Talk:Prem Rawat/criticism

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Untitled[edit]

This is a temporary page to gather different versions of criticism together in one place. It will delete it when done once a consensus version is reached.

In Jan 07, it was decided to merge Criticism of Prem Rawat into the main article since it was a POV fork. The Original fork, Jan 2007 section below contains the last version of the Criticism of Prem Rawat article prior to it being merged into the Prem Rawat article.

Currently there is no criticism section since attempts to remove the criticism, rather than trying to reach a consensus version, started shortly after the merge was completed in Jan 07. The reversions have been occurring since then as in this example from June 2007. In Sept 07 there was a removal of NPOV tags from users wondering why there is no criticism and two more recent reverts from feb 3, 08 and feb 6, 08. Several different versions of the criticism have, however, existed over the past year. Three different versions can be read below.


2008 version[edit]

Criticism from former members[edit]

A increasingly large group of former followers that have become vocal critics, call themselves "ex-premies"[1][2]. There is also a website that utilizes this term, Ex-Premie.Org[3][4]

One of the main observations made by ex followers is that Prem Rawat and his diminishing group of followers are perpetuating a damaging myth. In spite of extream revisionism on the part of Rawat and his key advisers which seeks to cover up his past most people who were once followers are now ex followers (most simply drifted away once it became apparent that Rawat could not offer them anything while others have made use of the internet to voice their concerns about Prem Rawat and his "mission".

Gordon Melton describes that in the mid-1970s several ex-members became vocal critics[5]. James Lewis wrote that a number of ex-members became critics of the movement, attacking it with charges of brainwashing and mind control[6].

Some of the criticism leveled at Prem Rawat derives from Bob Mishler, a former president of DLM, and Robert Hand after they parted ways with Prem Rawat in the 1970s. [7] According to Melton in a 1986 article, Mishler's complaints that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaji's personal use found little support and did not affect the progress of the Mission.[8]

Criticism from the media[edit]

After Prem Rawat's first arrival in the United Kingdom and United States in 1971 at the age of thirteen and through the 1970s he, his students and his organizations attracted media scrutiny and attention. Examples of articles appearing in the mainstream press in that decade include a 1974 article in Rolling Stone magazine and a 1979 article in the New York Review of Books.[9][10]

A 1980 article in The Washington Post reported that a Congressional Panel had singled out, among other controversial groups: "Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission...as cults that employ manipulative techniques and turn children against their parents."[11] An article which mentioned the Divine Light Mission appeared in Time Magazine in 1997[12]. A 1998 article in Rocky Mountain News referred to Elan Vital as a "cult"[13].

In 2002, an article by the Australian Associated Press referred to the organization as the "Elan Vital cult."[14]

In 2008, an article by The Register stated that the organization is "widely recognized as a cult"[15] and that the editing of the Prem Rawat article by some editors of Wikipedia is evidence of "... the most extreme conflict of interest in the history of Wikipedia." [16]

June 2007 version[edit]

Prem Rawat has at times been the subject of criticism from religious scholars, individuals related to anti-cult movements, articles in the press and media, and former members.

In 1981 Jan van der Lans, a professor of psychology of religion who lived in a monastery until 1968 before being employed by the Catholic University of Nijmegen, wrote in the book commissioned by the KSGV, a Christian-inspired Dutch association, [17]that Rawat's "life was one of idleness and pleasure". The year Van der Lans' comment was published, Rawat, now the father of four children under 10, flew a Boeing 707 to forty different cities, and spoke on 120 occasions, crisscrossing North America four times and toured South America, Europe, India, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia.[18] Van der Lans also that "if he visits a festival then a floor of a hotel is rented for him and his family". Steven J Hunt writes than "Rawat announced himself as the new master and started his own teaching".[19] And Geaves writes in "New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities" "that his father had chosen him as the person best suited to carry the teachings forward. [20] And Downton writes that "the elevation of the youngest to spiritual prominence was no surprise at all, for stories are told about his extraordinary dedication to the Knowledge, which he demonstrated almost from the moment when his father, and guru, had revealed the life force to him. From the age of six, he is said to have voluntarily immersed himself in spiritual practices, sometimes meditating for hours at a time. His exuberance for the Knowledge made him a sensation at satsang, where premies say he spoke spontaneously to mass audiences with the assurance of someone many years older".[21] Jacob Belzen, who holds four doctorates in the social sciences, history, philosophy, and sciences of religion, says that van der Lans work "was not without theological preferences and bias, but he presented himself as an empirically oriented psychologist".[22][23] Van der Lans died in 2002, the year after The Prem Rawat Foundation was founded as a Public Charitable Organization, largely for the production and distribution of audiovisual and other materials promoting Rawat's message. It also funds international humanitarian efforts, and provides water, food and medical relief to war-torn and impoverished areas.[24][25][26].

