I am a French wikipedian who occasionally publishes on the English Wikipedia. Please take into account my English which is not always perfect.
My main focus here is Prem Rawat’s page, which has a problem with an overall consistent and neutral point of view. When I began a difficult dialogue on the Talk page, I noticed that the factual parts of remarks that I was able to put forward found themselves quickly drowned out by the ongoing discussion. I therefore decided to bring together here the main points that deserve to be clarified, as well as the sources that support them. It will therefore be possible to refer to them at any time in the comments, without unnecessarily bogging down the discussions.
Observations about Prem Rawat’s biography
editWhat factual information it does not take into account
editI summarize here the main arguments that lead me to think that the biography of Prem Rawat (PR) does not meet the encyclopedic criteria that one might expect from a biography of a living person, including those standards defined by Wikipedia and which can therefore be usefully supplemented. That would certainly limit the tendency to drift, which appears on this page. I continue to repeat these arguments to offer context for this history and because I’m not sure my interlocutors on this page are making a good faith effort to understand, I put them here, on my User Talk page, as a reminder for me and for them.
- PR left his homeland at the age of 13, with little familiarity with the Western culture to which he had to adapt. If we remember what our own experience of the world was at that age, we get some idea of the challenges faced by a public figure from a different culture striving to reach a wider audience.
- The first contacts he had with Westerners were with hippies who came to listen to him in India. For many of these young people, the search for truth was also tinged with a strong attraction to the exoticism of Hindu culture. It is very likely that Prem did not realize right away that their mindset was not typical of Western society.
- Within his family, two factions quickly appeared: those who followed him in his process of adaptation and those (like his mother) who experienced his Westernization as a betrayal of his Indian roots.
- The affinity of this young boy and his supporters in the counterculture attracted the attention of the media, which often sensationalized his youth, and the overly enthusiastic and sometimes fantastic claims made by those purported to be in his movement.
- The lesson PR learned was to steer clear of the media for at least two decades, fueling further fantasies. We therefore have a large number of secondary sources from the '70s and early' 80s, and then very little until the end of the 2000s when he started appearing again in the media selectively to discuss his message of peace.
What can we learn from it?
editThese elements push us to reconsider the relevance of the story that was made of the first steps of PR in the West. The traditional reading grid of the media and the specialists who looked into his career did not sufficiently take into account the factual elements (age, culture, entourage ...) to properly appreciate what PR went through, with extraordinary determination and without never deviate from its goal.
I want to make a point about the method (if there is one) of writing this biography. There seems to be an imbalance of sources presenting contradictory narrative. Newspaper articles read in the 1970s focused almost exclusively on the sensational and the exotic, which was the lens through which the media presented the counterculture as a whole. The articles that we can read now, and for the last decade, are devoted primarily to reporting and analyzing his approach to peace and the many initiatives and events in which PR participates by invitation.
We therefore have two radically different narratives separated in time by media silence. How do we reconcile the sensational articles from the 70s, with objective, present day sources which describe a global advocate for peace?
How do we reconcile the image of an exotic teenage spiritual leader with that of an internationally respected peace educator? How is it that today the message this individual advance meets with a favorable response, from prestigious institutions such as parliaments, UNESCO, law enforcement, and correctional institutions?
In this article, sources from the past play a disproportionate role. The 1970s occupy 40% of his biography, compared to only 12% for the last decade. It seems to me that a rebalancing of the emphasis placed on each period of Prem Rawat's journey is in order.
The present article is an unsatisfactory mix of verifiable fact, opinion, and interpretation. To maintain the high standards of objectivity that Wikipedia readers have a right to expect, perhaps the critiques from the 1970s can be concentrated in a paragraph for that era. That way, the information will be preserved and placed in historical context.
Recent bibliography of Prem Rawat
editBelow is the non-exhaustive list of the most recent articles, interviews, reports on Prem Rawat, his message and his action. This list is regularly updated. Do not hesitate to point out to me documents of an encyclopedic nature which did not appear in this table, including on older periods.
PR's message: remarkable consistency over time
editFrom a historical point of vue
editIf we look at things from the perspective of hypothetical future historians who would examine Prem Rawat’s work and career, and who had to summarize their main characteristics, what would they be?
Undoubtedly, the first would be to underline the fact that on a scale never reached in the history of mankind, he spread the message of Self-knowledge and personal peace, thanks to the use of the most modern travel and communication systems available in his time.
The second salient point that historians would certainly bring to light, by semantic study of the thousands of hours of recordings of his speeches available to them, would be the continuous effort to adapt and transform the presentation of his message. This he pursued relentlessly, in order to make it ever more accessible to as many people as possible, freed from all ideology and focused on the daily concerns of his contemporaries.
Without doubt it is this characteristic which would allow historians to explain, with historical hindsight, the lack of understanding, even the rejection, which he may have aroused in some of his contemporaries, especially during his first years of confrontation with the Western culture, that was dominant in his time.
A little bit of semantics
editThe first major public statement made by Prem Rawat, then just 9 years old and a few months after succeeding his father, is as follows: “I declare I will establish peace in this world. But what can I do, unless man come to me with love in their heart and a sincere desire to know truth?” – New Delhi, 1970.
This statement made a lot of talk, because people only remember the first sentence with the prophetic accents heavy with meaning and more in the mouth of a child. But you have to take the statement in its entirety to understand its dynamic, which is based on a pact of love and trust. He spoke with the words that come to him spontaneously, the bases of the action that will sets out all his life: to go out to meet people from all backgrounds and all conditions to urge them to seek peace in themselves, rather than the world.
50 years later, we find on the official website of Prem Rawat the following slogan, “Peace is possible, start with yourself”.
Words of Peace Global, which aims to organize the conferences given by Prem Rawat, features the following motto, “Practice peace, change your world”.
In the meantime, PR will regularly refine its thinking on the articulation between “personal peace” and “world peace”:
“We talk about world peace. Peace needs to be in the heart of every human being because that is where it belongs. The world would not have half its problems if we understood what we need to understand within us. I come with no solution to the world’s problems. I come with nothing new to tell you. Instead, I come to tell you one of the things you have known for the longest time. That which you are looking for, that which you love and admire, is within you.” – Wembley Stadium, London, UK, June 22, 1997
For his first time in Russia, on June 29, 2012, Prem Rawat addressed as keynote speaker at an event called "Notes on Peace," held at Moscow's nationally renowned Library for Foreign Literature, where he resumes as such his approach: “I have a strategy. My strategy is, not bring peace to the world, but bring peace to people! In thousands of years, it’s the only thing that has not been tried.” [21]
From the young boy who spoke for the first time in front of tens of thousands of people in 1970 to the keynote speaker at prestige events half a century later, Prem Rawat continues to adapt his presentations to reach a kaleidoscope of audiences. But the message always has these two parts: peace exists within us, it is up to us to seize it.
Prem Rawat on Wikiquote
editPrem Rawat is someone very simple, in the truest sense of it: he lives and expresses himself in the present moment. When he gets up on stage, maybe he has one or two ideas he wants to talk about, but nothing is really prepared; he speaks from his heart to people in front of him. That’s how he takes them on a journey. This is not a usual lecture; words are only one aspect of the experience to which he invites us.
That’s why quoting him is difficult. A quote should be a whole in itself. It should represent a moment, synthesize a concept, represent a thought.
I went through the hundred quotes currently posted on Wikiquote, and I ended up with the same problem that exists for almost all pages about PR: remnants of an edit war which has just stopped for lack of fighters, most of the contributors having been banned, from what I understand. Most of the quotes are not really quotes, just passages from his speeches that opponents have used to put forward a particular point of view. And nothing has changed for 13 or 14 years, this for a living person, I underline, who continues to speak a lot, continues to evolve in his art of expressing the indescribable. He even wrote two books!
So, I will comment on a few quotes and add a few more. This will perhaps give an idea of what it would be possible to do, if the will to rewrite this biography in an honest and intelligent way could interest Wikipedia, in its concern to provide quality and unbiased information.
