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.
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Evolution
This video, titled 'Evolution', © ILC (International Learning Center) production, was released in 1989. It is part of a series that includes "Windows In Time", "I Have This Knowledge" and "Passages" that attempt to show an extremely upbeat version of Rawat's early career in the West and a coherent evolution of his career and teachings while allowing his devotees watching it to briefly relive their youth during the exciting, overtly divine and devotional, optimistic and successful public phase of his career. It is certainly not an accurate picture of the history of Rawat's life and career but it is an accurate picture of how he wanted that presented in 1989 within the constraints of available archival film. It contains a significant amount of film of the Indian Divine Light Mission before or at the time the first Westerners became involved which demonstrates the extent of the organisation and followers that Hans Rawat had created during his 35 years of proselytisation. The young Prem Pal Singh Rawat was able to use the "spiritual legitimacy" and resources of his father's legacy to kickstart his initial Western success before the growth spluttered out in a welter of bad publicity and Rawat's incompetence. |
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It begins with a street scene, Hans Rawat the self-proclaimed Perfect Master (Satguru) leads a crowd of thousands with his three eldest sons, two of whom have condemned their youngest brother, Prem Rawat, as a playboy, a drunkard and completely unworthy to be a Master. They and his mother have been edited out of as much of the old Indian Divine Light Mission footage as is possible. Prem Rawat does not mention his father on his web sites or in his public speeches but the father created the following that gave his son the resources for the initial Western success of Divine Light Mission. Prem Rawat claims his father passed on the mantle of self-proclaimed Perfect Master to him through physical appearances to him after Hans' death and through a voice in the 6 year old Prems' head that only he heard. In 1975 when his mother, elder brothers and the President of DLM, India disowned, disinherited and deposed him, he stated that it was not possible to fire a self-proclaimed Perfect Master for any reason. |
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It continues with scenes of Hans Rawat the former self-proclaimed Perfect Master (Satguru) and Prem, his youngest son and inheritor of his titles and supposed powers, in the period before Hans' death. By the 1990's Prem Rawat had begun to reminisce about his childhood. He remembered he was the one who attracted the crowds for his father, "His Royal Highness Param Hans Ji Maharaj", whose organisation apparently couldn't raise a crowd advertising the Perfect Master of the time without the young Rawat as a shill. At other times, he said that his father could raise a crowd without any help but at other times that it always needed the followers as well. This is a typical example of the contradictions in Rawat's "teachings". |
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| Unseen Interviewer: How did you feel as an eight or nine year old boy (click for video) taking on what seems to be a lot of responsibility?
Teenage Prem Rawat then calling himself Guru Maharaj Ji: And then when he left this job for me I started going to places and preaching this Knowledge to them and after that I came on my vacations, I came to England just for a visit, just to see what, what goes on in these countries, you know." On his first visits to the UK and the USA the young Prem Rawat still spoke with a heavy Indian accent, appeared to use some sort of oil in his hair and was seriously "uncool". Over the following years he made strenuous efforts to update his image by dropping the hair oil, the Indian clothes on most occasions, growing his hair longer and continuing to try to grow a moustache. The moustache was a long time coming and the early chubbiness metamorphosed into serious, mature obesity. |
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Scenes of the young Master Prem, who has inherited his father's role and to a growing extent his power and authority begins to enjoy being pampered and worshipped as the Child God of the Satguru Maharaji, the Perfect Spiritual Master, the Light of the World and Perfect Lord of Love, the Prince of Peace and Lord of the Universe and the Perfect Master who is Greater Than God. |
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The home movies continue, Rawat is led around on a horse, but is already demonstrating his love for technology. He drives a car around despite barely seeing out the windscreen.
It was reported by early western devotees that he used blocks of wood attached to the the foot pedals so he could reach them. There is a short scene of
his mother, Mata Ji, happy in a crowd. |
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| Scenes from a large Indian festival with what appears to be Western devotees riding on an elephant and in the crowd. Western devotees are very important for successful Indian Godmen. They provide prestige and significant financial support despite their much smaller numbers though it's unlikely Rawat's first hippie followers who found Divine Light Mission in India provided much money. |
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Click here for the next section of the Evolution video
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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.