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.
Prem Rawat has an opulent lifestyle, an extremely opulent lifestyle. He makes no bones about that. He makes no apologies for it. He claims he is a successful private investor and inventor which is quite remarkable as his mother cut off the family income when she disowned and disinherited him when he was 16 years old and he failed in his legal bids to gain control of his father's property in the Indian courts. Of course all of his initial funds came from donations and presents from his followers. He pretends otherwise. Search his sites TPRF or Maharaji Net or Words Of Peace Global and there will be no hint that to this day much of his income derives from the donations of his followers nor that these donations flow more freely whenever he has darshan lines nor that fund-raising drives for specific purposes are still common in Elan Vital nor that much of the funds donated to the Prem Rawat Foundation are used to pay for his luxury travel.
As Jesus Christ said: "She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could." In Prem Rawat's case there are many people who understand the correct way to treat a Perfect Master. He has a luxury mansion in Malibu. He makes no bones about that. He makes no apologies for it. He has sold his $7 million dollar yacht, 'Serenity'. He makes no apologies for that.
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Bob Mishler, the President of Divine Light Mission at the time, revealed that by 1976 Rawat "had at least three Mercedes, a couple of Rolls Royces, and least three or four other luxurious automobiles in the 30 or 40,000 dollar range. I mean, it wasn't just a question of having one, he had a whole fleet." Much of his wealth was provided by the church (Divine Light Mission was registered as a church) and anything he waqnted he expected Divine Light Mission to provide no matter what the church's financial position was. Rawat also had "a great deal of income that comes to him in the tax-free form of gifts from his followers. How he uses that; well, when I was there, he was spending it. It was just amazing how much money he could spend."
He does not have a larger fleet of cars than the deceased Bhagwan Rajneesh had though he does have a very large fleet of very fine autos and a full-time mechanic. He does fly around the world in a private jet telling people to experience complete inner peace and joy from within rather than from possessions. If you have problems with people who are rich just remember what Prem Rawat has said about this:
"You know some people don't like rich people. They have this idea or that idea of what it is to be rich. But they really don't know. It's not easy to be rich. It isn't. Once you've made your first million, you need another to protect it. Then you have two million, and you'll need another two million to protect those two million. Then you'll have four million and you'll need another four million to protect those four million, and then you'll have eight million. Of course then you'll need another 8 million to protect those eight million and then you'll have 16 million... it isn't easy, it's not what you think."
Maharaji speaking at Long Beach 1995
1. The Bible, New Testament, The Gospel of Mark 14:3-9
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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.