Bob Mishler President of Divine Light Mission Articles

The press picked up on the surprising success on Gurr Maharaj Ji in 1973, the Milenium 73 fiasco, accusations of gross financial mismanagement by DLM in 1975, Mishler's brave new DLM in 1976, Mishler's accusations of possible murder/cult suicide in 1978

Associated Press Followers Want Airplane for Indian Guru - Aug. 10, 1972

Robert Mishler, director of the Divine Light Mission in Denver, which is the headquarters of the guru's following here, said Friday that a plane that seats 25 persons would be a good size for the guru when he travels. Up until now the guru has flown commercially. He left Denver Wednesday in a newly purchased $12,000 Mercedes for a six-week cross-country tour. Mishler said he had no idea of the cost of a new plane.

Ramparts magazine Blissed Out With The Perfect Master - July 1973

"Guru Maharaj Ji tells us that no matter how evil a man has become in his society, when he encounters satsang his humanness can come out," explains Bob Mishler, 28, the tall, soft-spoken and very elusive National Director of the DLM.

Associated Press Fast Pace Hits Teenage Guru - Sept. 3, 1973

Robert Mishler, the mission's executive director, said that in many ways, "this illness is going to make Guru Maharaj Ji more human to people." Mishler reported."

Associated Press Writer Guru Maharaj Ji has ulcer - September 4, 1973

Robert Mishler, the mission's executive director, noted Guru Maharaj Ji also has the recuperative powers of a 15-year-old body and said he was confident the guru would resume his national tour with appearances on the west coast in two to four weeks.

Associated Press Guru Keeps Track Of Subjects With Computer - September 23, 1973

Ex-peace activist Rennie Davis (left) and Robert Mishler work for guru at Denver mission.

Associated Press A Boy Guru And His Cash - September 25, 1973

For example, the mission keeps track of devotees with an IBM computer it leases for $2,400 a month. It has just bought a $69,000 printing press and spends about $70, 000 monthly on publications, films and recordings. It owns about 100 automobiles and six trucks. It has budgeted $500,000, and expects to spend twice that, for a three-day climax to the guru's third world tour in November, "Millenium '73." The mission has rented the Houston Astrodome for $75,000 and booked 35,000 beds in hotel rooms. "This is just warming up," says president Mishler who declares that world peace is "inevitable."

Washington Post Following the Guru To the Astrodome - 9/11/1973

The movement's leaders seemed more concerned about protecting the faithful from discouragement over the turnout, far smaller than was predicted in advance publicity. Last night's turnout showed there was no need for the vast meeting hall they had hired for $75,000 for their first major gathering outside India. "The significance of this event is not to be measured in the number of people who attend," declared Robert Mishler of Denver, president of the Divine Light Mission in the United States, in a talk during the evening.

Middle-class premies find Oz in the Astrodome - New York Times 9/12/1973

The Divine Light Mission's president, Bob Mishler, bowed before the guru's throne and presented him with a gold swan. The premies threw up their arms and shouted, like 20,000 cheerleaders: 'Bolie Shri Satgurudev Maharaj ji Ki Jai [All praise and honor to the perfect living master]." The guru and the holy family vanished backstage. The Blue Aquarian musicians packed their instrumernts. "The most significant event in the history of humanity" was over. Nothing had happened. The earth had not moved. There had been no miracles. Maharaj ji had blundered in a peculiarly American way-he could not live up to his advertising.

Rolling Stone Magazine Rock Me Maharaji: The Little Guru Without a Prayer - March 14, 1974

On this final night of the festival Maharaj Ji ends his satsang by telling the premies to "keep on doing the meditation because it'll be more beautiful than ever." He beams at the crowd of premies below as a mahatma places a miter-like Crown of Krishna, symbol of Hindu holiness, on his head, and Bob Mishler, the president of the Divine Light Mission in the United States, presents him with two gifts from his devotees, a plaque depicting a lion and a lamb lying down together and a gold-plated statue of a swan. Electric red, white and blue firecrackers rise in intersecting arcs on the Astrodome's scoreboard above the words: REALIZE HEAVEN ON EARTH. The band plays "Lord of the Universe" one last time while premies shout the "Bolie Shri'' cheer more vigorously than ever. None of their expectations have been fulfilled-the roof of the stadium did not lift off, no UFOs landed in the parking lot, a "concrete plan to save humanity" has not been revealed and attendance at the event was dismally below the original estimates-and yet they do not seem at all disappointed. They smile blissfully at Maharaj Ji until he disappears backstage and then begin to file out of the stadium.

