Prem Rawat's Super Devotional Period '77-82

A Recap of 1974-'76

During 1976 Divine Light Mission nearly fell apart. This was brought on by his top administrators losing confidence in him and beginning a wave of questioning amongst the premies which resulted in the ashrams emptying, the cash flow crashing and a major fall in support for Rawat. Rawat took sometime to react but when he was told his income would halve and many of his expensive toys would have to be sold he acted. He fired Bob Mishler, the long time president of Divine Light Mission and fell back on his father's favourite method of impressing the yokels: dressing up in fancy costumes and shouting, berating and haranguing his followers for their imperfections and blaming their lack of bliss and joy, not on his Knowledge, but on them. The turnaround in his fortunes began on December 18, 1976 in Atlantic City and he continued this style for another 5 years - the Super Devotional period of his career.

1977 Maharaji Goes the Full Monty Maharaji

During this period Prem Rawat openly espoused his divinity and berated his followers continually for lack of devotion and surrender (whatever that was supposed to mean). As he had already been publicised as a failed Messiah and was considered passé by the media, there was very little reporting of him and his followers during this time apart from a brief period circa 1979 following the Jonestown massacre when he was quite correctly lumped in with other cult leaders. Around 1983 Rawat tried to have all evidence of that time removed by ordering the destruction of all DLM published materials by his followers. Below are filmed excerpts from speeches Prem Rawat made in 1978 - 1980 at "Guru Puja, Holi or Hans Jayanti festivals". 'Puja' means worship and this festival was the annual highlight of Divine Light Mission activities. It was in the period 1977 to 1983 that Prem Rawat openly and continually propagated the myth of his divinity to his followers. He taught the concepts of himself as a unique Divine Being incarnated in the lineage of avatars that included his father and his guru. He claimed His Knowledge revealed God (the energy that is the source of the universe and life) and the only purpose of life was surrender to and worship of Guru Maharaj Ji (a word used for both the infinite God, the Creator and Rawat himself the God incarnated in human form.

During These Years Various Indian Rituals and Practices Were Promoted and Practised:

• Arti a song of praise to Rawat as the Divine Incarnation of God in a human body was sung twice daily by his followers
• Charanamrit which involved devotees drinking the diluted water in which Prem Rawat's feet had been washed
• Darshan involving being in his presence and each of his followers bowing down and touching or kissing his
• "HOly Lotus Feet" as often as possible and
• Pranaming which is lying on the ground before Rawat or a photograph of him and hopefully touching or kissing his feet;
• Holy Breath where Rawat would blow into each new devotee's right ear with his "holy breath" as they came before Him in the darshan line
• Holi where his followers gathered annually to revel in ecstasy while being sprayed with coloured water from a giant high-powerd water pistol
• Dancing where Rawat dressed as the god Krishna and half-naked would "dance" (shuffle around waving his arms) on stage in front of his adoring followers
• singing of Bhajans which are pseudo-Indian songs of extreme worship sung by his followers to him with titles such as "Glory Of My Master," "How Beautiful Are The Feet Of Him," "You Are My Savior"
• Ashrams where devotees lived communally obeying rigid rules and timetables with all their finances except the minimum required to keep them alive going to Rawat personally or Divine Light Mission
• the continued use of Altars to Rawat in premie homes and
• Professionally taken posed Photographs of Rawat or his feet were sold to his followers for use on these altars
• the writing and singing of songs in various genres dedicated to Rawat by various bands made up of devotees that presented idealised forms of devotion to Rawat

These rituals and practices were done regularly in communities throughout the "West" and were highlighted at 'festivals' where his followers were encouraged to gather in their thousands to hear his speeches and worship him (eg Guru Puja festivals held every July, 'puja' means 'worship'). Rawat preached that atendance at these festivals (later called 'events') was more important than maintaining regular employment which meant that the most dedicated followers invariably worked in low paid, low-skilled jobs despite nearly all of them coming from middle class backgrounds.

20,000 Premies in an old citrus orchard in Kissimmee, Florida: Hans Jayanti 1978

During this period his wife, Marolyn Rawat, nee Johnson newly christened as Durga Ji, and his Western "initiators" (the most dedicated of his followers) took an active role in the declaration of his divinity, the recruitment of his religion and the inspiring of his followers. Publicly, this stopped in 1982-83.

Video Clips of Prem Rawat Demanding Hindu Style Worship

Knowing that there were no reporters interested in what he said he released his wildest claims.

Click Here for a Fuller Exposition and References