• Self-Development and Prem Rawat's Knowledge
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Self-Development and Prem Rawat's Knowledge

Into the matter

You may learn to investigate for yourself. It may do you much good eventually, as you get trained or proficient in it.

For example, what is meant by self-development? What is it? How may it be done and what are the very good ways, and what are suitable for you among them?

And why develop? One reason is that being largely unconscious, not completely unlike a common farm animal, hardly pays in the end. It often equals being made use of.

I will illustrate in suggestive ways some strong sides to self-development in the following, and focus on the story and teachings of Prem Rawat (aka Guru Maharaj Ji and Maharaji formerly).

Prem Rawat

First I give you a survey of Prem Rawat and his teachings and dealings over nearly forty decades in the West, and finally round off by extracts from an authorized book that was published in November 1973, when the then 15-year old Prem Rawat was known and Guru Maharaj Ji, which means "Revered Guru Great King" quite exactly. It is a title of reverence.

A Prem Rawat Snapshot

Prem Pal Singh Rawat (born on 10 December 1957) has received widespread recognition in the West for nearly four decades. He teaches four yoga techniques called "Knowledge". A foundation he formed in 2002, the Prem Rawat Foundation, tells that Prem Rawat supports himself and his family by independent means as an investor.

Today there is a resurgence of his teachings in India. Prem Rawat has consolidated his teachings around the globe too.

Crash course into the Rawat history

Prem Rawat loved and felt the impact of his father, Sri Hans Ram Singh (Sri Hans Ji Maharaj). He attended his father's public discourses in North India, sleeping on the stage, and first spoke in public to amazed crowds at the age of four to five years. Prem Rawat's father-guru became a guru in 1936 and began presenting his message and the techniques of Knowledge near Haridwar. His teachings were rich in metaphor. He accepted students irrespective of caste, religion or status.

When the boy was six, his father initiated him and his three elder brothers. Sri Hans died in 1966, when they boy was eight. In a few weeks the boy succeeded his father as leader of the Indian Divine Light Mission, DLM, and his family accepted it and assisted him, since Sri Hans had clearly indicated that he wanted his youngest son to carry on his life work.

Prem Rawat's father was part of a centuries-old Indian tradition that rejected outward rituals and ceremonies, and also rejected asceticism in favour of life as a householder. This tradition rejected veneration of idols too, with a focus on the guru as the Divine manifested. No rules or regulations were imposed on followers. The fundamental practices were satsanga (company, fellowship), service and meditation, and the experience called "Knowledge" as a result of all these.

At thirteen Prem Rawat travelled to the West to spread his inherited message, and by 1973, DLM had over a million followers in India and tens of thousands of followers in the West, along with dozens of ashrams and hundreds of centres, making the movement the fastest-growing religion in the UK and U.S. The teachings have been established in over eighty countries since.

At sixteen, Prem Rawat married a Western woman, Marolyn Johnson, a 24-year old follower from San Diego, California. As a result his movement split: His mother took control over the Indian branch, while he himself took control over the Western part of the original project. The marriage caused an exodus from the ashrams. Devotees (premies) from them flocked to get married too and have their own children within customary marriage structures. Also, many premies were shaken by the marriage. Prem Rawal's marriage caused a loss of morale and of support by many premies, writes Maeve Price.

Prem Rawat became a United States citizen in 1977. He has been "loaded" with gifts and leading an opulent life. He has not advised anyone to "abandon the material world", but has said it is our attachment to it that is wrong. Further, in 1976 he encouraged followers to leave the ashrams and discard Indian customs and terminology. Then, in 1980, Prem Rawat removed all the "religious" aspects of the movement and declared he now wanted "no movement whatsoever". Prem Rawat managed to abandon his "almost divine status as guru," yet affirmed he was a master.

Still going strong and with changed names

The Divine Light Mission was disbanded in the West in the early 1980s, and succeeded by the organizations Elan Vital (1983), and the Prem Rawat Foundation (2001).

In the 80s Prem Rawat got rid of the Indian traditions and parables that had been prominent in his discourses, and focused on the meditation techniques. The core of Prem Rawat's teaching is of turning inward in many yogi ways. Thus, after he originally was termed Perfect Master and aspiring to bring about world peace, he now places his attention on helping individuals.