Independent Press-Telegram Follow - May 10, 1974

The executive director of the Divine Light Mission has followed the example of his spiritual leader - l6-year-old guru Maharaj Ji. He married his secretary. Robert Mishler, 29, married the former Eileen Weisen, 24, in private ceremonies Monday night at the guru's $80,000 Denver home. The guru, who was married that same evening to his secretary, performed the ceremony.

Associated Press Guru Performs First Wedding - May 23, 1974

Guru Maharaj Ji, the 16-year-old "perfect master" who married his 24-year-old secretary this week, has performed his first marriage. The spiritual leader of the Divine Light Mission which claims six million followers, performed the ceremony Wednesday night for Robert Mishler, described as his righthand man, and Mishler's secretary. Mishler married Eileen Wiesen, 24, a former airline stewardess, in a private ceremony at the guru's home.

Greeley (Colo.) Tribune Gift To Guru frozen by Canadian court action - Nov. 20, 1974

A power of attorney signed by Ms McNeal and sworn before notary public Barbara Meyer in Surrey B.C. Aug. 9, 1974 would give Robert Mishler President of Divine Light Mission International in Denver complete control over the Chicago trust and legal control over Miss McNeal's interests in the United States, evidence presented here says. Under provisions of the Patients Estates Act enacted by the B.C. legislature in 1962, such power-of-attorney and other documents could be void if the subject is found to be incompetent. An affidavit filed in the court registry here before Justice Hutcheon, gives an account by Robert Joynt, a trust officer for the Chicago bank, of efforts made in early September by representatives of the Divine Light Mission to obtain cash proceeds of the trust and of the initiation of legal action to prevent this.

United Press International 'It Takes A Lot Of Money To Keep A Guru' - March 23, 1975

"Bob Mishler, the mission's executive director, talked Darby into signing over power of attorney shortly after she joined," said Garson, who says he was instructed to collect the money for the mission. According to Garson, the mission has been given several trust funds, and several families, including Miss McNeal's, are contesting the action. He said donations, averaging $100,000 a month at the height of the guru's 1973 recruitment, now struggle to reach $40,000. The deficit, according to Garson, has resulted in a form of check kiting where checks are written on funds not necessarily available at the time.

Associated Press Gurus Told To Settle Dispute Out Of Court - May 23, 1975

"There are certain people around Maharaj Ji who wouldn't let us see him," said Bhagwan Ji, pointing to some of the guru's American disciples, including Robert Mishler, the president of the mission in the United States.

Los Angeles Times Rival Gurus Call Off Courtroom Battle - May 24, 1975

"Robert Mishler, president of the mission's American chapter, said Maharaj Ji might return to the United States in about two weeks after a stop in Tokyo. … Before the hearing ended, the judge asked the two: "What is the greatest sin?" "Not realizing the God who created us," said Maharaj Ji. "Wrong," the judge said. "The greatest sin in the universe is deceiving people in the name of God."

The New York Times Notes on People - May 24, 1975

Scolding the 17-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji, his 24-year-old brother and rival, a red turbaned New Delhi judge told thern yesterday that their dispute over who is "perfect master" of the Divine Light Mission must be settled out of court. Their mother had renounced Maharaj Ji as guru of the sect, accusing him of a "playboy" lifestyle since he went to the United States in 1973. Continued litigation, the judge said, would mean that "the whole of Mother India is injured and maligned abroad." The two withdrew their mutual defamation suits but no agreement seemed near. "Certain people around Maharaj Ji won't let us see him," said Bhagwan Ji, pointing to Robert Mishler, president of the Divine Light Mission in the United States.

United Press International Guru disowned by mother because he liked to live it up - Feb 7, 1976

Last year the guru's mother Rajeshwari Devi disowned her son saying he had strayed from the spiritual path. She bolstered her conviction with a court suit for control of the mission, its assets and leadership of its 3.1 million followers. "I think we've seen the last of her" said Robert Mishler, president of the DLM. Mishler said the guru, 18 was now recognized as the mission's leader and said the youth had not spoken to his mother since last June.

Associated Press Guru disowned by mother because he liked to live it up - November 22, 1976

Gone also are some of the more extravagant claims about his divinity. Once "Lord of the Universe" and "Perfect Master" to his devotees, Maharaj Ji described now by Joe Anctil, the 43-year-old spokesman, as "the point of inspiration for all of us." The Indian guru, who fought a family battle to retain his church, did away with the foot-kissing and prostration, Eastern customs "that didn't go over very well in the West," Anctil said. After all, added Robert Mishler, president of the mission's American division, "We're not trying to propagate a culture." The guru still preaches meditation, selfless serving and sharing, but his recruiters have toned dawn their style. For the first time Americans as well as Indians are permitted to initiate members, and they and their Eastern counterparts now rely on discussion groups for recruiting grounds, instead of taking aggressively to the streets. "We're not trying to go out and grab people because that really doesn't work. We're really just offering this," Mishler said. No longer do great numbers of those who call the guru leader live in ascetic church-owned buildings known as ashrams.

