Prachar - Propagation - Recruitment
Since the beginning of Prem Rawat's career one of his most important commandments to his followers has been to "do propagation" ('prachar' in Hindi) i.e. proselytise and spread this Knowledge and to attract new people to Rawat's cult. Actually he has said that it is the most important activity his followers should do and that
"it becomes our one and foremost duty to try to give that Knowledge to all the people in this world."
Over the decades the actual methods of recruitment varied though it was only in the first years that there was any major success. Even then, Rawat was a like a hamster on a wheel - too fat to be a rat - always having to run to stay in the same place. Divine Light Mission membership figures included all those who had been initiated. However there was a huge dropout rate and especially after 1974 premies were involved in all sorts of activities, especially including nightly satsang meetings and "mahatma tours" and public meetings - running to remain in the same place. After the dramatic falls in committed membership caused by the failure of Millenium 73, Prem Rawat's marriage to an older American woman, his disinheritance by his mother and the closure and re-opening of the ashrams in 1976 it took until 1980 for membership to return to it's actual 1973 peak - it will never return to the bogus figures published at the time.
How far did he say a devotee should go to obey this commandment?
So devote yourself wholeheartedly, sacrifice your life to propagate this Name.
He knew how to tell the success of propagation - by the length of the darshan line:
"We sit on stage and we look down, and the more blurry the end of the line gets, the more progress we are making."
He had very high expectations:
"We will become such a multitude that we will fill every hall and every temple."
He knew that he had to be careful and could not openly say he was God because he explained:
"People will say that 'If you are God, if you are Guru, why don't you say?' If I will say, then people will kill me."
From the beginning the Divine Light Mission taught that telling people about Knowledge "the most important thing ever done."
As Jeanne Messer, one of his followers, wrote in 1974:
"Since the primary business of Divine Light Mission is propagation, and since its activities seem to rely on constant increase in numbers, the giving of Sat Sang is the primary service of every devotee. There are devotees who heard about Maharaj Ji from strangers in bars and coffee shops, who came through friends or relatives, who read the magazine or the newspaper, who stumbled on a campus or other public program and were fascinated. But most simply become acquainted with some happy person who convinced them that the happiness was available for the asking from that boy guru, whoever he is. "
Rawat claims that his whole life is dedicated to giving / revealing this Knowledge to the greatest number of people. Formerly he said this was to give them the Knowledge of God, since the mid-1980's he has said it is to give them the Gift of the Possibility of Peace. He spends a portion of each year travelling the world in his private jet, staying in luxury hotels, taking his pet dog where possible and speaking for an hour or so at a time to groups of his followers and where they can be found, any interested people. Not an overly demanding task and not an overly successful one.
It appears that despite doing this for the last 45 years and spending hundreds of millions of donated dollars in the process on his expenses, videos and other publicity media he has lost a considerable number of followers in North America and Europe and would appear to have about half of the maximum 20,000 followers he had in the late 1970's. However, this fact is never publicised by his organisations which have always claimed that his attempts to attract new followers have been more and more successful. Élan Vital publicity never includes an absolute number of people in their statistics unless it includes followers in India where the numbers in hundreds of thousands and millions can be mentioned, probably truthfully, even though Rawat is only a very minor guru there. They also publicise a running total of the numbers of people who have attended his speeches over the last 40 years. This number will always grow even though it is mainly made up of a much smaller group of committed followers who have regularly attended his speeches for decades.
In 1998 he repeated that he had brought his message around the world:
"There's people everywhere that have Knowledge. Now we need to go forward. We have just completed phase one. Now, there is phase two."
Propagation was also referred to as "Spreading this Knowledge". How well did all his stress on accumulating devotees go? Well not all that well, actually.
From Divine Light Mission to Élan Vital and Beyond: An Exploration of Change and Adaptation
Professor Ron Geaves writing about Prem Rawat:
Yet, he has continued to promote the benefits of the experience of self-knowledge throughout the world and now has succeeded in establishing his message in over eighty countries. Throughout the late 1990s, more people were receiving the techniques of self-knowledge worldwide than in the heady days of the early 1970s.
Nova Religio; Mar 2004; 7, 3; pg. 45
A brilliant academic mind like Professor Ron Geaves' can slice a statistic from it's base and tell a true fact while telling a lie. In the late 1990's very few people in the West, far less than in the early 1970's, were "receiving Knowledge" or "receiving the techniques of Self-Knowledge" but a large number may well have been in India. However, even in the 1970s Prem Rawat's father's Divya Sandesh Parishad which was under the leadership of Prem's mother and his eldest brother with its millions of devotees, it's thousands of ashrams, mahatmas and bais and it's well-established infrastructure would have been initiating many thousands of Indians. Rawat was too busy with his playboy lifestyle to be involved with Indian affairs until his trip to India to try to get his inheritance and the Indian devotees back. This trip was a complete failure. It was many years before he dared to return to India. By the 1990s a religious revival was occurring in this country of over a billion Hindus in which having a guru was de rigeur. A relatively efficient and well-funded program was in place and Rawat's following was growing but less than 20,000 per annum. Rawat certainly wasn't claiming amywhere near the 7 million followers he inherited from his father's organisation in the 1960's. He had only a fraction of that number thanks to his well-deserved disinheritance by his mother and the Indian administrators.