Prem Rawat is still going strong. He teaches his taken-over fourfold meditation practices he calls Knowledge, and says that peace resides in everyone and that the quest for fulfilment can be resolved by turning within to find contentment and joy.

Estimates of how many adherents he has, has varied widely. Adherents typically see themselves as adherents of a system of teachings focused on the goal of enjoying life to the full.

Words of wisdom by Prem Rawat

People are mad! That's why they call others mad. . . . If the majority of the people are crazy and not clever, they will automatically think they are the clever ones and the rest are crazy.

The Perfect Master, the Perfect Savior, has come to save you from nuclear bombs.

Guru Maharaj Ji, have there ever been any women Perfect Masters? - Very good question, but I don't understand it . . .

God . . . takes birth from women . . . In my heart, personally I have great respect for women because even God has to come through a woman.

It's up to you how much you meditate. How much you get elevated.

The method of asking is asking.

Our Father sent us here . . . And there is a purpose for it. We are with the Father now, but we just don't realize it.

Thinking of love is not experiencing love.

Why do I find nature so beautiful? - Nature is beautiful, that's why.

If a cow is giving milk the man will say "Oh my cow, oh my cow."

Truth is one, it is like an ocean, a big beautiful ocean which is calm.

Which society has cured humanity till now?

Suffering is no good. We must get out of it.

Can we save everyone in this world? - Yes, we can . . . very soon, very soon.

[More Prem Rawat quotations from WikiQuote: en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Prem_Rawat]

Teachings of Prem Rawat

Prem Rawat claims that peace resides in every human being and that by turning inward, relying on experience provided by four meditation techniques he calls "Knowledge". He speaks of the possibility of knowing inner peace through the four techniques of Knowledge he teaches. They are imparted in a process of initiation.

A lack of significant concepts allow his followers a freedom of expression which is spontaneous and personal. Further, practitioners are asked not to reveal these techniques to anyone else.

Some scholars find affinities with medieval traditions of Nirguna Bhakti ("non-form devotion"), with its emphasis on direct experience and criticism of blind allegiance to religious ritual and dogma.

Other scholars have asserted that Prem Rawat's teachings originate in the traditions of the North Indian Sants, who claim that God "dwells in the heart." Notable Sant gurus include Kabir (d. 1518), Nanak (d. 1539), Mirabai (d.1545), Surdas (d.1573), Tulsidas (d.1623), and Tukaram (d. 1650).

However, Ron Geaves informs that what is really at the bottom of Prem Rawat's tradition and teachings, is Totapuri, "the naken one", who initiated Ramakrishna. "Those scholars who identify Maharaji's roots at Sant Mat, or more specifically Radhasoami, are mistaken. Maharaji's history is linked to the lineage of Advait Mat, a North Indian cluster of movements that trace their origin to Totapuri, the teacher of Ramakrishna Paramhans." (p. 65)

Prem Rawat sees conceptual thinking as the main enemy of direct religious experience obtained through the techniques of Knowledge. His central claim is that God resides in every human being

In 1972 Rawat relocated to the United States. His teachings remained essentially Hindu and he continued with many Indian traditions, although he managed with the minimum of Hindu terms and concepts. A reporter at an appearance in Boston described Rawat: "The guru himself claims, not that he is divine, but that his Knowledge is".

Rawat appealed to his followers to give up the concepts and beliefs that might impede them from fully experiencing the "Knowledge" or life force.

Prem Rawat has never asked for payment for teaching Knowledge. He does not tell he is an exemplary leader either. In 1974, Rawat began using Western initiators to teach the techniques of Knowledge and continued to transform his teachings in order to appeal to a Western context. By the early 1980s Prem Rawat had dropped the title "Guru" and eliminated the last of the Indian aspects. He is described as an iconoclast who keeps striving to convince people of the value of self-knowledge.

Prem Rawat teaches that for maximum benefit the techniques should be practiced daily for at least one hour. No outer requirements or prohibitions are placed on those taught the techniques. 'If you like it, practice it." The techniques are to be practiced privately. According to students, there is no liturgy or social obligation involved.

According to the Dutch religious scholar and Christian minister Reender Kranenborg and the American religious scholar J. Gordon Melton, the techniques of Knowledge are secret and were originally called "Light", "Sound", "Name" or "Word" and "Nectar" but Prem Rawat now refers to them as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th techniques. Rawat asks practitioners to promise "not to reveal these techniques."

