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.
Prem Rawat's (Maharaji) Legitimacy Project
For a fuller, more coherent exposition on Rawat's deceitful campaign to gain respectability and legitimacy see Prem Rawat Critique Website.
Rawat's career seems to become more vulgar and demeaning as he ages. How his followers can accept that they should finance a long-term, phony public relations campaign to try and give him an aura of respectability and legitimacy is beyond me.
Connect North America is/was one of the many newsletters that are part of the Rawatism information network which is large and quite complex but gives Rawat's more dedicated followers the illusion that
Rawat's " Knowledge" continues to propagate and attract new followers and provide meaningful "service" they can do for their Master.
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CNA: What kinds of projects are you working on?
RC: We're looking to develop speaking opportunities that could help build the public's appreciation for Maharaji as a leading voice for peace. One example is the recent TPRF sponsored event at Harvard
University's Sanders Theatre.
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Followers of Prem Rawat hired a hall at Harvard University and "invited" him to speak there. They film the speech and possibly donate some money to a Harvard school so that a professor will introduce
him to the audience. They then promote the "event" as "Prem Rawat, also known as Maharaji, addressed an audience that included faculty, community leaders, and students at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University" to make it
appear as if the famous, respected university has invited him to speak. Shame, Richard Cooper, Shame!
Ten packs of the CD are available for purchase from The Prem Rawat Foundation for
followers to buy and distribute, voila instant legitimacy(?). |
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Another would be Maharaji's presentation in Italy to the former Prime Minister and to members of the Parliament.
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Followers of Prem Rawat hired the the former prime minister Emilio Colombo, 83, to introduce him and make a fulsome expression of admiration for the Armani-clad Rawat. It is uncertain how much cocaine
Colombo had stuffed up his nose to inspire these sentiments and how much he was able to purchase with Rawat's legitimacy largesse. Possibly Mr Colombo was saving the money for his defense lawyers, but after all in the
cesspit of Italian political corruption, there's little stigma attached to pushing your 83-year-old nose up Rawat's arse and bringing it out covered in Bolivian bullshitting powder.
Ten packs of the CD are available for purchase from The Prem
Rawat Foundation for followers to buy and distribute, voila instant legitimacy(?).
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CNA: These would be introductory events, right?
RC: Not really. We have more to do with fostering recognition and enhancing Maharaji's legitimacy than with having more people become his students. Our efforts, for
example, enable your newsletter to report about the Italian and Harvard events. Those are powerful statements about the legitimacy of Maharaji's work.
CNA: What is planned for the future?
RC: We're looking at some unique speaking engagements and at ways for Maharaji to be formally acknowledged for his work. A US Governor recently recognized Maharaji "in honor of his exemplary career,
life accomplishments, and many contributions to [our] citizens". We'd like to pursue more tributes like that.
CNA: How do tributes like that come about?
RC: I work with people in North America who would like to see their city, state or university offer Maharaji some kind of award, letter of appreciation or honorary degree. All kinds of institutions have
mechanisms in place to honor persons of merit - I help people work with those mechanisms.
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Richard Cooper, who was a key figure in the Legitimacy Project, died in October 2006. Neither the
courage, committment and loyalty he demonstrated when he was kidnapped and deprogrammed nor his intelligence and innate decency helped him realise in his subsequent 30 years of
practising Rawat's "Knowledge" how his ethics were corroded by his belief in Rawat's divinity and the compromises with truth he had to make to remain a follower.
References:
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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.