In the case of PR, it is relatively simple to define a guideline for selecting quotes:
- The core of his message can be summarized as: “What you are looking for is inside of you. If you want, I can help”.
- Over the course of several decades, his manner of speaking has evolved from one marked by Indian culture to one more accessible to the concerns of his contemporaries.
- He has some favorite themes and few famous slogans.
10 themes amongst many: Peace is a fundamental need • Peace is a feeling • “Know thyself” (from Socrates) • Knowing versus believing • The unknown world of the heart • Birth, life and death • The finite and the infinite • Being human • Choice and opportunities • You are unique
The relationship to the Master in Hinduism
editBy reading the Wikipedia page dedicated to it, one can understand two or three relatively simple concepts. As it is written in the paragraph Concept of God: “The goal of life, according to the Advaita school, is to realise that one's soul is identical to the supreme soul, that the supreme soul is present in everything and everyone; all life is interconnected and there is oneness in all life.” The Master (Guru, Satguru) is often presented as a divine incarnation, but it is a kind of shortcut, a convention, to indicate that he has achieved the union with the divine, and in addition has reached the level of the one who is designated to transmit the teaching. We are therefore in the presence of three entities in one: the embodied individual, the realized soul, and the one who teaches. This may be confusing for those who are not familiar with this concept.
Note that if PR has abandoned the Hindu semantics which served him so badly in the early days, he has never ceased to refer to certain texts, such as the poems of Kabir, the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, difficult texts that he knows how to explain in a remarkable way. By example, recently in an episode of his series "Being human":
“There is a point where Hanuman, a major figure in the Ramayana, is asked a question, a simple question: ‘Why do you follow him? Why do you follow Ram? Why are you so enamored with Ram?’ And the answer that Hanuman gives will blow you away, will blow you away. Because this is what Hanuman says why he follows Ram. Are you ready for this? He says: ‘He makes me a better person.’ That’s all.” – Being Human. Ep. 05 - Rome, Italy, August 22, 2021.
Several quotes deal with the subject of the Master, but taken out of context, they can be misunderstood. Thus, this one which is the subject of an accompanying note emphasizing a “currently dispute as to the meaning of this quotation, among those who edit at Wikiquote. The assertions have been made that he spoke this statement about himself, and others made that he spokes it of his father”:
“To be here as individuals, and yet to be able to be next to the person who is everything; in which everything is, and he is in everything. Guru Maharaji. The Lord. All powerful.” – Divine Times (June/July 1978) Vol. 7, N. 4
If we refer to what precedes this quote, we understand that PR refers to the position occupied by one who has reached the state of union with the divine, whatever the time: “in Ramayana it says that all the gods long to have this body, to be able to experience that Lord, that Guru Maharaj Ji. […] maybe they didn't call him Guru Maharaj Ji -- maybe they called him Lord. Anything. To be with that power. To be with that thing. To be not infinite, and yet to be with the infinite.”
The “omnipotence” invoked - and often praised in the pure devotional Hindu tradition - is that of one who has conquered his passions, ignorance and doubt. It is not about power exercised over others, to force them into anything.
In fact, the dialectic that we often find in his speeches of the "Indian" period (the 1970s) oscillates between two poles: the role of the ferryman and the praise of the one who carries the message. Something very normal after all, considering the importance of the existential subject of self-knowledge.
One of the many quotes found in Wikiquote that deals with this topic:
“They say, ‘Why are you telling us that this Knowledge has to be taken from me?’ But I don’t say that this Knowledge has to be taken from me. I want that you should take this Knowledge, that’s only I want to tell you. I don’t say take it from me. Take it. If you want to take it from me, go ahead. I’ll give you. You can get it from someone else, go to someone he will give you. But the problem is you have to take it. That is the main thing. That doesn’t mean you take from me. Go around the world, search for the spiritual master. If you cannot get this Knowledge, and you cannot receive this true Knowledge, then please come to me and I will give you this Knowledge.” – Frankfurt, Germany, March 11, 1972
And ten years after the start of his mission outside his country, PR is still and always obliged to clarify why he is called “Perfect Master”. Perhaps a silly problem of semantics, finally: “Master of Perfection” would perhaps have been better accepted in people’s understanding, as this excerpt from a 1981 interview shows:
“Some people may think that okay, when we say Perfect Master, we’re talking about God, or we’re talking about prophet, or we’re talking about something like that. But really, in laymen’s term, to explain it, is that if somebody is a flight instructor, you would call them a flight instructor. If one was a professor of maths, he had mastered it, then you would call him teacher in maths, or instructor in maths. The definition of a Perfect Master is the one who can give us the perfectness, one who can teach us the perfectness.” – Interview by John Young, October 4, 1981
Proclamation for 1975, signed Sant Ji Maharaj
edit“In this world, the question has already been asked. The world has already started to face the problems, the problems which are vital for the human race. There is no need to discuss the problems, but I would like to present my opinion. In the midst of all this, I still sincerely think that this Knowledge, the Knowledge of God, the Knowledge of our Creator, is our solution. Many people might not think so, and carry a completely different opinion, but my opinion is that since man came on this planet earth, he has always been taking from it. Remember, this planet Earth is not infinite, it is finite, and though it has a lot to give, it is limited. Maybe now we can somehow manage to stagger along, cutting our standards of living, cutting gas, reducing the speed limit more, but the next very terrifying question is What about the future? I think this Knowledge which I have to offer this world, free of charge, is the answer. For if everybody can understand that everybody is a brother and sister, and this world is a gift, not a human-owned planet, and have the true understanding of such, we'll definitely bring peace, tranquility, love and Grace, which we need so badly. I urge this world to try. I do not claim to be God, but do claim I can establish peace on this Earth by our Lord's Grace, and everyone's joint effort.”
This written proclamation is very interesting indeed. PR shows a vision that is far ahead of its time regarding the ecological problems to come. It is a call to really change our mentalities, to appeal to our humanity. He concludes once again by offering his services and reminding us of our individual responsibility.
