Festivals and Events Attended by 'Kabir'

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.

KABIR'S PROGRAMOGRAPHY

"Kabir" is the pseudonym of a former devotee of Rawat's who kept a record of all the Divine Light Mission festivals and Elan Vital events he attended over a 33 year period before becoming disenchanted and apostasising. The comments are his own. The three main festivals/events held annually were Holi in April, Guru Puja in the full moon in July and Hans Jayanti around November 9. There was usually a celebration of Rawat's birthday on December 9.

No.	Date	Place	Darshan	Comments

1	July 5-7 1974	Amherst, Massachusetts	Y	Outdoor program, darshan done with Maharaji riding jeep
2	November 8-10 1974	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Y	Hans Jayanti
3	November 7-9 1975	Orlando, Florida	Y	Outdoor Hans Jayanti Program
4	July 3 1976	Providence, Rhode Island	Y	Darshan done putting head on pillow rather than feet
5	December 18,19 1976	Atlantic City, New Jersey	Y
6	March 18-20 1977	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Holi. My first Miami Beach program
7	April 29,30 1977	Montreal, Canada	Y	"Peace Flight" program
8	July 29-31 1977	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Guru Puja
9	November 8-12 1977	Rome, Italy	Y	Hans Jayanti. My longest program up to this time. My first trip to Europe.
10	January 28-30 1978	Kansas City, Missouri	Y	Some east coast premies delayed due to blizzard. I wasn't one of them.
11	April 7-9 1978	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Holi. First Holi done at Orange Bowl.
12	July 14-16 1978	Tucson, Arizona	Y	Hot thermally. Also had Mexican food.
13	August 25-27 1978	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Y	Did service for week before program.
14	November 4-11 1978	Kissimmee, Florida	Y	First Kissimmee Hans Jayanti. Outdoor program with camping.
15	February 23-25 1979	Denver, Colorado	Y	Held at hall near Denver stockyards close to time of partial solar eclipse.
16	April 6-8 1979	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Holi
17	July 20-22 1979	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Guru Puja
18	September 2 1979	Kissimmee, Florida	N	Hurricane program. Missed night darshan because no one awakened me.
19	October 6 1979	Wildwood, New Jersey	Y	Satisfied my wish for darshan.
20	November 3-10 1979	Kissimmee, Florida	Y	Hans Jayanti. Second Kissimmee outdoor program. My all time longest program.
21	December 9 1979	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Birthday program
22	April 11-13 1980	Hollywood and Miami, Florida	Y	Holi. Holi done in baseball stadium in Miami.
23	July 25-27 1980	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Guru Puja
24	Nov. 28-30 1980	Kansas City, Missouri	Y	Stayed at Hyatt Regency where walkways collapsed the following year.
25	December 9 1980	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Birthday program where food was served.
26	January 9,10 1981	Montreal, Canada	Y	Very cold weather.
27	January 14,15 1981	Baltimore, Maryland	Y	First trip back to Baltimore in nearly ten years.
28	June 22 1981	Baltimore, Maryland	N	Public program
29	June 24 1981	Tarrytown, New York	N	Public program
30	July 31-Aug 2 1981	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Guru Puja
31	November 22 1981	Bronx, New York City, New York	N	Public program
32	November 23 1981	Skokie, Illinois	N	Public program
33	December 9,10 1981	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Birthday program
34	June 6 1982	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	N
35	June 7 1982	New York, New York	N
36	June 8 1982	Washington, D.C.	N
37	June 9 1982	New York, New York	N	First program attended where Maharaji answered questions from audience.
38	July 30-Aug 1 1982	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Guru Puja
39	December 9 1982	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Birthday program
40	May 28 1983	Denver, Colorado	Y
41	July 2-4 1983	Miami Beach, Florida	Y	Last darshan in U.S.( except at donors' events) Holi done at Orange Bowl.
42	November 28 1983	New York, New York	N	Public program
