Talk:Prem Rawat/Teachings (draft)

This is a rough draft only. I have removed some of "Maharaji’s first trip to the West" and placed it in here for chronology. I have removed all of "Claims/Teaching" stuff that should form its own section and added - In his first talks in the West, Prem Rawat explained his basic philosophy - that no human could be God but that God existed within every human being. That getting in touch with this inner experience was the purpose of human life and doing so would provide a constant source of peace and joy for each individual. He said that everyone had this experience inside but that you needed a living teacher to show it to you (see teachings) - as a brief summary. We could treat the 80s and 90s as I have done here.

Establishment in the West

Prem Rawat returned to the U.S in 1972, this time accompanied by his mother and eldest brother, Satpal, and an entourage of mahatmas and other supporters. That year the organization held a multi-day event at Montrose, Colorado at which two thousand people attended. During this time Rawat was the focus of some media attention and publicity generated by the U.S. Divine Light Mission that was formed at Prem Rawat's request in September 1971 in Denver, Colorado (Its headquarters were moved in 1979 to Miami Beach, Florida). The DLM made two feature-length films about him during this period, and Shri Hans Productions released a book of student testimonials and Rawat's lectures, or satsang, entitled Who Is Guru Maharaj ji? published by Bantam Books. The organization booked the Houston Astrodome for a three-day gathering and several thousand of his students in November 1973, coinciding with Shri Hans's birthday and called "Millennium '73". Reporters in attendance estimated various days' attendance at between seven and twenty thousand. Rennie Davis, a former member of the Chicago Seven, was a prominent spokesman for the group at that event. Jesus freaks, Hare Krishnas, Jews for Jesus, and the Family of God staged small protests outside. The event lost $600,000,- for the organization [38] , but Rawat expressed his satisfaction with it. The DLM was reporting that 60,000 individuals were practicing the techniques Knowledge in 1974 in the United Kingdom and "it was a successful movement because it stressed access to the inner world, the attainment of peace and certainty ('never leave room for doubt in your mind'), direct experience of God within and the use of guaranteed methods".[39] The DLM organization coordinated Rawat's subsequent U.S. tours and events. The DLM produced a monthly magazine, And It Is Divine, and a weekly newspaper, Divine Times. It also operated a film and publishing company called Shri Hans Productions, a thrift shop, wholesale electronics firms, aviation and travel services, and a large vegetarian restaurant in New York City. DLM ashrams were established in the early 1970s in major cities in South America, North America, Europe, and Australia.[35] By 1973 there were twenty DLM ashrams in New York City. Those who entered an ashram were required to take a vow of poverty and give over their possessions and any continuing income to the ashram. They also took a vow of chastity and obedience. They performed service, and drinking alcohol and consuming drugs were prohibited. Vegetarianism was encouraged.[36] At that time his teaching was enmeshed in Indian traditions and lifestyle, which he was later to renounce as unnecessary. The practice of Knowledge was called meditation, a term he later changed to distinguish it from other practices and teachings to which the term usually referred. He advised his new followers, who were to a large degree wedded to the drug and hippie culture of the time, that successful practice of Knowledge was incompatible with drug use, and he was widely acknowledged for taking many young people from dependency on drugs.[33] In the first years of his arrival, Prem Rawat received the keys to the cities of New York, New Orleans, Monterey, Oakland, Detroit, Miami and Macon in the United States, and Kyoto, in Japan.[34]

The 1970's

The Western followers who gathered around Prem Rawat in the early 1970s were generally young and were extremely loyal and passionate about his capacity to teach about "Knowledge" and inner peace. Some early followers reportedly claimed that Rawat was God, others that he was an incarnation of God,[41] and others saw him as an inspiring but human teacher. In an autobiographical book by an early student, who was quite involved with the DLM in the 1970s, Sophia Collier writes "In the Divine Light Mission there are two groups of people.There are those who sincerely believe that Guru Maharaj Ji is the Lord of Creation here in the flesh to save the world. And then there are those who know him a little better than that. They relate to him in a more human way... to them he is more of a teacher, a guide, a co-conspirator in their personal pursuit of a more heavenly way of life". She writes that "though Maharaj Ji did not make a definitive statement on his own divinty, he generally encouraged whatever view was held by the people he was with.[42] In his first talks in the West, Prem Rawat explained his basic philosophy - that no human could be God but that God existed within every human being. That getting in touch with this inner experience was the purpose of human life and doing so would provide a constant source of peace and joy for each individual. He said that everyone had this experience inside but that you needed a living teacher to show it to you ( see teachings) In May 1974 at age sixteen Prem Rawat married Marolyn Johnson, twenty-five year old flight attendant and one of his early American students [69]. The marriage to a Westerner apparently precipitated a rift between Prem and his mother. A period of intense conflict in 1974 between Rawat and his mother and brother ensued. At that time Rawat took control of the Western DLM away from them, and his mother disowned him and returned to India with two of his brothers. According to a report in the People magazine (June 16, 1975), she announced that his son was corrupted by Western ways, strayed from the holy Hindu path and claimed he drank alcohol, ate meat and visited night clubs. She managed through legal actions to appoint the eldest brother, Satpal, as leader of the DLM in India. The other two brothers split in allegiance, one siding with Prem and one siding with Satpal. Most of the mahatmas in the West either returned to India with his mother or were fired. In 1982 Rawat commented to the press on the family rift, saying "They live in India and I think [my mother] was upset that I married a foreigner. She thought I had married out of my caste or something like that."[71] Rawat toured extensively in the ‘70s visiting 24 countries from Swaziland to Japan.