The Holy Family

The garland is never broken. There is always a Perfect Master on this earth. He is born of the longings of men's hearts, he goes forth to remove the sufferings of all who come to him, and his gift is the Knowledge of God.

Born in the town of Badrinath, in the mountainous area of northern India, Yogiraj Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj came to this world with perfect Knowledge of God, for he was to be the Perfect Master of his time.

Even as a child, Shri Maharaj Ji's divine nature was already apparent. He used to go with his companions down to a peaceful river to bathe, far removed from the company of the world. There he would sit perfectly still and listen to the celestial harmony that is being played by God in every atom of the universe. At times, his young friends would join Shri Maharaj Ji by the river. Together they would play and bathe and then sit on the bank, not speaking, each boy lost in his own dreams. It was then that the young Shri Maharaj Ji would play a favorite game. To each boy he would give a vision, sometimes of a great city, sometimes of God, to each according to his wish. They did not know the source of these wonderful visions, nor did they care.

Prem Rawat's Father Hans Rawat I am the birthless, the deathless
Lord of all that breathes.
In every age I come in human form
To deliver the holy,
To remove unrighteousness,
And to establish righteousness.

-Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita.

While still in early youth, Shri Maharaj Ji donned the peasant garb of 'dhoti' and 'kurta,' and left the stately home of his birth to search out the living Perfect Master. The Satguru knew that he was coming.

It was the season of monsoons. Shri Maharaj Ji came across a mighty river where usually only a small stream flowed. He attempted to ford it, but his strength was no match for such a swift current, and Shri Maharaj Ji was swept away. Suddenly, as if by a hand from heaven, his body was lifted from the rushing water and placed gently on shore. Beside him sat a man, peacefully gazing at the river.

"What do you want?" the man asked. "I want to find the Perfect Master," Shri Maharaj Ji replied, where upon he was given detailed directions to the home of one Swami Sarupanand Ji Maharaj. When he had finished giving Shri Maharaj Ji the instructions, the man disappeared.

For many days, Shri Maharaj Ji followed the directions. Bitterly cold weather and endless rains made his journey almost impossible, but he continued nonetheless. Finally reaching his destination, Shri Maharaj Ji knocked upon the door. It was opened by the man at the river.

The Satguru implored Shri Maharaj Ji to come into his home and to take food and warm clothing. "I cannot take from you," replied Shri Maharaj Ji. "I have come to serve you."

One week later, Swami Sarupanand Ji formally bestowed the Knowledge upon Shri Maharaj Ji. Thus Shri Maharaj Ji, like Christ and Krishna, Buddha and Moses before him, came to the feet of the Perfect One to serve him, and to receive Knowledge. For, filled with truth as these great saints all were, they nevertheless gave an example to all humanity, showing by their actions that only in service and dedication to the Guru can real peace be obtained.

That very day, Shri Maharaj Ji sat in meditation for twenty-four hours, experiencing his perfect union with God. At that time his body was enveloped in light.

Returning to the Satguru's dwelling place, Shri Maharaj dedicated himself to service. Up until this time, all of his actions had but one purpose: to give an example to the world. Now

Prem Rawat's Holy Family 1972
He continued that purpose by humbling himself at the feet of Swami Sarupanand Ji and rendering to the Perfect Master desireless service and boundless love.

At the time of leaving his mortal body, Shri Sarupanand Ji proclaimed Shri Maharaj Ji to be the next Satguru. With each successive age, the Divine Spirit is manifesting in greater glory. Shri Maharaj Ji declared, "Lord Ram was an incarnation of God, but he came with only fourteen powers. Lord Krishna was an incarnation of God, having sixteen types of divine powers. But this time I have come with all divine powers." Shri Maharaj Ji's first disciple was found as the result of a nail. Maharaj Ji had taken his shoe to a cobbler to be repaired. When he and a friend returned to the shop and Shri Maharaj Ji put the shoes on, a nail was sticking through one sole into his foot.

"Why did you not fix the shoe?" asked the Master. "You are such a poor cobbler that I should kick you beyond the three worlds of men."

Leaving the shop, Shri Maharaj Ji and his companion got into a horsedrawn cart. The other man asked, "How can you kick someone beyond the three worlds?"

"Do you want to go there?"

"Yes!" exclaimed the man, for he knew that beyond the world of the lazy, the world of the ambitious, and the world of balanced men, lies perfect freedom.