The following are just some quotes from his speeches in which he demands 'propagation'.
Mahatma Jagdeo, notorious paedophile, 1978
When Shri Maharaj Ji was still in his body, he had said, "Do lots of prachar in your area, and one day I will come there. Definitely I will come." And that premie really did lots of prachar. But in 1966 Shri Maharaj Ji left his body, and that premie thought, "Oh, now Maharaj Ji will never come to my town, because he has left his body!" But two years later, in 1968, we had arranged a big three-day program in Nainital for Maharaj Ji, and we sent that premie to request Maharaj Ji to come. And he was very sad -- he thought maybe Maharaj Ji would not come, because Maharaj Ji was going to school. But then Maharaj Ji came out with such a big smile, and he said, "I will come; I never forget my promise!"
Divine Times, June/July 1978 Volume 7, Number 4
Raja Rawat, elder brother of Prem, Porchester Hall, London, W2., 5 Jan 1972
Guru Maharaj Ji is perfect, we may think He is perfect or not, but he is and what He is He is, we cannot say anything that will make any difference. So the main point here to understand is that we should gain His Knowledge
and then we will actually see that Guru Maharaj Ji can do whatever he likes and that he is perfect, but He doesn't do it that way. He could have made hundreds of Guru Maharaj Jis like Him. Suppose there are a million
people in this world, He could have made a million Guru Maharaj Jis and every Guru Maharaj Ji could have gone to every person making them understand what the problem is. … the propagation is really the most important
thing and because Guru Maharaj Ji's Knowledge is perfect there's nothing bad in saying that Guru Maharaj Ji is perfect. So we should propagate this Knowledge, this Holy Knowledge.
Divine Light magazine Volume 2, Number 6, March 1973
Dehra Dun, 29 July 1966
You can practice propagating this Knowledge and see for yourself. When Guru Maharaj Ji was here, what did he do? He spread the Knowledge to everyone and such work he did that it will never end. Everyone kept taking
from his endless treasure. He told me, "I came for this purpose only. Now you have to do my work." I will unite all religions. I only need the grace of Guru Maharaj Ji. We will become such a multitude that we will fill
every hall and every temple.
The Golden Age November 1978 Number 49
India Gate, Delhi, 8 November 1970
So brothers, now the time has come when I have to sacrifice my social respectability. You also sacrifice it and show the people who I am, whose children we are. Tell the people who is your True Mother, whose devoted
children you are. I have the hope that you are the pearls of the True Mother, and if you are, then sacrifice your life in this enterprise. He who drives his motorcycle into the tunnel of death has no hope in life. He only
has to close his eyes and drive and if he falls he dies, but if he escapes he gains fame. So devote yourself wholeheartedly, sacrifice your life to propagate this Name.
Had I liked sleeping on a luxurious bed, I would have been doing so by now and enjoying it, but I do not want pleasure or rest. I only want to devote every moment to propagating about God. Now Mata Ji will give you
satsang. Listen attentively.
The Golden Age November 1978 Number 49
Alta Loma Terrace, Hollywood, California, August 15, 1971
People will say that "If you are God, if you are Guru, why don't you say?" If I will say, then people will kill me. How will I be able to give this Knowledge to more and more people?
Élan Vital, Spring 1978, Volume II, Issue 1
1971
"I, I'm doing this prachar. I, I'm giving this Knowledge to people and people are responding to it fantastic. I don't know what's happened to people but they are just responding to it fantastic
because one thing I tell them first of all that listen I don't give you anything from my pocket, understand, it's within inside you, if you like it, go ahead, do it, if you don't like it, just leave
it. And try it and try it you'll like it and people try it and they like it and they just adore it, it, it's fantastic, we like it.
Satguru Has Come movie
Newton, Massachusetts, August 3, 1973.
Wood:You have more experience with Knowledge than your disciples do, but do you have the knowledge of how to reach other people with it?
Maharaj Ji:Sure, because I have reached more people than they have, more people than they have even seen in their life - six million people. That's the last counting.
Interview by John Wood of the Boston Globe
A Letter From Guru Maharaj Ji, Bonn, Germany September 31, 1973
First of all, I would like to tell you about something of great importance to all of us. Because we have realized this beautiful Knowledge which is of great bliss
to us all, it is our duty to propagate it to the human race. For it is something they really need.