Kranenborg and Melton agree on a general description of the practices.

1. "Light" involves careful pressure on the eyes, seeking to open the "third eye" after a long period of training and practice. This is the yoni mudra of Tantric practices - some crucial details are left out here: "Close the ears with the two thumbs, eyes with the index-fingers, nostrils with the middle-fingers, the upper lips with the ring-fingers and the lower lips with the little fingers . . . Practise it very cautiously." You are also to release the middle fingers gently to inhale and exhale while you meditate, says the Ayurveda. [Mostly from Kundalini Yoga by Sivananda]

2. "Sound" involves positioning the hands over the ears and temples, with the goal of hearing the "heavenly music". This is a quite common meditation technique too, and related to sabda-brahman meditation (meditation on God's inward sounds). They are described in Kundalini Yoga. Sivananda writes the practitioner may learn to distinguish such as the sound of a bell, a conch, a lute, cymbals, a flute, a drum, a double-drum (Mridanga), and thunder." He names ten such sounds in all. [Kundalini Yoga, "Anahata Sounds"]

3. "Name" or "Word" is a meditation concentrating on breath. By fit breathing [pranayama] training one may hear sounds with the ears open during it. It can be done at intervals, and also at "any" waking moments.

4. "Nectar" involves tongue positioning, eventually leading the student to taste the "nectar of life". Such tongue-lifting is a common feature of higher yogas, called kechari mudra there, among other things. Practice of the kechari mudra for beginners: Let the tip of the tongue touch the soft palate as far back as possible without straining.

Scholars' Passes

Professor Ron Geaves writes that the showing of the four techniques replaces the traditional diksha (initiation), and marks the sealing of master/disciple relationship. However, during the Knowledge session the focus is on correct practice and staying in touch through participation or listening.

Stephen J. Hunt informs that Prem Rawat's 'Knowledge' consists of the techniques to obtain them. Such Knowledge, suggest the happiness of self-knowledge. Each individual should seek to comprehend his or her true self.

Marc Galanter (MD), professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse at the New York University Medical Center, writes that "greater meditation time was associated with diminished neurotic distress." Thus, the more a member meditated, in general, the better the person was likely to feel.

Paul Schnabel observed that among his Western students, Prem Rawat is subjected to personality worship that may ends in disillusionment.

The core teachings may be described as practical mysticism.

The Four Big Keys Today

In his early days in the West, Prem Rawat or his subordinate "initiators" conducted "Knowledge Sessions" face-to-face in small groups.

However, in 2005 Prem Rawat introduced "The Keys", a program of five DVD's which prepare the student for receiving Knowledge. The techniques are taught in Key Six. A request from a practitioner who feels they are ready to view Key Six will result in an invitation to a Knowledge Session. It is available in more than 50 languages, and English is one of them. In this presentation, Prem Rawat explains the techniques step-by-step. This takes 2½ hours. One of these hours is devoted to practicing the techniques, 15 minutes each. Before the presentation starts, people are asked to keep three promises: a) to keep in touch, b) to give Knowledge a fair chance, and c) to not share these techniques with anyone.

In addition, Knowledge Sessions are available throughout the year in most Western countries.

Divine Light Mission, Elan Vital, and the Prem Rawat Foundation

Divine Light Mission

Divine Light Mission began in India in 1960. The organization flourished until the membership numbered several million in 1966. And when Guru Maharaj Ji Ji's father left his body on July 19, 1966, the leadership of the Mission passed to his youngest son, the new Perfect Master.

The eight-year-old Guru Maharaj Ji Ji acted with the wisdom and discretion of someone beyond his years, and Divine Light Mission grew by leaps and bounds. Under his direction, a hospital and school were opened to provide for the health and education of his followers. According to Daniel Gold, DLM displayed the characteristics of the second stage in a development that results in an Indian cult, as it is called: There is a lineage, called parampara, and one disciple is chosen to continue as the guru. (Geaves, p. 69)

When Guru Maharaj Ji was eleven, the first Western travellers found their way to Prem Nagar, the City of Love built by devotees on the banks of the river Ganges.

Guru Maharaj Ji Ji began speaking of how the West, like the East, urgently needed a solution for the problem of human suffering.

In November 1970, one-and-a-half million people - by then the largest number ever gathered for a purpose other than war - assembled at India Gate in New Delhi to pay homage to the Perfect Master. Six months later he left India for Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.

