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.
THE NEWS, Frederick, Md. Friday, June 12, 1981 A-10
DENVER (AP) -The alleged kidnapping of a young follower of Guru Maharaj Ji, a religious cult leader, has led to the indictment of the 22-year-old's parents, a Denver policeman and seven others on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy.
Policeman Mark Gerard Roggeman, a 10-year veteran of the force, was indicted by a Denver grand jury Thursday on charges of second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy stemming from the April 8 abduction of Emily Deitz, a former employee of the guru's Divine Light Mission in Denver.
Also indicted in the alleged kidnapping scheme were the victim's parents, Dr Leonard and Esther Leah Deitz, of Silver Spring, Md, and Joseph Phillips Alexander Jr , whom Denver District Attorney Dale Tooley described as a nationally known "deprogrammer" of cult members.
"Deprogramming" is the process whereby a cult member "unlearns" what he or she has been taught while in the cult.
Alexander, the alleged leader of the abduction, was charged with second-degree kidnapping, conspiracy and false imprisonment and apparently was assisted by four people from out of state and two Colorado Springs women, according to the indictment.
The victim, Miss Deitz, eventually escaped her captors by jumping from a second-story window at night and hitchhiking to a truck stop.
According to the indictment, Dr. and Mrs. Deitz contacted Roggeman late last summer and asked him to locate their daughter. Roggeman met with Dr. Deitz last February and Roggeman was told Deitz had "hired some people to come and pick up Emily Deitz," the indictment continued.
On April 8, witnesses said, Miss Deitz was walking down a Denver street when she was seized and thrown - screaming and fighting - into a van by three men. The victim later identified the three men as Alexander, Danny Edwin Hurst and Russell Allen Bennett, according to police.
She said her father also was in the van, and identified the driver as Marilyn L. Crown and the driver of a backup vehicle as Tom Gibeon. The indictment states Roggeman observed the abduction and followed the vans to the Colorado Springs home of Jackie Lynn Jones and Sandra Jeanne Jones, allegedly for deprogramming.
Miss Deitz has said she was kept under guard in the home for a week and later taken to Akron, Ohio, where she was held for six days before making her escape.
Deitz, Hurst, Bennett and Crown were charged with second-degree kidnapping, conspiracy and false imprisonment. Deitz's wife was charged with conspiracy, and Gibeon was charged with kidnapping and conspiracy. The Colorado Springs women face charges of false imprisonment.
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.