Prem Rawat (Prem Pal Singh Rawat) whose devotees call him Maharaji (meaning Ultimate Ruler) first came to attention in the West as Guru Maharaj Ji, the self-proclaimed Perfect Master and Lord of the Universe ridiculed in the media as a fat, squeaky-voiced God boy. He had inherited his titles and position as the Satguru, The True Revealer of Light and Spiritual Master of the Divine Light Mission, India (Divya Sandesh Parishad) when his father died in 1966. His father, Hans Rawat, was a successful Indian guru, self titled HRH (His Royal Highness) Yogiraj Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj. As a child the youngest Rawat son was informally called Sant Ji, more formally Balyogeshwar ("Born King of the Yogis") and even more formally Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Sant Ji Maharaj. In the West Rawat dropped these more verbose titles in the early 1980's and instructed his followers to call him Maharaji. He has also changed the names of his organisations many times: Divine Light Mission (DLM), World Welfare Association (WWA), World Peace Corps (WPC) and Divine United Organisation (DUO) became Elan Vital in the early 1980's and in 2001 The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) was created and from 2010 his major orgs are Words Of Peace Global (WOPG) registered in Holland, Words of Peace International (WOPI) in the USA, HDSK (Human Development through Self Knowledge) in Great Britain and Raj Vidya Kender (Royal Knowledge Society) in India. He no longer claims to be an Incarnation of God but an internationally famous humanitarian leader and teacher of peace. He's neither.

Prem Rawat's Eldest Brother: Bal Bhagwan Ji

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. He is the Perfect Master of Manav Utthan Seva Samiti and the Spiritual Life Society. In 2009, Words of Peace Global released a video detailing Rawat's Perfect Master lineage in which he told a story about his father's orders to the young Bal Bhagwan Ji.

Ecstatic Darshan of Bal Bhagwan 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 General 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. 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.

Eldest Rawat brother Youngest Rawat brother
Press Interview at Sydney, Australia, 2½/74 The Concept Bomb Denver, Colorado, on May 12, 1974
"Honeymoon In Meditation", Mosman Town Hall, Sydney, Australia, 2½/74 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

Bal Bhagwan Ji (or Satpal Maharaj as he is now known) is a successful Godman in India with a far larger following than that of Prem Rawat (Maharaji). He is a successful Congress Party politician and in 2009 is once again a Member of the Indian National Parliament.



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Prem Rawat's "Knowledge" has three parts: regularly listening to his speeches, doing voluntary work for organisations serving him or donating money and daily meditation correctly practicing the four techniques he recommends. The techniques are so simple it's hard to see how they could be practiced incorrectly. First technique ("Divine Light") involves sticking your thumb and middle finger on your eyeballs (NB: with eyes closed) and your index finger between your eyebrows. Second technique: ("Heavenly Music") poking your thumbs into your ears and listening. Third technique: ("Holy Name") thinking about your breathing (NB: continue to breathe). Fourth technique: ("Nectar") curling your tongue backwards and tasting. Rawat's father taught slightly different techniques but either way it's difficult to see how these could produce the benefits claimed for them especially as Rawat claims His Knowledge is the only method of attaining real happiness and love in this life.