The following is a statement made during the pandemic, which as always takes up this theme of the importance of the heart and of solidarity:
“I know right now, there isn’t much we can do. But this is the time to think about the new world, a world in which we care for each other, a world in which the heart means something, a world where we mean something, a world where kindness has a value, not money, money, money but kindness has a value. But if we are incapable of creating a world like that, most of us won’t survive this. It’s gone a be required that there is kindness, that there is understanding among us, for a better world, a brighter world, in which we all move together, going forward. It’s not too late, and such a world is possible. It isn’t a question of impractical. It’s now an issue that, if it doesn’t happen, it’s gone a real problem. There is a lot of poor people, countries like India, countries in Africa continent, so many countries, so many people, so many people. And you, as a human being, are a part of it. Your heart, your want, your fulfillment, your understanding. You are a part of it.” – Being Human, Ep. 01 on TimelessToday, November 20, 2020
Examples of quotes that foreshadow the universalist orientation taken by PR
edit“Every human being has to find their own peace. Peace is within you and me. When you and I can experience who we really are, what life is, and what we are doing here, that’s the day peace will begin in this world.” – Dublin, Eire, October 7, 1981
“First of all, I’m not here to present myself as a know-it-all. What I’m here for is to answer those questions that are related to that experience and related to the tool: Knowledge which can bring us the experience. Above all, we have the choice to say I don’t like it or I like it. I am not here to try and convince anybody of anything. Rather, I’m here to offer something.” – Vancouver, BC, Canada, January 23, 1986
“People say, I am afraid of changes. But who is asking you to change? Knowledge is not a change. When you see yourself in the mirror, the first thing you will realize is that beauty that you have always looked for is right there. That's the first thing you will realize. That, to me, is the magic of this Knowledge.” – Escobar, Argentina, January 23, 1991
“Ask yourself for a moment what is really important to you – not by anyone else's definition, but your own. Peel away all the roles that you act out every day, and you will find a being. A being that, amazingly enough, cannot be put in a box. A being that isn't good or bad—just a being. A being that wants to exist, that wants to learn, that wants to appreciate. A being that just wants to be.” – Seattle Washington, February 1994
“We talk about world peace. Peace needs to be in the heart of every human being because that is where it belongs. The world would not have half its problems if we understood what we need to understand within us. I come with no solution to the world's problems. I come with nothing new to tell you. Instead, I come to tell you one of the things you have known for the longest time. That which you are looking for, that which you love and admire, is within you.” – Wembley Stadium, England, June 22, 1997
20 recent quotes that could be included in an unbiased article
edit“Why peace? The world will tell you, “This is what the world needs, this is what the world needs, this is what the world needs.” But seven billion people on the face if this world are crying out for one thing, and one thing alone, and that is peace. And peace is not the absence of war, that’s ceasefire. Peace is that candle in every human heart, that bring light.” – Melbourne, Australia, May 3, 2009
“In the realm of knowing, discussions are not necessary. In the realm of knowing, you swim in the ocean of answers. In the world of beliefs, you swim in the ocean of questions.” – Glasgow, UK, September 7, 2009
“What kind of question is this: who am I? You can’t write an answer to it. You can feel it. You can know it. But you can never write it on a piece of paper.” – Mutzig, France, July 18, 2009
“We talk about prosperity. In my formula, prosperity without peace is chaos. If we want to avoid this chaos, then we have to work on what peace really is. That peace is not on a monastery. That peace is not absence of noise. That peace is not absence of war. Peace is not a declaration. Peace is a fundamental human need that needs to be felt from within.” – European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium, June 29, 2010
“A wedding takes place when a human being is born. And the wedding is a special wedding. The infinite and the finite come together. Finite stays finite, infinite stays infinite, but for the period of this wedding, of this dance, of this show, of this beautiful thing that happens. Can you understand what has happened?” – Santiago, Chile, May 1, 2011
“I have a strategy. My strategy is, not bring peace to the world, but bring peace to people! In thousands of years, it’s the only thing that has not been tried.” – Moscow, Russia, June 29, 2012
“I am a voice for peace. This is a small voice, but when it joins with the voice of all the people who want peace, who want peace, then this becomes a very, very big voice.” – Nordic Peace Conference Address, Oslo, Norway, August 18, 2012
“If you want to be wealthy, then learn to be generous. If you want to be strong, then learn humility. If you want to be smart, learn simplicity.” – Ibarra, Ecuador, June 3, 2013
“Thought is God’s gift to you and what you think about is your gift to yourself.” – Amaroo, Ipswich, Australia, April 2, 2016
“If you cannot see the divine that resides in your heart, how will you see the divine that resides in the universe?” – Medellin, Colombia, July 29, 2017
“We’re all waiting for the angel to come, the heavens to part—and the angel to drop down. And I say to people, “The angel has come, and you are the angel. And you are here to save yourself—save yourself.” Do the angel bit.” – Lockdown with Prem Rawat - Day 42, April 24, 2020
“Every human being on the face of this earth has a gift. And when you find that gift and pursue that gift to no end, then you have just created your destiny. But you will never know what that gift is till you know yourself.” – Lockdown with Prem Rawat - Day 53, May 8, 2020
“What I want to tell you is what you already know. And secondly, I want to tell it to you in a way so that it comes as news to you. That’s my challenge.” – Lockdown with Prem Rawat - Day 80, June 4, 2020
“Empty handed you came, empty handed you gone go. The question is: what did you gather? Did you gather all those things in your life that you aren’t gone take with you, or did you gather something that you can take with you? How can you take with you, the thing I’m talking about? This is not physical. This is the fullness, the completeness.” – Virtual event - The Race, June 18, 2020
“And so, if you have a concept of perfection as the infinite—but that’s not going to happen. But there is another way to look at it, and that is that you can be perfectly human—perfectly human. This is possible.” – One 2 One - No. 1, July 23, 2020
“Know thyself, live your life consciously and let your heart filled with gratitude.” – Virtual event - The Art of Being Simple, July 26, 2020
“Is the desire in your heart to conquer the world or to conquer yourself? Do you want to feel successful as a human being or do you want to be successful in the eyes of the people?” – Being Human. Ep. 06, Rome, Italy, August 23, 2020
“How would you define what time is it? You have never asked that question? Of course, you have, and there are two answers. One answer is a very pragmatic answer: “It’s four o’clock”. And the way heart answers that question: “It is time to be happy. It is time to be fulfilled.” – Being Human. Ep. 10, Charlwood, UK, September 12, 2020
“What’s your nature? In the midst of all that hate, you are capable of feeling love. If all you feel is hate, that’s not human. That’s un-human. But in the middle of the hate, you also feel the love, then it’s complete.” – One 2 One - No. 15, October 21, 2020
“There is a lit candle inside of each human being. And we suffer in darkness because we are not allowing that light to express itself in our lives.” – Cancun, Mexico, March 15, 2021
The quality of the sources
editThe bibliography page for Prem Rawat (and related organizations)
editThe title of this page, Bibliography of Prem Rawat and related organizations, is strange, because it links a personality with organizations. We do not find this kind of amalgamation in other biographies.
I did a quick Wikipedia search using “Bibliography of” in quotation marks and targeting only the page titles. I found a majority of redirected pages which have been deleted. That of Prem Rawat stands out for two reasons:
- this amalgamation which is made between the person and his organizations;
- it is a chronological list in which everything is mixed up, where elsewhere we find sections like: Written by, Biographies of, Directly or indirectly related to…
Some general remarks on this list of 160 references:
- the decade 1970-1979 represents 55% of references and the list ends in 2009;
- press articles, concentrated on the period 70-79, represent 46% of references, including around ten pornographic reviews or tabloid press;
- each miscellaneous facts of no encyclopedic importance (like the cream pie that hit him in 1973) represent up to 3 entries;
- there are some oddities in there, like a judgment rendered from a personal affair of a follower, a film defending a theory about aliens. As soon as the name of PR alias Maharaji appears somewhere, it seems to justify being included in this motley catalog;
- the word that comes up the most on the page is “Guru”: 144 times, almost as many times as the number of entries.
Nonetheless, this list contains a significant number of encyclopedic sources (34%), focused almost exclusively on the study of New Religious Movements, in which Prem Rawat inadvertently found himself classified. No matter how often he has reaffirmed that he professes no belief, being a follower of knowledge through experimentation, he had to struggle (including among his supporters) against this temptation to create a new dogma. Regularly he updates, the clear distinction between “believe and know” being at the heart of his message. Here is the observation he said recently about cult:
“What is the definition of cult? Cult. This is not the official definition because the official definition is: before a religion becomes a religion, it’s called a cult. What is it about? It’s about beliefs. Believe, believe, believe, believe. […] Do you think for a second that it is a mistake that Socrates says, “Know thyself”? Begin from that. Point one: know thyself. Not “believe in yourself”, “know thyself”. What would the difference be if he said, “believe in yourself”? This would be so much more palatable for the society today.” – Charlwood, UK, September 12, 2020.
Dr Finch’s strange book
editI was interested in the last reference on Bibliography of PR, Without the Guru: How I Took My Life Back After Thirty Years, by Mike Finch, 2009. This is a testimonial from the person who created the Prem Rawat page. Although Mike Finch did not register on Wikipedia, and is therefore difficult to track later, he did sign this first version: “Mike Finch’s introduction to Maharaji”.
Symbolically, it thus closes a sequence on several the most questionable of the pages concerning PR, highlighting the incredible influence that a small and very active group of those disappointed with Knowledge were able to exert on this narration.
Therefore, I read Finch’s book and what I discovered there sheds light on the manipulation he and others engaged in, probably in good faith as far as he was concerned.
His testimony is sincere and I am fairly confident that the events he relates more or less unfolded as described. Of course, he dramatizes them excessively, because this testimony is full of pathos, but it is through the lessons that he draws from his experience and that he recalls throughout his story, that we understand how he went astray. As a sort of Richard Virenque[22] style confession, “Willingly but without knowing.”
Putting his destiny in the hands of the one he sees as his potential savior, but without recognizing in him any quality or valid teaching, Finch dispossesses himself of his free will and plunges into the labyrinth of blind belief.
