User:Andries/drafts/Past teachings of Prem Rawat

Past teachings of Prem Rawat

Prem Rawat father was also his teacher. And Rawat continued to teach in the Sant Mat tradition after his father passed away in 1966.

Early beginnings

 * 1) Claims about the lineage, satguru
 * 2) World peace
 * 3) suggesting to be the avatar according to the gita, peace bomb satsang

now this is some information,that i was told as an aspirant and i do not know how to place that. when hans died, little rawat came home too late, then, beeing in the room with his dead father, a voice came to him, that said, " you are him, you are the one to continue" , he didn't want that and that voice came back for three times, i think there existed also published material about this, but i don't know where. later i heard other descriptions about that event.

Claims, beliefs and practices

 * 1) Encouraging
 * 2) Surrender
 * 3) Battle against the mind


 * 1) Allowing the following practices and beliefs,
 * 2) Lord of the universe, (addressed as the Lord)
 * 3) Arti
 * 4) Guru is greater than God,
 * 5) Feet kissing
 * 6) Mishler said that his was Rawat's strategy to have his flock believe that he was God or God like
 * 7) According to Finch belief in divinity pervaded the members


 * 1) Knowledge


 * 1) Turn from Mahatmas to initiators to instructors to facilitators
 * 2) Formal initiation, incl. test of sincerity to cut off limbs
 * 3) Vow
 * 4) keep in touch
 * 5) incl. secrecy

Family Rift

 * 1) Marriage breaking family tradition + breaking celibacy
 * 2) Raja Ji supported Rawat.He himself got married to the German Claudia Littmann before, with the permission of Prem Rawat only, causing the first tensions inside the familiy and was therefore a natural ally to Rawat while the Rest of the family turned away. Mother criticized Rawat for luxurious life style and supported according to newspaper clips

Name change

 * 1) DLM --> Elan Vital

Rawat wants to do it all by himself

 * 1) The keys

The main reason of the complete takeover of the adressing procedure and the further knowledge session, is the dissapointment of Rawat about the failure of the former handling of that matter by chosen initiators and instructors. The failure of the former methods had to be found solely in the lacking ability of the personel in Rawat's opinion, thus he decided to do it all by himself. If the change to this, really increased the quality, the number of newcomers and most important, the remainig of the newcomers with his teachings may be still in question, but there is definitely nobody around him who would dare to criticise him or publish statistics about that.

Ex-premies' websites

 * ex-premie.org - website in excess of a thousand pages critical of Prem Rawat and the organizations that support his work, written by former followers, maintained by John Brauns
 * Mike Finch website - ex-premie after thirty years
 * Maharaji Drek - website critical of Prem Rawat (Note: contains language and images some may find offensive)

Websites of organizations and individuals who support the work of Prem Rawat

 * The Prem Rawat Foundation - not-for-profit foundation promoting and disseminating Prem Rawat's speeches, writings, music, art and public forums
 * Enjoying Life With Knowledge - site for those who appreciate the teachings of Maharaji.
 * Voices about Maharaji and Knowledge - Expressions from students around the world.
 * Excerpts from Maharaji's activities around the world.
 * WordPaint.com Words of Peace - Featuring excerpts of talks given by Prem Rawat worldwide.
 * Promise of Life - Expressions and observations from students of Prem Rawat.

References and bibliography

 * Barrett, D. V. The New Believers - A survey of sects, cults and alternative religions 2001 UK, Cassell & Co ISBN 0-304-35592-92-5  pages 65, 305-329
 * Cameron, Charles. Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?, 1973,  Bantam Books - Presented as an authorized biography by followers.
 * Dupertius, L. (1986) How people recognize charisma: the case of darshan in Radhasoami and Divine Light Mission. Sociological Analysis, 47, Page 111-124. University of Guam
 * Elliot, M. E. (1999). Elan Vital - research paper by a student of the late Jeffrey Hadden of the University of Virginia
 * Haan, Wim (Dutch language) De missie van het Goddelijk licht van goeroe Maharaj Ji: een subjektieve duiding from the series Religieuze bewegingen in Nederland: Feiten en Visies nr. 3, autumn 1981, edited by Dr. R. Bakker, Dr. C. J. G. van der Burg, Dr. Reender Kranenborg, Dr. J van der Lans, and Dr. H. C. Stoffels. ISBN 90-242-2341-5 (Based mainly on the Dutch branch of the Divine Light Mission.) ''Note: Haan was part of a critical movement within the catholic church"
 * Melton, J. Gordon and Lewis, R. James, Institute for the Study of the American Religion (ISAR) (1993). Religious Requirements and practices. A Handbook for Chaplains Department of the USA Army, Office of the Chief of Chaplains.
 * Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia of American Religions, 7th edition ISBN 0-7876-6384-0 - page 1055