Darshan of Bal Bhagwan Ji - Prem Rawat's Eldest Brother

Bal Bhagwan Ji (he now calls himself Satpal Maharaj and is one of India's most successful "Godmen") is Prem Rawat's eldest brother and before the family split in 1974 was third in the Holy Family pantheon behind his youngest brother and his mother Mata Ji.

On March 17th, 1974 he came to Australia and was secretly proclaimed by Mahatma Rajeshwar - and acclaimed within the premie community - as the incarnation of God without whom Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) who is Greater Than God could do nothing. In retrospect this appears to have been part of the powerplay within the organisation as Mata Ji and the secretary of the Indian Divine Light Mission, C. L. Tandon became disillusioned with the young Prem Rawat's drinking, dope smoking and extravagance ie his playboy lifestyle and his impending marriage to Marolyn Johnson.

None of this was known to the Australian premies who ecstatically enjoyed their "experience" of Bal Bhagwan's darshan and worshipped him as if he really was the number one devotee of The Lord of the Universe and the exemplar of meditation. While the Australian premies thought Bal Bhagwan Ji was a part of the Holy Family and believed that the "Holy Family" was holy they felt exalted and "blissed out" in his presence. "Darshan" is neither divine or even unusual except in the importance and exalted position it is given in the concepts of the Rawatism religion.

The Golden Age magazine recorded this visit and the premies' experiences of joy and devotion in virtually the same language they gushed over that of the guru himself. The major difference was that Bal Bhagwan Ji obviously enjoyed hanging out with ordinary premies socially whereas Prem always cut himself off from the bulk of his followers except for a small byzantine court of vetted followers.

Bal Bhagwan Ji's command of English was far superior to that of his youngest brother, Prem or Guru Maharaj Ji. He had a far wider knowledge of scriptures, religion and spirituality and general knowledge, especially scientific ideas that could be simplified and taken out of context to provide "evidence" for the truth of Divine Light Mission's claims. It is interesting to compare the "satsangs" of the two brothers from that time and speculate on what might have happened if the eldest brother had been the chosen one.

Press Interview at Sydney, Australia, 21/2/74 The Concept Bomb Denver, Colorado, on May 12, 1974
"Honeymoon In Meditation", Mosman Town Hall, Sydney, Australia, 21/2/74 That Beautiful Light Guru Maharaj Ji's Final Address At Guru Puja '74, Copenhagen, July 4
Pictures Of God. Divine Residence, Hobart, 9/3/74. Between Me And God Auckland, New Zealand, 24/10/74