John Hampton
John Hampton was one of Rawat's closest followers and accompanied him on trips. He was one of the interviewees in the "Passages" video.
On October 12th 1974, Rawat mentions him in a speech, "They will really see that we made a beautiful car. As a matter of fact, in Los Angeles it's so amazing because you see all these 1975s and 1974s and all these brand new cars coming out. And then you see the big old clunker driving down the highway, beautifully restored, and people just watch it and say wow, that's beautiful you know. It's like John Hampton is into really, really, really into it. And it can be done you know, no matter what, it can be done."
In December, 1976 Hampton was made an initiator: "Then it was back to California, where Guru Maharaj Ji spent the weeks around Christmas personally supervising the initiator training program. The first group of five North American premies spent a little over a week at Malibu with Maharaj Ji and initiators Jagdeo and Ira Woods, before being sent out on tour in their respective countries. That gave the U.S. communities four new initiators: Sherry Weinstein and Michael Parragon from Buffalo, Richard Neal from Philadelphia, and John Hampton, who has been travelling with Maharaj Ji. Anne Johnston returned to Canada to tour the eastern cities there."
In Portland, Oregon on 30 January 1977 Rawat mentioned him again: "When we were coming here, I was talking to initiator John Hampton and Randy and I was saying "Wow man, it's like I tell premies 'Don't go over the cliff, don't go over the cliff!'" And people who do go over the cliff, their experience of going over the cliff and hitting the bottom is completely invaluable, because they know what it's like now. All these premies go out and get into all these trips, they get into their minds, they just get completely spaced out, and that experience that they gain after a little while when they decide, "Wait a minute, Knowledge is the only way," that experience is invaluable."
On Saturday, March 19, 1977 Rawat mentioned him twice in a speech: "When John Hampton came to Los Angeles a few days ago, he brought some stickers with him - I believe they were printed by Santa Cruz premies - and it said, "Holi '77", and I just looked at it and I said, "Well, officially, according to Indian tradition, this is not Holi." But it's a matter of opinion. And besides that being a matter of opinion how holy it is, and that is h-o-1-y, not "i", how holy this festival is, is really something that is new, really something that is fantastic, and really something that is precious to all of our hearts. This is holy. It's holy for us because we have experienced Knowledge" and "I was listening to the satsang that was going on here that Joan Apter gave and John Hampton gave, and then I just started imagining - because I had seen this auditorium, this hall, when it wasn't full, I drove right up behind this auditorium, and I looked at it, and there was all these seats, and I took a walk down, and saw the darshan stage - and I just started imagining how beautiful it would be when this auditorium is full of the premies that came and had darshan today and had enjoyed that Holi Festival. "
On the second night of Hans Jayanti festival, Rome, Italy, 9th November, 1977 Rawat mentioned him in a speech:" We fall, and yet we still look to Guru Maharaj Ji. And he picks us up, and he brings us to that realization again and again and again. And yet it's just like a glass. The other day John Hampton and I were talking in the living room and I was giving him this example of where it is just like a glass. Higher that glass falls from, more it's going to shatter; and more it's going to shatter. harder it is going to become to put it together. And that's really the way it is. And when we go higher and higher and higher, more careful and more careful and more careful and more careful and more careful we have to really become."
In Kansas City, January 22, 1978 Rawat mentioned him in a speech: "People are contradicting themselves so much all the time. At one point they want -like the first day I was talking about miracles. After all, what kind of a miracle are we looking for? They've got their picture painted! And it's just like what John Hampton was talking about: miracle. "Okay, well, this guy was blind. And this guy was blind, and God came and God healed him." And then there's that part of it: "God, come!" "God, come and heal this person!" And then, supposedly the person gets healed."
At the Guru Puja (Guru worship) festival in Tucson Arizona on Sunday, July 16, 1978 Rawat mentioned him in a speech: "If it takes three festivals to tell you that you have not yet surrendered, and that you should surrender, that's what I'll keep on saying. Till you surrender. Till that happens in your life, that that experience completely manifests. Because I don't want to just tell you, "Look, now initiator John Hampton is going to get up and give satsang. And now this guy is going to do this, and this guy is going to do that." I want you to experience, and nothing else. The words can all go out." and "And the first thing when the TV came on was, "Pranam, Guru Maharaj Ji." It was David Smith starting, and the first thing was, "Pranam, Guru Maharaj Ji." And it was just like synched almost. But anyway, okay, this is incredible. And those satsangs were incredible. And then John Hampton gave this incredible satsang; very strong, sort of sergeant-type satsang. (He was a sergeant.) And you listen to all this satsang and, okay, it's a very beautiful experience. And it is a beautiful experience. "
At a Guru Puja (Guru worship) Festival, Geneva 10th September 1978, Rawat speaks of him as a "very staunch sergeant" sitting beside Rawat and fanning him. Yes! Fanning him!
On the fifth night of Hans Jayanti (Thursday November 9, 1978), Kissimmee Florida Rawat mentioned him in a speech: "We just did this whole recent visit to Disneyland and I personally thought it was completely crazy. There were all these people everywhere, they didn't know what they wanted to do. They didn't know this, they didn't know that. It was incredible. We took Hansi and Wadi and Daya and there were all these premies. And we went to see these pirates. And coming round the first bend they had these plastic, wax pirates doing their trips like this constantly. One thing, one motion. And Hansi took one look at them and said, "I wanna go to Malibu." We had left Malibu hours ago to come to this place, and he goes "I wanna go to Malibu." When the whole journey was finished, Marolyn was there and I was in the motor-home. She said: "How did you like it?" And I said, "To me, it was completely crazy, but the only thing I liked was, these kids enjoyed themselves. That made me happy." They got to see Donald Duck. Actually it was very funny. Because Donald Duck was there and John Hampton was there. And John Hampton started imitating, started making the noise like a Donald Duck. And then Donald Duck looked at John Hampton, you know, it was just a nice scene that happened."
He was quoted by Rawat's wife, then titled Durga Ji (an Indian goddess) by her husband, in a speech she gave on November 11th, 1978. She is talking about "the mind" and says "This mind will try to get you any way it can. I know it tries to get me. It knows exactly my weak spots. It knows how to come in. It really knows how to come in so subtly that you don't even know it came in until it's sitting right there. And it's painful. Like, you really need this kind of a dress. You don't have this kind of a dress. And it's so ridiculous because Guru Maharaj Ji's given me everything. I don't need anything. I don't need anything. And yet I can sit there, yes I really need this and how come I don't have this? And as John Hampton was saying, first it comes in as 'you', but then it comes in as 'me' -- I really need this and I really want this. And for me, it's clothes. As ridiculous as it may sound, it is."