Isn't it about time you all get together and help me bring peace to this Earth?
Divine Times, special Millenium Issue
Jamaica, West Indies, March 17, 1974
And now, if we can make people explain about this Knowledge, we can really make a strong, strong center -- I mean a
real strong center, in Jamaica, you know? Because once you get it going, it's like, once you get the prachar going and
people are meditating and everything, everything becomes so beautiful! You know, it's just incredible. And some
people see that beauty, and they completely respond to it. This is what happened in America. It started out with three people. And they used to give
satsang in the morning, and every night, in Los Angeles. And it's like, people were just coming. And they had never
listened to satsang before. Just maybe a word or so. And they just poured in! You know, it was like, first day maybe
five. The next day, you see ten. And the third day you see fifteen, and we ended up having, right from three people, to
fifty people within a week. And it was completely incredible, because people were just pouring in. They wanted to
listen to what was going on. And those fifty received Knowledge and they went out, and then they went out, and you can't imagine. It's like in a year
we were having the Guru Puja function there. There were thousands of people assembled.
And It Is Divine, Summer 1977, Volume 4, Issue 2
Guru Puja '74, July 7 1974
Listen. We were riding around in the jeep today giving darshan to all the premies, okay? And we have no idea at all what's going to happen after a little time.
Because there are going to be more premies, more premies, more premies, and we might have to invent a quiet chopper, and just fly over all the premies, and give darshan like that.
The thing is, it's going to grow.
And It Is Divine, August 1974, Volume 2, Issue 3 and Perfect Master Tape #21
Letter to all Premies, 22 July 1974
The project Blue Aquarius Band was formerly founded for one and only one reason, and that was to do prachar. In years that have past, this project has completely failed itself and has only brought a lot of confusion, not only to the premies who work or worked in it, but also to a lot of premies outside of it. I personally feel that such projects are not worthwhile to be continued.
Paramount Theatre, Denver, October 12 1974
I read people's faces sometimes when I'm sitting in the office and they walk by thinking, maybe there is a better way to do prachar. But I tell you, I've thought about it a lot. There isn't any other method to do prachar, there's just one way. And because it's just an individual experience it has to be from one person to the second person to the third person to the fourth person to the fifth person to the sixth person and it goes on and on and on and on and on. So really premies, this is just, I should say a perfect opportunity for you to do service. Now, I mean, I'm not talking about 1975. I've heard many premies saying, oh yeah, you know, I don't know about it right now, it's in a little bit hanky panky situation this Mission. I'll try in 1975 when they get a little bit together. Listen, it's not going to get together in 1975 or 1976 until you help it.
The Golden Age, No. 15, November 1974
Letter To Premies, October 26 1974
It has turned out that Mata Ji, Bal Bhagwan Ji and Bhole Ji (Prem Rawat's mother and elder brothers) have denied in every way to cooperate with Me in doing prachar, spreading this Knowledge. They have refused to obey My agya and have tried to deceive many premies.
This might sound ridiculous but, unfortunately, this is true. I want to warn all the premies because until now this situation has brought a lot of confusion and controversy.
I want that no premie should cooperate with such people, for if they are not following My agya, they just become an obstruction in the spreading of this Knowledge.
The Golden Age, No. 19, April 1975
Jeanne Messer (close disciple of Prem Rawat), 1974
Divine Light Mission is a worldwide organization dedicated to the propagation of Guru Maharaj Ji's knowledge..
Guru Maharaj Ji and the The Divine Light Mission in The New Religious Consciousness. eds. Glock and Bellah, 1976, pp. 52-72
Denver, Colorado, 8th July, 1975
This is what people should understand, if anything, and this is what people should do: you can do more service to humanity by realizing this Knowledge, propagating this Knowledge, giving people satsang about this
Knowledge, than by doing anything else. Even if you become emperor of this whole world! Because who is Guru Maharaj Ji? Guru Maharaj Ji is perfect. And this perfect Lord doesn't come down Himself one day, grab everybody by
the throat, and say, "You better realize Knowledge, otherwise I am going to chuck you out into hell." He doesn't do that. He even comes down into this world, bears that physical body, bears the pains, bears the
suffering of this physical planet, and gives Knowledge. But if you look at Him, He is the ultimate. He doesn't need to come into this world. He has got so much power, He could manifest Himself in front of everybody in this
world and ask everybody personally a question, He wouldn't even have to come down into this world. All He would have to do is come down out of the clouds and speak loud one day, and say, "People who are not going to receive
Knowledge are definitely going to hell." He never does that, because that's just the way it is.