Thereupon, Shri Maharaj Ji took his cloth and covered them both. Laying his hands upon the man, the Master bestowed direct Knowledge of God. That man went and brought all of his family and friends to the feet of Shri Maharaj Ji. He is still serving Guru Maharaj Ji today.

Shri Maharaj Ji's mission spread quickly to all parts of India and the neighboring countries. From Punjab to Calcutta, throughout Nepal and Kashmir, seekers of the light found their rest at the holy feet of Shri Maharaj Ji. At an annual fair in Delhi, devotees brought a beautiful stallion for the Satguru to ride so that the people of Delhi would have the chance to behold him. To cries of "Who is he? …. Why has he come?" Shri Maharaj Ji rode throughout the fairgrounds. All other activities ceased as the one million people who were attending the fair crowded around him, demanding that he speak to them of his Knowledge of God.

Said Shri Maharaj Ji, "Look at modern society with all its good laws and civilization, its scientific innovations and its conquest of nature. All these represent attempts by mankind to find happiness. But we can see by looking around us that their actual results are only unrest and unhappiness, anxiety and frustration. Real happiness has not been obtained; peace has not been found; and suffering has not been removed. Instead a situation has arisen where the very existence of the human race is threatened. Man, who before was so confident, is now bewildered by his own failure; and he is looking around himself not knowing what to do next." And then he told them of Knowledge and the way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven within.

It was raining heavily and Shri Maharaj Ji asked again and again that the people return to their homes and take shelter. But no one would go. To hearts that have for lifetimes been drowning in an ocean of pain it matters little that the body is cold and damp. Especially when the sun himself had come to stand before them, come to end their bitter tears and to give their hearts peace. And so the people of Delhi stayed and were warmed in the radiance of God's servant.

There were riots in India that year. But in the houses of Shri Maharaj Ji's lovers, perfect peace reigned, for living there were souls that were united with the source of happiness itself. Everywhere Shri Maharaj ii went, townspeople would close their shops and farmers set down their ploughs to go and listen to this saint so full of wisdom and humility. The pure love which shone in the faces of the Satguru and those to whom he gave the precious Knowledge proved irresistible even among the skeptical city-dwellers of Delhi. But at one crowded program there was a man whose joy surpassed all the others.

His name was Nana Ji and he had come to Delhi on business. Chancing upon the assembly of people and hearing the strong voice of Shri Maharaj Ji, he drew closer. As he listened, he looked. And then he looked again. Drawing a small portrait from his pocket, he stared at it and then at Shri Maharaj Ji, a tremendous smile breaking over his face.

Nana Ji lived in the small village of Gadwalis. There he had left his fifteen-year-old daughter. She was a bright and beautiful child, who loved to run barefoot in the fields, playing with her friends.

Two years earlier, this young girt had had a dream in which she saw a man, quite a bit older than herself, speaking to a large gathering. The man was so striking that she related her dream to her father the next day and stated, "This is the man I will marry - no other. You must find this person."

Nana Ji had an artist come and draw a portrait of his daughter's dream-husband. With her approval of its accuracy, he carried it wherever he went. That portrait and the man who was speaking were identical.

After the program, Nana Ji made his way over to Shri Maharaj Ji. He explained his situation and asked Maharaj Ji to take his daughter in marriage. To everyone's surprise, Shri Maharaj Ji accepted, for he had been waiting for this invitation.

When his Perfect Master, Swami Sarupanand Ji, was still alive he

Prem Rawat's Mother had told Shri Maharaj Ji that he would remarry. Maharaj Ji had argued, "How shall I know her? I can't go out looking for her." Sarupanand Ji promised that she would approach him. From this marriage, Shri Maharaj Ji was told, would come four sons who would bring the Knowledge of truth to the four corners of the earth.

The marriage was arranged. On her wedding day, a dazzlingly bejeweled Mata Ji glimpsed her beloved for the first time. She gazed upon a handsome, statuesque man sitting regally upon a white horse, wearing a most beautiful crown. There was such joy in the hearts of all the villagers and devotees that day! Words cannot describe this occasion as the Lord, taking his holy wife, rode together in love's full radiance at the head of the wedding procession. Swami Sarupanand's prophecy was fulfilled.

At the time of her marriage, Mata Ji had not received the Knowledge which was the life of Shri Maharaj Ji. Though she was completely devoted to him as her husband, she did not understand the full meaning of their union until she learned the Holy Word and recognized her inner connection with him as her Perfect Master.

