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.
Anti-Cultist Aide Opens Patrick Defense
JACK JONES
Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File); Jul 29. 1980: ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1986) pg. SD_A2
By Jack Jones
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Defense attorneys in the Ted Patrick kidnap-conspiracy trial began to argue their case Monday, but quickly ran into a problem when their first witness testified he had helped Patrick deprogram several cultists held against their wills.
Superior Court Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund immediately sent the jurors out of the courtroom and, at the suggestion of Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Huffman, appointed a lawyer to represent Robert Gregg, 25, a Patrick aide.
Huffman apparently felt the witness' testimony bordered on self-incrimination.
Gregg said he once belonged to Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission, but was deprogrammed by Patrick after being held captive for eight days.
The day Patrick dissuaded him from his belief in that sect, Gregg said, "was the happiest day of my life." Several persons in the audience applauded. The trial has been closely watched by both Scientologists and supporters of Patrick since it began July 9.
On trial for the alleged kidnaping of 24-year-old Scientologist Paula Dain and holding her for 38 days are Patrick, Dr. Jack Dain, the young woman's father, and Mary Ann Dain, her stepmother.
On trial with them on the charges, which include false imprisonment and conspiracy, are Patrick aides Sondra Jack and James Roe.
The defense attorneys expect to conclude their presentation today.
On Monday, they once again attempted to introduce the jurors to some of the anti-Scientology material read by the Dains in an effort to establish how their states of mind had been affected and why they wanted to get her away from the organization.
Ehrenfreund, as he had before, denied the motion to let the jury hear or see the material. "However good or bad the motive was, that is not a defense in this state to the crimes of kidnaping or false imprisonment," he said.
Defense attorney Patrick Wall, over the objections of Huffman, cited other cases in an effort to get the Judge to rescind his earlier ruling against any defense based on a belief that removing the young woman forcibly was necessary.
"Mr. Huffman would have us believe," Wall argued, "That a parent, if he showed up in Guyana the day before the mass suicide and tried to get his child out, would be guilty of kidnaping."
Nevertheless, after looking over all the anti-Scientology material said to have affected the Dains' view, Ehrenfreund declined to allow the jury to see it.
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.