The Golden Age Number 39, July 1977
Guru Puja Celebration, Caracas, Venezuela, July 24th 1975
It's like, we come into this world, the soul is brought forth into this world, and the purpose of it has to be recognized. We have to find out why we are here, and which is the main thing that really drives us, which is the main part of us that really drives us. When we recognize that, and when we are one with that, that is when the true happiness, the true peace comes to us.
So premies, this is why Guru Maharaj Ji comes into this world, so he can awaken everybody and tell them that, "This is the time. Understand; realize." Because you see, whoever we are, and whatever we think, it is not necessary that we are going to get a lifetime again. This very well might be our last lifetime.
And It Is Divine, Volume 2, Number 10, September 1975
Guru Puja Celebration, Caracas, Venezuela, July 25th 1975
So, I hope someday we will be able to come and instead of having only this festival, and having only premies assemble here, we will have everybody come. Premies and non-premies. We'll have everybody listen to satsang; have everybody experience just a part of this bliss which is satsang; let everybody know that perfectness can be attained in this lifetime. It's here, and it is for us. It is for nobody else, but it's all for us. … Premies have the strength to help me reveal this Knowledge to everybody, to this whole world. I am not saying it's just a big, phony idea of mind, or I am somebody crazy that imagines this whole world can have Knowledge. It is true! Everybody can. Because this is what everybody is looking for; this is what everybody needs. …
I mean, look, at one time, I had never heard of South America. When I first came to England, I didn't know Canada even existed. All I knew was there was London and America. That was it. And now I do not even know the names of some of these places. I know they exist, but I don't even know the name of them, and still there is prachar there. It's because of the premies that it has been manifested, that it's been made possible. This is why I say, it's very, very possible that everybody in this world can have Knowledge.
The Golden Age, Number 23, September 1975
The Premie Newsletter from International Headquarters, August 1975
In December, Maharaj Ji announced in a New Year's Proclamation his "opinion" that this Knowledge is the solution to the problems of the world. Then, in January, he told his premies that, "This year, my primary agya is for you to put as much energy as possible into prachar." In other words, tell the world and show the world by practical demonstration, that Knowledge works.
Divine Times
Essen, Germany, 29 or 30 August 1975
They said, "Well, what do you hope to accomplish? What do you think you're gonna accomplish in America?" I said, "Well, I am going to try to make it so that all the people in this world realize this Knowledge and are in peace." They said, "Come on. You've got to be kidding." And they just gave a funny grin.
But now, it's so beautiful, because you can see for yourself. Now I don't need to go out there and scream like I used to. I can just sit back and say, "Mm-hmm, look at this. Everything is so beautiful. Look at this love, look at this experience that people are having."
And It Is Divine, Volume II, Number 11
Excerpts, North American Community Directors meeting, Orlando, Florida, November 12, 1976
If I make a public tour, then it not only becomes your responsibility to take care of the aspirants who come after they hear my satsang, but also the premies who are already there, to divert them into that real consciousness that they need to be in so that they can really, really propagate.
See, propagation is the end of the line, and that's what makes it sail. That's the last part of our ship, and that's our rudder. If propagation is sloppy, what can we do? Then what good is it to us? We have to really propagate through a proper channel.
Golden Age, Number 28, April 1976
Lima Peru, November 18 1976
Guru Maharaj Ji invites the people who have received this Knowledge to accompany him in the adventure of revealing this Truth, revealing this Knowledge to the whole world. And that's his mission. I have invited premies to join me, to give me their love, to give me their devotion, to give me their strength so that this whole thing can be pushed through the craziness of this world. So that people can understand this Knowledge can be multiplied. Generations and generations of people have been going around in circles, and have not been given a fair opportunity to realize the simple goal of human life. So it is really important for us to understand this. … What are we looking at it terms of growth? We have to ask that ourselves.… What is the sign of progress? It is when we hold a premie program and there's twice as many premies there as before. And they're experiencing Knowledge. They're experiencing satsang. And they're experiencing meditation. That is the only sign that we have. We sit on stage and we look down, and the more blurry the end of the line gets, the more progress we are making. And it is important that all those premies who are receiving Knowledge are sincere. That is the only sign we have to go by.
The Golden Age, Issue 38 May/June 1977 and Divine Times, March 1977 Volume 6, Number 3
Denver, Colorado, 20 February 1977
That Knowledge, that experience makes you premies and makes me Guru Maharaj Ji, because I impart that Knowledge to you and you experience that Knowledge. And today, my role in this world is to do, to impart that experience which I have imparted to you to everybody else who exists in this world. This is why I feel I am here - and there's no other purpose. Yes, of course, I go to sleep and I get up in the morning, but there's a little bit more than that. Why I go to sleep and why I get up has to do with the experience of Knowledge, imparting it to every individual in this world.
