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.
LINCOLN JOURNAL SPORTS, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 1976 - 17
DENVER (UPI) - Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers says a weekend meeting with his religious mentor, the 17-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji, was more exciting than meeting former President Richard Nixon.
"It was good. I got a feeling of sincerity from him. I was happier to meet him than the President (Nixon),” said Rodgers, who now plays for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
Rodgers, who wears a silver trimmed medallion of the Guru, said he became a follower, or "Premie" last year after trying find out what was missing in his life.
"When you accomplish as many things as I have, there isn't much left," said Rodgers. "I was happy about all the things I had achieved but I was searching for something more than fortune and fame."
He won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Nebraska and later turned down an offer from the San Diego Chargers of the NFL. He said he signed a $100,000 a year contract his first year with the Alouettes.
Before his conversion, Rodgers said he tried other religious groups, including the Black Muslims, but found them lacking.
"Those didn't really move me like this did," he said. "I've learned that life is more than making touchdowns and money. It's learning to come in contact with yourself."
Rodgers was one of 25 influential members of the Divine Light Mission who met with Maharaj Ji over the weekend to discuss plans for 1976 including the Guru's international tour.
"Because of my success, I can do more on the outside," he said. "As for football, I have won every award they have, so I am just playing to play. I would like to get into a business that I don't have to get beat up every other weekend."
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.