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.

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Hans Jayanti International

No continent has a monopoly on Hans Jayanti: Three reports on festivals held in Africa, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom.

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"DEAR PREMIES…" GURU MAHARAJ JI'S VOICE CAME OVER THE PALACE OF PEACE SPEAKERS LOUD AND CLEAR AS THE LONDON HANS JAYANTI CELEBRATIONS REACHED THEIR CLIMAX.

THIS WAS NO DAYS-OLD TAPE. IT WAS MAHARAJ JI'S SATSANG FROM THE FIRST NIGHT OF THE ORLANDO FESTIVAL - THE FIRST TIME HIS SATSANG HAS BEEN CARRIED SUCCESSFULLY TO THE UNITED KINGDOM IN TIME FOR OUR OWN SIMULTANEOUS FESTIVAL.

DAVID LOVEJOY, UK NATL DIRECTOR, HAD FLOWN SPECIALLY TO MIAMI IN SEARCH OF A PASSENGER TO CARRY THE INNOCENT-LOOKING CASSETTE TO HEATHROW. A LAST-MINUTE PHONE CALL CAME THROUGH TO LONDON: LOOK OUT FOR A LADY ON THE BRITISH AIRWAYS FLIGHT FROM MI AMI WEARING A PURPLE DRESS AND CARRYING A MUSIC STAND … AND WE HAD THE TAPE.

THE LONDON PREMI ES DID NOT HAVE DARSHAN: BUT STILL THE FESTIVAL WAS SPICED WITH A NEW ENTHUSIASM - THE ENTHUSIASM FOSTERED BY GMJI 'S POST-ESSEN VISIT TO THE UK, AND MAHATMA PARAM PREMANAND'S MULTI- KNOWLEDGE REVIEW TOUR OF THE COUNTRY.

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Nairobi, Kenya

At first it looked like our Hans Jayanti might not happen. We had planned a 'spiritual exhibition' - displaying pictures of saints and past Perfect Masters - but, at the last minute, one of the brothers who was staging it said he couldn't come. Then Sunday morning at the group meditation, only three premies turned up (which actually isn't so bad as there are only a handful of premies in all of Kenya).

The three of us sat together in meditation in special pyramids we had built for the occasion until the November sun became brighter than the light within and we were driven out by the heat. The saints and Masters depicted in the paintings all around us retained their serenity completely oblivious to the restlessness of our minds.

Around noon, the day's grace started to unfold. Three more premies arrived. Now we were six and with three other friends we drove to visit another premie, Judi, for a picnic lunch under the cool shade of the acacia tree in her garden.

After lunch we headed up to the Ngong Hills for the afternoon. These hills, located about eight miles from the outskirts of Nairobi, lie at the Southern tip of the great East African Valley in Masailand. According to Masai legend, the nine or ten mounds that form this long range are really the knuckles of a giant who fell asleep here in the long ago past.

So there we were, on top of the sleeping giant, basking in the sunshine, breathing in the fresh air and looking out across the hills to the bluish mist that hovered in the valley below. Together we wondered if someday we might be able to build an ashram here in the wide green spaces of Masailand.

Back at Judi's flat for chai and a frozen Hans Jayanti cake that somehow had been stuck in the freezer by myself, the absent minded cook. Satsang followed easily and naturally. By the time we left, the spirit of our little family knew no bounds; laughter proured out from deep inside. So much so, that the night watchman came over to see what was up. His flashlight shown on the bright faces of six rowdy premies, drunk with love.

Denmark

Tonight's Hans Jayanti, called 'Mini Hans', ended just moments ago … the events summed up by one broad smile. Approximately 100 premies and a few interested members of the public attended our festival, held in our new four-story DUO Center. This was an admirable house-warming for the new building, which will soon house all the DLM activities in the area and act as a central point as the several Scandinavian countries begin working together. We are now busy renovating it to our specific needs - a restaurant area, a place for satsang and staff meetings, and other DLM and DUO offices.

Our mood here is one of simplicity, warmness and loving expression. Premies, it seems, are abandoning outside trips for 'the real thing.'

Mahatma Padarthanand: Touring the U.S.Mahatma Assignments

At Hans Jayanti, Maharaj Ji met twice with his mahatmas. The first time was on the eve of the first festival program when he gathered them together and assigned each a topic to give satsang about. "He gave me AMP," Mahatma Gurupujanand told us later, "but basically there were five topics. Satsang, service, meditation, agya, and dedication. These are very important things and without a deep and practical understanding of them a premie is not going to get anywhere, even if he is very sincere. Maharaj Ji knew this, and wanted us to communicate it to the premies."

The second mahatma meeting was held directly after the festival. Initially, the mahatmas met by themselves and had satsang about their service. "It was beautiful because we really shared a lot of our deep experiences being mahatmas. Then Maharaj Ji came in to give us our mahatma passports and our new service assignments and we had a few things we wanted to ask him about that had come up in our group meeting. When Maharaj Ji heard the questions he laughed and said 'you guys tell people to do meditation to answer all their questions so …'

Then, when he had answered some questions (after all), Maharaj Ji told each mahatma what area of the world they would be touring. The assignments are as follows:

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Dates listed indicate time of arrival.

Mahatma Gurucharnanand (Subject to Change)
December 12 United Kingdom
and Ireland January 17 Holland
January 24 Italy
February 15 France

Mahatma Jagdeo
December 24 Germany January 24 Norway
January 29 Sweden
February 6 Finland
February 13 Denmark

Mahatma Gurupujanand
December 24 Australia

Mahatma Param Premanand
December 5 Spain
January 2 Middle East
January 29 Africa
February 16 South Africa

Sulakshna Bai: Here to serve.Mahatma Pranam Bai
Malibu, California

Mahatma Satchitanand
December 20 Brazil
January 4 Argentina
(to continue touring South America)

Mahatma Prakash Bai
December 14 South America

Mahatma Devki Bai
(in Canada through mid-March)

Mahatma Krishnasukanand
Mahatma Padarthanand
Mahatma Sulakshna Bai
(all to tour the U.S.)

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.