Associated Press Declining Donations Dim Divine Light Mission - November 22, 1976

The Indian guru, who fought a family battle to retain his church, did away with foot-kissing and prostration, Eastern customs "that didn't go over very well in the West," Anctil said. The guru still preaches meditation, selfless serving and sharing, but his recruiters have toned down their style. For the first time Americans as well as Indians are permitted to initiate members and they and their Eastern counterparts now rely on discussion groups for recruiting grounds, instead of taking aggressivelv to the streets. "We're not trying to go out and grab people because that really doesn't work. We're really just offering this." said Robert Mishler, president of the mission's American division. Large numbers of followers no longer live in aesthetic church-owned buildings known as ashrams.

Associated Press Guru Following Down, Tactics Changing - Nov. 25, 1976

"WE'RE NOT TRYING to go out and grab people because that really doesn't work. We're really just offering this," said Robert Mishler, president of the Mission's American division. Large number of followers no longer live in ascetic church-owned buildings known as ashrams. "As people grow and mature …, they are encouraged to leave the ashram and continue their normal lives," a Divine Light Mission newspaper proclaimed in September. "The people in international headquarters live in apartments," said Anctil, a former television talk show host in Houston. "They can live just as cheaply in an apartment." AS DEVOTEES MOVED out of ashrams, their weekly paychecks, previously turned over to the guru's treasury, were missed. Donations fell from more than $100,000 a month to 70 per cent of that, although Anctil said 3,000 regular donors remain. The declining income forced a decision to change operations.

United Press International Two ex-cult officers see possible Guyana repeat - Nov. 25, 1978

Two former top lieutenants of the Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission have warned the estimated 15,000 American followers of the 19-year-old spiritual leader they risk a plight similar to that of devotees of the Rev. Jim Jones in Guyana. Robert Mishler, who served as Maharaj Ji's personal secretary and president of the Mission for six years and John Hand Jr., former vice president of the organization, Friday said the guru had displayed behavior patterns similar to those of Jones. "AFTER SEEING the similarities of behavior of Jones are so strikingly like Maharaj Ji's, it's possible something like what happened in Guyana could come about as a result of him being threatened," Hand said. Mishler, who resigned from the mission last year, said he and Hand decided to denounce the guru because they were jarred by the deaths in Guyana and feared for the lives of mission members, who also include nearly 1 million in India. IN AN EXCLUSIVE interview with UPI, the two men said Maharaj Ji had spoken frequently of building a city similar to Jonestown and was infatuated by weapons and gangsters. Mishler and Hand, who were two of only about 15 members that saw the guru's private behavior, said Maharaj Ji was excited by the crime underworld and after viewing the movie "The Godfather," formed a security unit called the "World Peace Corps." Mishler said he resigned as Maharaji Ji's top aide following a "power struggle" in which he attempted to redirect the followers' faith from the "pretender to the throne of God."

Associated Press Similarities with Peoples' Temple seen: Denver cultists interviewed - Nov. 27, 1978

Mishler, now 33 and a student at the University of Colorado in Denver, and Hand, 30 and involved in restoring old homes in Denver, were interviewed by The Associated Press. Fearing reprisals, they declined to be photographed. Mishler characterized the young people who joined the Guru's cult as "mostly white, middle class with some college education. It's a desire for certainty that brings the devotees. Some have been lonely. "Many were idealistically hopeful, naive, trusting people. In the early 19705, there seemed to be a consciousness awakening. He was captivating. He acted so confident he knew what was going on. He said he was closer to God than we were to ourselves. But his disciples said he was God." Mishler said he resigned when he became convinced the mission had become a personality cult rather than something based on theology. "I've heard it said that the only difference between a psychosis and a cult is in the number of people involved," Mishler added. Both men said they realized the possibility of reprisals. But, Mishler said that when the tragedy unfolded in the steamy jungles of South America they felt it was "time to stand up and be counted."

