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.

Evolution - Part 2

"And then when he left this job for me (click for video) 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." Rawat gives an astonishingly prosaic description of his incarnation as the Perfect Master in this interview. He leaves out the details of the voice inside his head telling him more than once that "You are He, you are the one to continue." nor the conversation "about certain matters" he publicly stated that he had with the ghost or resurrected body of his father after Hans Rawat had"left his body" ie died.

Merv: The first time he will be appearing on our show would you welcome 15 year old Guru Maharaj Ji (click for video). (There must have been premies in the audience as the applause was quite astonishing. Merv: How do you pronounce Maharaj? Marj: Maharaji, Maharaji. Merv:Maharaji, help me say it, Maharaji. Marj: Yes. Merv: I see. Ah, oh, did you go to school in India? Marj: Yes Merv: What kind of school? Marj: St Joseph's Academy, it was a Catholic school. (laughter) Merv: Are you rich? Marj: Well the point is I'm absolutely rich, I'm the richest man in the world, probably. Because you don't have to be rich in money to be rich, you have to be rich in heart and that's what really makes ???. (The young Rawat looks up and to the right before answering this question) Merv: That's right, good. Marj: This world really needs this Knowledge, it's not my Knowledge, you see, it's already within inside of us and it's nothing, nothing in particular that I can take out of my pocket and say "Here, here you go." It's something really that's already within inside of us and it just has to be revealed.

Now I am here in Tokyo (click for video) to tell you about this Knowledge. It is impossible to understand Rawat's career without knowing about his obsession with flying. His demands for luxury in all aspects of his life might have been enough to keep his organisations' financial resources insufficient to bring "peace to the world" but the cost of leasing and flying his private executive jets have ensured it. The rationale for any organisation to have an executive jet is that the executives can work or rest while travelling but Rawat flies the plane himself, thereby having no time for work and arrives needing rest. He began learning to fly in August 1972 as soon as he had a devotee able to teach him.

It's so beautiful (click for video) that finally there was this for a long time like ??? for a very long time ??? started happening and that Knowledge, that most beautiful thing, that most beautiful love that we all want to experience, you know, it's like, now, here, and we have to just jump in. Hans Jayanti festival, Toronto, Canada, 1974 (Click here to see report or click here to see his speech of November 10)) Prem Rawat's wedding on May 21st, 1974 at the age of 16 to a 23 year old devotee came as a huge shock to 99% of his followers who heard about it through the media. According to DLM publications at the time it was cosmically blissful for all his followers and it was only in 2001 that some inner-group followers were allowed to mention their consternation publicly.

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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.