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.
These are excerpts from speeches Prem Rawat made in 1978 - 1980 at the Guru Puja, Holi and Hans Jayanti Festivals. 'Puja' means worship and these festivals were the highlights of Divine Light Mission's annual activities. It was in the period 1977 to 1982 that Prem Rawat openly and continually propagated the myth of his divinity to his followers, teaching that was a unique Divine Being incarnated in the lineage of avatars. His Knowledge revealed God (the energy that is the source of the universe and life) and the only meaning of life was surrender to Guru Maharaj Ji. During this period his wife, Marolyn Rawat, nee Johnson newly christened as Durga Ji, and his Western "initiators" (the most dedicated of his followers) took an active role in the proselytisation of his religion and the inspiring of his followers. This all ended sometime in 1982/83/84 (I'm a little hazy on the exact date).
| "If you have a Perfect Master you can't do anything but worship him every day of your life. You tell me, if you really have that Perfect Master in your life, what can you do except to worship him every day? Get up and worship him, pray, know, surrender. Every day of your life!" | ![]() |
| "Guru Maharaj Ji is that Supreme Power. Is, was and always will be!" |
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| Durga Ji, the former Marolyn Johnson, crowns Prem Rawat, then known as Guru Maharaj Ji, and does pranam, kissing his feet, to the shouts of "Bhole Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai" of the blissed-out premie audience. | ![]() |
| "Guru Maharaj Ji comes again and again and says 'Wait, there's nothing here! Let's go. Let's go my place. Let's go to my world. Where you can live, you can really live, where you can really experience, where you can be away from doubt.'" | ![]() |
| "This is, this is the whole essence of creation in front of us! What is there more? What can be there more?" | ![]() |
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"Because Guru Maharaj Ji can show that to us now in this lifetime while we are still alive. Guru Maharaj Ji can give us that love, Guru Maharaj Ji can give us that realisation now. We have to just let go to Guru Maharaj Ji, give ourselves to Guru Maharaj Ji, not in a theory, not in a song, not in an Arti that we sing every night. I give you my heart, for in you it will mellow, Maharaji my Lord, my life is your play. I mean those are pretty heavy duty statements, you know. You are my mother, you are my father. What, what, what are we saying? And yet do we even have an essence of meaning to it? What we sing is right, it's true, it is an expression of a devotee. This is what a devotee would understand of his Guru Maharaj Ji. That you are my all, he doesn't have to go into specifics about your brother, sister, mother, father, cousin, uncle, aunt. And yet in a very humble and beautiful way we are trying to express that you are my all, every relations, you are my all, you are above and beyond. You know, and really the whole essence of prayer is let me really give myself to you, (the song "Always There" joins in the soundtrack) let me surrender to you, you have come, it's singing the glories of Guru Maharaj Ji is what Arti is all about. Oh Guru Maharaj Ji you are my father, you are my mother, you are friend. I see you in those respects, you need to teach me a lesson, you need to give me that fathering, you need to give me that mothering, you need to give me that support and yet you are my all, my Lord to me." |
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Warning: This file is 40 megabytes long and includes scenes of Prem Rawat dancing and some off-key singing and background crowd chanting: "Bhole Shri Satguru Dev
Maharaj Ki Jai" |
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"Really experience Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace!" The world stops when I look into your eyes |
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Prem Rawat discusses the purchasing of Rolls-Royces (28meg) You can, you can get me whatever you want to. Sure, I'll accept. But for one time when you do what I ask you to do that's what makes me really happy. What are cars, you know? Nothing. To me they have never meant so much. Nothing. Cars are cars. This and that. You know, here there'll be this elaborate stage what is this elaborate stage? When I was with, you know, you saw the film when I used to give satsang I used to stand. What is all this ???, elaborate stage? You effort. When you become a devotee, when you unconditionally surrender to Guru Maharaj Ji, when ifs, buts and doubts go away, when that for one change when you say I give you my heart, for when you really mean when you say you are my all, my Lord to me, that's when Guru Maharaj Ji becomes happy. The formula for it is very simple, it's all been said and yet it's still your feet and your steps. So fortunately we still have another day of satsang (someone in crowd shouts Bhole Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai) and, so, I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you and good night. (crowd shouts Bhole Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai, someone shouts Thank You Maharaji, crowd chants Bhole Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai) |