Los Angeles Times Malibu Guru Maintains Following Despite Rising Mistrust of Cults - Jan 12, 1979

In the aftershocks of the tragedy, the former president and former vice president of the Divine Light Mission in the United States gave an interview to United Press International in Denver, where the group maintains a national headquarters. In the UPI story the pair compared Jones and Maharaj Ji, claiming the guru had a fascination with building a city populated by followers, maintaining an armed security force and exhibited sometimes bizarre private behavior. (In 1974, Robert Mishler, 34, the group's former president, filed incorporation papers with the Colorado secretary of state's office to form the City of Love and Light Unlimited, Inc. (The group would "engage in the construction, operation and administration of a divine city of love" based on the Maharaj Ji's teachings, according to documents. (Mishler said an attempt to construct such a community near San Antonio, Tex., in 1975 fizzled and the trade name was withdrawn in 1976.) "Guyana was too much for me," said Mishler, who had remained silent since leaving the mission in 1977. Mishler said he left the group because "there was no way of accomplishing the ideals expounded by the mission." In addition, he said more and more church money began to go for personal uses and he was concerned that the Divine Light Mission was becoming a "tax evasion for the guru." Mishler, the man who organized the group in the United States, urged parents to get their children out of the mission. The comments proved too much for many Malibu residents. Attitudes toward the group locally became clouded with suspicion.

Local Divine Light Mission officials turned down a reporter's request for an interview, a request to interview Maharaji Ji and tour the estate also was declined. Mishler, the organization's former president, said tight security surrounding the house is part of "elaborate precautions" Maharaj Ji has taken to hide his private life from his followers. The primary precaution is maintaining an armed security force, Mishler said during a telephone interview from Denver. Mishler said at the time he was with the group two years ago, the organization had about 10 members "trained in weapons and armed with rifles and handguns" who traveled with Maharaj Ji and were at the Malibu estate. "The main purpose of the security force is to protect him from anyone and to control members (during the guru's personal appearances)," Mishler said. Anctil said he had no knowledge of any weapons owned by the group, but did say the group was vigilant about the guru's safety. The Denver police department confirmed a statement by Mishler, however, that Steven Braband had been issued a concealed weapons permit there in 1975 as Divine Light Mission security chief. Capt. Gary Osborn of the Malibu sheriff's station said mission members assured him they had no weapons at the estate when they moved there in 1974. When he was president, Mishler filed incorporation papers with the Colorado secretary of state's office to form the Divine Security Agency, Inc. Incorporation papers indicate the agency is still operating and provides "security and personal assistance to all members of the Holy Family." Mishler said Maharaj Ji's ban on alcohol and marijuana for his followers was ignored at the estate. He said the guru regularly humiliated followers. "He would have followers strip in front of others," Mishler said. He said Maharaj Ji once poured a can of oil over a devotee working on his car and "did it jokingly as if it was great fun."

Associated Press Guru is assailed by one-time follower - January 23, 1979

The Maharaj Ji, who came to the United States as a child guru, has become an object of veneration instead o£ a teacher of truth, a critic says. "He has bastardized the teaching of the gurus," said Robert Mishler, worldwide president of the Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Missions until 1976. "Now people are taught to learn the truth about him (the Maharaj Ji), instead of themselves," added Mishler, who began speaking out after the Peoples Temple cult suicides in Guyana. The 21-year-old guru came to the United States eight years ago and lives in a guarded palace atop a Malibu hill with his 29-year-old wife, a former airline stewardess, and his children. Followers call them "The Holy Family," and many believe the Maharaj Ji has godlike qualities or is himself God. "That kind of absolute dominion over people provides a corrupting influence," said Mishler, claiming the guru's followers, "will literally do anything he tells them." A mission spokesman estimated membership in the United States is about 12,000, with 1.2 million members worldwide, mostly in India. While followers flock to this plush Los Angeles suburb to be near their spiritual leader, the Maharaj Ji limits himself to speeches at national festivals and world tours. He travels to and from his estate by limousine or private helicopter. Mishler said he left the group after trying to get the Maharaj Ji to tell his followers plainly that he was not God, and to live only off his own tax-free gifts, instead of income from the missions. He said the mission took in over $5 million in 1976. "When I proposed that, I remember his exact words." Mishler said, "the Maharaj Ji asked, "What about me?" Joe Anctil, a spokesman for the Divine Light Missions based in Denver, said Mishler "freaked out" because his job as International director was discontinued. Anctil described the mission as "a group of individuals who live autonomously, practice a meditation and do selfless service. The Maharaj Ji is a spiritual inspiration for those people who do meditation." On the question of whether the Maharaj Ji is regarded as a god, he said, "If you asked every member of the mission, they would each give you a different answer." Mishler said another factor in his split with the Maharaj Ji was his suggestion to sell the Malibu Estate, purchased with mission funds. "They've probably signed it over to the Maharaj Ji by now," he said. Anctil said the mansion belongs to the Maharaj Ji.