Golden Age, April 1977, Issue 37
Community Coordinators Meeting, Denver, Colorado, February 21 1977
Guru Maharaj Ji? Pranam, Maharaj Ji. Your last statement was spread this Knowledge -- and I'd just like to know, do you mean to, like, activate prachar? And in what form?
Yeah. But you see, the word is 'launch the rocket.' Or, the word is 'let's go to the moon.' That's what it is. The word is: let's go to the moon. And you have to look at what's involved in going to the moon. And it's a huge operation. It's not as simple as just: pop! You go to the moon. There's a lot of ground work that has to be gotten together. The premies that are in your communities: this is the groundwork that you have to prepare.
I'll come out with the strategy of prachar. This is why I have these initiators. I'll come out with a strategy of how to do prachar. I'll come up with different suggestions. I'll come up with different strategies.
We have to have that clarity, have to have that love flow from the premies, so just automatically, just beautifully, the prachar goes on. And what they talk about is that true experience. Not get into like, "Maharaj Ji speaks 34 languages," or stuff like that.
And It Is Divine, Summer 1977, Volume 4, Issue 2
Holi Festival, Miami Florida, March 20, 1977
Have satsang, service, and meditation regularly in your community. Grow within your community. The time is coming where that peace bomb is really going to start exploding very soon, and we have to be all ready before it does.
The Golden Age May/June 1977 Number 38 and
Divine Times - April/May 1977 Volume 6, Number 4
Guru Maharaj Ji's satsang via telephone to the Gainesville Retreat on October 2, 1977
And so, premies, it becomes our one and foremost duty to try to give that Knowledge to all the people in this world. And only one thing can manifest itself that can bring Knowledge in this world, that can bring Peace that I
talk about in this world. that can bring that Creator to that level where everybody can understand Him, and that is only through Love. And remember one thing, premies: Knowledge does not seek us; that's already within
inside of us.
- The Golden Age, Issue 41
Hans Jayanti, Rome, Italy, 9th November, 1977
And this is why we are here and we are celebrating this jayanti. Maybe, to a lot of people here, you have never seen Shri Maharaj Ji, though there is a picture right behind me, and you have seen that picture and you have seen pictures of Shri Maharaj Ji. What is that significance? It's that importance of what he did. Of him trying to reveal Knowledge to all the people in this world of what is very important, is why we are all here. … I mean, it's just like so beautiful, those 12.9 people are receiving Knowledge every day. And that's every
day. And those 12.9 people - that's not where it's going to stop. No way, you know? It's just going to go from there on, to even something that's more beautiful. Soon we'll be talking about 24.9 people, then there'll be 40, then it'll be 50, then it'll be 60, 70, 100, 200 - I mean, it's going to multiply. And why is it going to multiply? Because it's Truth.
And today I know that this prachar is just going to go on. This propagation is just going to go on. And so
many more brothers and sisters in this world are going to receive Knowledge. And why? It's a very simple deduction to me. I mean, what I am talking about, this is what satsang is all about. This is my experience that I'm talking about, is that this is the only answer. … In Malibu, I was just reading this one magazine from England, from Britain, and it said, "It looks like the Misision of Guru Maharaj Ji, the Divine Light Mission, has sunken into obscurity." Now, I don't see that anywhere. It's just like, it's grown so much.
The Golden Age, Issue 42
Hans Jayanti Festival, Rome, Italy, November 12 1977
And the premies who are very, very anxiously waiting, and the communities, and the countries that are very, very anxiously waiting to go back and do full-fledged prachar, well get ready, because the time is coming very close.
Élan Vital, Spring 1978 Volume 2, Issue 1
Kansas City, January 22, 1978
And there's so many programs up on the way, just for North America, for South America, for Canada - for the whole world, there's so many programs coming. And there's so many new premies every day. It's such an incredible thing, because every time there is a darshan line, there's these people ready for Holy Breath. And it's just so incredible, because there's more and more and more and more premies who are coming into that experience.
And really, what more can you say, except thank you. So I hope I see you very soon, and thank you very much.
Golden Age, April 1978 Number 44
Wembley England, March 3, 1978
And every day so many people are receiving Knowledge. Of course, if you wind it out, put it through a calculator, it comes out 8-point da-da-da-da-da-da-da amount of people receiving Knowledge every day. But it's incredible. Buschi was in Germany. He gave Knowledge to 14 people. And Mike Donner was in Spain, and through his tour he gave Knowledge to a hundred and some people. And it's really incredible. Every day it's growing. And right now we have 56 initiators. And there is something like 200 people who have applied to be initiator. And I mean, man, it's happening! It's not in calculation; it's not in speculation. But it's actually manifesting. And it's incredible.
