Family Of Love

Click here to see a note re the provenance of this and other Divine Light Mission films. The Family Of Love was produced in 1976. There is a short section missing near the beginning of the film. This contained particularly ridiculous scenes of the short, pudgy, puffing Rawat and his tall blonde new trophy wife doing Busby Berkeley type dance routines on the beach filmed from above. I presume they were cut out back in the 1970's to prevent even more mockery at the Lord of the Universe's expense. The complete film in two parts was available at Youtube but it is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Words of Peace Global Foundation.

The satsang (speeches) were filmed at the Hans Jayanti festival in Toronto, Canada in November 1974.

Song: You Are The Sun Above

You are the sun above which shines upon the earth with love
You are the earth below that gives itself so life can grow
You are the light within the breath of love and purity'
You are everything to me
You are a spreading tree whose branches spread wide over me
You are a running stream that flows into eternity
You are the golden flower that's opened in my soul
The simple love that grows and grows and makes me whole
You eyes are the stars
Your smile is the sun
And in your hand you hold me
When to your feet I come

In you a voice of mercy calls for me to hear
My soul is longing now to feel you near
Your heart is open wide and waiting to be known
So won't you come and take me home

On May 20th, 1974 the 16 year old Prem Rawat married his 24 year old secretary, Marolyn Johnson who was described by Divine Light Mission spokesman, Barry Ollman, as a "very humble person." In order to marry her, the guru needed a court order from Judge Morris E. Cole, in Juvenile Court, because he was too young to obtain a marriage license in Colorado without parental consent. Judge Cole commented that the guru "makes quite a bit of money." Mike Donner, another follower of the guru said, "She considers their marriage a service to the guru. When she enters a room, the Maharaj Ji is in, she touches his feet like any devotee." The non-denominational wedding ceremony was held at the Vockland Community Church at Lookout Mountain west of Denver. The Reverend's first words were particularly meaningful for premies as the young Rawat taught his followers that he was God incarnated in a human body.

"Dearly beloved we gather in the presence of God and these witnesses to join together this man (tape error) one of the most important things to remember always is that at the very heart of all creation is love. It is love that gives meaning to all of life's experiences and relationships

(Corinthians 13, approximately) Love is very patient and kind, love knows no jealousy and love makes no parade, never jealous or envious, gives itself no airs, is never rude, never selfish, never irritated and never resentful. Love is always slow to expose, always eager to believe the best, always hopeful and always patient and indeed when love is like this it can outlast anything.

Prem Pal will you have Marolyn to be your wedded wife? To live together with her after God's ordinance in the holy estate of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honour and keep her in sickness and in health and forsaking all others keep thee only unto her so long as you both shall live? If so, will you answer 'I will." "Yes I will."
Marolyn will you have Prem Pal to be your wedded husband? To live together with him after God's ordinance in the holy estate of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honour and keep him in sickness and in health and forsaking all others keep thee only unto him so long as you both shall live? If so, will you answer 'I will." "I will."
And who presents Marolyn to be married to Prem Pal? "My wife and I." (Dale Johnson, father of the bride) Thank you, be seated.

Will you pass your rose now? Will you turn and face each other, join your hands together and looking at each other. Will you say your vows after me:

I Prem Pal take thee Marolyn: "I Prem Pal take thee Marolyn"
To be my wedded wife: "To be my wedded wife"
To have and to hold: "To have and to hold"
From this day forward: "From this day forward"
For better for worse: "For better for worse"
For richer for poorer: "For richer for poorer"
In sickness and in health: "In sickness and in health"
To love and to cherish: "To love and to cherish"
So long as we both shall live: "For so long we both shall live"

Marolyn, will you say your vows after me:
I Marolyn take thee Prem Pal: "I Marolyn take thee Prem Pal"
To be my wedded husband: "To be my wedded husband"
To have and to hold: "To have and to hold"
From this day forward: "From this day forward"
For better for worse: (in tears) "For better for worse"
For richer for poorer: "For richer for poorer"
In sickness and in health: "In sickness and in health"
To love and to cherish: "To love and to cherish"
So long as we both shall live: "So long as we both shall live"

Will you turn toward me? (Soundtrack: Oh love, oh love my love)
A wedding band is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace that unites two hearts in love
(Soundtrack: I never imagined such a place, where love could be known both night and day
Where love is the only reality and the fruits of love are the only thing you see)
(From "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran)
Love one another but make not a bond of love Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup
Give one another of your bread, but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together, and be joyous
but let each one of you be alone
Even as the strings of the lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music
Give your hearts, but not into each others' keeping
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts
And stand together, yet not too near together
For the pillars of the temple stand apart
And the oak tree and the cypress
grow not in each others' shadow.

Oh Love by Allan Thomas

Song: I prayed to God, I prayed in the silence too
And I prayed to God that somehow I'd find you
Now you've come to gently open my heart
Now I pray we'll never have to part
Oh love, oh love my love

Now thoughts of love enter all I do
And thoughts of love just bring me back to you
We can live in this world of harmony
For the grace of God is blessing our family

Anyone looking at this website could easily imagine I am a cynical skeptic and I am certainly way past skeptical about Prem Rawat and his so-called "Knowledge" and into the realm of total disbelief. However I'm really a romantic mystic at heart and as evidence for that I present this remnant of my favourite song. Such a shame that there's really nothing to find but that there's nothing to find.

Hans Jayanti festival, November, 1974, Toronto, Canada. Prem Rawat has given his new wife the title "Durga Mata Ji" When she gave satsang, she often looked and sounded like a rabbit caught in the glare of a high-powered searchlight waiting for the hunter's bullet to strike her heart. This nervous intensity raised the emotional level and inspiration and was a wonderful contrast to her husband's confident but boring and ignorant screeching.

