After Prem Rawat's first arrival in the United Kingdom and United States in 1971 at the age of thirteen and through the 1970s he, his students and his organizations attracted media scrutiny and attention. Examples of articles appearing in the mainstream press in that decade include a 1974 article in Rolling Stone magazine and a 1979 article in the New York Review of Books.[1][2] In 1973, the 50-member public relations team of the Divine Light Mission who met to talk about the guru's image, concluded that he was seen as a "fat 15-year-old with pie in his face ... and a Rolls-Royce ... who was arrested for jewel smuggling", and pointed at the necessity to establish his credibility beyond his age and body shape.[3]
Draft 1 (v. 3)
===Media perceptions===
From the early 1970s Rawat's movement received press coverage as well by establishment mass media as by youth movement sources.[4] Establishment mass media publications included those by Newsweek in August 1971[5] and by Time in November 1972.[6] According to sociologist Pilarzyk the youth culture's response, apparent from mostly leftist youth culture publications, was ambiguous, combining indifference with some instances of overt hostility. Pilarzyk mentioned that these criticisms usually focused on the alleged phoniness of the "blissed-out premies", the "hocuspocus" aspects of the meditation, and the "materialistic fixations" and the physical condition of the guru, most of these accounts quite negative and full of distortions from the DLM's point of view, though there were positive comments from such youth culture "folk heroes" as anti-war activist as Rev. Daniel Berrigan, radical lawyer William Kunstler, and singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. The sociologist indicates that the response by DLM adherents to the negative reports varied from bewilderment and amusement to extreme defensiveness.[4] For the UK, Price mentions Rawat's habit of arriving late, or not at all, for public programmes as a certain factor in his receiving an increasingly hostile press coverage during the first two and a half years after the mission had been established in that country.[7] In the 1970s and early 1980s, the movement had its own printed media, for instance in the United States the magazines Divine Times, And It Is Divine,[4] and Élan Vital,[8] and a first biography of Rawat published in 1973.[9]
The Detroit pieing incident was widely reported in U.S. media.[10][11][12][13][14] A few months later, members of the Mission's public relations staff, which numbered more than 50, met to talk about the guru's image, concluding he was seen as a "fat 15-year-old with pie in his face ... and a Rolls-Royce ... who was arrested for jewel smuggling."[15] At the meeting the PR staff members were told to bring disbelievers past the point where they looked at the guru's body and age as a measure of his credibility.[15] In a December 1973 article for the New York Review of Books, Francine du Plessix Gray names several reporters she met at Millennium '73: Ken Kelley covering the events for Ramparts, Marjoe Gortner for Oui, and Paul Krassner editor of The Realist.[12][16][17][18] At a press conference held on the second day of the event, Richard Levine reporting for Rolling Stone noted that Rawat was clearly accustomed to more respectful attention than he had been getting from the press, appearing tense and hostile throughout the questioning.[19] According to Paul Goldsmith in Crawdaddy, "An NBC cameraman [...] was telling [...] what the press generally thought: namely, that the Guru was a sham, [...]"[20] Late November 1973 Rawat was interviewed on the The Merv Griffin Show.[21]Lord of the Universe, the film made about Millennium '73, was aired on national television in the U.S. in February 1974.[22][23][24] It showed a Newsweek correspondent inviting Rawat to level with the press, to which Rawat answered he sees himself on a mission to accomplish peace in the world.[25]
Gradually the movement withdrew from the public scene.[8] The press continued with reports about the financial deficit of Millennium 73,{ref re-use} the family rift,{ref re-use} Rawat's marriage,{ref re-use} and the Malibu estate and heliport.{ref re-use}[26][27] In an April 1975 press conference held in Lucknow, Rawat was questioned about the family split.[28] The summer 1976 issue of And It Is Divine announced it needed more of a "very conscious focus on Guru Maharaj Ji", and would stop experiments of providing "non-Knowledge oriented material".[29] By the end of the decade the movement had almost disappeared from public view in the United States, apart from some reports about the defection of significant former adherents.