The Golden Age, May 1978, Number 45 and DLM publication 1978
Malaga, Spain, Sunday, 26 March 1978
So premies, Knowledge is such an incredible thing, because it just shines and shines and shines and shines. And I mean it's just like there is a lot of new premies here, because yesterday it was really incredible in the darshan line. So many premies wanted Holy Breath. And there were these premies that actually had not had Holy Breath. And it was just so beautiful to just see more and more premies, more and more premies, more and more premies, more and more premies come into this Knowledge. Because it's like an opening. It's just like you can see how beautiful it is to be able to come back home again. Because we are really spaced out all the time into this ocean. But only by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, when we surrender to Guru Maharaj Ji, when we say, "Okay." Not literally say, "okay," and not mean it. But when we don't say a word and yet mean it, mean it from the bottom of our heart, that "Help." And then it just manifests
Golden Age, April 1978 Number 44 and Divine Times, Holi Issue, 1979 Volume 8, Number 2
Holi Festival, Miami Beach, Florida, April 8, 1978
Yesterday in the darshan line, there were just so many new premies. And I know there are so many aspirants here. And those aspirants are going to receive Knowledge by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, and become premies. And there's so many aspirants all around the world.
This propagation has really, really grown. And there is no limit, there is no end, to how incredible it is. Just look at it!
Élan Vital, Fall 1978, Volume II, Issue 3
Shower of Grace Festival, Malibu California, June 10 1978
But the most important thing is, you look at it, and so many new premies are receiving Knowledge. So many old premies are coming back. And like this Hans Jayanti that we have already started to plan for is a really incredible thing. Because not only do we want it a five-day Hans Jayanti; we want a seven-day Hans Jayanti! Not only are we looking at only 15,000 premies which were there last year in Rome; we are looking at 20,000 premies! So I mean, it's just growing, and it's incredibly growing. And 20,000 is a round figure; it's a good round figure, rounded off. Twenty-one, twenty-two thousand premies, by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, could come together from everywhere, and just merge into that beautiful Glory of Guru Maharaj Ji himself, of that Knowledge "himself."
Golden Age August 1978 Number 47
Holi festival, Miami, Florida, 1980Which Perfect Master hasn't come yet and has fought religion? Every Perfect Master that comes in this world, the first thing he has to do, is he's got all this, all this work cut out for Him, you know, He's gotta save the people, he's gotta find His devotees, He's gotta give them Knowledge, you know, and, and take care of His confused premies, not so confused premies, you know, keep tabs on propagation, give satsang to the people who want Knowledge, you know, and, and keep and besides having all that work cut out for Him, He's gotta somehow fight religion, every Perfect Master has fought religion.
I really want to see propagation happening and that's something that everyone of you gotta get into is propagation, that's what we all gotta do is propagation. Not sit there and have donuts and coffee every morning. Some mornings, get out there, have some satsang, you know and you know get those communities together so people can come and people can hear satsang and and and and you know there can be a place where there can be those ashrams, can be a place where there can be those, don't go out and get a hall, you know, buy a hall. No, get some propagation going so you use the hall, then you can rent a hall, you know or whatever it takes to get a hall, whatever it takes. But I'd really like to see some propagation happening. America has been a little sleepy, believe it or not, America has been sleepy. Ha ha, stars and stripes, stripes are getting a little squiggly and stars are doing a thing a little bit, but you guys gotta wake up, you know, start that propagation and when that's you gotta carry Guru Maharaj Ji's word for it. That's, that's one of the things a devotee does, believe it or not.
No, what we noo, there's, there's only one way Knowledge gets spread time after time and there's no I mean technology that's just gonna alter and that's one to one. Cause people see your experience manifesting. People see, "Yeah!" People feel that experience manifesting, you know and that's what we, we gotta, we've gotta propagate, ha, Knowledge. Ha. We've gotta propagate, we've gotta tell people about this truth in this age, in this time, you know.
Holi 1980 video
Rome, Italy, 1980
"this whole act has to clean up, has to come to a point where the propagation can really begin to happen. Where there can be that demonstration, where there can be that "Yes! Knowledge! Yes! Guru Maharaj Ji!" Where people can see, like I said in the satsang, you know, people are gonna look at me, then they're gonna look at you, and if they see something there, then they're gonna look at me again and say "Can I have your Knowledge?". When people look at me, then they look at you, and they don't see anything, they're gonna look not look at me either. Why should they? There is nothing there. You know. Because it reflects in every single thing we do in one sense."
How do we do propagation? There is no magic word, there is no magic key, there is no magic thing that you can do that's gonna boost up the propagation. Nothing. Everybody coming together, everybody realizing, is what's gonna do it. Everybody understanding, everybody having that commitment and more than anything else, everybody ready to obey Guru Maharaj Ji's agya and be in that space. Guru Maharaj Ji says "Yes, let's do propagation", people go out and have that understanding and do propagation.