What is immediately striking, upon reading this account, is the growing gap between his deep convictions - or rather their progressive decay - and the constant doubling down he engages in in terms of his commitment to the service of the “Master”. His approach is that of a player betting more and more in the hope of hitting the jackpot, rather than someone with genuine commitment driven by deep conviction.
“The thought that if Maharaji really were the Lord with more power than Jesus et al, then it would be stupid beyond measure not to follow him. And if he were not, then I had not invested too much, and could leave […] And of course there was much else besides to keep me hooked. […] The fact that the odds of it being real are minutely small, and the odds of it being false are overwhelmingly great, has to be weighed against the thought that if it were in fact real, it would be the supreme and ultimate jackpot.” (p. 71)
The second characteristic of his engagement is linked to the power of attraction of the group phenomenon. When it comes to explaining why he is on this path, he rarely speaks in first person or is quick to confirm his point of view with the “commonly accepted” one around him. He is not sure of anything; even though he firmly believes in it.
“Eastern gurus were all fashion, with the Beatles going to india with their guru, the Maharishi. […] So, it was the common currency of those times to have a guru. And I had not just an ordinary guru […] but the ‘Satguru’ – the one and only one True Guru. And he was only twelve years old, which was out of the ordinary and therefore fitted right in with the flavor of the times.” (p. 40)
“There was the group dynamic, the strong feeling we had as premies that we were a small band of privileged insiders, who had recognized the Satguru of this age, and even more important, has been recognized by Him…” (p. 71)
Finch clearly did not understand that the proposal made by PR is not based on a belief.
“So why did I stay as his disciple for the next thirty years, whereas others, like that lady, only stay for half an hour? There are probably many answers, but I think the main one was the overwhelming wish to believe.” (p. 46)
He justifies choices that he feels confusedly as unnatural, by a practice imposed on him, when everything in his story shows that he convinced himself on his own.
“I had taken on a devotional practice where my humanity was in fact the obstacle, and rather than exploring my mind and humanity, I was being asked to transcend them. And the only way to transcend them, was by the grace of the ‘Superior Power in Person’, Guru Maharaji. […] This was not an optional belief which you could treat as a luxury.” (p. 40)
Finally, there is that key moment when his fate could have taken another path. He finally understands that everything is a matter of personal experience and that he is capable of it, but he prefers to reject this awareness in order to regain the impersonal comfort of belief.
“This meditation was the Knowledge, and I believed that I was finding a stillness in it due to Maharaji’s grace, now I know that it was my own ‘grace’, my own effort and entering of silence, which sustained me. […] It was to take another twenty-five years to extract him from the mix. Or to be more precise to extract my fantasy of him and of his power in my life from the mix, for that was the ultimate irony: what I wanted, I already had; but I threw it away as being of no consequence, thinking that what I wanted had to be given by him.” (p. 142)
“It was not so much the techniques of the Knowledge meditation that were not healthy, it was my reason for doing them. That was still dictated by a belief system that entailed the very opposite of thinking for myself. […] the context in which a premie practices the Knowledge is hugely encumbered –clogged up in fact with all the beliefs about Maharaji that for a premie are not mere beliefs but certainty: he is the Lord, the True Guru, the giver of the Grace that you need so desperately in this life.” (p. 208)
I only picked up a few passages. I could have also spoken of the moment when he discovered with disappointment that PR was not omniscient (chapter 10), or the pathetic moment when he feels betrayed by Prem’s last outstretched hand, when he is already himself even passed to “the other side of the force” (chapter 32). Like a kind of unfulfilled remorse which alone can explain the need to devote an entire chapter to justifying itself and claiming not to have sought to harm PR, only its public image (Objections chapter).
“Anybody who is an aspirant, aspiring for self-knowledge, this is the determination they are making. That’s the aspiration process: a need or a want. If they decide it is a need, they will inevitably reach the platform of knowing themselves. And if they decided that it is just a want, even if they reach it, they will not reach it. I think that answers a big question for a lot of people.” – Prem Rawat in Bournemouth, UK, June 18, 2017
“Do you know what is the biggest block to understanding? The biggest hurdle to understanding is the preconceived picture of satisfaction, clarity, understanding you carry in your head.” – Prem Rawat, UK, June 24, 2017
From the trap of systemic analysis
editThe problem that we encounter with almost all of the sources used to write the Prem Rawat’s biography[23] is that they have not been updated with regard to the considerable evolution that PR has infused into his “movement”, a questionable notion in terms of his approach. Indeed, PR does not seek to unite disparate individuals in the same belief or ideology. He encourages all people, regardless of their backgrounds, to take a personal journey of becoming aware of truths that everyone carries within themselves, but to which little attention is paid.
I leaned on one of these sources, because it is very highly documented and allows, by going through it, correction of some untruths which have been written about this teaching. This is Maeve Price’s 1979 article under the title: The Divine Light Mission as a social organization.[24]
Of course, this study is not primarily intended to deal with PR’s teaching or its underlying message (its title and the introduction are self-explanatory on this point). But the study does shed a different light on the period of the 1970s and how many specialists missed out on the completely original and innovative approach of PR.
There are several explanations for this mistake, but the main one – and this is why this article is interesting – is due to the excessive media exposure to which the movement has been subjected, through these extravagances and internal dissensions, which took precedence over what was at its epicenter, the eye of the cyclone, its raison d’être: ancestral teaching brought up to date for our contemporaries.
“This December, I will be sixty-two. So, I’ve been around for a while. I started talking to people when I was four years old. I started taking this message out, and the responsibility of taking this message out when I was nine. So, I have seen a little bit, to say the least. I have gone from one culture to another culture. And these two cultures that I have gone in between were diametrically opposed. One was India, one was America.” – Prem Rawat in Milan, Italy, Jun 16, 2019
I will be able to review the different episodes, cited by Price, of this exciting time and shed a whole new light on them, but others like Ron Geaves have done it before – and better than I can – so it is enough to refer to it.[25]
I’ll just stress that Price fails to pinpoint PR’s actual responsibility in this turn of events[26], sometimes pointing to details that are indicative of the dissent at the time: “Guru Maharaj Ji’s habit of arriving late, or not at all, for public programmes in Britain was doubtless a factor in his receiving an increasingly hostile press coverage.”
When we see the remarkable punctuality which PR has always shown since, always starting his speeches at the precise minute they are scheduled, we can easily guess that there was something else behind this passive resistance which he demonstrated at that time. This is “not at all” what should alert us: it's absolutely not in PR’s habits. Yet Price mentions just before: “[PR] had little control over the course of events and that Mata Ji in fact was the organizing force.” But she does not make the link.
There is this sentence quoted by Price, by another scholar, Egan Bittner: “Sects lay claim to possess unique and privileged access to the truth or salvation”.
This claim is indeed what many disciples, including Mahatmas, made at the time, but was this the message of Prem Rawat himself? Here is what he said, for example, in 1972:
“They say, ‘Why are you telling us that this Knowledge has to be taken from me?’ But I don’t say that this Knowledge has to be taken from me. I want that you should take this Knowledge, that’s only I want to tell you. I don’t say take it from me. […] You can get it from someone else, go to someone he will give you. But the problem is you have to take it. That is the main thing. That doesn’t mean you take from me. Go around the world, search for the spiritual master. If you cannot get this Knowledge, and you cannot receive this true Knowledge, then please come to me and I will give you this Knowledge.“ – Prem Rawat in Frankfurt, Germany, March 11, 1972
Price speaks on several occasions of the “beliefs and practices of the followers”. We must separate the two to fully understand. First, the beliefs that circulated at the time (and which sometimes die hard), were mainly imbued with the Hindu imagination. Second, the teaching itself, which has always been very precise, focused on the individual and inner resources inherent in the human species.
