Prem Rawat claims to be the unique Giver of the Gift of Knowledge whether he has described this as the revelation of a direct experience of God or as providing the possibility of peace. His methods of trying to gain new followers and keeping his current ones have evolved and now rely upon the distribution of DVDs of his infrequent speeches for which he flies around the world in a luxurious personal jet staying at the most expensive hotels and requiring a stringent set of guidelines relating to his comfort and safety to be met by the local followers.
Despite publication of statistics carefully chosen to appear to show he is always being more and more successful the reality is that he is a very minor guru or inspirational speaker who has only a remnant of the followers who have been involved with him at one time in the past 40 years and whose numbers have at least halved from their peak in the 1970's when he began to take complete control of the public portrayal of his claims and career.
Funds donated to to the registered charity, Elan Vital, provide the expenses for this travelling and the travelling provides the inspiration for the donations that provide the expenses in a Ourobouros circle. Over the last 25 years the cost of attracting each new long term member must have reached quite a significant figure. Rawat claims to have a unique method to teach his students and a unique power to inspire them but his organisations use standard techniques of raising funds. The individual touch is to provide annual, exclusive "gifts" to the regular contributors of photos of him and CDs of "poetic" excerpts of his speeches sometimes set to muzak with songs performed by his more talented followers and one of his daughters.
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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.