Everywhere he went, thousands flocked to hear him. Hundreds stayed to receive his Knowledge. In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Boulder, Washington D.C., Toronto, and New York, Divine Light Mission centres sprang up. The Mission, newly incorporated as a non-profit spiritual, religious, educational, and charitable organization, chartered a jumbo jet so that five hundred devotees might return with their Perfect Master to India for the Hans Jayanti Festival that November.

Guru Maharaj Ji returned to the United States in 1972 for a second summer tour. Itshighlight was the Guru Puja Festival held in Montrose, Colorado that July. Six thousand persons attended - no drinking, drugs, tobacco, sex, rioting, scalpers or nudity. Divine Light Mission had 45 centres, 15,000 members, and a national headquarters in Denver.

Guru Maharaj Ji's World Peace Tour of 1972 climaxed when eight 747 jumbo jets were chartered to ferry all the western pilgrims to Hans Jayanti. Americans alone filled five planes. Further, in June 1973 there were 480 centres in 38 countries - including nearly all of western Europe; the United States and Canada; the West Indies, Colombia, and Peru; Kenya and South Africa; Yugoslavia, Lebanon, and Israel; India and Ceylon; Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Its membership in the United States alone was 35,000, where it operated 284 centres linked by Telex and united "as a family". There were also a divine airline; Divine Travel Services and Divine Travel International, organised to ferry devotees to festivals and special projects.

DLM displayed a hierarchial structure with Prem Rawat and his family at the top. DLM functioned by a network of ashrams. A lifestyle of vegetarianism, renunciation, and celibacy was idealised, even though not everyone practiced them. Certain Hindu practices were continued, including daily veneration for the guru (aarti). DLM also made use of a set of doctrines where the personal Lord, Ishwara, was the guru.

Despite such DLM features, Prem Rawal himself always indicated that he did not want to establish a religion. And when he grew into adulthood in the latter half of the 1970s, he tried to tear down the whole edifice, but with only partial success. As a result, many followers returned to countercultural values and lost commitment to practicing the four techniques.

A 1981 article based on the Dutch branch of the Divine Light Mission stated that the DLM had little philosophical background and that all its central creeds and tenets were described in the song of praise associated with the Hindu ritual called aarti. Aarti is performed with lighted lamps in praise of the deity, one to five times daily. Various Hindu sects have their own version of the common aarti songs.

In the 1980s, Prem Rawat took DLM apart and replaced it by Elan Vital (below). His teachings departed from the countercultural milieu, while he himself remained unnoticed by academics and journalists as he strove to do away with overtly Indian, religious and cultural sides to his teachings, which borrowed from Christian hopes of a messiah and devotional Hindu stands about avatars. Senior members of Prem Rawat's family had encouraged such practices and beliefs, especially his mother and eldest brother. Then, to their consternation he took an iconoclastic approach. His mother and two eldest brothers announced that he was "corrupted" by his stay in the West.

Elan Vital

Elan Vital is the name of several organizations that support the work of Prem Rawat. Elan Vital organizations share similar aims and cooperate with each other as independent entities.

The "Divine Light Mission" in the United States changed its name to Elan Vital in 1983. The original DLM mission was disbanded when Prem Rawat personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion to make his teachings independent of culture, beliefs and lifestyles. Thus, in the United States, UK, France and Australia, Elan Vital replaced the DLM in supporting Rawat in his role as teacher.

Elan Vital no longer appears to have any connection to its originally Hindu or Sikh religious background, and tells that it is not a religion and that Prem Rawat's teachings are independent of culture and not bound to the traditions of India. For Elan Vital, the emphasis is on individual, subjective experience.

Elan Vital events are for inspiring students or reach out to new audiences, where new participants are invited individually by existing students.

The Prem Rawat Foundation, TPRF

A hard core of about 2,000 European and North American followers attend as many of his live events as possible.

Prem Rawat allied himself with developed technology to have his teachings accurately conveyed. He also decided to teach people the methods himself, with instructors providing support. Prem Rawat speaks of the divinity within, the power that gives existence. And he is deliberately keeping a low profile. In such ways it came about that Prem Rawat is able to maintain his own teachings of peace and self-fulfillment, and his world view, and focus much more on a teacher-student relationship. TPRF offers Prem Rawat almost complete independence of students if he wishes. Quality control and "de-deification" mark his current processes. The TPRF success lets him to function under his own name and promote his own unadultered teachings, and allows him to reach new audiences.