Shortly after his marriage to Mata Ji, Shri Maharaj Ji had to travel to Delhi to give satsang to the people there. Leaving Mata Ji at Prem Nagar, Shri Maharaj Ji said, "I will return in a few days." Mahatma Satyanand Ji was instructed to take care of Mata Ji until the Satguru returned.

Weeks and months passed, but Shri Maharaj Ji did not come back to Prem Nagar. Mata Ji became very worried and asked everyone, "Where is my Shri Maharaj Ji?" but no one knew. Just as Mata Ji was about to send Mahatma Satyanand Ji in search of her husband, the postman arrived with a telegram. It was from Shri Maharaj Ji. He was still in Delhi, giving satsang.

The Satguru had become so immersed in satsang that he had lost all sense of time. When, after six months, Shri Maharaj Ji returned, he said to Mata Ji, "When I see my devotees, their love is so great that I forget the passing of day and night."

Mata Ji laughed and said, "You love your devotees more than us. That's why you forgot." Shri Maharaj Ji smiled.

At one time Shri Maharaj Ji said to Mata Ji, "You are dearer to me than my life breath," and although he was to give her such love that without his presence she would weep for days, still he had to leave. His own Satguru had instructed him to go throughout India in order to end the suffering of thousands upon thousands of human beings. How then could he forget his duty?

I For months at a time only through meditation upon the Holy Name of God could Mata Ji and Shri Maharaj Ji be united. All the world craved the love which he had come to manifest. It was a favorite analogy of Shri Maharaj Ji that just as one thread binds together so many flowers in a garland, so the truth will unite mankind. Seekers from every caste and every religion came to abide as little children at Shri Maharaj Ji's feet. As always the pure in heart were drawn to his presence. High government officials attended his discourses seated next to country housewives. Through Shri Maharaj Ji's Knowledge Hindus and Christians, Muslims and Sikhs saw beyond the differences of religion to the realization that all sects belong to God, not He to them. Still some of the more prestigious followers of Shri Maharaj Ji were becoming upset. They thought that the Master spent entirely too much time among the lower castes, the 'untouchables' of society. Shri Maharaj ii would always explain that God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. He knows the pain of all his children; he is existing in each of them equally, waiting to be recognized, and his unbounded power cannot be corrupted by the touch of any man.

Shri Maharaj Ji would smile softly and tell his disciples of Lord Jesus who was born in a manger among sheep and cows; of Lord Rama, and how he would not take rest in the homes of the learned priests, but preferred to sleep in the cottage of Shabari, a humble servant girl; and of Guru Nanak who took a dry crust of bread from a true disciple and refused a sumptuous meal from a man of high station and higher pride. "God's sun," Shri Maharaj Ji would say, "shines on everyone, and His waters quench the thirst of all who drink. At the feet of the Perfect Master, there is no one who is great and no one who is lowly. There is only the eternal game of Father and Child, Giver and Receiver, Lover and Beloved." Shri Maharaj Ji's task was to break down all barriers which separate the children of God. He came to topple the walls of Jericho around the hearts of men.

Once Maharaj Ji was invited to Simla by a Brahmin disciple. A Brahmin is a member of the highest caste in India. Many people gathered in his house to hear Maharaj Ji. For three days Shri Maharaj Ji discussed the Holy Name of God and the oneness of all religions.

In the household of the Brahmin there was a Sudra (low caste) sweeper. He would come every day and sit apart from the crowd quietly listening to the satsang. At last the sweeper approached Shri Maharaj Ji and said, "If this Holy Name is so beneficial, and if the Knowledge of it is one for all, can I be permitted to receive initiation?" Maharaj Ji accepted the sweeper and gave him Knowledge of the Holy Name of God.

When the Brahmin learned that his servant was also a disciple of Maharaj Ji, he became angry. He told the Master that he could not accept the fact that a mere sweeper was allowed to receive Knowledge and pollute the higher castes with his company.

Prem Rawat Maharaj Ji simply answered, "It is not my fault. The blame must be placed on God. For God places divinity in the heart of every man, the Brahmin and the Sudra alike, and there is nothing that I can do to alter the fact."

Cutting through a maze of superstition, ritual and rhetoric, Shri Maharaj Ji led all those who would follow him into the true brotherhood of man.

