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.

14 - Bennington Banner, Monday, October 23, 1972

15 Benningtonians to fly to religious rites in India

Fifteen Bennington disciples of the 14-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji will fly to India for a giant religious festival in the guru's honor Nov. 8-10.

The fifteen, including four Bennington College students, will be among 2,400 Americans flying on chartered 747 jetliners to Delhi, India, for the event. The group plans to return to Bennington on Dec. 6.

Organizers of the "Hans Jayanti" festival hope to attract two million people from around the world. Maharaj Ji is a 14-year-old religious leader who has amassed a following in India and other parts of the East. He reportedly began preaching at the age of 2½, and two years ago set out to spread his message on a worldwide basis.

Since that time, he has established Divine Light Mission centers throughout the world, and claims over 30,000 followers in the United States.

Bennington residents attending the festival, who are affiliated with the Divine Light Center at 219 Bradford St., are: Lynne Salomon, Gregory Winterhalter, Barbara Hertz, Robert Paulding, William Harris, Peter Wholley, David DiGiacamo, Laura Chapman, Robert Woods, William Snow, Margery Burt, Randall Duryea, Ellen Chapman, Jennifer Brian and Cynthia Hicks.

Center members also attended a festival at which the guru was present in July at Montrose, Colo.

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.