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.

Mother Ousts Young Guru as Playboy
Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File); Apr 1, 1975; ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1986)  pg. D1

Mother Ousts Young Guru as Playboy

NEW DELHI (AP) - The mother of Guru Maharaj Ji, the 17-year-old Indian religious leader now living in Malibu, Calif., with an American wife, renounced her son Tuesday and accused him of being a playboy instead of a holy man.

In a signed statement, his mother declared she was removing her son as spiritual leader of the Divine Light Mission and no longer recognized him as the "perfect master," as he is known to his followers.

Known as Shri Mataji, or holy mother, she said her son, "under the instigation of certain bad elements in the United States Divine Light Mission, has continuously disrespected my will by adopting a despicable, nonspiritual way of life."

Susan Butcher, a 30-year-old Canadian devotee of the Divine Light movement. said the Guru's relatives in India were upset with the way Maharaj Ji was living in the United States.

"He has not been practicing what he has been preaching," said Miss Butcher, speaking in behalf of the Guru's mother.

"He has always preached and recommended his devotees to live a life of vegetarianism, celibacy and abstaining from alcohol and all excessive forms of materialism. Now he himself is indulging and encouraging his devotees to eat meat, to get married and have sexual relations and to drink. He's not living a spiritual life. He's being a playboy."

Miss Butcher said she thought many of the guru's 8 million devotees in India would still remain faithful to the Divine Light teachings although they would not recognize him as their leader.

The Divine Light Mission was founded in 1961 by the guru's father, who died in 1966. After his death, his widow proclaimed her youngest son to be the next head of the movement while she remained its patron.

Maharaj Ji was en route from Miami to India and could not be reached for comment.

C. L Tandon, general secretary of the Divine Light Mission in India, claimed the guru had "shown disrespect to his mother by removing her pictures from the American Divine Light Missions, saying she is not worthy of worship but that his wife is."

The guru married his American secretary last May. They had their first child, a daughter named Prem Lata, meaning Vine of Love, last month.

The American Divine Light Mission is headquartered in Denver, but the guru and his 26-year-old wife were last reported living in a mansion in Malibu.

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.