Many people can now tune into his discourses in the comfort of their own homes. And his Keys programme makes it possible to follow a learning programme on-line and by DVD sent to their homes. Printed material is also made use of.

Prem Prawat also spearheads significant Humanitarian activities in many countries through the non-profit Prem Rawat Foundation. It is supported by people who appreciate Rawat's message of experiences above any dumb-founded or even neurotic-religious conformity. And his take about the subjective life of the sacred has been an ongoing human project of the East for thousands of years, meant to give the integrity of each Master's world view a chance.

[Key source of the last three sections: Ron Geaves 2006] - and wish to help make it available to others.

From a Book

In November 1973 Bantam Books published Who is Guru Maharaj Ji?. The book was edited by Charles Cameron, and had an introduction by Rennie Davis. At that time Prem Rawat was known as Maharaji and Guru Maharaj Ji, so on the surface the right answer is: "His name is Prem Rawat."

The movement of Guru Maharaj Ji was growing very fast then, and his publicity campaign astounded some. And many were attracted by the sense of joy, peace and commitment shown by followers.

As you can see, many followers - and many views in the book - spoke for for ideals and notions that Prem Rawat disbanded years later, as he grew older.

At this point I should make clear that the following is an abridged retelling. And that holds good for words put in quotations too. Further, some abridgements may seem funny. You may check the full sayings on these two sites: Link 1 - Link 2.

From the Preface

Prem Rawat is remarkable. A fifteen-year-old who comes from the foothills of the Himalayas, he already has a group of doctors working to organize a hospital along lines he has suggested. He is learning to fly a jet. Thousands of drug users have kicked their habits as a result of his teachings. Senators congratulate him. The blind tell us that he has given them inner sight. And he proclaims that he will feed the hungry and bring peace to all who ask.

From the introduction

The idea of a fifteen-year-old Indian dressed in a business suit coming to America as the saviour of the world must seem like a bad joke.

Last spring I travelled around the country announcing to old friends the joyous news. Many of them thought I had lost my mind or was secretly working for the CIA. Tomatoes and cherry pies were hurled at me. When you tell someone that Prem Rawat is the power of creation, they may punch you in the face instead of shake your hand.

"Prem Rawat showed me God. And it's really okay."

When a devotee makes the outrageous statement that Prem Rawat is the Lord of the Universe, it's cause enough for a chuckle.

- Rennie Davis, Houston, Texas

Part 1 - The Event

2. Who is Guru Maharaj Ji?

Guru Maharaj Ji has been opening the hearts of men with his discourse since the age of two. At the age of eight, be became Perfect Master. Now, at the age of fifteen, his work for humanity has been applauded.

Estimated six million disciples thank him for opening their hearts to the unlimited love that was within them.

Great is the gift that Maharaj Ji gives, for it allows his followers such joy that they no longer depend on circumstances for their happiness.

Guru Maharaj Ji was born in Hardwar, India on December 10, 1957. At two years of age, Guru Maharaj Ji had astonished his family by giving holy discourses, speaking simply but directly.

"When I was six," Guru Maharaj Ji said, "my Father gave me Knowledge with my brothers in the same room. I was given Knowledge and didn't realize it right away. I knew it was my duty, and I began to meditate, and in about a month I realized it." He then delivered his first English discourse, speaking for over thirty minutes and moved his audience to tears.

Later his father wrote a letter in Kashmir, sending it to his wife in Hardwar. In it, he asked her to give his blessings to their three eldest sons, and his pranams (prostrations) to Maharaj. He thus signalled that Maharaj Ji was his chosen descendent.

Maharaj tells, "I didn't want to be Satguru. It was not my desire. They crowned me and put the tilak [a sandalwood mark] on my forehead, and the voice came: 'You are he. You must take this Knowledge out to the world.'" This is how he describes the experience of realising the task that was before him at the age of eight.

He heard similar statements in the following days, 'You are he, you are the one to continue.' and 'You are he. You are the one to go and give this to the world."'

On August 1st, Guru Maharaj Ji, eight years old, stood in front of the thousands of devotees present at his father's funeral. The voice came again, saying:

"This is the last I will tell you. You are he. You must take this Knowledge out to the world."