Ron Geaves well explains in his paper how PR was able to get out of the trap of organizations involving too many people, not to become an autocrat – which Price also refutes[27] – but to give a better visibility to his message, thanks to the use of modern means of communication:
“Maharaji was concerned that his teachings should be conveyed without distortion from others’ interpretations, especially influenced by particular cultures or religious worldviews. […] At each event around the world, his speeches were videotaped and distributed down to the grassroots level. In this way, Maharaji freed himself from reliance on others to interpret his message. […] Thus the need for strict control was developed not in organizational terms, but to maintain the teachings in a form fully reflecting Maharaji’s own perspective.”[25]
For her part, this is the type of conclusion Price came to in 1979: “What is surprising is not that the mission is no longer expanding significantly, but that it manages to survive at all. This answer to the second issue must lie in the mission’s continued ability to satisfy fundamental psychological and social needs of its adherents.”
Would Price still support this thesis today, or would she simply admit that the consistency and relevance of Prem Rawat’s message is the most plausible explanation for such longevity, despite the ups and downs that have punctuated his journey?
“There is so many nice things that have already been said. Not by just me, but so many people before me. It goes into thousands and thousands of years where beautiful things have been said. That we should take this life seriously, we should be aware of who we are, we should know who we are. But the big question really is: “Why any of this stuff stick?” When you just start to think about it, we live in molds, there are so many molds that have molded us, that have created us. And these molds dictate everything goes on around us.” – Prem Rawat, Virtual event, August 15, 2020
The most common cognitive trap observed in sociological studies dating from the first period of time is to have failed to seriously consider what was at the origin of all the effervescence, which was certainly excessive but which can be explained by the originality and the audacity of the PR’s approach.
It’s a bit like telling the story of the different episodes of a wedding (the town hall, the church, the procession of horns, the banquet, the ball, etc.) while neglecting to say that it was about a wedding, the significance for the bride and groom, and their commitment, even if they were drowned out in the noisy mass of the guests, which could even include a few party crashers who will perhaps end up spoiling the party, because they will have drunk too much …
“A wedding takes place when a human being is born. And the wedding is a special wedding. The infinite and the finite come together. Finite stays finite, infinite stays infinite, but for the period of this wedding, of this dance, of this show, of this beautiful thing that happens. Can you understand what has happened?” – Prem Rawat in Santiago, Chile, May 1, 2011
An underestimated work because it is not academic
editLet us first recall the very essence of Prem Rawat’s message, his one and only reference: “What you are looking for is within you.” This is what he reiterates when he speaks.
However, this “interior” is not what we usually refer to: our intellect. PR speaks to a more intimate, deeper part of ourselves: the realm of the heart - where we feel things, where ultimately we live them, where our personal convictions are forged.
Because this is the peculiarity of PR’s approach: it invites us to take no one’s word for it, including his. At the heart of his message is this difference between belief and knowledge. He invites us to seek within ourselves the answers for what is essential, vital, existential.
“We are very interested in knowing what is going on in this world. Are you interested in what is going on in your little world? This is what I talk about. Some people understand what I’m saying, some people don’t understand what I am saying. There are people in this world who like to believe—not know, just believe.” – Prem Rawat in Santa Monica, California, March 6, 2010
“You didn’t come with a manual. And it’s not because one couldn’t be made available. But maybe a manual was built into you. No need to have a printed manual when in you, there is the want that has been placed to be fulfilled.” – Prem Rawat in Dublin, Ireland, July 15, 2009
This approach is not new. We find traces of it in almost all cultural traditions on all continents. What, on the other hand, is new here is the desire to put knowledge, previously reserved for a few initiates, within the reach of the greatest number.
“What I want to tell you is what you already know. And secondly, I want to tell it to you in a way so that it comes as news to you. That’s my challenge.” – Lockdown with Prem Rawat, Day 80, June 4, 2020
The times are ideal for this ancestral message, brought up to date, with modern means of communication allowing direct access to it. Over the course of his long career, PR has given thousands of talks, almost all of which have been filmed. You can watch several hundred of them on official sites, YouTube and elsewhere.
Would this not be the first source of information to consider in order to then assess the relevance of everything that has been published on Prem Rawat and rewrite an honest, factual, up-to-date and non-defamatory biography? The journalists and the experts who concluded a little quickly that his message lacked consistency, perhaps they simply did not have the personal thirst which makes it possible to recognize an authentic word, when it is made by a young teenager speaking in a foreign language. But today, would they still say so?
A speech much deeper than it seems
editThroughout my presentation I have relied on many quotes from PR. To show how dense, rich and varied his speeches are, I have selected one that is exemplary on this point. I have kept only the most striking passages, which deal with different aspects of a reality that is so difficult to describe in words. PR gets around this difficulty with an infectious passion and inventiveness in expression that hits the mark. I think there is something left of it in the words crisply transcribed on paper, even if deprived of the support of the intonation of the voice and the gestures that accompany his stage appearances.
Prem Rawat in Melbourne, Australia, May 3, 2009 (extracts)
edit- I’m here to, hopefully, make you think about the possibility of understanding and having peace in your life. I don’t know who you are. But I know in some ways, you are very much like me. And what do I mean by that? That as human beings, we have a need. And this need is not a created need. This is not a need that is created by society, this is not a need that is created by this world, this is not a need that is created by religion. But a fundamental need to be fulfilled. To be in peace. […]
- What is peace? So, let me tell you something right off the bat. I cannot tell you what peace is. Does that mean I haven’t felt peace? I have felt peace. And I can feel peace every day. And I feel peace every day, but I can’t tell you what it feels like. […]
- To us, what miracle is? If milk comes out of stone. That’s a miracle. That’s not a miracle, that’s a fluke. That’s an accident. […] Miracle, my friends, requires an eye to behold. Requires a person who truly understands what a miracle is. And those who have the heart of a child, and the eyes of a child can understand what a miracle is. Because the most amazing miracle is the coming and going of this breath. […]
- I told you I’m not going to tell you what peace is, and I can’t. But here’s a clue I’ll give you—because I did at one of the other events—and I said, “Peace is the perfume of God.” When you have peace in your life, God is awfully close. And when God is close, you can smell his perfume. And it smells wonderful. […]
- At once, no question about it, you are as frail as a boat made out of paper, trying to go across the ocean. This is true. And at the same time, in you is the strength to take on any storm that the ocean could ever throw at you. What a dilemma. A doll made out of dirt—clay, dirt—is being told, “Don’t worry. You can survive the land of hammers. You can walk across the field of hammers, and you’ll be okay.” Sounds unbelievable, but such is the strength that you have been given. […]
- Remember what I told you—that if I can cause you to think a little bit about what you have been given, I’d be happy. That’s all I can do. And this is what I mean. That, when you can begin to recognize what you have been given, and feel grateful—if you don’t feel grateful, you didn’t recognize it. If you don’t feel grateful, it didn’t happen.
- There are many people who go, and they study, and they come out with a degree and what they have is this immense amount of pride. “I am now…” It happened to me. I got my license, I was a pilot, and I had the ego the size of a 747. “I am a pilot. I am a pilot. I am a pilot.” And this is what I was telling everybody secretly without moving my lips. And, you know, I felt I had accomplished so much. Why shouldn’t I be proud of it? And it’s only that one day when things started to go wrong, and the 747 shrunk. I was truly grateful—grateful, mind you, grateful, for what I had been taught. And that’s the day I really became a pilot. And then after that, I didn’t want to go to people and say, “I’m a pilot. But after that, if I can do it, you can do it, too.” […]
- There is something that can put you in touch with that real joy that is inside of you. And it is called Knowledge. The know-how to be able to get in touch with that beauty that is inside of you. You hear my words, guess what? They’re not just words. They’re not just words. When I say you should feel peace, I can make it happen. Am I being un-humble? No. Don’t ever be un-humble. That’s my motto. Be as humble as you can possibly be without disappearing. Because I say to you, you need peace in your life—search for peace and find it wherever you can. And if you can’t, I can help. This is what I do. I help people find that peace inside of them. I cannot tell them what peace is, but I can help them find it inside of them.
