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.
B4 The Fresno Bee Thu., Feb. 16, 1978
BUENOS AIRES (AP) - The military government said Wednesday a new law requiring all denominations other than Roman Catholic to register or be banned would not affect freedom of religion in Argentina.
"We have more than 1,600 religions in our files," said Col. Jose Luis Picciuolo, an army officer who directs of the Office of Religion in the Foreign Ministry.
"The law is just designed to provide a standard for the whole country."
The Catholic church is exempt because Argentina's population of 25 million is 90 percent Catholic and Argentina and the Vatican signed an accord in 1966 reaffirming the church's right to operate freely here, officials said.
All other denominations will have 90 days from when the law takes effect next month to register with the Office of Religion. Those religions already listed must apply for a place in the new registry. If they do not, they will be banned. The Foreign Ministry also can deny a petition for registration.
"This is a good thing, not a bad thing," said Nestor Parodi, the subdirector of the office's Department of non-Catholic Religions. "Every religion known to man is probably practiced in Argentina. No serious religion is going to have any problem. But if a so-called religion is really just a smokescreen for something else, it's not going to be allowed to register. I mean, some of these religions are just excuses to do other things, like take drugs."
The Foreign Ministry has maintained a list of religions since 1950.
"But the old law just applied to the capital and not to the provinces, so not every religion had to be listed. Now, with the new law, we will be applying a standard nationwide."
Pared, whose office will handle the listings, did not want to discuss the legal implications for any religion which is not included in the registry.
"The details of how the law will be carried out are still being worked on," he said. "But I don't think that the police will be throwing people in jail, or anything like that."
Four sects were banned by the military government in 1977. They are the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Divine Light Mission, Hare Krishna and the Children of God.
Police have accused members of the Divine Light Mission, which follows the teachings of Guru Maharaj Ji, of being drug users. Eighty-seven members of the sect were arrested for drug possession.
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.