"I began to speak," says Guru Maharaj Ji: "Dear children of God, why are you weeping? The Perfect Master never dies. Maharaj Ji is here, among you now."

A few months later, Guru Maharaj Ji delivered his first satsang as Satguru before hundreds of thousands of people in Delhi, India. He announced: "I have not come to establish a new religion. I have come to reveal the truth, knowing which you will be free. If you come to me with a guileless heart and sincere desire, I will give you eternal peace."

In one of his early discourses, before a million devotees in New Delhi, he revealed his plan for a great "Peace Bomb" after weeping. He said: "These tears are because I am feeling so much power in me. Every ear should hear that the saviour of humanity has come. Why be shy? I am the source of peace. What l can give you is such peace as will never die."

The Toronto Star of May 2nd, 1972 wrote, "He has the luminosity of a Buddha or a Christ."

3. What is Knowledge?

The force sustaining the entire universe is closer to you than your own breath. For proof, look at the atomic bomb.

Guru Maharaj Ji can give you a practical way to experience the light, sound, taste, and vibration of the energy that is keeping you alive.

The Knowledge is completely free.

And nobody will ask you to believe one word of this before experiencing it.

First see it and then believe it.

Receiving Knowledge

The full meaning of the inner grace, love and overwhelming peace a person experiences when he receives Knowledge cannot be described.

People who have received Knowledge, called "premies" ("lovers of truth"), praise Guru Maharaj Ji as the greatest living soul and holiest human being on the planet.

The Techniques

Divine light

There is a glorious sun, not the sun you see in the sky, but a sun which is within ourselves which is much brighter than the sun you see in the sky. It is all within us. - Guru Maharaj Ji

When a devotee of Guru Maharaj Ji claims he sees the divine light of creation inside his head because his "third eye" was opened in the Knowledge session, this light is a very real, very intense, and very bright. He sees it with his eyes closed, and sees it every day. A blind man can see this light.

Music

There is music going on inside of yourselves. - Guru Maharaj Ji

As there is light in everything, so there is music that plays throughout creation. It is the sound of life moving.

Divine music is always playing.

The music heard in meditation is incredibly more beautiful and subtle than the greatest pieces of music composed by man."

In the Knowledge session, we are shown how to turn our hearing sense inward to experience an actual music, the essence of every sound in the universe.

The music is analogous to the light in that it is an interior sound which is not perceived through the ears. A deaf man can hear this interior harmony. By concentrating their minds on initial sounds, premies grow to hear sounds which can resemble thunder, waterfalls, or "rushing waters", gongs, flutes, choirs, bells, and so on to infinity.

Nectar

People drink wine and they say 'cheers'. When you share this divine wine, this divine nectar, it is really a cheer. - Guru Maharaj Ji

Nectar is a spiritual experience yet it defies all conceptions of a "spiritual experience." The taste of nectar is so delightful.

In the Knowledge session, we are shown how to taste this fluid from the brain.

Nectar is the "ambrosia" or "Fountain of Youth" explorers have travelled to find.

The Word

People think God has ears, nose, teeth. But God is perfect and pure energy. - Guru Maharaj Ji (abridged)

The Word is the primordial vibration that underlies everything in existence. It existed before language, before man, before life as we know it.

The Word is far subtler than the entire perceived universe.

Devotees (premies) are advised to meditate upon the light, harmony, nectar, and holy Word for an hour in the evening and an hour in the morning. Even while sleeping, we are instructed to focus the mind upon it at all times, during any and every activity. While working reading, eating, driving a car, even talking, we can be consciously aware of the Word. In this way, we experience a constant merging with that perfect and pure energy which is God. The result is a complete feeling of inner peace no matter what we do, where we go, or who we're with.

Grace

The Kingdom

Guru Maharaj Ji's Knowledge is the Knowledge of celestial music.

Guru Maharaj Ji gives his disciples direct intimacy with the in-dwelling spirit

When you take Knowledge, when you see divine light, hear celestial music, taste divine nectar, and keep the Word, you'll know the core.

Part 2 - The Context

Forward

Higher bliss . . . when we have found it, automatically our hearts will wish to tell others of the new joy in our lives.

Your own soul will be disappointed if it comes to the end of this short span as a human being no nearer to knowing the bliss of its own reality.

