Prem Rawat's Teaching about Shelter - In His Own Words

Both Prem Rawat and his father, self-declared Perfect Masters of their time, asserted they could shelter their followers from all harm if they had faith and practised the Knowledge "revealed" by their empowered vessels. However if a devotee was harmed - as were thousands of devotees during the partition of India and Pakistan - then that just showed that were not surrendered to their Satguru and meditating on Holy Name. Sort of a Rawatacatch 22.

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hans Rawat (Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, Prem Rawat's father)
A Prayer of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj Ji to His Perfect Master Sarupanand Ji Maharaj
I do not behave in the proper way, and I still have not understood why I am living in the shelter of my Satguru. I am ashamed of myself. How can I pray to You? How can I please You when I know I am making mistakes before You? How can I be Your blessed one? Please Lord, grant me the gift of devotion. O my Guru Maharaj Ji, Lord of all Lords, I ask nothing more than to serve You day and night. If only I might see my living Master, I would tell Him all my sufferings, weeping, and rest my head on His Holy Feet.
Affinity June 1979

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hans Rawat (father of Prem Rawat), Prem Nagar Ashram, Hardwar, India
A man's birth is rendered useless if God is not realized by him during his lifetime. In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says, "Seek the shelter of the Perfect Master who has realized God; He will show you the way to realize Him. The Satguru or realized Soul is the only shelter and it is He alone that can provide you with the vision of God."
Divine Light magazine Volume 2, Number 6 and Hans Yog Prakash

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hans Rawat (Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj)
If the touch of an enlightened soul is absolutely necessary to get this Knowledge, how can it be possible to get it from a Guru who has left his mortal body? Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammad would not have called upon the people of their times to come into their shelter and consecrate mind, body and actions to them. Lord Rama could have said, "Seek the shelter of Narayana." Lord Krishna could have told Arjuna, "Seek the shelter of Lord Rama." Jesus Christ could have told people to seek the shelter of some previous Master. But they did not say so simply because they were enlightened and they knew perfectly well that past enlightened souls cannot help the average aspirant to attain enlightenment.
Online Magazines: Manav Dharam (September 2008)

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, November 1963
Why is it that we all seek peace and happiness, yet due to our ignorance of the right path to attaining peace we are unable to find it? We do not know who to ask for direction; we are ignorant that happiness and peace is the result of true devotion to God and His Knowledge. This devotion and Knowledge is not acquired without satsang and the Satguru. All scriptures unanimously declare that to acquire Knowledge, the shelter of a true master must be sought. Today the world does not search for a true Guru, but is rather engaged in whatever devotion it is attracted to. … If He is not met, if the mind is not engaged in Him, then of what value are these practices? They are all useless."
Volume 2, Issue 7, And It Is Divine Magazine

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hampstead Town Hall, London, England, October 31, 1971
You are disciples now. You have received the shelter and now you are afraid of nothing in this world. You have received the shelter of such a thing, you are wearing a bullet-proof coat, such a coat that even when bullets come to you they won't harm you. Egos come to you, they cannot touch you. So you are completely sheltered and completely protected. Don't, don't go out of the shelter. Always try to be in the shelter. Otherwise this ego is ready; you cannot see the clouds of ego but you can feel the rain of ego. As soon as you go out of the shelter you are completely drowned in egos. And you must have received the terrible experiences of these things, of egos, of suffering. How does suffering exist, do you know? Many people ask me, if God is good from where did evil come, and what is evil first of all? Evil is nothing. Evil is the ignorance of our mind.
Knowledge Kit

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Patna, Bihar, India, December 25, 1971
Why do you have this human body? To know this, we will have to take the shelter of Guru Maharaj Ji. Guru Maharaj Ji knows all. Guru Maharaj Ji is Brahma (Creator). Guru Maharaj Ji is Vishnu (Operator). Guru Maharaj Ji is Shiva (Destroyer of illusion and ego). And above all, Guru Maharaj Ji is the Supremest Lord in person before us. Therefore, my dear aspirants, what is that path? What is that medium which, if we adopt it, we can know that Supremest God, we can know that Creator of this universe, we can know our Father who, though He is omnipresent, is the secret of all secrets, is everywhere, is actually not secret. And you can know Him only by the Grace and Blessings of Guru Maharaj Ji.
Now, from the incidents that these people are putting in my way, a clear picture is given that within a very short period, the whole universe will realize the Knowledge of Self, and there will be one kingdom of Truth and Harmony. These people are trying to put obstructions in my way, and all their actions are enough to give me complete proof that there will be one banner of True Name all over the universe completely. There is no doubt about this. The time is very near. The whole universe will enjoy perfect peace and happiness, forgetting all sorts of differences, under the shelter of the banner of True Name. Now the play of God is going to be finalized in a very, very excellent way.
Élan Vital, Autumn 1977, Volume I, Issue 1

