The Perfect Master is he who fills the ears of his eager disciple with Truth and Knowledge; he allows him to enjoy the supreme eternal joy; he gives him Knowledge of salvation. He alone is the real mother and father.

Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the past few weeks most of us have seen stories in the press about our Lord's mother "Mata Ji" disowning Guru Maharaj Ji and appointing her oldest son "Bal Bhagwan Ji" in his place. This is the sad final act of delusion in a play which has been going on now for over a year. Of course it makes no difference to Guru Maharaj Ji or his premies what Mata Ji says: our trust in Maharaj Ji is based on our experience of him, and the practice of Knowledge, not on Indian concepts or traditions. Even in India where devotees have been systematically misled and denied information, only a small party in Delhi and Hardwar are being confused by these events. The majority, and of course his premies around the Western world, continue to follow the path of truth under Maharaj Ji's guidance.

The original cause of the rift was of course Guru Maharaj Ji's marriage to a Western lady. We all know how much closer that event and the recent birth of Premlata has brought us to our Lord. But what was nectar for us was poison for Maharaj Ji's mother and oldest brother because marriages in India are traditionally arranged by parents according to a strict caste system. This simple act of Guru Maharaj Ji's was therefore symbolic on many levels. If the practice of Knowledge consisted in slavishly following the Indian culture then Divine Light Mission would encounter no obstacles in India, certainly, but also make no progress in the West. But Knowledge is a universal vessel of salvation for all mankind and Maharaj Ji's mission is to bring peace to the whole world. The Perfect Master is not bound by established customs or the demands of social position. His purpose is to unite us all in that internal consciousness of truth, and no doubt there will come more surprises and more tests before we are all linked forever in that garland.

On another level Maharai Ji's family are simply struggling for power. In view of Guru Maharaj Ji's legal minority, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj made his wife Patron of Divine Light Mission before leaving his body. The precedent was followed when the Mission spread to England. Now it seems that at least until he becomes 21 there may be continuing legal problems in England and India, owing to abuse of that power.

In England the premies will have nothing to do with the puppet administrators she has tried to appoint. In India Divine Light Mission proper is now effectively run from Patna where the Mahatmas and premies have remained loyal to Maharaj Ji. The campaign of vilification and easily refuted falsehoods which issued out of Delhi just recently was apparently timed so as to stir up the volatile Indian public opinion against Guru Maharaj Ji's return.

This whole episode provides us with many salutary lessons. In particular, for older premies it is very painful to see Mata Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji act this way, as in the past we had trustingly accepted many notions about them taken over from Indian spiritual customs. Now we see that simple blood relationship to the Perfect Master confers no infallibility, and the respect which that relationship earns can be lost if it is not accompanied by devotion to Guru Maharaj Ji.

No matter who we are, no matter what we have done in the past, we can fall to square one if we cannot surrender completely. And all of us can now see even more clearly that this Knowledge comes from one point so does the Grace which enables us to practise it, and the Agya (direction) which keeps our lives firmly centred will the experience of truth.

There is absolutely no reason for any premie to get confused by this matter, and so if you have any doubts or questions about it please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to help.

Your brother in His love,

David Lovejoy

26 October 1974

Dear Premies:

Some of you recently might have been experiencing a lot of problems concerning Mata Ji, Bal Bhagwan Ji and Bhole Ji. This has become very serious and I am sending out this letter in order to clarify this situation.

It has turned out that Mata Ji, Bal Bhagwan Ji and Bhole Ji have denied in every way to cooperate with Me in doing prachar, spreading this Knowledge. They have refused to obey My agya and have tried to deceive many premies. This might sound ridiculous but, unfortunately, this is true. I want to warn all the premies because until now this situation has brought a lot of confusion and controversy. I want that no premie should cooperate with such people, for if they are not following My agya, they just become an obstruction in the spreading of this Knowledge. It is essential for every premie to recognize that there is one source of agya. No premie, it does not matter who he is or what he does, if he has denied agya and has started following his own mind, he is right back from where he started. That is why it is so important for premies to be in agya.

At this time Mata Ji, through an abuse of the legal authority entrusted to her on My behalf, has appointed ten new trustees to the governing body of the Divine Light Mission in England. This action was not taken by My agya. I feel that this action is detrimental to this mission's operation now and in the future. If people who are not appointed by My agya come to control Divine Light Mission, I do not want premies to cooperate with them or support them in any way but rather to continue to propagate the Knowledge of Truth under My agya. It is not unusual for people to oppose the work of the Perfect Master for either selfish or ignorant reasons. Premies who have understood the importance of this Knowledge should not be affected by those who seek to confuse or distract you from the practice of service, satsang and meditation under the agya of the Perfect Master.

I hope you all understand the importance of this message.

Blessings to you all.

Sant Ji Maharaj

This letter was written by Guru Maharaj Ji in Sydney during his visit last October. He refrained from publishing it then in the hope that his family would eventually submit and reassume their proper station.