[8] Around the mid-80s Rawat ordered all the movement's materials to be destroyed, including magazines and photos - materials where he promoted himself as a divine being.[30] Rawat prided himself to have gone under the radar of the press: at a speaking engagement in the late 80s he said what a great achievement it was that when newspapers published lists of cults, they no longer included him.[30] Only by the turn of the century Rawat again received some media attention.[31][32] By then there was some presence in the new media: former followers had started several websites devoted to their erstwhile idol, followed by several websites from Rawat and his organizations.[33][34][35][30][36] In the early 21st century niche glossy magazines published interviews and other Rawat-related articles in several languages.[37]Words of Peace, a television series based on texts by Rawat broadcast from 2003 across several continents, was awarded in Brazil.[38][39][40] A new biography, mainly distributed via on-line sales, appeared in 2007.[28] On-line media started questioning the role people connected to Rawat or his organizations played regarding his media image.[30]
Draft 2
===Media perceptions===
In the early 1970s, Rawat's movement received coverage from both the establishment mass media and the youth movement press. Establishment publications included Newsweek in August 1971 and Time in November 1972.[6] According to sociologist Pilarzyk, the mostly leftist youth culture’s response was ambiguous; indifference mixed with some overt hostility. The "blissed-out premies" were seen as phony and the meditation as "hocus-pocus". The guru was seen as having "materialistic fixations," and his physical condition drew negative comment. Positive commentary came from such youth culture figures as anti-war activist Rev. Daniel Berrigan, radical lawyer William Kunstler, and singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. Pilarzyk writes that the response by DLM adherents to the negative remarks varied from bewilderment and amusement to extreme defensiveness.[4] For the UK, Price states that Rawat had a habit of arriving late, or not at all, at public programs, and that this was a factor in his increasingly hostile press coverage during the first two and a half years after the mission was established in that country.[7] In the 1970s and early 1980s, the movement had its own printed media. In the United States there were the magazines Divine Times, And It Is Divine[4] and Élan Vital,[8] and a first biography of Rawat published in 1973.[9]
Shortly before the Millennium '73 event, more than 50 members of the Mission's public relations staff met, and concluded that his age, his body weight, the pie incident, his Rolls Royce and the jewel smuggling furore had all impacted negatively on his public image.[15] In a December 1973 article for the New York Review of Books, Francine du Plessix Gray names several reporters that attended the Millennium '73 event: Ken Kelley covering the events for Ramparts, Marjoe Gortner for Oui, and Paul Krassner for The Realist.[41] In late November 1973, Rawat was interviewed on the The Merv Griffin Show.[42] In February 1974, Lord of the Universe, a film about Millennium '73, was aired on U.S. television.[23][24] In the movie, Rawat tells a Newsweek correspondent that he sees himself on a mission to accomplish peace in the world. Pat Halley, the journalist who pied Rawat in August 1973, also tells his story.[43]
Gradually the movement withdrew from the public scene.[8] The press published more reports about the financial deficit of Millennium 73,{ref re-use} the family rift,{ref re-use} Rawat's marriage,{ref re-use} and the Malibu estate and heliport.{ref re-use} The summer 1976 issue of And It Is Divine announced it needed a "very conscious focus on Guru Maharaj Ji", and would stop experiments of providing "non-Knowledge oriented material".[44] By the end of the decade the movement had almost disappeared from public view in the United States, apart from some reports about the defection of significant former adherents.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).[32] By then there was some presence in the new media: some ex-followers had started websites devoted to their former guru, and several websites from Rawat and his organizations and many sites by his students followed.[33][34][35][30][45] In the early 21st century, magazines published interviews and other Rawat-related articles in several languages.[37]Words of Peace, a television series based on speeches by Rawat, was broadcast across several continents, and received a Brazilian award.[46][47][48] A new biography, Peace is Possible, by Andrea Cagan, mainly distributed via on-line sales, appeared in 2007.[28] In July 2008, YouTube showed 814 returns for the title Prem Rawat and 858 for Maharaji.
