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.

The Divine Lotus Feet of Prem Rawat (Maharaji)

While Prem Rawat's flabby and half-naked dancing and his followers' mania for lining up and passing by and bowing down to kiss his feet are strange enough in themselves, there was another, even more unusual practice. Reproduced photos of Prem Rawat or Guru Maharaji Ji as he called himself in the 1960's and 70's, were widely sold to his premies or devotees. They ranged in cost from 50 cents for wallet size to $30 for 16" x 20". Some of the most popular photos were the focus for the cult of the worship of Rawat's "divine Lotus Feet". A lotus is an extremely beautiful flower of a tropical aquatic plant, Nelumbo Nucifera. It often grows in dirty water and it's flowers are held above the surface so in India, it is used as a metaphor for saints and yogis, etc. They supposedly live "above" the dirt and squalor of normal human life. As Rawat said in Denver, Colorado, on May 12, 1974:

"If you want to stay in this world, be like a lotus flower who stays in the dirty water, who was born in the dirty water, but never gets adopted to dirty water. You can live in the world of concepts, but live in such a way so that they don't affect you. There can be a million, trillion infinite concepts going on, and they shouldn't bother you. And I'll tell you something, that's a most beautiful way to be."

And in Patna, Bihar, India on December 25, 1971 he spoke about himself:

"So the Supremest Lord, Shri Guru Maharaj Ji, knowing everything, remains detached from everything just like the lotus flower. The lotus is blossoming in water, but remaining in water, is away from the water. If the lotus flower goes underwater, then the ability of water to take all the good and bad will also come into the lotus. But the lotus, remaining in water, does not take the qualities of water. Remaining in water, the lotus does not accept the qualities of water

Followers of Prem Rawat had shrines in their homes where a chair would be reserved for the exclusive use of the divine arse (ass) of the Perfect Master and Lord of the Universe should he ever deign to leave his gigantic Malibu mansion and enter their humble abode. In front of the chair would be a pillow with a lifesize photo of Rawat's feet before which they would pranam, sing arti while waving trays of candles and on special occasions take a smidgin of charanamrit or holy water on their tongues. Charanamrit is water in which Prem Rawat, or at least, His Holy Lotus Feet have been bathed. Some examples of these photos are shown below. It appears from close examination of these photos that Rawat may have assuaged his stressful feelings of inadequacy and insecurity by picking at his toenails as well as by alcohol abuse.

Photos Of Prem Rawat's Feet as Sold to His Followers To Use On Their Altars For Worshipping Him
Photos Of Prem Rawat's Feet as Sold to His Followers To Use On Their Altars For Worshipping Him
Photos Of Prem Rawat's Feet as Sold to His Followers To Use On Their Altars For Worshipping Him

Prem Rawat spoke of His Lotus Feet and explained their significance early in his career in his charming, uniquely idiosyncratic way: "... the guy who is determined to shed his forehead on the Lotus Feet goes to that perfection from where he never returns."
In 1980 in Rome he spoke of the song Leaving Your Lotus Feet, a song dedicated to his very own feet, as being one of his favourites.
His wife, the former Marolyn Johnson to whom he gave the title "Durga Ji", began speeches with "Pranam Guru Maharaj Ji! Pranam to your beautiful Lotus Feet".
His father, Hans Rawat the Perfect Master before him, spoke of the mystical form of the "Lotus Feet of the Supreme Lord permeating the whole universe" and how "If only I might see my living Master, I would tell Him all my sufferings, weeping, and rest my head on His Holy Feet."

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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.