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.
12 THE TIMES SATURDAY DECEMBER 19 1979
From Ivor Davis
Los Angeles, Dec 18
In the southern California community of Malibu Beach there is another religious leader besides the Ayatollah Khomeini who is winning no popularity contests.
The guru Maharaj Ji, aged 22, the Indian-born leader of the Divine Light Mission whose followers are said to number seven million throughout the world, is locked in earthly battle with residents of this waterfront community which includes a goodly collection of show business luminaries including Barbra Streisand, Cary Grant, and singers Bob Dylan and Linda Ronstadt, girlfriend of Mr Jerry Brown, California's Governor.
It all began when devoted followers of the "Perfect Master", as he is called, gave him a spanking new jet helicopter for his birthday. That created a problem. There was nowhere for the leader of the religious cult to land and take off at his $2m (£909,000) hill top estate.
In May the guru's lawyers were denied permission to build a heliport near the pool and tennis court by the Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission. The guru is appealing against that decision and his followers are expected to show up at a public hearing before the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors on Thursday.
The guru has taken out full page advertisements in local newspapers to try to placate residents' groups which vigorously oppose the heliport, saying it not only creates noise but is an unnecessary hazard.
Engineers hired by the guru have run extensive tests to prove that their modern executive helicopter is a particularly noiseless one and that wherever heliports are built property values around have gone up. They also say that the guru only plans to use his helicopter six times a year.
Residents still are not impressed and the battle so far has been fought in the columns of the Malibu Surfside News.
"Such a heliport could generate as much noise as a factory right here in peaceful Malibu", Mr John May, a resident declared.
Mr Kent Mulvihill, another neighbour, said: "The most compelling argument against this private indulgence is the alarming precedent it would set. The hills of Malibu are dotted with movie stars, rock singers and top executives who could make an equal or better claim to the need for a private heliport. If this one gets through it could be just a matter of time before Malibu becomes helicopter heaven."
The guru's devotees, however, are undaunted. Over the past weekend dozens of young followers went from door to door trying to persuade residents to see it the guru's way.
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.