Worship Of a Divine Child
The 1960s and early 1970s saw numbers of Indian 'gurus' extend their following to Europe, the Americas and Australasia, Prem Rawat was one of those 'gurus'. What sets Prem Rawat apart from the likes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Sai Baba and Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh (Osho) is that his mission commenced when he was just a child and that he inherited a ready made religious vehicle for his activities - the Divine Light Mission. And unlike most other Indian 'teachers' Prem Rawat has subsequently sought to energetically recast his mission in a western style.
Prem Rawat was born near Hardwar in northern India in 1957, the youngest of four brothers. His father, Hans Ji Maharaj, was a well-known guru who revealed four techniques of meditation which he called 'the Knowledge'. (The techniques were 'divine light', 'music', 'primordial vibration' and 'nectar'.)
On his father's death in 1966, and after a short power struggle within the Rawat family, the eight-year-old Prem was vested with the crown of Krishna (the most famous incarnation of Hinduism), and given his father's honorific title of Guru Maharaj Ji. He then pronounced himself "Lord of the Universe".
Prem Rawat inherited from his father at least a million devotees, known as premies, a word meaning 'giver of love' in Hindi. The majority of Rawat's current devotees - probably more than 100,000 - live in India to this day. There Prem Rawat is still known as Guru Maharaj Ji, and continues to promote himself in distinctly religious terms.
As a child Prem Rawat was precocious, apparently possessing a high technical intelligence. He was, (and remains) a confident public speaker. At the age of 12 in 1970, he addressed one million people in Delhi - one of the largest rallies ever held in the world. Here he proclaimed his divinity, and that he had come to deliver India from its materialism. Even today, this 'Peace Bomb' is seen by many as the seminal expression of Prem Rawat's message.
In mid 1971, Prem Rawat visited the West for the first time - travelling to the UK and then on to California and Colorado in the US. Young people flocked to hear his message of inner peace via the 'Knowledge'. After this first foray to the west Rawat returned to India to continue his schooling.
Prem Rawat's organization, Divine Light Mission, was transplanted from India and centres sprang up across the West. Its effective global headquarters was established in Denver, Colorado. Rawat's senior Indian disciples - saffron robed 'mahatmas', were sent to support the fledgling western Divine Light Mission and a system of ashrams - houses where Rawat's followers lived communally in a Hindu style of monasticism - was instigated.
At age 14, against his mother's wishes Prem Rawat left school and in 1972 once again travelled westward where he attracted huge numbers of aspiring followers. At a single event in Montrose, Colorado, 2000 people were initiated into the 'Knowledge'. There was considerable media interest in the 'teenage guru', though much of it drew sceptical attention to the luxury that was being heaped upon the young Rawat.
In mid 1973, Prem Rawat stated that his coming November gathering at the Houston Astrodome - Millennium 73 - would be "the most holy and significant event in human history". This was Prem Rawat's first international program. In the end, Millennium attracted only 15,000 of the planned 144,000 attendees. Despite the abysmal failure of Millenium 73, Rawat continued to attract large numbers of new followers thanks to energetic propagation by those already committed to the western Divine Light Mission.
By 1974, Prem Rawat was living in a luxury property, at Malibu Beach, California, this mansion was apparently in the ownership of DLM Inc. although following the financial restructuring of 1975/6 it came to be owned by SEVA Corporation of America. In the same year, at the age of 16, Rawat married an airline stewardess from San Diego named Marolyn Johnson. As a result this marriage there was a second family schism and Prem Rawat was denounced by his mother and two older brothers. The eldest brother, Bal Bhagwan Ji, now (Satpal Maharaj), after being ceremonially crowned by his mother, set himself up as the 'true' Guru Maharaji and rightful inheritor of the mantle of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, the Rawat brothers' late father.
In 1975/6 the relationship between Prem Rawat and the US Divine Light Mission was radically altered with consequences for the movement world wide. In response to an impending IRS audit of DLM, which was registered as a tax exempt church, considerable assets held by the church was transferred to Rawat's personal possession. Additionally Rawat ceased to be named as having any personal interest in the US Divine Light Mission.
Although no published figures exist, at some point in the mid 1970s the number of new followers ceased to grow and the numbers leaving the movement increased. The source of this disaffection is not well established however a progressive disenchantment with both Prem Rawat and the Divine Light Mission organization seems to have played a role.
Following the legal changes which saw Prem Rawat gain control of substantial personal wealth, in 1977 he embarked on a reassertion of his role as Guru, restating the importance of devotion to the 'teacher' in the Hindu Bhakti tradition. As part of this restatement of devotion, the ashram system was reinvigorated after a period of apparent decline, a more restrictive set of rules were imposed and all of Rawat's followers were subject to stronger encouragement to enter the ashram system.
The DECA project, begun in 1979 was set up to provide Prem Rawat with a customized Boeing 707 for his personal use. As an adjunct to the ashram system, DECA was reliant on unpaid labour and donated funds; the business model that developed within DECA served as the basis for subsequent projects designed to benefit Prem Rawat.
In 1982 without prior warning, Prem Rawat announced that the Divine Light Mission ashrams would close, the abruptness of the announcement was matched by the rapidity of the closure programme which was complete by the end of 1983. This period was marked by a sense of crisis in the wider movement, a reflection of the ongoing difficulties Rawat was experiencing in his personal life. The DUO ashrams in India were treated separately and remain to this day as largely monastic in character.
In the years following the end of the ashrams Prem Rawat sought to progressively recast the western Divine Light Mission - even changing the name to Elan Vital - as a non religious organization. Whilst still relying largely on volunteers, the Divine Light Missions and Elan Vital's based outside India took on a more global corporate veneer. The public presentation of Prem Rawat's message was revised drastically, becoming almost entirely secular. Thereafter, Rawat confined his claim of divinity to India, and to 'in-house' gatherings in the West
Following the mid 1980s 'image change', Prem Rawat embarked on a series of world tours, visiting major cities to speak at events attended by devotees and newly interested people, a pattern of activity that continues to this day. An accomplished pilot, Rawat flies a Grumman Gulfstream G5, assisted by a co-pilot, this is his preferred form of travel.
Initiation into the 'Knowledge' continued through the 1980s and 1990s, although the number of new recruits failed to replace the tens of thousands of followers who abandoned the Rawat movement from 1975 onwards. The adult Prem Rawat had a very low public profile until the growth of the Internet saw the arrival of websites created by critical followers. Since 1996, the ensuing claims of scandal and financial malfeasance have caused a steady stream of former followers to part company with Rawat and the Elan Vital organizations.
In the late 1990s, Rawat's international birthday gatherings in Long Beach, California, drew roughly eight thousand people annually. An indication of the decline in numbers is that from 1971 to 1974, between 50,000 and 60,000 people were initiated into the 'Knowledge' in Denver, Colorado alone.
Prem Rawat has developed renewed interest in India and has been touring regularly since 1998 and while he has failed to recreate the one million attendee events, frequent attendance of 100,000 is claimed by The Prem Rawat Foundation.
Rawat recently described his ex-premie detractors as "matchsticks that did not quite light", who "should not have received Knowledge - they came for something else".
Prem Rawat still lives at Malibu Beach. The assets available for his personal use exceed $US 75 million, these are held via a number of administrative companies - primarily via SEVA Corporation of America. He continues to announce on five continents that he can relieve people of their suffering through the four meditation techniques.
Recently he has begun for the first time to refer to himself publicly as Prem Rawat, which is his legal name.
His addresses are recorded on DVDs, and shown around the world at small public venues as well as being made available to individuals, while increasing use is being made of direct, satellite transmission of Rawat speaking.
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