Obviously in the coming years you'll see and this is what I'm trying to work at just to slightly upgrade the living standards of the ashrams, you know, where it's a little more
liveable, you know, not a ??? floor under the bathtub but you know a good environment and that the you know the proper cities where there is going to be, where there are
communities, where there can be propagation that yes that the ashrams are set up there not not in Tootsville, Tennessee where there's nothing happening and in the middle
of nowhere there are ashrams and they're doing nothing for nobody, you know, a little hillbilly ashram premies, you know, beard and playing banjo in the outhouse, you know,
all the time. That to me has no significance. You'll probably be seeing in the near future some of the consolidations of ashrams, taking out the ashrams from Tootsville,
Tennessee, taking the ashram premies from little places where there's really nothing happening and plugging them into ashrams that are, that have a lot of potential
Ashram Satsang video, Rome 1980 and/or complete transcript Ashram Satsang video, Rome 1980
November 1999
And propagation (Hindi=prachar) should happen a lot this, for this millenium, this is the last event here for India before the new millennium and what will happen ahead?
4 Days In November a Visions International (a division of Élan Vital Inc) video
2000?
And I want every person who has Knowledge to take that little responsibility
Little, to say maybe I can tell somebody about this Knowledge
Maybe I can help somebody else come to Maharaji to receive this Knowledge
Maybe I can make a little effort towards making it possible
So that the propagation continues in this country
Maybe I can do something to help out
That's how it is
Have you ever seen how a river starts? a Visions International (a division of Élan Vital Inc) video
Dehra Dun, India, 1966
"We were standing on the roof of the house where Shri Maharaji used to stay and it was full moon and Maharaji said to me he said 'Look at the moon, I feel Shri Maharaji's presence everywhere' and he just ?? whether we
are we lost in our sorrow or we still remember the dearest thing to him, that was propagation of Knowledge. Are we you know thinking about that feeling about that to continue his mission and I said "Yes Maharaji you are
right, I feel the same." And I was so deeply touched when I heard him expressing his feelings and concern about that in a very innocent way. He was only 8 years old at that time and next day he spoke and everything was so
clear that yes he's the one who is going to do what Shri Maharaji many times proclaimed about him."
Passages video 2001
Dehra Dun, India, 1966
"He stepped forward and he gave the hope to thousands of people who were crying and wondering and he promised then, "Don't worry, your Master is with you with you always," and he said "I will take care of Knowledge. I
will try to spread the same Knowledge as Shri Maharaj Ji was doing it."
Passages video 2001
North American Convention, Miami, Florida, July 5 1986
One of the things you have to appreciate is that the challenges I have to meet nobody else has had to meet. I am in totally unexplored territory. The frontier. The final frontier, so to say. I'm taking this Knowledge and making it available. I'm taking it to the Muslims, to the Hindus, to the Christians, to the Jews, to all human beings. I'm breaking the barriers that people think we can't get across. And everyone can be a part of it. Everyone.
There's a lot of people out there waiting for Knowledge. In fact, the demand for Knowledge has never been as great as it is now. Never. And what's so beautiful is that people are not looking for a religion or a cult. They're looking for something simple and pure.
In View - Spring 1987
I have seen many people who really aspire for this Knowledge. And I have seen those people too, who are really aspirants but they don't know it themselves. So they should also know that they are aspirants and they require Knowledge. There was a program in Goa for the first time, you know? Many people came and they listened very attentively. And there were so many aspirants there. Because I know that the moment I finished speaking, they stood up and walked away right to wherever there were stalls and information booths. There was a huge crowd at those stalls. People were enquiring, "Now tell us how to find more about it." So in reality the propagation in lndia has just begun. It is in its primary stage. You people don't know how much propagation was made by Shri Maharaji (Shri Hans Ji Maharaj), beyond Lahore (Pakistan). And then after the division of India and Pakistan, many a premie remained on the other side of Pakistan. Then Shri Maharaji came to India and arranged programs at different places in Delhi - small programs, big programs. There were huge processions organised by him for the purpose of informing more and more people about Knowledge and inviting them to come and listen. But Shri Maharaji did not get a chance to visit South India. And there was this language problem. People speak different languages. He mostly propagated in U.P., Bihar and some metropolitan cities like Calcutta and Bombay. That is why I say that the propagation has only just started, it is in its initial stages here. Because I have yet to visit the major cities of India, I have to go there. I haven't visited Bangalore as yet. So an endeavor has to be made in that direction, so that an event may take place at Bangalore. There has been such a beautiful program at Madras. How to describe it! It was in English, not in Hindi. One thing more. I have nothing to do with these saffron clothes. All I want is prachar (propagation), you know? If the prachar is possible in saffron clothes, well and good. We will provide saffron clothes. If it has to be in suit-boots then we will utilize suit-boots. Because we belong to a peculiar category:
Someone may stock bronze and brass,
Or they may deal in cloves and betels
But our commodity is the name of the Lord
That's why our stock is most perfect.
