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.

Thank You 2007

This CD was sent out to followers of Prem Rawat whose financial contributions during the previous year met a minimum standard. It was a combinations of songs recorded by various followers and sections of Rawat's speeches sometimes set to music in an attempt to enhance them. None of the songs are memorable enough to warrant comment except a version of the Roberta Flack hit, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" sung quite well, considering the completely inappropriate backing arrangement, by Rawat's daughter and possible successor, Dayalata Rawat. A photo of Rawat in full rant was included. Transcripts of Rawat's speeches cannot do justice to Rawat's astonishing delivery, they have to be heard to be appreciated. Mp3 copies of these excerpts are recorded at high quality (256Kbps) to ensure no whispered nuance or frenzied climax is missed.

• Track 1: "In the grand ballroom of life you should not be dancing with confusion, please, you should not be dancing with doubt, you should be dancing with clarity, you should be dancing with serenity, you should be dancing with tranquil Theeese are the ones that one after another should be lined up in your life so when this dance is over next and next and next and next then life becomes ... real."
• Track 3: "The words that touch your heart makes your heart feel good. You wanna listen again and again and again and again and the heart never gets tired of it. Never. Cause it can dance to that beautiful rhythm, the rhythm of light, the rhythm of clarity, the rhythm of joy, the rhythm of hope."
• Track 5: "Know one thing when you feel this thirst, be humbled. This is your God calling out to you to be fulfilled.. Be humbled. Every time you feel it, be humbled. The power that created the universe, sustains the sun, the moon, power in you is calling uot to you to be fulfilled. So I won't think of anything I would be just like "Wow" and humbled? "Yes!" cause it's not an ordinary thirst, it is extraordinary thirst for an extraordinary water. The water that flows, that rive that flows, in the heart every single human being on the face of this earth. Everyone, everyone. No one is without it. This thirst has remained unchanged even as human beings have gone though all the different developments. This thirst was there and this thirst is here now and this thirst will be there till this earth is no more. Powerful, powerful, very, very powerful."
• Track 7: "Those who have understood that relationship with the real, who understand in their lives what clarity means, what serenity is, that truth is not an abstract thing lying folded between printed letters on some book but truth actually exists in the heart of every single human being. To know, to know, not to believe, to know, to be certain, to be certain."
• Track 9: "Let me stand on the grounds of reality. Not confusion, not debate, not ideas, but let me every day, build my day, start my day, from here. That's what Knowledge is. You begin with the most auspicious thing that there is. The focus, the focus on the never-changing."
• Track 11: "Heaven is not a place, it's here within inside of you. This is true heaven and now you get to feel it and this is the point of being here. This is the point of being here, this is the point of being conscious, this is the point of being alive, this is the point that you have this breath coming and going inside of you. This is the point, this is the point. All I can do is offer you my wisdom. This I do. Any wars you want to fight, I offer you my wisdom. I'm not going to fight any wars for you, I can't, but I make available to you a very incredible weapon, my wisdom, use it, (applause) use it to find your heaven on earth. (Applause) Find it."
• Track 13: "Love can dance in the heart of the one who loves. That's where the love dances. Love is a feeling that not only makes the one who feels this feeling, makes them feel good but all those not just one but all those who are around also begin to feel this feeling. There's a saying, "the world loves a lover" cause that is how love is."
• Track 15: "Feeling thankful every day is an art and it takes a tremendous amount of strength. It's not for the weak, it takes strength. It takes a freshness, every single day to welcome the possibility that today brings, that yesterday brings, that the day before that brought, each one of them a gift."
• Track 17: "Do you know how much hope you actually need and when that hope starts to disappear you become incredibly ?????. Then understand the greatest hope that there is. This is the point that your greatest hope is the coming and going of this breath."
• Track 19: "Find out who you are so you can be who you are. Whenever, wherever, whether it is in the dark hours. Pain , suffering, be who you are so you can happy so you can be content so you can find peace in this life. This is ti, this life and that is important, that is important. Yes you have many, many important things that you have to do. Place this one at the top, (applause) place this one at the top and then all that is to fall in place, will fall in place. Nurture in your life kindness and you will be rewarded with the gift of kindness. Sow the seed of love and you will be rewarded with that most incredible feeling of love dancing in your heart. Sow the seed of understanding and you will be rewarded with understanding. Sow the seed of clarity and you will be rewarded with clarity."
  

A string quartet plays as Prem Rawat emotes Track 19. The tune will be recognised by any of Rawat's long term followers from the early 1980's when Rawat still billed himself as Guru Maharaj Ji, the Lord of the Universe. It is a song by the group, "One Foundation" and is called "Leaving Your Lotus Feet" or actually it is about not leaving Prem Rawat's Lotus Feet and shows the strong Indian bhajan influence on early 1980's Divine Light music that Rawat and his number one follower, Mahatma Gurucharanand, promoted.

The lyrics: (Click to hear an .mp3 of the song 14 meg)

Chorus: Leaving Your Lotus Feet
Oh where would I go
Leaving Your Lotus Feet
Oh where would I go?

Who else has the Holy Name to purify me?
Who else has the Holy Name to purify me?
Who else loves the weary and the weak?
Who else loves the weary and the weak?
Oh where would I go?

Chorus

Who else has the nature to persistently save me?
Who else has the nature to persistently save me?
Who else dries my tears when I weep?
Who else dries my tears when I weep?
Oh where would I go?

Chorus

Who ever begs you for your help or your mercy?
Who ever begs you for your help or your mercy?
You take them across the ocean deep
You take them across the ocean deep
Oh where would I go?

Chorus

Who else the power to free me from Maya?
Who else the power to free me from Maya?
Who else showers such a love so sweet?
Who else showers such a love so sweet?
Oh where would I go?

Chorus

I am yours oh Lord my Guru Maharaj Ji
I am yours oh Lord my Guru Maharaj Ji
Please make my surrender complete
Please make my surrender complete
Oh where would I go?

Chorus

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.