Prem Rawat (Maharaji) and Ram(a) Are One And The Same
Rama (or Ramacandra) is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. His adventures, notably the slaying of the demon king Ravana, are recounted in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata and in the Ramayana, the oldest Sanskrit epic, written sometime in the 5th century BCE but with some later additions.
Prem Rawat mostly mentions Ram in passing as one of the prior Perfect Masters in his "authorised" lineage of Incarnations of God who include Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Swarupanand (his father's guru), his father Shri Hans Rawat and others of that ilk. In the late 1970's Rawat often used a story of Hanuman and Ram when he began to stress devotion to Himself as being the Supreme experience of life and downgrading liberation and enlightenment. Devotion to a guru or Master is easily attained, there are thousands of Masters and millions of devotees. Liberation is extremely difficult if it is even possible.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 10, 1979 -- Evening
Yet remember one thing: that that Guru Maharaj Ji, who is creator, who is the Sustainer, and who is the Destroyer, has love enough for his devotees to come onto this Earth for his devotees; then absolutely, unquestionably, there are no bounds to what can happen. All we have to do is to become that devotee, to have that devotion. That's all: that faith, that surrender, to Guru Maharaj Ji, that love that is sincere, that comes from our hearts for Guru Maharaj Ji. Not in our imagination, but in reality. If we can become a devotee … If there is Guru Maharaj Ji and then a devotee, when they join, then there is devotion. And it is said that
when that happens, when Guru Maharaj Ji and a devotee are bound together by devotion, then the purpose of that soul that devotee has been completed. That's it. There is no more to be done. There is nothing left to be done. It has received the stage beyond liberation. It has received, it has joined, it has merged in the state which is beyond, above and beyond - joined its Creator. It has joined its Owner. It has joined where it came from; it has joined back to its own. … When Hanuman and Ram were there, Ram asks Hanuman, "Okay, I grant you a boon. Ask what you would like to ask. Would you like something? Would you like salvation? Would you like liberation?" And all Hanuman could say was, "What am I going to do with salvation? What am I going to do up there? I want to be
with you. That's where I shall find my salvation, that's where I shall find my liberation: in your Feet."
Affinity, February 1980
Cancun, Mexico, January 16, 1980
That's exactly the thing with devotion. Devotion is that connection that all those devotees at that time of Jesus had to him, that Arjun had to Krishna, that Hanuman had to Ram. It's that link between what that Master comes in this world for and what we are here for. It's that ultimate link. That's the devotion. That is devotion. When we try to take our concepts again and somehow monkey it all up, with our devotion - take our concepts, fake our devotion and try to lay our concepts on top of the devotion - it doesn't work. It doesn't work for any of us. Because, again, it has to be sincere. It has to be the point of surrender. It has to be to the point of that clarity where you can understand, where you can see, where it's beyond ego, where it's beyond doubt.
Affinity, June 1980