'Life Force', Volume 7, Issue 2 April-June 1991
North American Resource Team, March 2003
Public Events - Over 6,300 guests attended public events in Europe, and 90 guests attended the Bangkok event in the United Nations Conference Center. He was very pleased with these events and the efforts of people who made
them possible. These events were the beginning of a renewed enthusiasm for propagation worldwide, with many more public and follow up events planned for this year.
Thank You 2002 CD
Prem Rawat, 2003
So having said all this what I also want to do is to thank everyone who's here because I know, whatever your effort is, you don't see a result right away but it's happening, something major is happening in terms of propagation, something wonderful is happening and we need to go with the flow.
and you know when something gets over this magical hump, there's no stopping it. Even in the midst of all the disaster, propagation's happening so once your community, once your city gets over the hump there's no stopping it, it'll just, it'll happen but it takes a little bit of coming together to make that happen and I, hell, hey I think Knowledge is a good thing so (applause) every aspect of the community, everybody in the community gets to take part in it gets to enjoy it, whether it's an aspirant thing happening or I am coming, it's a public event happening whatever it may be it really everybody gets to feel a part of it rather than this remote chop chop because you know there was a time when people used to really come together.
This is what propagation is all about. It's about an effort without seeking a result, without seeking a result.
It's the amount of propagation that is happening right now has never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever happened before (applause) ever so it really is a very, very special time, a very, very special time though in a sense it's just begun.
Keep going, it's ah, it's so much, so many places and I want to make it very certain, you know, in no uncertain terms that I need to go where there is propagation.
That, whoever takes that challenge just remember, that is the ultimate human challenge. More propagation is happening now that has ever happened and of course you look around everywhere then there is all these places that I haven't been to.
"Knowledge is a very simple but beautiful thing and it is people who find the attractiveness in Knowledge that allow it to be continued from a generation to generation, from age to age. There is no miracle formula, there is no miracle formula it is just sheer effort that makes it happen and it doesn't matter where the country is, it doesn't matter those people are. Wherever people want to come together and make that effort, anything is possible. And sometimes we forget that, we've got Knowledge, OK, that's it. But if you enjoy Knowledge and any part of it, if you actually enjoy it then somehow it becomes incumbent upon you to let other people know. Let other people know about this simple and beautiful possibility. This is very exciting times, folks, this is very, very exciting times. You really need to be a part of it. It's the amount of propagation that is happening right now has never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever happened before (applause) ever so it really is a very, very special time, a very, very special time though in a sense it's just begun. Where it all goes I don't know but I'm willing to be, I'm very proud to be a part of it, I mean where there is team effort, where there is good team effort, you know this has, this has been very hard but where there has been good team effort the results are incredible. The results are unbelievable."
Thank You 2003 CD
Amaroo, Peak Crossing Australia, September 14 2012
5,000 people are receiving Knowledge every month around the world.
The Heart of the Matter blog
From Divine Light Mission to Élan Vital and Beyond: An Exploration of Change and Adaptation, Professor Ron Geaves
Yet, he has continued to promote the benefits of the experience of self-knowledge throughout the world and now has succeeded in establishing his message in over eighty countries.
Throughout the late 1990s, more people were receiving the techniques of self-knowledge worldwide than in the heady days of the early 1970s.
Nova Religio; Mar 2004; 7, 3; pg. 45
A brilliant academic mind like Professor Ron Geaves' can slice a statistic from it's base and tell a true fact while telling a lie. In the late 1990's very few people in the West, far less than in the early 1970's, were "receiving Knowledge" or "receiving the techniques of Self-Knowledge" but a large number may well have been in India. However, even in the 1970s Prem Rawat's father's Divya Sandesh Parishad which was under the leadership of Prem's mother and eldest brother with its millions of devotees, it's thousands of ashrams, mahatmas and bais and it's well-established infrastructure would have been initiating many thousands of Indians. Rawat was too busy with his playboy lifestyle to be involved with Indian affairs until his trip to India to try to get his inheritance and the Indian devotees back. This trip was a complete failure. It was many years before he dared to return to India. By the 1990s a relatively efficient and well-funded program was in place and a religious revival was occurring in this country of over a billion Hindus in which having a guru was de rigeur. However Rawat certainly wasn't claiming amywhere near the 7 million followers he inherited from his father's organisation in the 1960's. He had only a fraction of that number thanks to his well-deserved disinheritance by his mother.