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Revision as of 15:52, 19 May 2004 by 216.192.74.138 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Maharaji (Prem Rawat) was born in India in 1957, the fourth son of the 'satguru' (true guru, there being only one in the world at a time), who had a large following in northern India. His father died in 1966, and Maharaji at the age of 8 became the new satguru and took over his father's following.
In 1969 one of Maharaji's chief followers, a Mahatma, came to England and started teaching people Maharaji's meditation techniques (called the 'Knowledge'), including myself, and so a following started in England.
In 1971 Maharaji himself arrived in England at the age of 13, then went to USA, and from then until now has been living in the West spreading his message.
Someone who has Maharaji's Knowledge (the meditation) is called a 'premie'. From a premie's point of view, Maharaji's Knowledge is the way to inner peace, to find your 'heart', with Maharaji as the master of the meditation - teaching it in the first place, and from then on providing the inspiration and grace for the premie to progress.
For most other people, including ex-premies (like myself), Maharaji is the head of a cult, who teaches platitudes and fluff, and lives off the gullibility and credulity of his followers.
One thing is undeniable - Maharaji is now very wealthy indeed. Apologists claim that his followers support him for giving them such a wonderful gift, and they are only providing him with the comfortable life-style that he deserves. Detractors say that he has milked his followers through manipulation, though opinion differs on whether he is an actual con-artist, deliberately deceiving people, or whether he himself believes that he is indeed the satguru of this age and that he is as deluded as his followers (my own belief is the latter).
Throughout his 30+ years in the West, he has constantly re-invented himself to the public - for instance, he is currently an 'inspirational speaker' - but to the serious premie he is still the satguru, true guru or Lord, by whose grace alone will the steadfast and devoted premie reach the ultimate.
See my web site with a number of articles about Maharaji at http://www.mikefinch.com/mj/art.htm. See also the ex-premie web site at http://www.ex-premie.org.