in Denver, Colorado. In October, Rawat returned to India to celebrate his father's birthday, and in 1972 came back to the West, this time accompanied by his mother, eldest brother Satpal, and an entourage of mahatmas and other Indian supporters. A festival which DLM held in Montrose, Colorado was attended by 2,000 people.

By 1972, DLM was operating in North and South America, Europe and Australia. Tens of thousands of people had been initiated, and several hundred centers and dozens of ashrams formed.

In November 1973, the Divine Light Mission booked the Houston Astrodome for "Millennium '73", a three-day celebration designed to usher in "a thousand years of peace and prosperity". The event featured spectacular staging and a 56-piece rock band. Political activist Rennie Davis, well known as one of the defendants in the Chicago 7 trial, attracted extensive media coverage as a spokesperson for Rawat. Though Mission officials predicted that 100,000 people would attend the free event, actual attendance was estimated at 25,000 by followers and 10,000 by police. The Mission incurred a debt estimated variously from $600,000 to over $1 million as a result, severely damaging its finances. The event was depicted in the award-winning U.S. documentary "Lord of the Universe" broadcast by PBS Television in 1974, and marked the end of the movement's early growth phase.

Several scholars wrote that Rawat claimed or suggested that he was divine, in accord with the Indian Sant Mat tradition of regarding the "Perfect Master" as an embodiment of God. As a guru, he carried divine connotations for his followers, and Rawat's appeal to his followers to give up their beliefs and concepts did not prevent them from adopting a set of ideas about his divinity and the coming of a new age. Despite his denial in a July, 1972 interview of any belief that he was the Messiah, pre-existing millennial expectations were fostered partly by his mother, whose talks were full of references to her son's divine nature, as well as partly by Rawat himself who generally encouraged whatever view was held by people. According to author Sophia Collier, those who knew him a little better related to him in a more human way, more as a teacher, guide and co-conspirator in their personal pursuit of a more heavenly way of life.

Coming of age

In April 1974, at the age of sixteen, Rawat became an emancipated minor, and in May married 25-year-old Marolyn Johnson, one of his American students. His marriage to a non-Indian finally severed Rawat's relationship with his mother, who returned to India with his two elder brothers. There she gained legal control of the Indian DLM and appointed the eldest brother, Satpal, as its leader, while Rawat maintained the support of the Western disciples. Most of the mahatmas either returned to India or were dismissed. Rawat had by then become financially independent as a result of contributions from his Western devotees, which made it possible for him to follow the lifestyle of an American millionaire.

In November 1974, seeking more privacy for himself, his wife and his entourage following security concerns, Rawat moved to a four-acre property in Malibu, California. Purchased by the DLM for $400,000, the property also served as the DLM's West Coast headquarters. Described in the press as a "lavish hilltop estate", it was damaged in a 1978 brush fire. Controversy around a helipad on the property was resolved by installing emergency water storage for use by the Los Angeles County Fire Department in emergencies and by limiting the number of permitted flights. After scaling down the DLM's activities in the early 1980s, Rawat created the North American Sponsorship Program to help pay for the property, which by 1998 was valued at $15 million.

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.

In 1979 the Los Angeles Times reported that Rawat maintained his Malibu following despite a rising mistrust of cults. Staff at the Denver headquarters were reduced from 250 to 80. Following the fire damage to his Malibu home, Rawat moved to Miami Beach, Florida with his wife and three children for several years, 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

October 12, 1981. Prem Rawat speaking at the Royal Albert Hall, London

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

June 30, 2003. Prem Rawat addressing the first "Conference on Peace" at the University of Salamanca

Between January 2004 and June 2005, 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, Rawat founded the The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), a Public Charitable Organization for the production and distribution of materials promoting his message, and for funding worldwide humanitarian efforts. TPRF has provided food, water and medical help to war-torn and impoverished areas.

In 2005, 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, Rawat spoke at 36 events, addressing over 800,000 people, and by live satellite broadcasts reached an additional 2.25 million.

Teachings

Further information: Teachings of Prem Rawat

Prem Rawat teaches a process of self-discovery using four meditation techniques (Light, Music, Nectar and Word), taught to him by his father, which are known collectively as "Knowledge" and offer a direct experience of transcendence.