Draft 3
===Media perceptions===
In the early 1970s, Rawat's movement received coverage from both the establishment mass media and the youth movement press. Establishment publications included Newsweek in August 1971 and Time in November 1972.[6] According to sociologist Pilarzyk, the mostly leftist youth culture’s response was ambiguous; indifference mixed with some overt hostility. The "blissed-out premies" were seen as phony, and the meditation as "hocus-pocus". The guru was seen as having "materialistic fixations," and his physical condition drew negative comment. Positive commentary came from such youth culture figures as anti-war activist Rev. Daniel Berrigan, radical lawyer William Kunstler, and singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. Pilarzyk writes that the response by DLM adherents to the negative remarks varied from bewilderment and amusement to extreme defensiveness.[4] In the UK, the sociologist Maeve Price stated that Rawat had a habit of arriving late, or not at all, at public programs, and that this was a factor in his increasingly hostile press coverage during the first two and a half years of the mission's establishment in that country.[7] In the 1970s and early 1980s, the movement had its own printed media. In the United States there were the magazines Divine Times, And It Is Divine[4] and Élan Vital,[8] and a first biography of Rawat published in 1973.[9]
Shortly before the Millennium '73 event, more than 50 members of the Mission's public relations staff met, and concluded that his age, his body weight, the pie incident, his Rolls Royce and the jewel smuggling furore had all impacted negatively on his public image.[15] In late November 1973, Rawat was interviewed on the The Merv Griffin Show.[49] In February 1974, Lord of the Universe, a film about Millennium '73, was aired on U.S. television.[23][24] In the movie, Rawat tells a Newsweek correspondent that he sees himself on a mission to accomplish peace in the world. Pat Halley, the journalist who pied Rawat in August 1973, also tells his story.[50]
Gradually the movement withdrew from the public scene.[8] The press published more reports about the financial deficit of Millennium 73,{ref re-use} the family rift,{ref re-use} Rawat's marriage,{ref re-use} and the Malibu estate and heliport.{ref re-use} The summer 1976 issue of And It Is Divine announced it needed a "very conscious focus on Guru Maharaj Ji", and would stop experiments of providing "non-Knowledge oriented material".[51] By the end of the decade the movement had almost disappeared from public view in the United States, apart from some reports about the defection of significant former adherents.Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).[32] By the late 90s then there was some presence in the new media: some ex-followers had started websites devoted to their former guru, and several websites from Rawat and his organizations and many sites by his students followed.[33][34][35][30] In the early 21st century, magazines published interviews and other Rawat-related articles in several languages.[37]Words of Peace, a television series based on speeches by Rawat, was broadcast across several continents, and received a Brazilian award.[52][53][54] A new biography, Peace is Possible, by Andrea Cagan, mainly sold on-line, appeared in 2007.[28] In July 2008, YouTube showed 814 returns for the title Prem Rawat and 858 for Maharaji.
References
^Rolling Stone Magazine. The Seventies: A Tumultous Decade Reconsidered. Rolling Stones Press, 1998. p. 102, ISBN0-316-75914-7
^du Plessix Gray, Francine. Blissing out in Houston. The New York Review of Books. vol.20, no. 20 (December 13, 1973) [1]
^"The Guru Who Minds His Mother", MALCOLM N. CARTER. Associated Press THE STARS AND STRIPES, November 4, 1973 Page A6
^ abcdefgPilarzyk, Thomas. "The Origin, Development, and Decline of a Youth Culture Religion: An Application of Sectarianization Theory" in Review of Religious Research. Fall 1978, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 23-43. At JSTOR Abstract: In this paper Wallis' theory of sectarianization is applied to data collected on the Divine Light Mission, a contemporary cultic movement of the American youth culture. Its development is discussed in terms of intra-organizational changes within the social context of American pluralism. The movement's short history to date largely substantiates Wallis' writings concerning the effects of cultic fragility, sectarianizing strategies and organizational constraints on movement development. The paper contributes to recent conceptual writings within the sociology of religion on youth culture movements in modern Western societies.
Last August 7 Pat Haley, a reporter from Detroit's underground newspaper The Fifth Estate, threw a shaving cream pie in the Guru Maharaj Ji's face. 'I always wanted to throw a pie in God's face,' Haley joked afterward. A week later Haley was beaten to within an inch of his life.
^Schafer, Len. "'God' Gets Pie In Face" in Fifth Estate Vol. 8 No. 10. August 18-31, 1973.
^Kelley, Ken. "I See The Light: In which a young journalist pushes a cream pie into the face of His Divine Fatness and gets his skull cracked open by two disciples" in Penthouse. July 1974, pp. 98-100, 137-138, 146, 148, 150-151.
^ abcO'Connor, John J. "TV: Meditating on Young Guru and His Followers: Maharaj Ji Is Focus of P.B.S. Documentary: Astrodome Gathering Yields Splendid Show" in New York Times. February 25, 1974, p. 53. At NYT archiveCite error: The named reference "NYT1974-02-25" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ abcMather, George; Nichols, Larry A.; Schmidt, Alvin J. "ELAN VITAL / DIVINE LIGHT MISSION" in Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, and World Religions: Revised and Updated Edition. Zondervan, August 1, 2006, ISBN0310239540
The following article will put forward the argument that it is necessary to take into account the worldview of the insider in order to appreciate the coherence or “rationality” of actions of a religious spiritual teacher or organization. As a case study, the article examines the transformations that have occurred in the organizational forms utilized by Prem Rawat (a.k.a. Maharaji). While bringing readers up to date with Maharaji's activities since the 1980s, I argue that these developments owe more to Maharaji's self-perception of his role as a master and his wish to universalize the message historically located in the teachings of individual sant iconoclasts, than to external or internal pressures brought to bear upon the organizational forms themselves.