By knowing the oneness within you, you are making a great step towards the oneness of mankind. - Mahatma Saphlanand

The Ultimate Science

The Consciousness Wave

You Have Three Eyes

Many people who have just received Knowledge recognize something which is so joyful and fulfilling that they can at once quit such habits as smoking, drinking, drug taking, and compulsive sex.

Cure for All Addictions

Sociology for Sceptics

Effectiveness of the Meditation

Preconceived expectation of any of the divine experiences may prevent their fullest realization.

Part 4 - Cocktails of Devotion

Prejudiced

I had arrived in London with a prejudice against Divine Light Mission, but now had to admit that these premies who had "dropped out" of society to live in an ashram had in fact chosen a life which demands nothing less than the highest qualities of human behaviour. - Ian's father

A Free Policeman

It . . . makes me sad to see people who don't get in trouble with the law.

I suppose if everybody was a premie, I'd have to find another job. - Richard Stewart

A Free Prisoner

I used to be a prisoner. It got to the point where I was completely satisfied, perfectly happy. This was exactly the same time that Guru Maharaj Ji first set foot on this continent.

When I got out of jail, I was very confused.

I tried to trip again. I decided to go up into the mountains.

I went to receive Knowledge, but Mahatma Ji told me to get my hair cut.

Since then, I've been very, very happy. Very happy. - Paul Williams

England's Oldest Premie (86)

I received Knowledge. I saw the light. I didn't hear the music at first, but I tasted the nectar, and that was wonderful.

I'm full of calm and joy and I can look forward to my meditation. - Mary Richards

Diplomacy

I was very amazed by the people around Maharaj Ji.

I received Knowledge very quickly.

As I practiced the Knowledge more and more, it became visibly clear to me that this was the way I would be able to answer all the questions I had been living with for so long.

Now I am again being diplomatic. - Diana Stone

"I received Knowledge"

My brother, John, had taken Knowledge. He was so impressed that he immediately told me, "Take the Knowledge. Guru Maharaj Ji is Satguru. He has come."

I was still suspicious, but . . . I received Knowledge.

Guru Maharaj Ji . . . opened my third eye . . . The time is coming very shortly when the ways of ignorance and darkness, the way of industrial militarism, will be swept away like dust under the feet of the Satguru. - A Devotee

Sight for the Blind

I am twenty-three years old and have been blind for twenty years. . . . The sight that I now have is every bit of sight anyone would ever want to receive. . . . The brightness of this light is incredible. - Richard Briggs

I was blind from birth, and Guru Maharaj Ji gave me Knowledge.

The wonderful thing about this inner light which Maharaj Ji showed me, is that it comes from the very source of love inside me. - Paula Buntele

Before I Was Born

When I first heard about Guru Maharaj Ji, I was eighteen. I received the Knowledge of Guru Maharaj Ji.

One day as I was meditating, I realized that the light I had been meditating on, was the same light I had experienced before birth. - Sheila Ruderfer

Attain this Knowledge

I went to Australia, the South Pacific islands, New Zealand, and travelled around. Then I came back to America and all kinds of insane things.

[Someone:] "Well, you know America's really a bad place."

All of a sudden, we thought, "Wow, we've really stumbled upon something incredible."

We went to Prem Nagar ashram. After about two or three weeks there we received Knowledge from Guru Maharaj Ji on February 9, 1971.

Maharaj Ji said, "I think you'd better go back to the West." - Garry Girard

The Stabbing of Randy Lamont

One night I was working in a grocery store a guy stuck an eight-inch blade in my back. I realized then that I was in serious trouble.

The police came right away, then the ambulance.

It was a very, very strange thing.

They operated on me for eight hours.

I woke up after surgery in a world that was so beautiful. - Randy Lamont

Part 5: The Truth

Satsangs of Guru Maharaj Ji's Family

The Goal of Human Life

The following discourse was given by the father of Guru Maharaj in June, 1961, at Prem Nagar, India.

Without any consideration, God gives human life at His pleasure.

Kag Bhusundi said, "There is no life like human life."

The soul can get the opportunity to pierce the veil and to realize. Its true self is satchitananda [Sat-Chit-Ananda]: its existence, its life-force, and its bliss.

Having realized the true self is called salvation. Salvation is obtainable during human life. That God realization is the only goal of human life.

Salvation is the state of pure joy.

Instead of finding perpetual joy, many harvest perpetual anxiety.