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

DUO Proclamation February 1973
This is the organisation which is going to help the whole world to get out of misery and suffering. And I challenge this to the whole world, that by Divine United Organisation, and by the grace of Almighty Lord, and the power of Knowledge, the bliss of the Knowledge, peace in the world can again be established, in the same way as people have dreamed of and the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth will be possible, and is possible if you work together, with cooperation and in the manner of Divine United Organisation that I have explained to you. Everyone will have shelter, even a small ant, and then lions and goats will drink water in the same pool and will be satisfied.
The sayings of Guru Maharaj Ji, © Divine Light Mission 1974

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hans Jayanti, 1974
This is the joy, this is the wonderful, beautiful experience those saints had, those fortunate premies had, who were able to realize the Perfect Master. Like John was able to realize Christ. Like Arjuna was able to realize Krishna. Like Hanuman was able to realize Ram. They could understand that their Saviour, that their Father, that their shelter was still there, and that they could still run to it. Premies, it's said that in this world we have always needed a Saviour, because this world has constantly been changing and changing and changing and changing.
And It Is Divine, Volume 2, Issue 7

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hans Jayanti Festival, Orlando, Florida, 9 November 1975
If Lord could ruin this world, flood it, like this (snapping fingers), then I ask you: couldn't He do it in 1975? Have we got a contract between us and God that He is not going to flood the world in 1975? We certainly don't. Or I haven't heard about it. But probably we don't. So when Lord comes to us, accept Him. And Lord is here. He has always been here. How can we make a statement, "The Lord is gone," and then turn around and say, "Lord is omnipresent"? We are contradicting ourselves. He has always been here. He has always been saving us, but it's us who pull out of His shelter. It's us who leave His home and go out and wander in the woods and get lost. But even when we do, He comes along and He saves us, He protects us. Well premies, that's the glory of Him. I just want to caution you about something. Because the way He is, the way He does His things, He just might decide not to go around lookin' for you. And if He does, you have had it. That's it. It's called "finito." It's all over.
The Golden Age, Number 25, January 1976

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

December 10, 1976, Guru Maharaj Ji's birthday, Malibu mansion
A lot of people suddenly decided to move out of the ashram. Well, that is up to them, but a lot of people also started to feel that they're stranded in this world, because maybe they weren't quite ready to move out of the ashram. Besides the fact of ups and downs and highs and lows, there's only one very important thing that we all have to understand and recognise, and that is that we have to come back home again. If we cannot come home again, and we have gone too far off, it's just not worth it. We have to come back home again, we have to come back to satsang, service, and meditation, and we have to come back under the shelter of Guru Maharaj Ji, because that's about the best shelter there is.
The Golden Age February 1977 Number 36 and Guru Maharaj Ji's World booklet, 1980

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Atlantic City Conference, December 20, 1976
Q: Guru Maharaj Ji, could you give me, us, a really simple definition of ashram? Please?
GMJ: I did - intensive care. Ashram is a shelter - provided by Guru Maharaj Ji, unto which we can come, unto which Guru Maharaj Ji can really work at us, really operate at us, really because he is the surgeon, and he knows what's wrong. And it's just like, just like, we get hit by a disease, and we start to receive medication - which is good, which is Knowledge - and we start to receive medication for it, but what we need is an intensive care because our situation deteriorates so fast that for a recovery we need - just for a recovery, from the disease - we need a place to be at, where we can, we can be restored. And so Guru Maharaj Ji, this is how Guru Maharaj Ji works, this is like Guru Maharaj Ji's hospital, y'know?
Atlantic City Conference Audio Tape

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hans Jayanti Festival, Kissimmee Florida. Thursday afternoon 9th November 1978
Of course when you are protected by Guru Maharaj Ji's shelter, when you are protected by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace, there is no problem, there is no concern, there is nothing going on except satsang, except an experience. An experience so overwhelming that nothing can compete with it, nothing can join it, nothing can even come close to it. But it's when we leave that shelter and we go awaythere is this whole oasis, there's this incredible Guru Maharaj Ji's shelter, there is this incredible Guru Maharaj Ji's Love, there is everything that we could possibly desire, there is everything that we could possibly need, and Guru Maharaj Ji has given us that. And our mind says, no, no, there is a better oasis somewhere else. No, no, no, this is not good enough, go somewhere else. But everywhere it's just desolate and desolate and desolate.
Hans Jayanti Festival, Kissimmee Florida. Thursday afternoon, 9th November 1978

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Malibu, California, 7th January 1979
And it's just so beautiful, to again it's so beautiful to have that opportunity to be in an ashram cause what is ashram? Ashram is a place where we can be in Guru Maharaj Ji's shelter. Ashram is, again ashram is not a place where you can say "Oh that's an ashram" but ashram is when premies, Guru Maharaj Ji's come together and make that effort, when Guru Maharaj Ji's premies come together and make that commitment that "Yes, Guru Maharaj Ji, we're gonna do what you want us to do."
Malibu 1979 Ashram Satsang video