43	December 9 1983	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Birthday program
44	May 6 1984	Los Angeles, California	N	My first program in California.
45	July 15 1984	Miami, Florida	N	Held at Knight Center
46	October 21 1984	Longmont, Colorado	N
47	June 8 1985	Longmont, Colorado	N	Program on my knowledge "birthday".
48	August 3,4 1985	Miami Beach, Florida	N	This program had "workshops" with Q and A with Maharaji.
49	December 21 1985	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	N	Holiday party with Maharaji that included music and magic.
50	March 7 1986	Denver, Colorado	N	Public program
51	March 10 1986	Denver, Colorado	N	Question and Answer session with Maharaji.
52	March 14 1986	New York, New York	N	Public program at Hunter College.
53	March 15 1986	Morristown, New Jersey	N	Public program in very small hall.
54	March 16 1986	Queens, New York City,	N	Public program
55	March 20 1986	Queens, New York City,	N	Question and Answer session with Maharaji.
56	March 21 1986	New York, New York	N	Question and Answer session with Maharaji.
57	March 22 1986	New York, New York	N	Benefit dinner for Maharaji's North American tour.
58	July 4-6 1986	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Commemorated the 15th anniversary of Maharaji coming to the U.S. Included dinner.
59	December 13 1986	Long Beach, California	N	Program was video linked to over twenty Norh American cities.
60	July 5,6 1987	Snowmass Village, Colorado	N	One of several regional "Rejoice" programs. Maharaji led knowledge review.
61	December 10 1987	Los Angeles, California	N	Program celebrated Maharaji's 30th birthday.
62	February 28 1988	Queens, New York City, New York	N	Public introductory program.
63	July 1 1988	Ryebrook, New York	N
64	July 7-9 1989	Miami, Florida	N	Program was at Miami Arena.
65	September 9-10 1989	Queens, New York City, New York	N	Program was at Queens College.
66	December 8-10 1989	Brussels, Belgium	N	My second European program.
67	March 10 1990	Bronx, New York City, New York	N	Program at Lehman College.
68	June 14	New York, New York	N	Introductory public program.
69	June 15,16 1990	Montreal, Canada	N	Premie only sessions along with
70	June 19 1990	Washington, D.C.	N	Introductory public program.
71	June 20 1990	Haverford, Pennsylvania	N	Introductory public program.
72	June 23,24 1990	West Palm Beach, Florida	N	Premie only sessions and
73	June 27 1990	Valley Forge, Pennsylvania	N	Last minute impromptu program.
74	December 7-9 1990	Rome, Italy	N	Held at Sports Palace where the 1977 program took place.
75	March 1 1991	East Brunswick, New Jersey	N	One of a series of five U.S.
76	July 27 1991	Miami, Florida	N	Held at Knight Center.
77	November 17 1991	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	N	Part of North American tour as are the following four programs.
78	November 24 1991	New York, New York	N
79	December 6 1991	San Diego, California	N
80	December 7 1991	Los Angeles, California	N
81	December 8 1991	San Francisco, California	N
82	March 13 1992	East Brunswick, New Jersey	N
83	September 13 1992	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	N	Missed hurricane Andrew - hit a few weeks before program. Little damage.
84	October 14-18 1992,	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	N	First Amaroo program
85	February 7 1993	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	N
86	May 27,28 1993	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	N
87	June 27-July 2 1993,	Brighton, England	N	My first trip to England. More attendees than seats in hall.
88	September 20 1993	Montreal (Laval), Canada	N
89	September 21 1993	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	N
90	February 4 1994	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	N	All day premie program with knowledge review.
91	February 5 1994	Washington, D.C.	N	Public program
92	February 28 1994	New York, New York	N	Public program at Avery Fisher Hall.
93	May 3-7 1994	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	N	Amaroo program
94	May 30,31 1994	Montreal (Laval), Canada	N	Public and premie programs
95	September 4 1994	Miami Beach, Florida	N
96	September 18 1994	Los Angeles, California	N
