Prem Rawat (Maharaji): The Lord of the Dance
One of the strangest quirks in the career of Prem Rawat has been his public dancing, often dressed in the costume of Krishna. It began in the West in 1978 and has
continued throughout his career. To an outsider it looks quite ridiculous. Prem Rawat is an extremely short and obese person and when dressed as Krishna his rolls of fat are only partially covered. His movement is poor and
lacking in rhythm which initiators excused in the 1970's by saying universes were created and destroyed when his arms rose and fell. He danced his way into being accepted as the current Perfect Master but he was much younger and thinner then. Undoubtedly some of his followers (myself included back in 1978) were nonplussed, appalled and disenchanted by this behaviour but the response from the majority of his followers was enthusiastic if not orgiastic. Here are some videos of these astonishing moments which have continued to, at least, the year 2000.
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1980 was probably the peak year in which Prem Rawat cut loose with public dancing. At a Divine Light Mission religious festival that year he danced to two different tunes after an initial coy period. Excitement built and the crowd danced while awaiting the return of their Guru Maharaj Ji (now known as
Maharaji). They expected some divine darshan dancing because the band is playing 'I Just Want To Dance With You'. Prem Rawat returns to the stage dressed in one of his Krishna costumes with a frontal section designed to
hide his flabby man boobs, bows his head in meditation for 2 or 3 seconds, fiddles with some controls built into his throne, then chews on some courage enhancers while looking uncomfortable for over 3 minutes before
standing up and commencing waving his arms and moving slightly from side to side while the band continue to sing 'I Just Want To Dance With You' even though everybody is dancing with him. He seems to be waving his arms to
the beat of a different drummer, maybe to the sound of universes being created and destroyed.
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Then the band breaks into something South Americanish and everybody knows that even short, fat, exhausted little Indian guys can't resist that rhythm when they're the Lord of the Universe. He's up and
dancing again after only a brief rest, standing up and commencing waving his arms and moving slightly from side to side but faster
and totally embodying the South American feel and rhythm as you can see from the pictures below or click on any of them to see the video.
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Video of the Completely Stunned Audience moving in time … .wmv file 4.5M
Prem Rawat's two closest Indian devotees, Mahatmas Jagdeo Ji and Gurucharanand Ji at front of audience. They "received the four techniques of Knowledge of Inner Peace" from Prem Rawat's father. They lived
as celibate monks for many years but while living in the Malibu residence of Prem Rawat for over a decade, Jagdeo used his position in supervising the education of premie children to sexually abuse some of them. He was sent
back to India after the scandal became public.
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The almost obligatory dancing scene from the Contact video, India 1988
It seems very unlikely that practising the techniques of meditation revealed in Maharaji's Knowledge could directly alter the artistic or
aesthetic sense of Prem Rawat's devotees. It appears that their extremely enthusastic, orgiastic reaction to his dancing and public singing is conditioned by their
religious faith and concepts about the supernatural qualities of his person. |
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"You're dancing and you're only dancing for your Guru Maharaj Ji. You're not dancing for the guy right next to you or behind you or anything. And it's truly dancing for Guru Maharaj Ji. And Guru Maharaj Ji is dancing for his devotees. There is nobody involved and devotees can see, which makes their hearts dance. Then Guru Maharaj Ji dances, and it's an endless saga. I guess that's what you call satisfaction, in one sense."
Guru Maharaj Ji Hans Jayanti, Kissimmee, Florida Friday, November 9, 1979, evening
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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.
One of the strangest quirks in the career of Prem Rawat has been his public dancing, often dressed in the costume of Krishna. It began in the West in 1978 and has
continued throughout his career. To an outsider it looks quite ridiculous. Prem Rawat is an extremely short and obese person and when dressed as Krishna his rolls of fat are only partially covered. His movement is poor and
lacking in rhythm which initiators excused in the 1970's by saying universes were created and destroyed when his arms rose and fell. He danced his way into being accepted as the current Perfect Master but he was much younger and thinner then. Undoubtedly some of his followers (myself included back in 1978) were nonplussed, appalled and disenchanted by this behaviour but the response from the majority of his followers was enthusiastic if not orgiastic. Here are some videos of these astonishing moments which have continued to, at least, the year 2000.