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." 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. In the early 80s Rawat came to recognize that the Indian influences on his followers in the West were a hindrance to the wider acceptance of his teachings and changed the style of his message and relinquished the Hindu tradition, beliefs, and most of its original eastern religious practices.

Several scholars have criticized Rawat's teachings for lacking in intellectual content, and as emphasizing the superiority of subjective emotional experience over intellect. Van der Lans and derks wrote that according to Rawat all evil should be attributed to the mind. One writer described a 1974 Rawat talk as banal, and Zen scholar Alan Watts wrote "The core of this doctrine is a sacred ignorance."

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 varied, 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) estimated 50,000 adherents in the US, of which 10,000 to 12,000 were considered very active. Melton & Moore suggested 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.

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.

His tens of thousands of followers in the West do not see themselves as members of a religion, but as adherents of a system of teachings that extol the goal of enjoying life to the full.

Misc

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 0-9788694-9-4, pp. 206, 215, 219 and 233
  2. ^ Mangalwadi, Vishal and Hoeksema, Kurt. The world of gurus: a critical look at the philosphies of India’s influential gurus and mystics. Cornerstone Pr Chicago, revised edition (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 0-9788694-9-4
  4. Hadden, Religions of the World, p. 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. Cite error: The named reference "Melton" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  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, p. 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 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. 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"
  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 Westen, p. 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. Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York/London: Garland, 1986, revised edition, pp. 141–145 "Maharaj Ji, who frequently acted like the teenager that he was in public, was seen as immature and hence unfit to be a religious leader".
  24. ^ "Oz in the Astrodome", by Ted Morgan, New York Times, December 9, 1973
  25. ^ “Guru's Followers Cheer 'Millennium' in Festivities in Astrodome", by Eleanor Blau, New York Times, November 12, 1973
  26. "Maharaji Ji: The Selling of a Guru, 1973", by Gregg Killday, Los Angeles Times, November 13, 1973, p. D1
  27. ^ "TV: Meditating on a Young Guru and His Followers", by John O'Connor, New York Times, February 25, 1974
  28. "Houston's Version of Peace in Our Time" GREGG KILDAY, Los Angeles Times Nov 25, 1973 p. S18
  29. "Worshiping the Absurd: The Negation Of Social Causality Among The Followers of Guru Maharaj Ji", Daniel A. Foss, Ralph W. Larkin, Sociological Analysis, 1978, 39, 2:157-164
  30. "Growing Pile of Unpaid Bills Beneath Guru's Spiritual Bliss", Deborah Frazier, UPI, March 23, 1975, Lincoln, Neb., Sunday Journal and Star
  31. "New Religious Movements Turn to Worldly Success", KIRPAL SINGH KHALSA, JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Jun., 1986), pp. 233–247
  32. "Videotape Explorers on the Trail of a Guru", by Dick Adler, Los Angeles Times, February 23, 1974 p. B2
  33. "Guru Maharaj Ji." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008
  34. "Guru Maharaj Ji." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, 5th ed. Gale Group, 2001. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
  35. "A LOOK BACK AT THE '70S" HENRY ALLEN, Los Angeles Times Dec 16, 1979; p. K30
  36. Lans, Jan van der and 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.'"
  37. Melton, J. Gordon The Encyclopedia Handbook of Cults in America. p. 143, Garland Publishing (1986) 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 Sant Mat leaders, claims to be a Perfect Master, an embodiment of God on earth, a fitting object of worship and veneration."
  38. Reporter at Montrose, Colorado, 25 July, 1972: "I was told that probably the best question to ask you, out of sincerity, is: 'Who are you?' Maharaj Ji: "... really I can't say who I am. But, though, there is a very basic thing, what I feel about myself. And that is that people have been claiming me as God or as Jesus or so on, and, ah, many television people have been asking this question, and this is an interesting question of course. I thought maybe you will be interested in the answer. I am not Jesus and I am not God or so on, but I am just a humble servant of God, and I am preaching this Knowledge, and it's ideal of humanity. I don't want to form a small sect or a religion. It's an open thing to all. It's for all casts, all creeds, all colors. And man is human, and it's OK he can receive it. And it's something that is internal, something that does not interfere with any religion. And this is the highest thing that I am teaching, about the people of this time, today. I don't claim myself to be God. I don't claim myself to be something like that, but I can claim I can show you God."
