Miami, Florida, USA, 15 June 1972
I go all round the world giving this Knowledge to people. Five million people have received it and five million people are completely satisfied.
Due to His power, God sends someone from heaven to give us this Knowledge. And once he comes, it's alright. Five million people have received peace out of this, why can't you? They are not just Europeans who have
received this Knowledge
Divine Light, Volume 2, Number 3, December, 1972
Los Angeles International Airport, USA, 23 June 1972
The master, also known as Guru Maharaj J, is only 14 years old and claims to have a worldwide following of millions. (When he was in Los Angeles last July on a less trumpeted visit he claimed to have 3 million followers; he claimed Thursday to have 5 million.)
Los Angeles Times June 23, 1972
Delhi, India, December 1972
At least five million have realized God through Divine Light Mission. And now an average of about a thousand daily are realizing Him.
And It Is Divine, Volume i, Number 5, March, 1973
The Sayings of Guru Maharaj Ji
I have a plan for world peace, you see. And if we all work to it, I'm sure we can get It. I can see how its going to work out. It wasn't very hard reaching the hearts of six million people, right? So it's not going to be
hard for six million people to reach the hearts or one person each -- and that makes it 12 million.
The Sayings of Guru Maharaj Ji
A Boston Globe interview of 1973 reprinted in a DLM publication in 1980
Wood: You have more experience with Knowledge than your disciples do, but do you have the knowledge of how to reach other people with it?
Rawat: Sure, because I have reached more people than they have, more people than they have even seen in their life - six million people. That's the last counting.
Wood: You were saying before, that you expect to see peace on earth in your lifetime.
Rawat: You will be able to see peace in this world on people's faces. This is one thing a London newspaper wrote, that if you see a well-dressed man who has got a glow on his face, if he's really shining, it means
he's from Divine Light Mission. They have realized peace, and peace can't hide itself. It just comes out. And when everybody is going to realize it, it's going to be -
Wood: Will everybody realize this then?
Rawat: It's not a hard job. For sure to the people who see this world and see us, it might seem a hard job because they only see five or six people around me. But that's not it. There's six million people reaching
at least. It's not hard for one man to reach two people a day - you understand? And six million people are reaching two people a day - how much does that count to? That's it. That's how we are growing so
fast.
Wood: Does the Knowledge affect the activities of the world?
Rawat: Yes, it does affect activities. Because when we realize Knowledge we are at peace. We are running such a big organization, and if we hadn't received Knowledge, we would have been up to something miserable in
this world. Now just imagine; I have a following of six million people, and whatever I tell them, they are going to do that. And among those six million people, there are millions of people who are criminals. They
have murdered people, they have committed many crimes. They have been to jail and they know what it's all like. And if I tell them now, they would do it. They would murder anyone off the street. We could be hijacking
planes, and stealing cars off the roads, and killing people and doing other things. But we have realized that Knowledge, and so the whole movement is completely different.
Wood: Would your followers do whatever you told them to do?
Rawat: They would be most pleased to.
Light Reading, 1980
Public Program, Boston, Massachusetts, August 4, 1973
Now, I have realized, and six million people have realized, this inner Peace, this inner Knowledge that is within inside of us all, this primordial vibration, this supreme energy, this kinetic energy that is also
making us alive.
Elan Vital, Volume II, Issue 2, Summer 1978
Millenium '73 Festival, Houston Astrodome, Texas, November, 1973
Q: Did you receive the Knowledge in a vision?
Guru Maharaj Ji: No, it was given to me, as it is given to eight million people, it was given to me by my father.
Divine Times (?), early 1974(?)
Nepal, May 2, 1975
My duty is to tell you about this Knowledge and my request is that you should receive this Knowledge and see what I am offering to all the people. There are more than six million people who have received this Knowledge.
All the scriptures have talked about this Knowledge. If you have time, you should decide. There are mahatmas who live here, and I will also be staying here if you have any questions. But there is really no answer for "why".
Divine Times, Volume 4, Issue 5,July 30 1975
Nepal, May 3, 1975
Today, people are totally confused. They don't even realize that this Knowledge is inside of them. That's why I go from place to place to give this Knowledge. More than three million people have received this Knowledge
and have derived benefit from it. This is the Knowledge that was revealed by Lord Krishna.
Elan Vital, Volume III, Issue 4, Winter 1979
Public Program, Hans Jayanti Festival, Orlando, Florida, afternoon, November 9th, 1975
I have said this before, and I am going to say it again. Through the Lord's Grace, you give me love, and I will give you peace. This has been done a lot of times. There are over a million people who have received this
peace.
I don't want to be called a liar, and I am not a liar. I have got this Truth, and I am revealing this Truth to people because I know, and I have experienced it. And more than a million people have experienced it with
me.
And It Is Divine Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 1
Evolution © ILC (International Learning Center), 1989
So I just, you know (Click for video), for me I just see a beautiful direction, beautiful direction. More people are, are receiving this experience
than they ever have, ever! And enjoying it and that's it, that's what I want. I want people to enjoy this and uh to bring that enjoyment in peoples' lives, to bring that beauty in peoples' lives so
they can witness it, that's why I do what I do.
It's difficult to know if Rawat is just outright lying here or if he really believes that in 1989 "more people are, are receiving this experience than they ever have". By 1989 his organisation in
India, Raj Vidya Kender, may have been rebuilt to the point where many Indians were being initiated but numbers could not compare with the millions of
followers he claimed in the early 1970's. In June 1972, he said "Five million people have received it". In 1973 he said "six million people. That's the last counting." In November, 1973 he said
"it is given to eight million people" and after he had lost the majority of his followers, when his mother deposed him, in November 1975 he said "There are over a
million people who have received this peace. " In just 18 months, between June 1972 and November 1973, he claimed to have 3 million new followers initiated into his Knowledge.
Evolution video © ILC (International Learning Center), 1989
Windows In Time © Visions International (a division of Elan Vital Inc), 1989
"I think more
and more as we can make this Knowledge available to people, more and more that we can learn ourselves what it means to us what we have learned from, from the past to incorporate that for the future
and uh more and more people becoming clear about how important this is that this is taking place not to put it in the back of their lives or back of their heads but to always recognise and remember
the importance of being alive now of having knowledge and to make this opportunity available to the many thousands and thousands of people around the world who could benefit from something like
that."
Windows In Time video © Visions International (a division of Elan Vital Inc), 1989
