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.

Don't Be Afraid

"Guru Maharaj Ji's Satsang at Prem Nagar Ashram, Hardwar, India, December 21, 1971 "

You are leaving for Patna, and maybe we can get a couple of hours in Patna to talk.

So regularly do meditation; this is a very important point. Maybe you are not understanding it now, but when you leave me, and when I am away, then you will understand it, that how important meditation is.

You have been pretty lucky that you took Knowledge then, when I was on my tours. So if you have been so fortunate to receive the Knowledge when I went away from India, so also be fortunate, and try to take that opportunity also, and do meditation. Because meditation is important. You are surviving, you are alive here at this moment because of meditation. No other thing is making you alive now; only that meditation, only that Name, only that Holy Word, only that vibration which is true is making you alive. Then why ignore it? Why leave it?

Always do meditation; that is the damn important thing for your life. If you leave it, you cannot survive. You cannot survive physically, and on none of the planets can you survive, because it is important. It is a communication between you and your Lord that you form. And this communication is very important for a devotee to organize, and this can only be going very smoothly if you are regularly doing meditation.

And the thing is this, that we have told you some points, we have been teaching you, we have been trying to teach you in Prem Nagar. And probably, I think you have grasped a little hit of that thing. Now this, these laws, these regulations -- not regulations -- but these are for your benefit. That you must have realized. Try to follow them a little. We have been telling you some points; try to follow them a little hit.

Like, run your family, that is no doubt, you know. Do all those family things. But this mind has got a very powerful speed, and wherever it gets a single leak, a very minor leak, it rushes from there. And once it has started rushing, again it is the same process. Then you have to review the Knowledge, you have to sit, meditate, meditate, meditate until it is completely stopped.

Now, if you have stopped your mind, do meditation, and don't let a minor leak be in the box so that the mind can again rush away. Mind is a very, very crazy thing. It should not be there. So if you do meditation -- or better, give me mind. That would be better.

So I think you all have grasped a little bit, and you have learned something at all out of this Prem Nagar and coming to India. So I hope that next time also you will come. But then you won't see this building here.

It will be a palace, not a building. Next time you come here, it will be much more beautifuL Because we are only about 400, 500 here, but then all the brothers will be here.

Many people were so afraid -- they were so terribly confused, because there were so many people here. But listen: One day the whole world has to take Knowledge. Then wherever you will go, you will find brothers. Then what will you do? Those people will have to just jump into the river and die; that is all they can do, commit suicide!

But if you want to live in this world, this is the basic, this is the primary type of experience, to stay with the brothers. Here there are people from almost the whole world. But next time you come, they will be from everywhere. Because I am going to take a tour everyplace in the world. From everywhere you will find premies.

So do meditation at full length, do service, do satsang, and make yourself real pleasant by doing meditation. And don't be attracted to the materialistic things. They are damn crazy. Live like a lotus.

Like if you see me, my Mission has got many jeeps to spread this Knowledge. I have got many cars to spread this Knowledge. I go, rush, do all those things. And I have got many things just to spread Knowledge. If all these things a materialistic man had had, he would have been damn crazy: "I got these things." Because these things are unique in India. These things are unique in India! You don't find them usually. But being with them, I am like a lotus. I am not attached to them. So you also don't be attached to the materialistic things. That is very bad, if you are attached to them. It is very, very bad. Don't be attached to them.

And I hope you have a good meditation; firm life. Be like a man. Don't be afraid. Don't be confused. A man is not supposed to be confused at alL Be firm, have faith, believe what is Truth. Be like a man, bold. Stand erect so that you can face the world, you can face the mind, you can face the problems. And if you get totally confused from a little bit, how can you face the world? How can you face the problems? Problems have to be faced, not embraced. You have to face them, you have to stand erect to face them. So stand up.

You cannot stand by yourself. You need Knowledge. You need meditation. You need Grace. And if you are doing meditation, my Grace is with you, no doubt. My blessings are with you, no doubt. Stand erect. Do meditation. Don't be confused.

I see, a little thing comes and people are confused; premies are confused. Why to be confused? I don't see anything to be confused about it. If you have to be a man, why to be confused? If a man is getting confused at a single rock that is coming on his path, then he cannot go along. He has to be bold. He has to kick it. He has to stand erect and say, "No, you cannot be with me any longer. Get away!" And thus the thing is afraid. It has to be afraid, if you are too angry with it. It will go off, and your way will be crystal clear.

So this is the only medium, this is the only medium that you can apply for this going so thoroughly. Apply that. And I have told you a lot; if you remember it a lot, then that is good. But not only remembering it will help you. Try to apply it in your daily life; that will help you a bit more.

So I will be reaching Patna on the 23rd, and there is going to be a very beautiful reception there, which I hope will be much greater than the Delhi reception; much, much greater. And this is an infinite satsang that is going to take place in Patna. But this infinite satsang is going to take you away from India. So I hope you have enjoyed yourself here, and next time you come, when you come, you will jump because of enjoyment!

So may Guru Maharaj Ji bless you at a single moment, and you must stand erect to go. My blessings are always with you, and Grace too. So go along, don't be afraid of anything in the world. The man who has got my blessings and Grace has nothing to be afraid of in the world.

Don't be afraid.

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.