Meanwhile, Shri Maharaj Ji was raising a family. Mata ji had given him four sons.

The autumnal equinox is that day of the year when the sun has reached its highest point in the sky, and is giving light for the same amount of time to all people. It is the moment of the peak of creation. Mahatma Satyanand Ji, one of the greatest disciples of Shri Maharaj Ji, predicted that the Master's first son would be born on this equinox. So it was that Shri Bal Bhagwan Ji came into this world the very instant the sun reached its zenith on September 21, 1951.

A keenly observant parent can often determine a child's personality at a very early age. With the four Hans children it was not a difficult task. The disciples of Shri Maharaj Ji had constructed a beautiful chariot in which the three-year-old Bal Bhagwan Ji sat. A procession celebrating the child's birthday was to be held with all of Shri Maharaj Ji's disciples parading joyfully through the streets of Delhi.

Above the confusion of hundreds of thousands of people, little Bal Bhagwan Ji watched quietly as crowds pressed so tightly that the chariot came to a halt. A disciple anxiously asked Shri Maharaj Ji if the procession should be discontinued. Shri Maharaj Ji replied, "Let he who is running the procession decide."

Then Bal Bhagwan Ji stood up, and taking a large stick, he began to direct the chariot throng. The chariot moved forward and the parade continued. Onlookers threw flowers from their windows and balconies and all of the people began to sing.

Shri Maharaj Ji's middle two sons were named Raja Ji and Bhole Ji. Their childhood activities also foreshadowed what would later be their roles in the spreading of Knowledge. Little Raja Ji would always break away from the endless games of the boys and go to find someone who would tell him stories. Invariably, the stories he demanded to hear were those of the great servants of the Perfect Master, such as Hanuman or St. John.

There was a young man, Bihari Singh Ji, who would later become such a disciple for Guru Maharaj Ji. Often upon arising early in the morning, the family of Shri Maharaj Ji would find that Raja Ji had gotten up in the middle of the night and gone back to sleep lying at the foot of Bihari Singh Ji's bed. He wanted to be a servant of the servant of the Lord.

As for Bhole Ji, no one could quite figure out what to do with him. He never stopped moving. Almost before he could sit up, Bhole Ji was dancing. Much to everyone's astonishment, he did just that at a festival Mata Ji took him to when he was nine months old.

Young Bhole Ji was constantly gathering the poorer children around him and scattering his toys and food through outreached hands. When at last everyone was happy, he would entertain them with a dance or a lively song played on the tabla. Soon all the children would be dancing, not a sad face in sight.

The youngest of the four sons was called Sant Ji or Prempal, "Savior of Love." At his birth the sky lit up in brilliant colors and a sweet music could be heard all around. It is said that when Sant Ji Maharaj, now known as Guru Maharaj Ji, was an infant, Mata Ji used to walk along the River Ganges, holding the baby in her arms.

But she would not go there too often, for on those occasions the waters of that holy river would rise up and envelop her, almost drowning her. The Ganges would rise just until it touched the feet of Sant Ji and then recede back into its channel. There was a time when Shri Maharaj Ji and his family lived in what is now the sewing room of their residence in India. The house is located in Dehra Dun in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is a magnificent home surrounded by beautiful gardens. In those days, however, it belonged to a queen.

She was a very proud woman, but had actually been only one of several wives to whom the king was married. When the king died, his son banished all the queens but gave each woman a place in which to live. There was one condition, however. Each queen was never to marry again. just outside the window which looked out from the room rented by the Hans family, there grew a patch of very beautiful flowers. Now the queen had fallen in love and knew that she would have to leave her house and sell it back to the prince. The queen's lover saw Maharaj Ji's flowers and said to her, "We should pick these flowers and take them with us." Reluctantly, the queen agreed.

When Shri Maharaj Ji came home, he saw immediately that the flowers were gone. "Who took those flowers!" he shouted in a voice full of anger. The very earth shook at the sound and the Satguru's voice pierced the hearts of everyone within the house.

The queen herself then realized what power resided in Dehra Dun. Trembling, she fell at Shri Maharaj Ji's feet and begged forgiveness for her greed. To prove her sincerity, the queen gave him the house.

Shri Maharaj Ji did not remain with his family for long periods of time. He continued to travel throughout India on foot, horse and bicycle, using any means he could find to spread his message of peace. For the first time in centuries, there

was rejoicing in the homes of hundreds of thousands of India's poor as the divine Knowledge entered their lives. Weeping with joy, they would listen to Shri Maharaj Ji as he sang this song:

Satpal Maharaj aka Bal Bhagwan Rawat O Saints,
I have seen a great wonder.