- What does it take? Can you come to me with the heart of a child? Can you come to me with the sincerest thirst for this joy that resides within inside of you? How much joy? Immeasurable joy. How much? Limitless. […] Not a theory. Not a bunch of ideas. Not a bunch of books. Not a bunch of concepts. Not a bunch of play of words. But real. […]
- Why peace? The world will tell you: This is what the world needs, this is what the world needs, this is what the world needs, but seven billion people on the face of this earth are crying out for one thing and one thing alone, and that is peace. And peace is not the absence of war. That’s cease-fire. Peace is that candle inside every human heart that brings light. Peace is that joy. Peace is that perfume of God. When God is close, you can smell it. […]
- I’ve said a lot and certainly enough for you to be busy for a few minutes thinking about it. And if I already got you started, I’ve done my job. That’s why I came here. I do this—I do this for free. My part of it is, I speak from my heart to the audiences around the world. I am here not because you are an audience, but each one of you as a human being. And I want you to honor yourself. To honor yourself by absolutely smelling the smell of God. Because when you do, you honor life, you honor yourself. You honor all that that is good. There’s a lot of problems in this world today, my friends, there are. Do I have a solution to them? I don’t know. But I know there’s a lot of good in this world. A lot of good. And that good resides in you. Each one of you. Each one of you. Regardless of your label, regardless of your age, regardless of your name, regardless of which country you live in, there is a lot of good.
- And I was asked this question by some high school kids: How are you going to silence a voice that is becoming so prevalent in this world? And I gave an example. And the example was: Once upon a time, this emperor drew a line on a board, and told his courtier, he said, “Make this line shorter without cutting it.” And the courtier took a line and made one bigger than that. And said, “Now it’s shortened.”
- So, I said, “We may not be able to silence the voice, but we may be able to turn the voice of peace louder than the other one.” […] Turn up the voice that is good in you. The voice of peace. The voice of gratitude. The voice of understanding. Not the voice of questions, but the voice of answers. […] Each one of you needs to be honored. That’s what I believe in.
A message that is sometimes esoteric, but never mysterious
editOn the occasion of the birthday of his father Shri Hans, who was the one who revealed the Knowledge to him and from whom he took over after his death, Prem Rawat gave a brilliant demonstration of his talent as a speaker during a talk he gave in 2019. Starting from a rather mundane observation about our propensity to constantly dream of chimeras that only bring us disillusionment, he leads us to consider what it means to be “unrepentant dreamers”. Is there not a connection to be made with our deepest aspirations as human beings? Here are some excerpts from what he said on that occasion, before drawing some conclusions.
Hans Jayanti 2019 - Prem Rawat in Westlake Village, California, November 8, 2019 (extracts)
edit- The amount of unconsciousness that we allow to express from our beings every day in this world - seven and a half billion people - is not a joke. And it always comes back to the basics of who are you? This is what’s missing. We have no understanding of who we are. We see others in relationship to others, but we don’t see us in relationship to his entire universe that we live in.
- So who are you? Who am I? Just recently I said something at one of the events. And I’m going to pick it up from there because I think it’s very profound.
- We are dreamers. We dream. We don’t have to be asleep to dream. We don’t have to have our eyes closed. We can dream with our eyes open. I wish, we say to ourselves, I wish things were different. And that becomes our dream. And we start to do things to make that dream come true.
- […] Because as a human being you have the capacity to dream. And religion of course is the first one to pick up on this. Because you have the capacity to dream, let’s make you dream about God. Let’s make you dream about heaven and hell.
- […] But if you figure it out - knowing your relationship to the whole universe - that even if your dream comes true and you end up making it a reality, it’s still a dream. And the realities that you will have in your life with all carry the attributes of a dream.
- […] Nobody promised you anything. When you were born, nobody actually promised you anything. And then you started promising yourself things. Because you are a dreamer.
- Remember how important toys were? And how important it was to have that one particular toy, and how you wished so badly you badly you had it?
- […] And that’s what you have been doing all your life. My money. My house. My wife. My children. My husband. My friend. Mine. Mine. Mine. And what does “mine” mean: no one else can have it, but you, the dreamer.
- […] This is where it gets worse. The dreamer dreams of a city. Anything wrong with it? No. But to have a city, and all these dreamers to live in the city, is gone require some rules. And those rules are the rules of society.
- […] Now dreamers have come together, and they have made a society. And now, the dreamers have started to do the most horrible thing that can happen do dreamers. They’re dreaming the same dream.
- […] You’re not even the owner of your dream anymore. And everybody’s starting to have the same dream, and it causes problems!
- […] So, having said all this about being a dreamer and living in society and everybody having the same dream, I have to come back, and I have to ask you: “What is your dream? What do you dream? Are you so predictable that your dream is just like anyone else’s? Or do you have a distinct dream?”
- Is there a dream that 7.5 billion people don’t have except you? Is there such a dream? Is there such a dream that defines you, your existence? Is there such a dream that sets your reality apart from everybody else’s? Because if you don’t know that dream then you don’t really know what dreams are all about!
- Did you ask anybody to be a dreamer? Did you ask this creation and say, “Oh, please, make me a dreamer”? Obviously not! You just found out—and maybe it is today that you found out, you’re a bloody dreamer! Before that, you look at yourself as a “competent person!”—who’s educated, who has done well in this world, fairly well. And very thankful for being alive—but still, with your dream that is different than the 7.5 billion people. That defines you, your existence, the time you were born to the time you are going to go, that defines that.
- […] What am I dreaming about? Am I dreaming about being free? Freedom that nobody else is dreaming like? Because I know what I need to be free from. My pain, my ideas, my chains that bind me. Me. Not mine, but me. Because that’s all I have. That’s all you have, is you!
- […] Because so far this remains under the dominant force of y-o-u-r, it’ll be a troublemaker. You have to cut the r and just become a you. And the day you become you, not your. That’s the day you become the clear dreamer.
- […] This is a strange show! There is a show inside of a show inside of a show inside of a show inside of a show …. How many shows? Seven-point-five billion and counting. And it began with the first one. The creation of this earth, the big show—it began with that.
- Then, after that, there was another show—and scientists say it was algae. And then from these algae, some bacteria. And some bacteria to creatures. And then, it’s you, your turn. You come in. You pitch your tent. And all that’s happening in this show is on this big giant tent called the “earth.” It’s all these little shows that are pitching their tents and packing up. And then one day the big tent will be packed up. And then there’ll be no more little tents and no more little shows, no more nothing. Dream? Finished.
- […] When this heart is full—and the dream I dream, it’s the dream to be thankful, thankful my way, thankful only in a way I can be thankful, then I have just dreamt a dream that defines me. The day I look around me and I see, not the permanence of this creation, but the fragility, the temporariness of everything. And in that temporary, through my dream, I try to extract what is real, even though it’s temporary, there is a permanence that hovers at its core, even though on the outside it’s temporary. And I want to touch it in my dream! I want to understand it. I want to feel it. I want to be fulfilled.
- Then I have defined a dreamer that dreams different than the 7.5 billion people on the face of this earth. And my dream’s no longer just a dream—even though I’m a dreamer. I found something which is different. I’m now awake. Even though I dream, I dream whilst I’m awake. My defining moment is I enjoy my dreams. Even if those remain unfulfilled, I enjoy my dreams—because I am a dreamer. That I will always be. Nothing can change that. And there’s no need to. There’s no reason to. This is taking the power to dream—and making it different than it is.
Subliminal message
editTwo passages echo, one at the start of the presentation: “We don’t have to be asleep to dream. We don’t have to have our eyes closed. We can dream with our eyes open.” And the other, at the very end: “I found something which is different. I’m now awake. Even though I dream, I dream whilst I’m awake.” And of course, the meaning is not at all the same. A transformation has taken place in the meantime. The dreamer is no longer just a dreamer. He has come out of the dream, even though he is still dreaming. He can make a difference now.
It was then that I realized that within this brilliant demonstration there was a quiet tribute being paid to Shri Hans Ji Maharaj. Except at the very beginning of the conference, where PR recalls the significance of Hans Jayanti, he no longer makes any reference to his father thereafter.
