The Pictorial History of Prem Rawat: New Satguru
After the death of his violent father Prem continued his schooling though it must have been less terrifying.
He was publicised as a Godboy and did tours and speeches during his school holidays and performed in "home movies."
Prem Rawat 9 years old 22 September 1967 - Prem Nagar ashram
In 1969, Western "freaks" began to appear looking for liberation and ganga (not necessarily in that order) and some became premies.
Mahatma Gurucharanand was sent to England. Thanks to the influence of Brian Kitt there was already a gang of 5 English premies.
In November 1970 there was a particularly large gathering for the Hans Jayanti festival. A small contingent of around 20-25 Westerners were there to hear (but not understand) Prem make his "Peace Bomb speech".
It was a particularly bombastic performance and no doubt publication of the transcripts of the speech still embarrass him. The Westerners were undoubtedly impressed by the enormous crowd of people.
I will rule the world, and just watch how I will do it! … I have come to the world with full powers. Accept my words, accept me. I declare that I will establish peace in the world. So obey my command, or else you will be drowned. - Prem Rawat, 12 years old
Communication began between English premies and Prem Rawat with special satsangs and messages being sent from the East to the West.
Media
Satguru Has Come was produced in late 1972, at a time when the young Prem Rawat, known as Guru Maharaj Ji the Perfect Master, was riding a wave of success, as DLM was swiftly growing in the West though not as fast as was thought or publicised. It encapsulates the proudly proclaimed central dogmas of the Rawatism religion: Prem Rawat was the incarnation of God, come back to Earth with more power than ever before and about to usher in the Millenium. It also contains numerous scenes where His face fades into a circular light object, centered between his eyes. This is because the Light meditation technique that was part of the "Knowledge" required you to squeeze your eyes with your longest finger and thumb producing this sort of effect if you squeeze hard enough.
In early 1974 the Divine Light Mission (Shri Hans Productions) produced this film, titled 'Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?', at a time when the young Prem Rawat, the Perfect Master, known as Guru Maharaj Ji had come down to earth with a Millenial thump of bad publicity, humiliation and debt, none of which is shown in the film which ends a few months before the Millenium '73 festival. Another movie which was scripted to end in the Millenium "triumph" was never produced due to financial problems and loss of belief. A transcript is available here, the complete movie in 5 parts is on Youtube and the darshan sequences are available here.
Lord of the Universe, is a TVTV television documentary filmed at a time when Prem Rawat and his followers had full confidence that any examination of the guru, his 'Knowledge' and his followers would be positive. In November, 1973 the Divine Light Mission held a festival, Millenium 73, "the most significant event in human history" according to Guru Maharaj Ji as Prem Rawat was then known to the world. The documentary makers were allowed full access to the event held at the Houston Astrodome and to the followers, especially to Rennie Davis who was then the major spokesman for the movement. It contains footage of Guru Maharaj Ji, events from the Millenium festival, premies involved in 'Soul Rush' a pre-festival publicity campaign, interviews with premies and Prem Rawat's oldest brother, Bal Bhagwan Ji and his mother, Mata Ji. It is still available at Amazon and is a must for anyone with an interest in 1970's Divine Light Mission.
During this early period of confidence in Divine Light Mission before the Millenium '73 fiasco, before Prem Rawat's marriage to a devotee of his who was nearly 10 years older and 4 inches taller than him and before his disinheritance and disowning by his mother, footage from Divine Light Mission movies and interviews with Rennie Davis were given to film-maker Don Como for a documentary on gurus and 'New Religious Movements' that were proselytising in the USA.