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.
Professor Ron Geaves of Liverpool Hope University is the only academic of religion who has bothered to do any "research" or write any papers dealing with Prem Rawat for the past 20 years. This is because he is a fervent "premie" of Prem Rawat (Maharaji) and his Knowledge and has been since 1969 as he testified in the Elan Vital video "Passages". As a "premie" for over 35 years Ron has presumably sat in formal meditation over 10,000 times, bowed down before and kissed Rawat's feet ("Lotus Feet") scores or hundreds of times and listened to hundreds of his speeches. This involvement seems to have made him shameless when it come to promoting Rawat, not only in his academic work but in Rawat's general and deceitful propaganda.
Although Geaves is a professor at a very minor university, indeed it was only approved in 2005, he has been able to use his title as part of Rawat's "Legitimacy Project." This is a long term public relations' campaign in which Rawat's followers have been engaged since at least 2004. They have hired halls in prestigious universities in which Rawat gives a speech to some of his followers and then advertised this as if the university had invited Rawat to speak to faculty and staff who in most cases know nothing about it. Geaves stars in a video, as if he was an Oxford University don, of Rawat speakin' in the South Riding School (a room rented out for conferences, etc) at Oxford University in which he introduces Rawat. This is a transcript of part of that official Visions International DVD.
"(voiceover) To date he has spoken to audiences in 50 countries and over 250 cities. From the United Nations in New York to the United Nations' Conference Centre in Bangkok he is regularly asked to present his message at international events. He's been a respected and honoured guest at forums like the Universal Forum of Culture in Barcelona and the Italian and Australian Parliament. He's addressed faculties, students and invited guests at many universities such as Thommasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, the University of California in Berkeley and Harvard University in the US, the University of Salamanca in Spain and Oxford University in the UK."
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The Prem Rawat Foundation donated money to the United Nations Development Programme's Community Water Initiative in Ghana, a minor part of their relief work in Africa, enough money so that he could have a photo opportunity at the UN headquarters in New York. He was not asked to speak to the United Nations, he was not honoured by the United Nations. His followers rented a hall at the United Nations' Conference Centre in Bangkok where he gave a speech, it had nothing to do with the United Nations organisation. His followers rented a room at the Australian Parliament building, it had nothing to do with the Australian government. Similarly with Harvard, Oxford and UC Berkeley and there is no evidence to suggest it was any different at Salamanca or Bangkok. It's certainly what they did at Griffith University in Australia near where I live. Professor Ron Geaves knew this when he agreed to introduce Rawat at Oxford University and understood the deception that was being perpetrated.
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"Good evenin' ladies and gentlemen (click to watch video), I am Professor Ron Geaves and it's my pleasure to welcome you to "Peace Is Possible", tonight's event with Prem Rawat. In my professional life there is a seamless join between my academic pursuit of knowledge and my personal journey towards fulfillment. The boundaries have always been permeable and that owes much to Prem Rawat. Over the years I have come to admire his passion for existence and I remain enthused by the content of his message. In my own personal growth as a human bein' it has been significant. Would you please join me in giving a very warm welcome to Prem Rawat."
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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.