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Guru Puja Lingfield England June 21 1979
A beautiful story you know, I was drowning and Guru Maharaj Ji came and helped me. Weren't, aren't we all drowning? You know, at least we are drenching wet in the rain but truly drowning in the river of what appears to be something we can feel, touch and see. And Guru Maharaj Ji comes and he gives us that hand, he gives us that shelter, he gives us that focus, he gives us that aid, he gives us his grace through which we can even understand what it all means, through which we can even understand what it is all about. You know and we have come here to celebrate this festival
Guru Puja Lingfield England 1979 video

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Ashram Satsang, Guru Puja Lingfield, June, 1979
So, it's nice to see there's a lot of ashram premies, perhaps not enough though. The reason why I wanted to see you all to me always has been a thing, always will be, ashrams are very special place. In the ashram there's a real experience to be had in the ashram is really a shelter that Guru Maharaj Ji provides (laughter) and uh we need some translation ?? here And yet I can't say and I don't think anybody in this world can say that they don't need Guru Maharaj Ji's shelter. I mean all of us, everyone of us needs that shelter and to me ashram can be a really beautiful experience for everyone of us if we are sincere about it, if we are sincerely seeking a shelter, if we sincerely want a shelter, if we really want to be saved from something, if we really want to be sheltered from something. … Premies who want to live in the ashrams have to be sincere about living in the ashrams. There's no point to live in the ashram just because you want a shelter over your head. There's no point to live in the ashram if you just want to live in the ashram for the sake of it because there is a real experience in the ashram that you can have, there really is and it is a very important aspect, it's a very important way, it's in fact such an incredible thing because it can like to really assist us, it can really boost us in the experience of our Knowledge, in the experience of Guru Maharaj Ji … And what Guru Maharaj Ji offers is a shelter from it all, in where you can really be in satsang, you can really be in service, you can really be in meditation.… There is an opportunity, there is a place where you can sincerely just dedicate your life to to Guru Maharaj Ji. To me ashram is the next thing to being an initiator cause that's where I choose my initiators from. There's not one single initiator that is now, was or will ever be who has not stayed in the ashram. Cause that's where the experience can be gained. Ashram is not a thing, I mean tell me, tell me, is it that you're gonna be 43 years old and one day you're gonna realize that you don't need the shelter of the ashram anymore. You don't need Guru Maharaj Ji's shelter anymore, you're perfectly OK to walk into this world and everything will be hunky dory, everything will be great for you. It just isn't that way, it doesn't work like that, does it?… And you have to be aware of mind, be still aware of mind whether you are in the ashram or not and yet your chances grow so stronger because you have the Grace of Guru Maharaj Ji, you have the shelter of Guru Maharaj Ji.
Guru Puja Lingfield England 1979 video

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Hans Jayanti, Kissimmee, Florida, November 5, 1979
And the simple thing is, because we become a premie, somehow we feel, "Okay, now that we are premies we are sheltered." But that's not the case. Where is your shelter? What is your shelter? The way it goes is, if you dedicate your life to Guru Maharaj Ji - if you dedicate your life to Guru Maharaj Ji - then you are sheltered by Guru Maharaj Ji's Grace. And the thing is, we have to ask ourselves the question: Have we dedicated our lives to Guru Maharaj Ji? Have we really given our lives to Guru Maharaj Ji? As simple as that. And are we truly qualified to be a recipient of that Grace, to be a recipient of that shelter of Guru Maharaj Ji? Of course not. Because we get out of one big trip from this world
Élan Vital, Fall 1980, Volume IV, Issue 3

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Rome, Italy, Ashram Satsang June 25 1980
It's an opportunity, it's a gift that's given to Guru, by Guru Maharaj Ji to all the premies, to be able to have that understanding, to be able to have a chance to dedicate and devote this life and you have to understand what ashram is all about. … I think the word sort of comes from the word 'ashray' which means shelter. To provide us a shelter, to give us a shelter and yet that shelter has to be given to us because somehow in our lives we feel that we need that shelter, we need that shelter of Guru Maharaj Ji from this world. If we do not have the recognition, for instance, one of the basic things in an ashram is to dedicate your life, to devote your life. Truly. And yet if you cannot understand in your own life what Knowledge is, if you in your life don't have an understanding of who Guru Maharaj Ji is then who are you going to dedicate your life to?
Rome Ashram Satsang video, 1980

Prem Rawat Inspirational Speaker Teaching About His Shelter

Fulfillment Video, 1998
"Then yes, it means that there is something here which I need to know that my fulfillment is not far away from me, that my contentment is not far from me, that my joy is not far from me, that my simplicity is not far from me, that my life is not far from me. That I carry within, the key that will unlock all my locks, that I carry within the answer that will answer all my questions, that my understanding is with me, that my clarity is with me, that the shelter that I seek from the rain of this world is within me and it's not far from me. That my home, my home, home is not far from me and there is no greater truth than that. I have seen it.
Fulfillment Video, 1998