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.

BIOGRAPHY

bio1 (130K)A photo essay of the early years of Guru Maharaj Ji.

Guru Maharaj Ji was born December 10, 1957, in Hardwar, India. He was the youngest of four sons born to Param Hans Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, the living Perfect Master of his time.

From the time of Guru Maharaj Ji's birth, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj indicated many times that Guru Maharaj Ji would be the next Perfect Master. At age 8, following the funeral ceremony of his father, the young Guru Maharaj proclaimed to his father's disciples. "Why are you weeping … Perfect Master never dies, he is here with you now…"

In response to the pleas of his devotees. Guru Maharaj Ji, at age 13, left India for the first time and arrived in London in June 1971, to deliver his message of peace.

bio2 (153K) In 1970 at India Gate, Delhi, Guru Maharaj Ji spoke before an audience of over one million people: "Why do you search for peace in the world? Peace is not there. Peace is with me. To have peace, come to me; I will show you the way to peace. Right now I feel such a power in me I do not know where it has come from; I feel as if I want to shake the world. Soon I will leave my studies and spread the Knowledge of God throughout the world. The time has come for restlessness to be destroyed and the Kingdom of Peace to be established. All I ask is your love, all I ask is your trust, and what I can give you is such a peace as will never die. I declare I will establish peace in this world."

Since first leaving India, Guru Maharaj Ji has continually been pulled by the desire of his followers to see him and by the need of people everywhere to hear about the Knowledge. He has traveled extensively throughout the world speaking about Knowledge, meeting with reporters and interested people, and answering questions from people of all religions. nationalities, cultures and ages. Over one and a half million people have accepted Guru Maharaj Ji's offer: "Receive this Knowledge and know God within yourself." To this day, Guru Maharaj Ji maintains his determination to complete his work of spreading this Knowledge throughout the world and establishing such a peace that "will tie the whole world, from ants to elephants, from men to animals, from birds to mosquitoes, in the thread of love."

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.