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.
Our age is turning over. What we see beginning is so unlike what we've been through that it is truly the sunrise after a night of bad dreams. In the past, politicians have stirred up rallies, priests have led crusades, admirals have launched fleets, and astronauts have kicked up moon dust, yet no one could lift the burden of sickness, war, old age and death from the weary race of men.
Buddha, Krishna, and Mohammed all came and went; the world was still a hell. The Renaissance flowered; men still groped in the dark. The Industrial Revolution promised freedom; it brought first the sweat shop, then dull stagnation of suburban tract houses with two cars in every garage and a mind in every television set. But now all that is past.
On July 25, 26, 27, 1972, the first Guru Puja Festival ever to take place in the West was celebrated by the American disciples of Guru Maharaj Ji. They leased a farm six miles from the town of Montrose, Colorado, and begged their Lord to be with them. Guru Maharaj Ji and His eldest brother, Shri Bal Bhagwan Ji, came and touched the hearts of 6,000 seekers of Truth.
To a disciple of the Satguru, there is no other day as special as Guru Puja. A disciple has seen that without the shelter of his Perfect Master he is like a rudderless boat on windy seas. The disciple is tired of living an individualistic life. He wants only the path of truth: the path back to the One, away from the many. Guru Maharaj Ji's disciples know Him to be the dispeller of darkness, the revealer of light. They seek to dedicate themselves to Him exclusively. Only singleminded devotion is powerful enough to burn away the desires and attachments to limited things which bind men to the cycle ofbirth and death. Guru is Lord; "puja" means worship. A devotee's whole life is puja. Once a year, however, on the full moon in July, a day has been set aside by the devotees of the Perfect Master to express their devotion to Him who has released them from the world.
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Can anyone raised from birth on city water understand that water from a mountain spring actually tastes sweet, if he has never bent his head to drink from one? A worldly man pondering the word "love", cannot understand the disciple's emphasis on "devotion". To the devotee, however, there is no reality other than being the humble servant of the Guru. In a world of difficult roles, and wild actors, the devotee's part is natural and easy. "My yoke is easy and my burden is light," said the Guru of an earlier age. "Come to me, I will give you such peace as will never die," says Guru Maharaj Ji. And He does.
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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.