  39. Downton, Sacred Journeys. "During 1971, there were social forces encouraging the development of millenarian beliefs within the Mission. They were developed in part by the carryover of millennial thinking from the counterculture; by the psychological trappings of surrender and idealization; by the guru's mother, whose satsang was full of references to his divine nature; and partly by the guru, himself, for letting others cast him in the role of the Lord. Given the social pressures within the premie community which reinforced these beliefs, there was little hope premies would be able to relax the hold that their beliefs and concepts had over them. ... From the beginning, Guru Maharaj Ji appealed to premies to give up their beliefs and concepts so that they might experience the Knowledge, or life force, more fully. This, as I have said, is one of the chief goals of gurus, to transform their followers' perceptions of the world through deconditioning. Yet Guru Maharaj Ji's emphasis on giving up beliefs and concepts did not prevent premies from adopting a fairly rigid set of ideas about his divinity and the coming of a new age."
  40. Collier, Sophia, Soul Rush: The Odyssey of a Young Woman of the '70s Morrow, 1978. "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. Guru Maharaji, 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. Addressing several hundred thousand ecstatic Indian devotees, prepared for his message by a four-thousand-year cultural tradition, he declares, 'I am the source of peace in this world ... surrender the reins of your life unto me and I will give you salvation.' On national television in the United States he says sheepishly, with his hands folded in his lap, 'I am just a humble servant of God."
  41. Cagan, Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press, ISBN 0-9788694-9-4 pp. 200, 197. "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."
  42. ^ Downton, Sacred Journeys. "The end of 1973 saw Guru Maharaj Ji breaking away from his mother and his Indian past. He declared himself the sole source of spiritual authority in the Mission. And, unlike some gurus who have come to this country and have easternized their followers, he became more fully westernized, which premies interpreted as an attempt to integrate his spiritual teachings into our culture."
  43. ^ Hunt, Stephen J. Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp. 116–7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8 "Maharaji transformed his initial teachings in order to appeal to a Western context. He came to recognize that the Indian influences on his followers in the West were a hindrance to the wider acceptance of his teachings. He therefore changed the style of his message and relinquished the Hindu tradition, beliefs, and most of its original eastern religious practices."
  44. Miller, America's Alternative Religions, p. 474
  45. "Guru Maharaj Ji," Biography Resource Center, Thomson Gale, 2007 "The marriage further disrupted his relationship with his mother and older brothers. A lawsuit in India gave control of the Indian branch of the Divine Light Mission to Maharaj's mother and led to a complete break with her son, who maintained the complete support of the Western disciples."
  46. Price, The Divine Light Mission as a Social Organization. pp. 279–96 "Immediately following Maharaj Ji's marriage a struggle for power took place within the Holy Family itself. Maharaj Ji was now sixteen years old. He had the knowledge that his personal following in the West was well established. It is likely that he felt the time had come to take the reins of power from his mother, who still dominated the mission and had a strong hold over most of the mahatmas, all of whom were born and brought up in India. Another factor may well have been the financial independence of Maharaj Ji, which he enjoys through the generosity of his devotees. Note 27: Contributions from premies throughout the world allow Maharaj Ji to follow the life style of an American millionaire. He has a house (in his wife's name), an Aston Martin, a boat, a helicopter, the use of fine houses (divine residences) in most European countries as well as South America, Australia and New Zealand, and an income which allows him to run a household and support his wife and children, his brother, Raja Ji, and his wife, Claudia. In addition, his entourage of family, close officials and mahatmas are all financed on their frequent trips around the globe to attend the mission's festivals."
  47. ^ "Maharaj Ji Buys $400,000 Home Base in Malibu Area", JOHN DART, Los Angeles Times, Nov 27, 1974; p. B2
  48. ^ "Malibu Guru Maintains Following Despite Rising Mistrust of Cults" Mark Foster, Los Angeles Times January 12 1979 p. 3
  49. "MALIBU Metamorphosis Is Hollywood's Haven Growing Into Just Another Miami Beach", NIKKI FINKE, Los Angeles Times, September 3, 1989
  50. ^ Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN 0-9788694-9-4, pp. 219–220 Judy Osborne recalls Maharaji asking the staff to leave immediately. "He didn’t want any heroics," she comments, “even though this was his home and everything that he had was in there." His concern was for their safety. "The fire came but it blew right over the house," she remembers. "All the trees were burned, and so were the grass, the shrubs, and the hills around there. And then there was the soot. Everything in the house was filthy from soot." Maharaji and his family stayed with his brother, Raja Ji, for a while, and then within a few months, they relocated to Miami while the Malibu house was being repaired.
