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.

Knowledge Reviews

Prem Rawat's "Knowledge" including the meditation techniques he teaches are simple, extremely simple and physical. He has taught for many years that his "Knowledge" is not spiritual. Of course, he also teaches that it is the Raj Yoga. The techniques can be explained and a person can be taught how to do them in less than a minute, well less than 5 minutes certainly.

They are so simple and yet so boring, else why the need for regular "Knowledge Reviews" for the next 40 years where the techniques are once again explained and practised?

They are so simple and yet so boring, else why the need for constant requests, exhortations, demands and threats from Prem Rawat (Maharaji) for the next 40 years that his followers should meditate?

They are so simple and yet so boring is why, of course, Rawat has never been seen to meditate for more than a few seconds and when he does these Knowledge Reviews he doesn't sit on stage and meditate along with his devotees. He goes out the back to his luxuriously appointed rest rooms and smokes a Marlboro or two or three.

In the 22nd century Rawat acknowledges that these techniques are no secret but that only if they are taught through him via his accredited methods - which have changed quite considerably over the years - will they have his necessary inspiration and the person involved must continue to go to see him and listen to his speeches else they will not have the necessary guidance.

In the late 1980's through a series of meetings he called Rejoice ('87) he taught a revised form of these techniques after claiming he had realized: "that many people were practicing the techniques incorrectly. Some were deviating from the way they were originally instructed, while others were confusing Knowledge with cultural habits learned from early instructors." The early instructors were all Indians and Rawat had called them Mahatmas ("Great Saints") and taught they were necessary to the spreading of his Knowledge. In the main, these Mahatmas lived as celibate monks dedicated to "revealing this Knowledge" and had been recruited by his father and were taught the meditation techniques by Hans Rawat or one of his senior Mahatmas. Exactly what the cultural habits were was not specified but the meditation techniques were simple:

1st technique formerly known as Divine Light: stroke the thumb and middle finger of your dominant hand across each eyeball from outer corner to inner, coming to rest with a light but firm touch on the upper inner corner of each eyeball. Your forefinger rests in the middle of your forehead, just above the eyebrow line (your 'third eye'). Concentrate and Look. In the 1970's the mahatmas often used to press the eyeballs very hard but Rawat disavowed this method in the late 1980's.
2nd technique (Heavenly Music): each thumb is placed in the ear and the four fingers of each hand rest on the top of your head, with each thumbtip lightly but firmly sealing each earhole. Concentrate and Listen.
3rd technique (Holy Name): Concentrate on your breath. The Soham ("sohung") mantra was originally taught but later abandoned.
4th technique (Nectar): curl your tongue up to the roof of your mouth and into your nasal passage so that it went behind the uvula and up towards your nasal cavity (Kechari Mudra yoga technique). Concentrate and Taste. In the 1987 Rejoice meetings, Rawat changed the technique so you simply rested your tongue on the roof of the mouth and curled it back as far as was comfortable.

Do these 15 minutes a technique, twice a day minimum and constantly remember Holy Name throughout the day were the instructions through to 1987. Then 15 minutes a technique, once a day and don't try to meditate during the day became the agya.

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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.