There is a well in the sky
from which nectar is falling, and a lame man climbs up to it and drinks his fill.

There are gongs ringing,
drums beating, cymbals clashing and trumpets sounding,
yet no one is playing them;
a deaf man listens to them
and dances, beside himself with joy.

There is a palace
built where no world exists,
and it shines with a brilliant light day and night.
A blind man is overcome with joy simply to behold it.

There are living people who die and are brought back to life again. They are full of vitality,
yet they take no food.
Brahmanand has this to say:
Rare and fortunate among holy men are those
who understand my riddle.

For the first time in existence, countless numbers of human beings could understand that ancient song, for they had received the Knowledge and partaken of those splendors. Now their lives were spent in worshipping the Giver. As one disciple of Shri Maharaj Ji said: "Shri Maharaj Ji was a flash of light and the embodiment of love. I fell in love with him at first sight. I found in him the fruition of all my hopes and expectations."

Yet the more Shri Maharaj Ji uplifted the people of India, the more he was attacked. The established religions could not brook someone who was in a position to answer the prayers of their members. They began violently to oppose the mission of Shri Maharaj Ji and to slander his name. Attempts were made to take his life. Those who could experience the Creator directly had no need of chanting, of ornate temples, prayer beads and high priests. Shri Maharaj Ji, like all God-realized souls before him, did not bring to people another rite to perform, another hierarchy of priests who must be fed by their parishioners, or any external substitutes for God. He brought hungry souls back to communion with their Father.

Directly, simply and practically Shri Maharaj Ji's love, his unceasing effort to reach all of India's people with the Knowledge of truth and to inspire his disciples with the same desire and strength, bore fruit in 1960 when he founded Divya Sandesh Parishad or Divine Light Mission. This would not be a new sector religion, but merely a practical means to help spread the Knowledge.

At that time, no one except the Satguru himself could foresee the magnitude of what was being done. Those who had personally experienced the power and glory of God's Infinite Form, seers of that purest light within men, banded together. The divine energy created by their union was to begin a revolution of spirit in every country of the world. Yet only he knew.

And so Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj commanded his close disciples to learn English. There would be no more hiding in the caves of the Himalayas or retiring to a peaceful existence on a small country farm. The sun of divine Knowledge was just barely over the horizon; soon the whole world would be witnessing its first delicate rays. The long, long night was finally over.

Shri Maharaj Ji had not slept during that night. He had been busy preparing the world, gathering together an army of saints. The work of Shri Maharaj Ji was done. Early in the morning of July 19, 1966, Shri Maharaj Ji sat in silent meditation, and in perfect peace he left.

Before leaving his mortal body, Shri Maharaj Ji sent a letter to his family who, as so often in the past were hundreds of miles away. In that letter the Satguru gave infinite prostrations to his youngest son, thus identifying his successor as Satguru, the present Guru Maharaj Ji.

But it was not only Guru Maharaj Ji who had work to do. All of the Hans family would have to carry on the duty of spreading the Knowledge of God. As it was Shri Maharaj Ji's task to take the Knowledge throughout India, so it would be theirs to bring it to all the peoples of the world.

Mata Ji had always been reserved, appearing in public only at the request of Shri Maharaj Ji. At programs, she would sit at the front of the stage listening with the thousands of other devotees. On July 31, 1966, when she first spoke in Maharaj Ji's absence (see her satsang in this issue of And It Is Divine) she insisted that it was only grace that allowed her to address such a large crowd.

Yet through the veil of tears and these moments of distress, Mata Ji's divine role became very clear. She rose above her personal grief and promised the devotees that she would care for her husband's Divine Light Mission and strive to fulfill all his desires.

Then she listened to her eightyear-old son explaining that he had heard a voice which said, "You are he, you are the one to go and take this Knowledge to the world." Weeping tears of joy, Mata Ji knew that her Shri Maharaj Ji had indeed kept his promise that he would never leave her, and her heart filled with great inspiration.

While Sant Ji Maharaj was completing his studies at St. Joseph's

Academy, Mata Ji began traveling all over India actively propagating the Knowledge.

