Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji? : Testimonies
Testimonies from Premies (Devotees) of Prem Rawat (Maharaji) in the Divine Light Mission film Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji? of 1974
In late 2009 a former community audio/visual 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.
These scenes show 5 premies "giving satsang" ie extolling the virtues of the Knowledge looking and sounding as thoroughly middle-class as possible while making extravagant claims about the effects of practising this meditation such as "a place of perfect peace within" and "another dimension of consciousness" and "a pure and perfect life." They had only been meditating for a few years at most. At least one of them later became a strong critic of Rawat and one lost his licence to practise medicine after setting himself up as a God-like cult leader. As of 2010, two of them are still committed followers of Rawat.
(voiceover) Guru Maharaj Ji does not recommend withdrawal from the world to receive His Knowledge but encourages his followers to go and live a pure and perfect life in the same world.
Dr Robert Hallowitz (1970's Divine Light Mission had 3 physicians, Drs Hallowitz, Hanzelik & Horton and this is Hallowitz whose licence to practise medicine was revoked in 1994 after he was found guilty of having sex with patients by claiming he was God and saying he was the source of the universe from a higher spiritual realm. He certainly learnt something from Prem Rawat.
"To be able to go and experience personal Knowledge is such a uplifting experience but to be able to utilise it in one's everyday service whether they be a physician, whether be an artist, whether they be a clerk, whether they be a housemother does so much more for mankind to be able to utilise the Knowledge in the service of mankind."
Brian Kitt, the former Mahatma Saphlanand
"You see, with this Knowledge, you find that a normal job becomes a pleasure. A human being is naturally intelligent, intelligence needs concentration but after without any concentration you have a wandering mind, with a wandering mind you can't do your job properly. In a job that really needs concentration, especially when lives depend on it there's nothing better than to have a Knowledge which enables you to have a completely calm mind which gives you complete concentration."
W. Timothy Gallwey (author & "inspirational" speaker)
"As a tennis professional in playing this game of tennis one of the greatest obstacles that a player has is his mind. His mind is always often distracted. This knowledge that Guru Maharaj Ji gives, gives a focus of concentration within which enables you to play really within another dimension of consciousness. You're in a place of perfect peace within, your mind is still and you you sort of surprised by what you're able to do. If you're stayin' on this, this Word, on this vibration within, you are actually playin' to the level of beyond what you think you're capable of."
Marolyn Johnson (later Marolyn Rawat aka Durga Mata Ji)
"This meditation that Guru Maharaj Ji's giving I can keep with me all the time and this my passengers I think also can experience because when I'm feeling calm and peace and very much loved within myself I can just emanate this out to my passengers or to anyone that I'm with."
Unknown Painter (Artist)
"Now that I have the Knowledge I can see what it is, I can see where the the relationship from the meditation to my work which is a very direct a very direct thing. It's beautiful. (My heart rejoices, I know no pain, Cause I need you Maharaji, Oh Maharaji I really need you Maharaji, Oh Maharaji)"
Anonymous Painter (House)
"The fact that this meditation is goin' on inside of us while we're working. I'll be meditating while actually spray-painting and this just puts us in a place that is far beyond our paint jobs, a place far more beautiful and at the same time the meditation makes us feel for the people that we're doin' the job for so we won't leave a job until it's perfect and the result has been that people just give us job after job and even after the job is finished they just want us to come back and visit them. It's just incredible.
Soundtrack: (I'm so hung on you Maharaj Ji, So hung on you Maharaj Ji, Take me, take me home with you, Take me, take me home with you, So hung on you Maharaj Ji
Take me, take me home with you, So hung on you Maharaj Ji, Take me, take me home with you)"
The lyric "I'm so hung on you Maharaji" is an interesting choice of words. Sohung (or "Soham") was the mantra that Divine Light Mission originally taught in the early 1970's as part of the 'Word' or "Holy Name" technique of meditation. It is also Hansa (or "Hamsa") the Swan with the syllables reversed and is part of standard Yoga meditation.