97	December 8-10 1994	Long Beach, California	N	First in a series of Long Beach programs.
98	March 21 1995	Miami Beach, Florida	N
99	July 25 1995	Washington, D.C.	N
100	July 29 1995	Thousand Oaks, California	N
101	July 31 1995	Denver, Colorado	N	Held at Boettcher Concert Hall
102	September 20,21 1995	Montreal (Laval), Canada	N
103	September 24 1995	Miami, Florida	N	Held at Knight Center
104	December 7-9 1995	Long Beach, California	N	Second Long Beach program
105	January 27 1996	Miami Beach, Florida	N
106	May 28,30 1996	Montreal (Laval), Canada	N	Aspirant and premie events including "information session"
107	June 4 1996	Greenvale, Long Island, New York	N	Held at C.W. Post College
108	July 12-14 1996	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Anniversary program: 30 years as master and 25 years in U.S.
109	December 6-8 1996	Long Beach, California	N	Third Long Beach program
110	May 25 1997	Washington, D.C.	N
111	June 29 1997	Toronto, Ontario, Canada	N	My first program in Toronto since 1974
112	June 30 1997	New York, New York	N	Public program at Avery Fisher Hall
113	July 12 1997	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Aspirant program that premies were invited to.
114	September 18-21 1997	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	Y	Amaroo program. My first darshan in fourteen years.
115	December 4-6 1997	Long Beach, California	N	Last in series of Long Beach programs.
116	May 8-10 1998	Miami Beach, Florida	N
117	July 16 1998	Atlantic City, New Jersey	N	Premie program with knowledge review.
118	July 22 1998	Chicago, Illinois	N	Premie and aspirant program.
119	December 13 1998	Pasadena, California	N	Program was broadcast world-wide by satellite.
120	May 29 1999	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Maharaji spoke as thunderstorm raged outside.
121	June 18, 2000	Alexandria, Virginia	N	Program was part of a national tour.
122	April 24-27 2001	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	Y	Amaroo program
123	May 11,12 2001	Miami Beach, Florida	N	"Foundation" videos shown
124	July 31, 2001	Thousand Oaks, California	N	Program commemorating Maharaji's 35 years as master.
125	September 1,2 2001	Curacao, Netherlands Antillies	N	My first trip to Caribbean.
126	November 18 2001	White Plains, New York	N	Included Q and A session.
127	December 8,9 2001	Miami Beach, Florida	N
128	April 19-21 2002	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	Y	Amaroo program
129	June 15 2002	Pasadena, California	N
130	September 3-6 2002	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	Y	Amaroo program
131	April 18-20 2003	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Included "expressions" event.
132	May 10 2003	New York, New York	N	Public program at Javits Center.
133	May 12 2003	Purchase, New York	N	Premie program and follow-up program for new people.
134	June 7,8 2003	Miami Beach, Florida	N	Introductory and follow-up events.
135	February 1 2004	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	N	Included "expressions" event.
136	April 20-23 2004	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	Y	Amaroo event
137	July 22 2004	Cambridge, Massachusetts	N	Invitee-only program. My first time back in Mass. since my first program 30 years before.
138	July 25 2004	Newark, New Jersey	N	Held at NJPAC
139	January 21-23 2005	Los Angeles, California	N	Held at Shrine Auditorium
140	July 1-3 2005	Miami Beach, Florida	N
141	September 27-30 2005	Peak Crossing, Qld, Australia	Y	Amaroo program

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!

Note that from 1997 Rawat again began to hold darshan events ie where his followers would line up single file and walk past him as he sat on a throne and either bow and touch his feet with their forehead or, more commonly, kiss his feet and make a donation. This is probably because only people who had been initiated and had "smart cards" provided by Elan Vital could gain entrance to the compound at Amaroo aka Ivory's Rock Conference Centre and therefore the ritual, which most Westerners would find distasteful and demonstrating Rawat's claims to divinity, could remain secret.

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.