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.

Early Pseudo-History of Prem Rawat in 'Passages'

One of the defining characteristics of Prem Rawat's organisations is the absence of any critical information about the Master or his activities or "success" Everything that occurs is cast in a positive light or, if that is impossible, ignored. Rawat's story is a remarkable one but it is neither timeless nor positive.

"He was Maharaji, and he was already the central figure in a truly remarkable and timeless story. History tells us there have always been Masters or teachers who have helped people experience an innate beauty in their lives. Maharaji's father, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, had been the student of such a Master named Swarupanand. On Swarupanand's passing, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj became Master in 1936, he spent the next 30 years of his life spreading the Knowledge his Master had shown him." 'History' tells us that many people have claimed to teach religious truths and that many of them were bogus and evil. There are many such people alive today. 'History' tells us that the majority of Swarupanand's followers rejected Hans Rawat as the new Master. For a more detailed look at these specific claims see the Lineage of Perfect Masters

"He stepped forward and he gave the hope to thousands of people who were crying and wondering and he promised then, "Don't worry, your Master is with you always," and he said "I will take care of Knowledge. I will try to spread the same Knowledge as Shri Maharaj Ji was doing." Sampuranand speaks of the death of Shri Hans and the incarnation of Prem Rawat (Maharaji). There is no doubt that Sampuranand was a major player in the proclaiming of Prem Rawat, the youngest son, as the new Satguru and he remained loyal to Prem when virtually every other Indian 'Mahatma' accepted Rawat's mother deposing him and installing his eldest brother Bal Bhagwan Ji as the new Satguru in 1975.
Joan Apter introduces His first U.S. satsang "Tonight, Guru Maharaj Ji has come just because we have so many people here but we had forgotten how tired he would be and arranged for this program. Please keep in your mind that he will speak for just a short time tonight."
His first U.S. satsang: "We have this human body but we have to even realise why that Supreme Being, that Lard has given us this human frame."

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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.