Mata Ji arrived in North America the spring following Guru Maharaj Ji's first visit. People came from as far away as Florida, Denver, and California to welcome her at Toronto's International Airport in May, 1972. Her presence gave pause to one newsman who reflected, "You do not have to believe that Mata Ji is the actual mother of God's earthly incarnation to recognize that she is one very special lady. There is something completed about her presence. She speaks only Hindi, but there is a grace and a merriment about her that filled the room."

It was in this Toronto airport that Mata Ji announced, "I have come to take care of my children." The newsman reports, "And you should have seen them (the devotees) when she said that! They turned their faces toward her like flowers before the sun, they laughed like children beneath a fountain. I have not seen such faces before."

Who can claim to understand what it is to be the wife of a perfect saint and the mother of a child with such divine power that he is completely changing the course of human life? Mata Ji could have been speaking of herself when she said:

"For whom do saints live in the world? For whom does the river flow? To whom does the tree give fruit? For their own sakes? No. Saints, trees, rivers, mountains and earth exist for the good of humanity and the welfare of others."

Meanwhile, Bal Bhagwan Ji came into this world for one purpose, and that is service to the Perfect Master. He served his father and now he is serving Guru Maharaj Ji. As he himself has said:

"Guru Maharaj Ji has served us by giving us hands, limbs, such a good face, our whole body. He served us first and now in turn we have to serve him. See, we are not immortal. We have to use the short span of our life in such a way that not even a moment or even a second is lost in the tempest."

In 1970, it was the nineteen-yearold Bal Bhagwan Ji who was put in charge of coordinating the largest festival ever held. That festival culminated in Guru Maharaj Ji's famous Peace Bomb address before an audience of over one million listeners.

In 1971, he gathered the materials for the World Spiritual Exhibition while at the same time raising the funds to take care of the three hundred Westerners who were coming to spend two months as guests in the Indian ashrams. He also arranged the transportation of the hundreds of thousands of disciples who wished to attend the Hans Jayanti Festival in Delhi and the exhibition in Bihar.

At the same time, Bal Bhagwan Ji was personally helping to construct Guru Maharaj Ji's stage. When other disciples lagged in their work, he would become furious. But in the midst of sternly admonishing one unfortunate or, perhaps, blessed worker, he turned to another and said softly, "Sometimes you have to shout, otherwise what we have to do will never get done."

For the past two years Shri Bal Bhagwan Ji has been traveling throughout the world giving inspiration and direction to the newly formed Divine Light Mission, whose purpose it is to bring humankind to the Knowledge that the Perfect Master reveals. Now he is at work organizing Millennium '73, this year's Hans Jayanti. In this way Bal Bhagwan Ji is helping to set in motion a process of change which will turn the world right side up and bring it to peace. When Bhole Ji, age twenty, landed in London even Guru Maharaj Ji's Anand Band was feeling lost. They found that no matter how they tried, they couldn't get a hold on that dynamic energy which gives birth to irresistible sound. The band was housed at the Wandsworth Music Ashram. Once or twice a week Bhole Ji went to jam with the group, but his plan called for something more.

No one believed Bhole Ji could pull it off. By the time of the Guru Puja festival that summer, Bhole Ji wanted to assemble a fifty-piece orchestra which would create and arrange its own music, and which would be so good that not one person could sit still while they played. The band was to be his present to Guru Maharaj Ji.

Blue Aquarius became a band unlike any other. Everything which was produced came from intimate Knowledge of the Soul, from joyous contact with the source of creativity itself. Their music found its highest form in glorification of the giver of that contact, Guru Maharaj Ji: "Oh Satguru,

There's nothing left for me to do Just to lose my mind and fall In love, in love with you."

Said one of the troupe, "Bhole Ji doesn't talk much, he just laughs, dances, moves. He doesn't know music. He is music." When the lead singer is joined by Bhole ii, they become as one power that shoots an arrow of light through the heart of the crowd. As Bhole Ji directs Aquarius, so he changes the consciousness of his audience, taking them through happiness, nostalgia and excitement into worship.

When more established musicians become excited by the charisma of Blue Aquarius and Bhole Ji (three members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra asked to join the band after its London concert, and Santana has offered to play with them for free at MILLENNIUM), Bhole Ji has a stock answer: Receive Knowledge first and find out where music comes from.

