David Lovejoy: ex-President Divine Light Mission, Australia & Great Britain

David Lovejoy, one time President of Divine Light Mission, Australia and Great Britain is an editor of the Byron Bay Echo, a local newspaper published in the resort town of Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia. Does this look like a man who has meditated for 35 years? (Click on left image to enlarge)

He has been closely associated with Michael McDonald and John MacGregor and wrote this letter purporting to refute MacGregor's and Michael MacDonald's (current editor, Byron Bay Echo) criticism of Prem Rawat and his "Knowledge" in 2001 though it actually refuted a "straw man" argument of Lovejoy's making in a rather nasty manner rather than responding in a reasoned way to their actual statements. It was rebutted by both Michael McDonald and John MacGregor rather successfully.

He has written a "memoire" about his life which most people would find extremely boring but is of interest to his friends, family and anyone wishing to read about the "hippies" who became followers of Prem Rawat in India circa 1971 and the Divine Light Mission in Australia in the 1970's.

There is a copy of a review by McDonald here that sounds as if it was given at a well-lubricated dinner.

In early 2007, he posted a few times on www.ex-premie.forum giving both a plug to his book and a more recent viewpoint re his feelings and beliefs about Prem Rawat. He seems to have a natural bitchiness and much of his defense of Prem Rawat consists of snide ad hominem attacks on Rawat's critics which is the dominant method that Rawat's followers use. Phrases such as "You may have entrenched and immovable ideas", "it is evidence of inveterate prejudice against him.", "will always be examined through a lens of loathing", "It may be negative energy, but it is still obsessive" are the norm.

In most circles, it is considered that criticism of charlatans, shams and deceitful and hypocritical religious leaders are moral and ethical acts. Mr Lovejoy seems to have internalised the Élan Vital view that such criticism of Prem Rawat is necessarily a sign of a damaged, obsessed, "hate-filled" person and should not be done even though he claims he no longer worships and adores him (bhakti yoga) but seems to feel the true judgement of Rawat's career as a divine incarnation of God should be his own apathy.

Lovejoy may yet continue to progress and grow in his understanding of Prem Rawat. He's certainly come a long way since 1971.

"Of course Brian's question of where I stand now must be answered if I post on this site. Premie or ex-premie? Well, I would say ex-premie, if that merely meant that I have moved on and adopted new ways of thinking about Maharaji and Knowledge. I am certainly not practising bhakti (devotional yoga) any more!"

Most of the men at this meditation retreat had been revealed Prem Rawat's techniques of meditation for 30 years when this photo was taken. See if you can spot the "students", the "apostates" and the ignorant by the radiant glow of inner peace shining from the appropriate faces.