However, this notion of “waking dream” is not unlike the definition of meditation given by Sri Hans and which struck PR when he heard it in a recording: “It is like sleeping when you are awake.” It is therefore reasonable to assume that during this lecture lasting about an hour, the son embroidered in his own way on a theme inspired by his father’s words.
Some will see it as a mere coincidence. Personally, my heart jumped when I realized this. Why on this day, when PR speaks regularly throughout the year, did he use this analogy?
A source of quality diverted from his remarks
editI was interested in the source which is most abundantly cited in the biography of Prem Rawat: 26 times in total, mainly to confirm events which occurred between 1971 and 1976. It is about the very serious sociological study carried out during 5 years by James V. Downton and which he reports in his book published in 1979, Sacred Journeys, the conversion of young American to the Divine Light Mission.
In reality, it is mainly chapter 12 that is used (18 ref.), because it is the one that contains the most varied facts likely to feed a narrative which more likely find its place in a tabloid newspaper than on Wikipedia. Downton’s work, which offers a fascinating dive into the atmosphere of the time, the quest for meaning of an entire generation and the answers some have found in Knowledge, is in fact largely diverted from its subject, by using only passages that permit the feeding of a shocking and sensationalized account intended undoubtedly to frighten the parents.
There is hardly anything left of the intelligent and sensitive sociological study, asking real questions and good diagnoses, Just a few snippets of thoughts in the “Following” section. I doubt that the author himself would appreciate the digression of his study.
I have put together in the table below some passages from the book and what is left in Prem Rawat’s biography. They speak for themselves.
| Downton’s quotes | Wikipedia (numbering of ref. on 06/30/21) |
|---|---|
| His decision to accept invitation against the wishes of his mother, Mata JI, was the first sign of his developing independence, which eventually culminated in the widely publicized feud between them several years later. In India, his mother and eldest brother, Bal Bhagwan Ji, had dominated the Mission with the “boy guru” assuming a more symbolic, but still potent, form of spiritual authority. (p. 3) | (16) In 1971, Prem Rawat traveled to the West against his mother's wishes. |
| Outside the movement, the future seemed uncertain, for the public attitudes were far from sympathetic. People where hostile toward the guru. Reports in the media were unfavorable, repeating often that he seemed to live more like a king than a Messiah. (p. 5)
I have talked to many people in the last five years who were skeptical and sometimes antagonistic toward the Guru Maharaj Ji and Divine Light Mission. Yet, most were not very well informed about either the guru or the movement, nor were they interested in learning how premies might be benefiting from their involvement. (p. 7) |
(18.a) His arrival in the United States was met with some ridicule, as the teen-aged Rawat was seen as too immature to be a religious leader.
(18.b) Followers stressed "love, peace and happiness" in their lives, but public attitudes were often unsympathetic. |
| Soon after the first visit, a wave of premies were covering the area like zealous missionaries, spreading the word that there was a 13-years-old saint in the mountains who could reveal God. The boldness of this claim and the thought of a teen-aged Perfect Master was enough to capture the attention of countless numbers of hippies who had already begun a spiritual search. (p. 4) | (21) Enthusiastic new members spread the message that the 13-year-old Prem Rawat could reveal God. |
| I was told by an official that it was [Mata Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji], not Guru Maharaj Ji, who were the main instigators of the Millennium festival. Bal Bhagwan Ji was in charge of the festival and, according to Sophia Collier’s account in Soul Rush, he was also the source of many outlandish rumors. […] After the festival, there was a decided change in the guru’s attitude about his role in the Mission. Nearly sixteen, he was ready to assume a more active part in deciding what direction the movement should take. This of course meant that he had to encroach on his mother’s territory and, given the fact that she was accustomed to having control, a fight was inevitable. (p. 191)
Actually, the split with his mother seemed to solidify the loyalty of many premies to him, for Mata Ji’s attack on his spiritual authority brought them to his defense. […] Many of the Indian Mahatmas who has inspired such awe had either left the movement or had been demoted from their position as Initiators. (p. 192) |
(45.a) According to the sociologist James V. Downton, this meant he “had to encroach on his mother's territory and, given the fact that she was accustomed to having control, a fight was inevitable.
(45.b) Rawat retained the support of the Western disciples. Most of the mahatmas either returned to India or were dismissed. |
| My own impressions of the situation fit the official interpretation of what happened next. “In an attempt to maintain control of the Indian Mission and the assets in that country, Mata Ji and Bal Bhagwan Ji retourned to India, When they learned of Maharaji’s plan to return their to visit, they mounted a campaign to defame him and to interfere with his expected arrival. Mata Ji said she was removing Prem Rawat as Perfect Master because of his "unspiritual" lifestyle and lack of respect for her wishes.” […] [PR] felt his mother’s and brother’s misunderstanding stemmed from the fact that neither had recognized what the role of the Perfect Master is, even during his father’s reign as Satguru. He said: “They never really understood that the power of the Perfect Master is not a worldly power of domination over people, but simply the power to bring peace and fulfillment to people’s lives.” (p. 191) | (46.a) In December 1973, Prem Rawat took administrative control of the Mission's US branch; his mother and Satpal returned to India.
(46.b) Prem Rawat's marriage to a non-Indian finally severed his relationship with his mother. (46.c) She retained control of the Indian DLM and appointed Satpal as its leader. (46.d) Mata Ji said she was removing Prem Rawat as Perfect Master because of his “unspiritual” lifestyle and lack of respect for her wishes. |
| When Guru Maharaj Ji himself decided to marry outside of his caste, his mother get upset because she had not been asked to approve the marriage and, when it occurred, she was not invited because communication between them has already broken down. (p. 191) | (57) Prem Rawat's mother, Mata Ji, had not been invited. |
| By the end of 1976, premies assumed much more responsibility, for their own spiritual growth. No longer did they fall back on the belief that they were being guided or protected by the guru’s grace. Nor did they feel as bound to conform to the old ideas of devotion, with their ritualism and conformity. (p. 199) | (66) By 1976, most students viewed Prem Rawat primarily as a spiritual teacher, guide and inspiration. |
| Aside from all psychological and social explanations one could offer to explain their conversions, the fact is that, during the Knowledge session or afterward in meditation, these young people had a spiritual experience which deeply affected them and changed the course of their lives. It was an experience which moved many to tears of joy, for they had found the answer they had been seeking. It was an experience which brought them into a new relationship to life and removed many blocks to growth. It was an experience—which sages have spoken about throughout history—of the oneness of life. (p. 156) | (142) James V. Downton, who studied Prem Rawat's followers for five years in the 70s, said "these young people had a spiritual experience which deeply affected them and changed the course of their lives. It was an experience which moved many to tears of joy, for they had found the answer they had been seeking". |
| Today, they seem less alienated, aimless, worried, afraid, and more peaceful, loving, confident and appreciative of life. We could attribute these changes to surrender, devotion, and their involvement in the premie community. Each of these undoubtedly had a positive impact, but, if we accept what premies say, none were as critical as their experience of the universal spirit. Meditating on the life-energy for five years, they report having more positive attitudes about themselves. (p. 210) | (144) Downton concluded that the students had changed in a positive way, “more peaceful, loving, confident and appreciative of life”. |
There is one reference, probably the most typical, that I did not include in this table, because it is a whole chapter that I should have quoted alongside. There it is:
(20) “One witness said that Prem Rawat "played the whole time he was there ... he played with squirt guns, flashed pictures of himself for all to see, and took movies of everybody ... Love flowed back and forth between him and his devotees.”
In reality, this little bit of a sentence taken out of context is a real betrayal of the purpose of its author. Tina, one of the premies interviewed by Downton, tells us how, through a friend back from India, she hears about Guru Maharaj Ji on his first visit to the United States. She will be present in Boulder, Colorado, in 1971, when Prem Rawat visits. She discovers with enthusiasm and emotion this young master who breaks the codes in a non-religious approach to self-knowledge. This is how she briefly mentions in her testimony the mischievous games that young Prem Rawat played between two question-and-answer sessions with other young people barely older than him. There was undoubtedly a convergence of opportunities between these hippies breaking with Western materialist society and this Indian master who would quickly break with a religious tradition that hampered the universality of his approach.