  51. "1-Year Trial OKd for Sect's Helipad" Los Angeles Times May 22, 1981; p. F6
  52. "Maharaji Denied in Bid to Triple Copter Landings", JUDY PASTERNAK Los Angeles Times; Jul 7, 1985, p. WS1
  53. "Guru Maharaj Ji." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC
  54. "Fomer guru on a different mission, Rebecca Jones, Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1998
  55. Downton, James V. Sacred journeys: The conversion of young Americans to Divine Light Mission, p. 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, p. 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. p. 211. "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 0-9788694-9-4, p. 228
  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. Downton, Sacred Journeys. "The staff in Denver was 250 just a couple of months ago. Now it is 80."
  66. Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN 0-9788694-9-4, p. 229
  67. 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.
  68. Miller, America's Alternative Religions, p. 474
  69. Kranenborg, Reender. Neohindoeïstische bewegingen in Nederland: een encyclopedisch overzicht, p. 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, albeit with less pretensions than in the past, no longer speaking in divine terms about himself, but calling himself instead a 'humanitarian leader'.")
  70. ^ 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.
  71. Hunt, Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction, p. 117.
  72. Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat. Mighty River Press. ISBN 0-9788694-9-4 pp. 255, 266
  73. 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."
  74. Contact Info - Broadcasts
  75. Conversation with Prem Rawat, Available online. (Retrieved January 2006)
  76. "Words of Peace" by Maharaji receives TV Award in Brazil" Press release.
  77. "About Prem Rawat" at the website of The Prem Rawat Foundation
  78. "Charity report". BBB Wise Giving Alliance. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |retrieved= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  79. http://thekeys.maharaji.net/home/?group=en&language=en
  80. Over 3 million people participate in events with Prem Rawat in India
  81. Price, Maeve in Sociological Review The Divine Light Mission as a Social Organization nr. 27, 1979 pp. 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."
  82. ^ 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.
  83. Hadden, Religions of the world, p. 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.'
  84. ”Oz In the Astrodome”, by Ted Morgan, New York Times, December 9, 1973
  85. "Blissing Out in Houston", by Francine du Plessix Gray, New York Review of Books, Vol. 20, No. 20, December 13, 1974, p36 'I am meditating right now, as I talk to you,' he says cheerfully. 'But I cannot describe to you the Divine Knowledge any further than that if you haven't experienced it. Our Knowledge is not a religion, but an experience. Can I describe to you the taste of a mango before you have tasted it?'
  86. Melton, J. Gordon. The Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. Garland Publishing (1986). ISBN 0-8240-9036-5 p. 143
    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.
  87. "Melton, J. Gordon, The Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America: Revised and Updated Edition. Garland Publishing (1992). p. 222
  88. 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."
  89. 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
  90. Barret, David V. The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions. Pg 65. Cassel (2003). ISBN 1844030407
  91. Van der Lans and Derks Premies Versus Sannyasins, 1986
  92. 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
  93. 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.
  94. 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.
  95. 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.
  96. ^ "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.
  97. Petersen, William J. Those Curious New Cults in the 80s. New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing (1982); p. 146.
  98. Rudin, James A. & Marcia R. Rudin. Prison or Paradise: The New Religious Cults. Fortress Press: Philadelphia (1980); p. 63.
  99. Palmer & Keller, Religions of the World, p. 95.
  100. 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
  101. Melton, J. Gordon & Robert L. Moore. The Cult Experience: Responding to the New Religious Pluralism. New York: The Pilgrim Press (1984 ); p. 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.
  102. 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."
  103. Cagan, A., Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat, p. 228
  104. U.S. Patent Office

References

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  • Pryor, William, The Survival of the Coolest: A Darwin's Death Defying Journey Into the Interior of Addiction (2004), Clear Press, ISBN 1-904555-13-6
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  • (In Dutch:) Schnabel, Paul. 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, 1982. Deventer, Van Loghum Slaterus, ISBN 90-6001-746-3. Available online at DBNL
  • The Prem Rawat Foundation presents: Maharaji at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University (2005) ISBN 0-9740627-3-1
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