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Prem Rawat discusses his devotees as permanent "Ugly Ducklings" (43meg) This is, this is the whole essence of creation in front of us. What is there more? What can be there more? There are people who have a very, very simple thing to say about it all, "Look, I have my wife, I have my children, I have my job, I have my Rolls Royce, I don't need anything else. What can I possibly need?" You know every one of these cars made, that Cadillac, the Lincoln Continental, the Rolls Royce, the Mercedes have, they're all a symbol of something. The guy who drives a Lincoln Continental is the guy who made it a long time ago, he's on the top. He doesn't even to show it, you know. The Mercedes drive, the practical man, you know, and I mean, I don't even know what these, these things symbolize, what they mean but this is what people pursue. Everybody gives us the impression that we are ducks and in reality we are not, we are something far more beautiful. We are something far more incredible. The things that we get caught up in, the things that we get involved in is like quicksand, the more you try to get up, the more you get buried in it. And I'm not saying it's wrong to own a Cadillac, and I'm not saying it's wrong to ??? this world, after all you can't become, you can't expect every to, everybody but, to become Surdas who upon seeing, you know, how involved he was into this world, was seeing how dark this world was and what he needed to see was within him. He poked his eyes out. There's no sense in becoming that, in everybody to become Surdas. Cause Guru Maharaj Ji can show that now in this lifetime while we are still alive. Guru Maharaj Ji can give us that love, Guru Maharaj Ji can give us that realization now. We have to just let go to Guru Maharaj Ji, let go to Guru Maharaj Ji, not in a theory, not in a song, not in an Arti that we sing every night. I give you my heart, for in you it'll mellow, Maharaji my Lord, my life is your play. I mean those are pretty heavy duty statements, you know. You are my mother, you are my father. What, what, what, what are we saying? And yet do we even have an essence of meaning to it? What we sing is right, it's true, it is an expression of a devotee. This is what a devotee would understand of his Guru Maharaj Ji. That you are my all, he doesn't have to go into specifics about your brother, sister, mother, father, cousin, uncle, aunt. And yet in a very humble and beautiful way we are trying to express that you are my all, every relations, you are my all, you are above and beyond. You know, and really the whole essence of prayer is let me really give myself to you, (the song "Always There" joins in the soundtrack) let me surrender to you, you have come, it's singing the glories of Guru Maharaj Ji is what Arti is all about. Oh Guru Maharaj Ji you are my father, you are my mother, you are my friend. I see you in those respects, you need to teach me a lesson, you need to give me that fathering, you need to give me that mothering, you need to give me that support and yet you are my all, my Lord to me. |
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Prem Rawat discusses the meaninglessness of a non-premie's life (46meg) This body, this soul, this life that we just sell, give to this world, unnecessarily, Guru Maharaj Ji takes it back and gives it back to us, to live, to experience. And there in everyone of our life if we really can experience that love, if we really can be that devotee of Guru Maharaj Ji, not a person who can do good routines, you know, like Kathy was saying, is this a fan club who says Bholie Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai all the time? Is it another one of those things? That's it, you know the funny thing is, that's what a lot of people think and I'm not talking about people outside this convention centre either, in this convention centre, that's what a lot of people, that's what a lot of premies think. That this is just one more of those things. Guru Maharaj Ji, you know, if you know what Guru Maharaj Ji is, who Guru Maharaj Ji is then what would be the significance of you saying "I love you Guru Maharaj Ji." What would be your experience every time you said, "I love you Guru Maharaj Ji." It would be that experience you can't get even after reading every single scripture that's existing today. Because you can feel that love, experience that love, you can realize that love but to us there is too much fog and this fog is our problem. You know, it's our problem, this is, this is where our effort has to come in to remove that fog. To really see for a change, Guru Maharaj Ji. Really experience Guru Maharaj Ji's grace. (merges into the song Meditating On Your Love) |
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References (links to transcripts of some of Rawat's speeches at these Guru Puja (worship) festivals:
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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.