The Miami Herald Divine Light: The Premies see it but it may be invisible to non-believers - 13 Mar 1979

A holi is set for Miami Beach Convention Center early next month. When Ji is in town, he'll stay in a rented mansion on Palm Island, off Miami Beach, but he won't move here permanently from his $600,000, 13-acre estate in Malibu, California, Anctil said. Many of the Denver Premies however are expected to gravitate to the new Mecca in sunny magicstone city. "By his grace," if he calls I will go," softly promised a premie named Susan, her infant son in her arms. "You'll be inundated with them," promised Bob Mishler a former Divine Light top official. The premies unbounded conviction about Ji's divinity is the dark side of the Divine Light, say Mishler and a growing number of former followers. "My values have always centered on people," said Mishler, 34, an ascetic social psychology student and yoga instructor who had been with Ji from the beginning. That's why I became involved, and ultimately that's why I got out." Mishler is no mere fallen premie. For six years, he was the president of Divine Light Mission Inc. And Ji's personal secretary. Mishler left the cult early in 1977 after losing a struggle to get the high-living guru to tone down his conspicuous consumption of Divine Light Mission's dwindling cash. Mishler kept his concerns about Ji to himself until the horrors of the People's Temple mass suicide-murders in Guyana shocked the world. I saw disturbing similarities between the two groups," said Mishler, who lives in a modest Denver duplex. "I also saw similarities between the behavior of (People's Temple leader) Jim Jones and my first-hand experience with the behavior of the guru."

As individuals, premies are the mildest of people, quiet and industrious, Mishler says. His concern is with the Ji's change over the years from spiritual leader to God on Earth. Mishler catalogued instances of what he called Ji's "contempuous lack of concern for his followers." He described occasions when the Perfect Master, who packed a rotund 160 pounds on his 5-foot 4-inch frame, would punch aides in the face, or pour motor oil over their heads, or knee one in the groin. Once, Ji ordered two members of his personal staff to strip and poke each other's penises with sticks while he watched, Mishler said. Mishler says Ji, who preaches a lifestyle of abstention and vegetariansism, drank large amounts of $30-a-bottle cognac, smoked Marlboros, ate meat and indulged his fascination for expensive cars his devotees would press on him - including a $29,000 Maserati, a $25,000 Rolls-Royce and a $22,800 Jensen. Ji's days are spent in "total isolation" from the world and his followers, Mishler said. Ji plays popular music on his top-of-the-line stereo system, said his former aide. He watches television incessantly. One of his favorite shows was "Streets of San Francisco," which aides were instructed to videotape for later viewing if Ji happened to be travelling. Ji once built a Heathkit color television set, as aides stood by to hand him a soldering iron and light his cigarettes, Mishler said. All this was financed by the gleanings the Divine Light Mission could gather from the faithful and by direct gifts. The Mission had an "Active Membership Plan" which included a coupon book for sending in the regular tithes. Premies given subsistence in communal ashrams would turn over thir paychecks and welfare collections, Mishler said. There were also plans for a "Divine City," still unrealized, where premies could live insulated from the world. After a pilot project near San Antonio was abandoned several years ago, Divine Light considered several other sites, including tracts in Central Florida.

"It bothered me that they were becoming more and more dependent on the lifestyle," Mishler said. "They were becoming serfs for their Lord, psychologically and economically enslaved." In September 1976, Ji's cash requirements became so substantial a drain on Divine Light's attempts to recruit new members that Mishler prepared a 14-page plan to reorganize Divine Light's financial responsibility to the Perfect Master. Part of the impetus was the close watch federal and state tax authorities kept on the cult's non-profit tax-exempt status. [His} source of support from Divine Light Mission is not legally defensible," noted the internal report. "It creates a necessity for the Mission to conceal the use of its revenues, thereby generating mistrust and a lack of credibility with the premies and public at large." An attached financial outline revealed Ji's support over the first 6 months of the year was $354,000 of which 74% came from Divine Light, the remainder from direct gifts to the guru from premies. Mishler recommended selling the guru's Malibu residence and some of the cars, having Ji move to a home in Denver and reducing Ji's $200,000-a-year cash salary to $80,000. Mishler, even then concerned about Ji's willingness to believe in his divinity, asked Ji to unequivocally deny to his followers that he was anything more than a spiritual leader. "He asked me 'What will happen to me if people don't believe I am the Lord?' " said Mishler. "When I told him it might slow down the cash flow, he said, "That's too risky." Mishler left Divine Light soon after.