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.
3. Elan Vital (formerly the Divine Light Mission)
Founded in 1960 in Patna, India by Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, the father and teacher of Guru Maharaj Ji, the present leader. Elan Vital teaches that each person has God within him - variously described as the 'Word', 'inner light', etc. The 'Word' cannot be spoken or thought; it can only be felt - the purest and fundamental 'vibration'. Scientists call it energy, but do not know what it is. To experience harmony with the indwelling God, a person needs the assistance of the living Perfect Master - the purest incarnation of the 'Word'. To the members of Elan Vital, Hans Ji Maharaj was the Perfect Master in his lifetime. Guru Maharaj Ji became the contemporary Perfect Master when his
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father died in 1966. Guru Maharaj Ji went to the USA in 1971. In 1973, about 20,000 devotees attended 'Millennium 73' in the Houston Astrodome. In 1974 the organisation, then known as the Divine Light Mission was rent by a division. Mata Ji, the mother of Maharaj Ji, denounced her son and established another group known as the Spiritual Life Society, with her older son, Shri Satyapal Ji as the new leader. Membership of the original group, subsequently declined from over 50,000 to less than 7,000. In the late 1980s Elan Vital was said to have about 100 centres worldwide with about 4-5,000 members and adherents. Members gather for regular meetings in private homes or in Divine Light Mission Centres for meditation, sharing experiences, and group discussion. A Divine Light Mission Centre was established in Melbourne in 1972, and at one stage there were another 12 Australian centres with an active membership of 1,200. At the 1991 census about 30 persons identified themselves as adherents of the Divine Light Mission in Australia.
This book is the only comprehensive guide to the religious beliefs of Australians.
Previous editions were well received by social and religious authorities alike. In this fully revised and greatly expanded edition, many new groups are described for the first time. The impact of changes in Eastern Europe has been taken account, and careful analysis of attendance data and census figures has been made, particularly in reference to ethnic communities.
Robert Humphreys has been the editor of 'APL Today', the national magazine of the Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) since 1991 He was ordained as an Anglican minister in 1974 and has been a minister of the PCA since 1980. He holds theological qualifications from Moore Theological College Sydney, and Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, USA.
Rowland Ward, a former insurance executive, has been a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia since 1976. He holds a doctorate in Australian church history from the Australian College of Theology and is the author of a number of books in the areas of history, theology and worship including The Complete Book of Psalms for Singing with Study Notes.
ISBN 0-646-24552-X
Cover by Chris Morgan
New Melbourne Press
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.