Peace is attuned to evenmindedness.

God is both with form and without form.

To realize the divine light within, the kindness of the Satguru is indispensable.

A thief: Jesus

It is written in Revelations that Jesus Christ will come as a thief. "I will come on you as a thief." [Revelation 3:3.]

We should prepare ourselves in advance to receive a thief.

Searching Scriptures

The Buddhist sutras: most people live by one of them.

Knowledge

You don't know everything there is to know!

Real knowledge is called the Knowledge of Reality. In this form, man can perceive what is right, what is true, beyond the boundaries of thought and sense. The people who attain to truth are those who know how to connect themselves with the reality which lies beyond.

The Four Techniques

1. Divine Light

"Your own consciousness, shining, is inseparable from the Great Body of Radiance. It has no birth, nor death, and is the unchanging light," the Tibetan Book of the Dead tells us. This unchanging light we call divine light.

As the Isa Upanishad puts it:

The face of truth remains hidden behind a circle of gold. Unveil it, O god of light, that I who love the true may see!

Lao-Tsu, the Chinese sage, "A sensible man prefers the inner to the outer eye."

2. Celestial Harmony

From the source of light there flows a music, a harmony. The Tibetan Book of the Dead says, "Within these radiances, the natural sound of the truth will reverberate like a thousand thunders. Know them to be of thine own inner light."

A mystery the Zen Master Bodhidharma tackled when he asked, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

It bubbles up right from the heart.

"Why don't you learn from yourself by listening to the sound of the natural law within you?" asks the Buddhist Surangama Sutra.

3. The River of Life

It's no accident that the land we've been promised flows with milk and honey.

Kabir advises us to "drink the sweet honey that steeps the petals of the lotus of the heart."

We are all thirsty for love.

4. The Word of God

The Word isn't a word but reverberation and the source of every breath we take. It is the energy from which this universe is woven.

The Katha Upanishad, "This Word is the Supreme, the everlasting."

Nanak says, "With one Word He created the whole universe."

Lao-Tzu: "The name that can be pronounced is not the constant name."

Chapter Afterthoughts

There are many sides to self-development, and Prem Rawat has shown some of them by focusing on spreading four rather common yoga methods far and wide. Those who would try to be favoured by such meditative or inner development may shun Western methods of Catholics, for they do not seem much effective and may at best fit a lifestyle that is a tedium. One should try to rise higher than that.

It is wise to get allied to sound research instead of believing greatly and blindly. See what disillusionments were in store for many followers of Prem Rawat through the 70s and 80s, for example.

If you search for fine methods, the meditation method that has been studied the most so far, is Transcendental Meditation. Other forms of development - of the body, mind and social standing - quite naturally come in addition.

Summary

Investigate for yourself to get a safer fare. Be allied with the best teachings of self-development if you can find them and recognise them. Self-development has many sides to it. The remarkable Maharaji's teachings provide a fine enty into four methods of traditional Hinduism, and also serves to illustrate what has been called the "traditionless tradition" of Sants and some problems engendered through "glorious devotion", which tends to get cultish in time.

If you look into what some sceptics tell, Prem Rawat at first communicated traditional outlooks and himself imparted ideal of Hinduism through speaches, and later discarded such outlooks and ideals, even though his followers around the globe had been induced to think they were first-class, with none above them. The results of changed life ideals may be very hard to deal with for many. The change of life values may be extremely stressing events, also when such changes go along with admitting that you have been stupid.

The higher teaching is to get wary to save yourself embarrassments and fears, for if you want to learn his four methods on the Internet, you have to waive many hard-won rights for it. Consider articles 8, 18, 19, 27, and 29 of UN's Universal Declaration of ◦Human Rights for example. The early Guru Maharaji said in his Peace Bomb address in Delhi in 1970:

You should sacrifice every drop of blood for Guru Maharaj Ji . . . Obey my command, or else you will be drowned." [◦Link]

What happens to those who learn his teachings on-line and later discard them for some reason? I will not tell. Is this abracadabra? More: [◦Link and ◦Link].

Much boils down to this: It pays to be wary, and also to consider a lot. If you don't protect your freedom, others may not want to do it. Solid meditation methods can be studied on this site. I for my part see again and again how sensible Buddha's points of view are. He allows full freedom to followers, and also meant his teachings for anyone. Basically they fit self-help and sound development.