Bhole Ji is not dedicated to music; he is dedicated to Guru

Maharaj Ji. His love of music has brought an incredible band together, but he knows that Guru Maharaj Ji's love will bring a world together. That's why when he sings for the Satguru, he sings with all his being. Raja Ji has been playing a different part. More than any other member of the Holy Family, he carries out his work behind the scenes. Though he often gives satsang at programs, he is not so prominent as Mata Ji or Bal Bhagwan Ji unless one has a keen enough eye to perceive his presence in everything which is happening off stage.

Raja Rawat Raja Ji is the Chief Commander of Guru Maharaj Ji's World Peace Corps. Under his direct supervision, the W.P.C. provides all the support systems that allow Divine Light Mission to help Guru Maharaj Ji spread the Knowledge.

In India, thousands of devotees are on call at a moment's notice for any service which needs to be done. The Corps is mainly known for its relief work in disaster areas, and for assisting in maintaining order in large crowds. It is well-trained and efficient, and it coordinates all aspects of Guru Maharaj Ji's programs in India. "The job of W.P.C.," Raja Ji has said, "is to make sure that whatever is happening, happens correctly."

When Raja Ji first arrived in the West, the World Peace Corps had barely gotten off the ground. He immediately began to draw around himself scores of disciples who had been waiting for a chance to serve Guru Maharaj Ji. Without a tightly structured back-up system, a festival the size of the London Guru Puja Celebration, which filled the Alexandra Palace, could have turned into a catastrophe.

But by that time, the World Peace Corps in England had grown to ten times the size it was when Raja Ji first came. Moreover, every day Raja Ji supervised the training of the Corps members and every night he met with the entire British W.P.C. to give satsang and inspire them to become perfect at their various tasks. The result was obvious to anyone who was fortunate enough to attend Guru Puja. The W.P.C. members were so well-organized that they could run an electronics system, take care of the gigantic stage which they built themselves, arrange flowers, man a day-care center, print and sell brochures, act as ushers and a security force, keep thousands of overly excited people from mobbing Guru Maharaj Ji, and feed and house the people who had come from all over the world to attend the festival - all at the same time.

Raja Ji is now back at school in London, England. Soon, however, he will be coming to America to make sure that the World Peace Corps is properly prepared for the MILLENNIUM festivities.

But of the four brothers, it is Guru Maharaj Ji, the youngest, who has been doing the most work of all. At the 1970 Hans Jayanti festival, a celebration of Shri Maharaj Ji's birthday, there could be little doubt that this small child possessed such power as could unite the world. Before an audience of over one million people, Guru Maharaj Ji revealed his plan, "I declare I shall bring in the Golden Age of Peace to the whole world."

There it is. Three years ago the final phase of human evolution began, ushered in by a twelve-yearold boy.

The reverberation of that speech, known as the Peace Bomb, brought the first Western disciples on a chartered jumbo jet to India the next year. Guru Maharaj Ji had come to Europe and America and gathered them together. It happened so quickly that no one knew what to expect. No one except Guru Maharaj Ji. He stated that these young people were only the beginning of his plan, and that ten times as many Western disciples would come to India in 1972.

The following November, five Jumbo jets left Kennedy International Airport to carry disciples of Guru Maharaj Ji to the 1972 celebration of Hans Jayanti. Citizens from all seven continents were converging on the Ram Lila grounds in Delhi. Guru Maharaj Ji was uniting the world at his feet.

"God is one regardless of where we come from - if we come from India or America, from Europe or Japan, God is still one; if we fly over the South Pole; still one. After all, whether we believe in Mohammedanism, or Hinduism, or Christianity, we still believe in one God.

"But why then if we are children of God, why should there be communism in one country and commonwealth in another country? Because we have not been able to understand the fundamental humanity, the fundamental truth that exists among all human beings. We have failed to understand what we have got in common between ourselves as human beings."

There was an alternative. Guru Maharaj Ji was manifesting it. He had gathered together 3,300 people from every continent, race, religion and class to manifest a practical example of harmony. And it had worked. At Hans Jayanti, 1972 Guru Maharaj Ji demonstrated that the union one experiences in true meditation can be translated into a viable blueprint for a world community.

Guru Maharaj Ji has worked very quickly to fulfill his promise of 1970. At that time, the Knowledge had been revealed to millions in the East, but to only a handful of Westerners. Now Guru Maharaj Ji is operating two massive world-wide organizations, Divine Light Mission and Divine United Organization, which help to bring his message to countless numbers of people every day.

Guru Maharaj Ji is bringing peace on earth.

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