Durga Mata Ji: You and I are one, we're one heart loving our Lord and now He's joined us together in Him. I know this because I feel it so deeply and I know Guru Maharaj Ji loves you so much, more than I could ever, ever tell you and also in this marriage He's made me your new mother. And even though I'm a new mother. I I really don't know how to be your mother. But it's the child, the children that make a mother, a mother.

Guru Maharaj Ji: I mean it's so amazing. If you, if you if you have ever walked with a little bitty child he holds on to that finger and he holds on tight and it's like he's looking around and he's laughing and he's smiling and he has one finger, he says "You know I want that balloon or I want that toy, you know, I mean it's like that, he's very, very hard, he's very, very firmly holding on to that finger and the father takes him on through that big place where he could have gotten lost like in a second. But because he is holding on to that finger, he does not get lost. And it's so beautiful.

Durga Mata Ji: And all this mother has to say is that every child should listen to their father. Because their father is only telling them what is the very best for them. Because He knows. He knows exactly what each one of you need and so whatever Maharaji tells you, this is what you should do because then it will be absolutely perfect for all of us.

Guru Maharaj Ji: And in this world we come, where there is so much illusion, and so much delusion, and we completely get lost. And here comes our Father, and says, "Hey, sonny, here. Hold on to my finger." You know and if you can just hold on tight, there is nothing, there is nothing in this whole world that can detach you, that can put you back into the same illusion where you started from. But only if you can hold on to that finger.

Durga Mata Ji: So this is what we, we must remember always because our Father know exactly what we need and He's taking us, He's given you the key to the kingdom of heaven and it's up to you to open that door and to walk in.

Guru Maharaj Ji: And so it's like, this Knowledge and the Grace, you know, and the satsang and the darshan is like that finger and if every premie can hold on to it - the meditation, the Knowledge, the satsang, the darshan - then the whole thing is just so beautiful because there is really no way left.

Durga Mata Ji: And I know by Maharaji's Grace that we're really going to be the most beautiful family and soon this whole world will be one family. The way that it really should be.

Guru Maharaj Ji: You're really beautiful, she's got her eyes open (?) Premlata means the Vine of Love, just completely full of love. 'Prem' means love, 'lata' means vine. It grows tall, long and it's full of love.

(An appalling song, lyrics are difficult to understand):
Child, child of our Lord
She's the golden vine of love
She's come,
she's come to the dawning
A greater love, a greater grace
Oh Oh sweet Premlata
Thank you Maharaji for this child
Sweet girl smiling for me

In the clip above Rawat can be seen chewing something. He did this a lot in public in the 1970's. It may have been pan(?) which is a mild stimulant popular in India. I'm not sure if he has continued this practice but it is not part of the meditation techniques he teaches.

So premies, do a lotta meditation, lotta satsang, lotta service so you can really become strong so we can give this whole world peace, make this whole world a family. Blessing to all the premies. Thank you very much. (Bolie Shri Satuguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai)

At this time the Indian Mahatmas had not yet repudiated Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) as his mother and elder brothers were still hoping he would end his playboy lifestyle of alcohol abuse, dope smoking, meat eating and inappropriate craving for sex (inappropriate for a Satguru that is) and return to the spiritual path. When this did not happen he was disowned by his Mother and all but a handful of the Mahatmas returned to India to devote their lives to Rawat's eldest brother, Satpal Maharaj MP.

Video: In this film of the darshan line (below), we see the young Rawat giving "Holy Breath" to those people "receiving darshan" for the first time. They cup their right hands behind their ear to show this is the first time they have pranamed and kissed his feet and to be accepted as his devotee. The crowd of mahatmas and inner circle premies around Rawat provide extra emotional intensity and group reinforcement and bonding to the premies in the darshan line who may only see their guru and Perfect Master once or a few times a year or there may be years between these events.

Song: Family Of Love - Allan Thomas
We are a family, a family of love
We are a family, a family of love
And nothing can separate us, no, no
Cause we're bound together by truth
And all we want to do is spread this precious Knowledge
To everyone who is alive
We are a family, a family of love
We are a family, a family of love

We turned our backs to the force of darkness
By turning around to face the light
And by the Grace of our Father and our Mother
Every thing is going right
We are a family, a family of love
We are a family, a family of love

Now the wind of change may blow
But there can stop this flow
And every day we come a little closer to the goal
Being one with every soul
We are a family, a family of love
We are a family, a family of love

There follows a short scene of Holi in the USA which occurred on the weekend of March 29, 1975. The venue was kept secret so that only 300 premies were there for the Holi festival. Two days later Prem's mother and elder brothers dropped their own April Fools "peace bomb" speech to the world's press. Prem Rawat was deposed and disinherited for behaviour that included drug-taking, drunkeness and not doing any meditation.

Prem Rawat and his entourage went to India in 1975 to try to get control of his father's Indian organisation, wealth and followers through the courts. He failed on all counts, suffered some personal danger, or at least he was terrified he would, and on his return to the USA ordered his followers to lie about the events and produce upbeat reporting in the DLM publications (such as this video).

In the snapshots below, Rawat can be seen chewing something. He did this a lot in public in the 1970's and appears to have done it privately as well. I'm not sure if he has continued this practice but it is not part of the meditation techniques he teaches. It seems he chews paan, a combination of betel leaf, areca nut and spices. It is a stimulat widely used in South East Asia and creates a sense of euphoria and alertness. Judging by the quality of Prem Rawat's speeches it was a feeling of alertness not actually being alert.

While there an "Indian double wedding" was staged for himself and his loyal and financially dependant brother Raja Ji and Raja Ji's trophy premie bride, Claudia Littman. They divorced after a few years but had a daughter, Navi Rawat, the beautiful and successful American actress of ethnic type-casting.