Downton, at the end of his study, remains dubious about the chances of success of a movement which is stalled at the time of publication (1979). But nevertheless, his record is far from being negative and his benevolent analysis in the face of a movement which has certainly impressed him. Here are some excerpts:
P. 8: I certainly did not agree with everything I saw or heard […] However, I respected many of the Mission’s goals and the motives of those involved. They seem sincere about what they were doing and were committed to many positive values, such as love, peace, and cooperation.
P. 10: In fact, while cautioning against the dangers of prolonged dependence on the guru, I conclude in a later chapter that premies seem to have grown personally in many positive ways form their involvement in the Mission.
P. 87: Contrary to the popular belief that people who join movements as DLM experience sudden conversions of a highly irrational nature, my experience of these eighteen premies suggests that people are more rational and conservative when it comes to personal change than normally supposed, and that radical changes of belief and behavior are rare. […] The idealism of these premies was one of the motivating forces behind their conversion. They wanted to create a more caring world.
P. 156: Aside from all the psychological and social explanations one could offer to explain their conversions, the fact that, during the Knowledge session or afterward in meditation, these young people had a spiritual experience which deeply affected them and changed the course of their lives. […] It was an experience—which sages have spoken about throughout history—of the oneness of life.
P. 178: Some people oppose the guru-devotee relationship because they feel it represses the individuality and sense of personal responsibility of the follower. […] From a western, this position is understandable. Yet, to be objective, we need to understand mortification and surrender as they are viewed in the eastern spiritual tradition. Perhaps we will be able to put what Guru Maharaj Ji says and does into a broader context by examining the eastern view of the guru’s role in general. Seen from the eastern perspective, the guru’s role is revolutionary, not in a sense of overthrowing a political order, but in overturning his or her followers’ perception of the world.
P. 179: Gurus also speak frequently of the need to quiet the mind so that the spirit can be experienced more directly and fully. In fact, this is one of the chief purposes of meditation as a spiritual practice. Like most of the gurus, Guru Maharaj Ji speaks often about the need to quiet the inner dialogue, recommending meditation as a way to silence the personality’s various voices which incessantly jabber within and prevent a direct experience of the spirit.
P. 183: It is difficult to understand the motives behing Guru Maharaj Ji’s lifestyle, just as it is impossible to know whether he is, as premies believe, an authentic saint. I have thought about this issue a great deal and have come to the conclusion that there is no way of knowing, by objective measures, whether the guru is authentic or not. That can only be determined subjectively, for, as one premie told me, “You can only see Guru Maharaj Ji with your heart.” Instead of considering the guru’s motives and authenticity, perhaps it would be more constructive to ask whether his followers have benefited from their relationship to him and what impact his efforts are having on our society.
P. 209: It is interesting to view the transformation of these premies in light of the “human potential movement” which is going on in so many different forms in American society. […] Indeed, in the human potential movement, acceptance of oneself at this level is regarded as one of the keys to personal growth. This has apparently been important in the development of these premies as well.
In conclusion, it should be mentioned that, in support of his argument, Downton relied heavily on the statements of Prem Rawat. We find no less than forty quotes taken from his lectures or from Divine Light Mission publications, which attest to the fact that Prem Rawat was aware of the difficulties encountered by his disciples, on whom he lavished advice and guidance during these first years of his ministry.
On June 17, Prem Rawat celebrated in Birmingham in England, in front of a sparse audience of 300 people (health constraints required), the 50th anniversary of his arrival in London, on June 17, 1971. On this occasion, he paid tribute to this first generation that took an interest in his message:
“Here was a whole generation of people who genuinely was not interesting in just becoming rich but was genuinely interesting in wanting to feel peace. They wanted to know God. They have heard so much about God but wanted to know God. […] And if everything in the West that existed in that time wasn’t going to bring them that, so be it, wherever it was, was fine. They found themselves knocking at the door of a country that I’ve been belittled so many times by the conquerors. And the conquerors weren’t the Indians. They were the Mongols, they were indeed, the British, at one point. And it was as tho as India had surrendered to the world. And here were folks who were knocking at the door of India, once again, not to conquer it, but to be taught by it.” – Prem Rawat in Birmingham, UK, on June 17, 2021 (worldwide livestreamed by TimelessToday)
References
edit- ^ Prem Rawat : “When I left India many years ago, Rome was my first stop. Here I faced the first challenge: understanding how a Western country would react to my message, said Rawat. I am honored to be able to return here, and to be able to speak of peace.”
- ^ Journalist Rian Van Heerden: “I know very few people that can engage audiences as you can and I think the most important thing at took from you is, we need to find out what makes us happy, and what makes us all happy is the same thing.”
- ^ Presented as a Peace speaker, Prem Rawat talks about his coming to apartheid South Africa at 14 and makes the connection with what still divides human beings in all societies.
- ^ Peace educator Prem Rawat: “For me at thirteen years old, going to the West was just an experiment. I wanted to know if the people in the West be open to this message. Amazing was everybody aspire for peace.”
- ^ The Peace Wall is part of Prem Rawat’s larger campaign to use his international experience and Peace Education Programme (PEP) towards helping heal communities affected by violence.
- ^ An article written by Prem Rawat which he concludes thus: “We all need to develop our own inner understanding and then do whatever we can to increase the conscious awareness of humanity, so we can come together and tackle the issues that are surrounding us.”
- ^ Prem spoke in Hiroshima in 1973 on his first visit to Japan and now 45 years later he will return to take part in Bunya publishings international seminar on establishing global peace through individual peace.
- ^ Journalist Sonali Wanigabaduge: “He brings a unique and a reachable perspective on life, combine with practical techniques to nurture ourselves and a deep sense of inner peace.”
- ^ Prem Rawat: “What have we understood? Wars are still happening. And there’s no one thing that’s going to solve the problem. But every human being taking on that responsibility of knowing themselves, and establishing peace for themselves, that’s the only solution that has not been tried.”
- ^ Motivational Speaker, Prem Rawat, Ambassador of Peace four times: by UNIPAZ (University of Peace in Brazil) and three governmental organizations.
- ^ Prem Rawat received several honorary citizenships and was received in the Senate and in the Capitol. 'When the desert blooms' - published for the first time in Japan in 2015 and released in 22 countries - marks his debut in Italy as an author.
- ^ Translation of Askanews interview on premrawat.com
- ^ “In a world marked by technological innovation and the need to run faster and faster, in presenting his book Prem Rawat invites us to slow down and live today.” - The Kifubon project, to distribute books to charities: over 10,000 books have been donated so far.
- ^ Translation of ABC-Bienesta interview on premrawat.com
- ^ Translation of Telva interview on premrawat.com
- ^ Translation of Cambio 16 interview on premrawat.com
- ^ a b Prem Rawat at the Italian Senate with Gianluca Fabi (director of Radio and TV), Alfonso Bonafede (Minister of Justice), Arnaldo Lomuti and Alessandra Maiorino (senators).
- ^ A partnership for an international pilot project called Education for Peace, between the Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration (SAP) and the representative association of The Prem Rawat Foundation in Brazil.
- ^ “Author and International Peace Ambassador, Prem Rawat is back in South Africa. This time, to sign an agreement with the Department of Correctional Services and his foundation - that will see the “Peace Education Programme” rolled out to all of the country's correctional centres.”
- ^ A credible alternative to Prem Rawat's current biography.
- ^ Notes on Peace by The Prem Rawat Foundation on Vimeo
- ^ A French cyclist busted for using performance enhancing drugs.
- ^ As well as the ten pages relating to it (too numerous and far from being relevant for enlightened encyclopedic interest).
- ^ Sociological Review, No. 27, 1979.
- ^ a b From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital and Beyond, An Exploration of Change and Adaptation. Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Vol. 7, Issue 3 (2004).
- ^ “Mata Ji acting as regent for her son, Maharaj Ji, who was still a minor, […] was unquestionably the power behind the throne.” – Price
- ^ “Even their leader, Maharaj Ji himself, rarely issues orders, preferring to suggest…” – Price