Holy Breath in The Power Of Love Video 1974

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.

Holy Breath in The Power Of Love Film, 1974

Holy Breath during Prem Rawat's Darshan in the 1974 Guru Puja Festival in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, in late October, 1974

In late 2009 a former community co-ordinator for Divine Light Mission was cleaning out his attic and contacted the Ex-Premie Forum to see if anyone might want the boxes of tapes, magazines and some 35mm films that he hadn't destroyed when ordered to in the early 1980's. The film quality had deteriorated during the 30 years but were professionally converted to DVDs. In 1976 at the Frankfurt Conference, Prem Rawat (Maharaji) said Power Of Love was the best movie that DLM had ever produced. This page concentrates on the giving of "Holy Breath" by Prem Rawat as shown in the film.

In October 1974 very few Australian premies had seen Rawat in person. "Mahatma" Padarthanand had been the driving force behind attracting new followers in Australia. So in the darshan line Maharaji had to constantly give "Holy Breath" which had to be given once to each new premie the first time they had darshan of Prem Rawat and kissed his feet in adoration and worship. Here we see details of His technique in stop motion images.

From another angle more details of this incredible process are revealed. In the first image below The Master recognises the call of the devotee for "Holy Breath." Does the position of the tongue matter? Only He can know. In the second image, He prepares the Holy Breath trumpet shape of his right hand pointing at the perfect place and then (right image) speeds His Grace on the way with an elegant follow through.

The Darshan line can be over-awing for new premies. The incredible build-up prior to the Perfect Master's arrival for the festival. The anxiety: will you be surrendered enough to experience Maharaji in all his Glory. The fear: you will be "in your mind" and experience nothing but Maharaji as the "Perfect Mirror" reflecting your confusion and fear. Then there is the long wait and the long walk past the most dedicated and realised premies who beam their love and devotion at you as you pass. As you approach the Lotus Feet of the Perfect Master, Durga Ji his divine consort looks at you with such love and you desperately try to remember what to do with your right hand to receive Holy Breath.

Durga Ji is ever faithful at Maharaji's side giving her inexhaustible love to each premie. Maharaji gives Holy Breath to each premie no matter what their future might hold, be it apostasy, disgruntlement, even legal action. His Love and forgiveness have no bounds, they are boundless. Pranam Maharaji.

Because of the need for speed in the darshan line to allow 1,000 premies to pass in a reasonable amount of time (Prem Rawat takes no toilet breaks in this holy time) and the large percentage of premies requiring Holy Breath, Maharaji had to work at top speed.

In these front on shots the fatigue is quite noticeable on his face. But nothing deters him from giving each premie their necessary Holy Breath

In these images we can see how plump and heavy Maharaji's hand and fingers are. Fortunately He has removed his rings and watch. This makes his effort in giving so much Holy Breath even more commendable. What a physical strain it must be.

In this sequence we once again see the special position of the tongue at the beginning of the Holy Breath process. Possibly this is dependant upon what the Perfect Master sees when He looks into the heart of the devotee/student.

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.