Kranenborg's impression was that the person of Maharaj ji had become more central over the course of years, and that Maharaj ji's assertions about himself and his vocation went further as he became more aware of the extent of his divinity. He further wrote that when Christians get into dialogue with premies that the lifestyle of the guru is of great importance. He argued that a satguru who drives an expensive car and owns a big yacht may not be a problem for premies, but it is a problem for Christians and that they should ask premies why Maharaj ji does not live what Kranenborg considers to be a normal and simple life.[27]

The sociologist Ralph Larkin with Daniel A. Foss wrote in 1978 that the DLM "emphasized formal structure without substantive content."[28] In response the religious scholar Dr. Ron Geaves, who is a student of Prem Rawat, accused them of bias, pointing to the number of students that were attracted to the DLM.

An article published in the official magazine about religious movements of the Free university of Amsterdam written by Wim Haan, a student of theology at a Pastoral and Theology school in a small town in the Netherlands states that the battle against the mind sometimes degenerated into complete irrationality, that sometimes premies branded every critical and objective approach as "mind", and that they often avoided discussions with outsiders because these discussions could possibly stimulate the mind. Haan wrote that the word "mind" was defined in the premie-community as "being conditioned" that is all alienating influences that made man stray off from his true nature.[29]

The sociologist Stephen A. Kent described Prem Rawat's message as "banal" based on his personal experience with Rawat and that afterwards "I listened incredulously as my companions spoke glowingly about the message that they had just received. In fact, they were so moved by the guru's words that they made tentative plans to return the next day" in the preface of his book and treats elsewhere in his book the criticism by the countercultural left on him in the 1970s.[30]

Dr. Marc Galanter, a professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse at the New York University Medical Center, describes his first encounter with the Divine Light Mission ashram - "The atmosphere in the ashram was indeed quite striking. On entering a large apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I was greeted in a friendly, even intimate fashion by people who were complete strangers. The intense communality of the members was immediately apparent, a quality that was clearly an important aspect of the group's function. One could sense a closeness among those present, and an absence of the minor tensions that would be expected in a setting where two dozen people were living in tight quarters. A college dormitory, a military barracks, or a summer camp soon reveal a certain amount of hostile banter or argument. These appeared to be absent in the ashram. Caring and intimacy, reflective of the group's cohesiveness, seemed to mute any expression of animosity".[31][32].

Melton reports that "Maharaj Ji, who frequently acted like the teenager that he was in public, was seen as immature and hence unfit to be a religious leader." [33]

Glock and Bellah describes Rawat as being the subject of great controversy in India, "Although Maharaj Ji is himself from India, is a guru, and offers a meditation technique, he is not clearly Eastern and is a subject of great controversy in India, where he is also a major heretic. Any man who says that all scriptures are true, that Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, and a host of others were all Christ, is a heretic everywhere." [34]

Criticism in the media[edit]

After Prem Rawat's first arrival in the United Kingdom and United States in 1971 at the age of thirteen and through the 1970s he, his students and his organizations attracted media scrutiny and attention. Examples of articles appearing in the mainstream press in that decade include a 1974 article in Rolling Stone magazine and a 1979 article in the New York Review of Books.[35][36]

A 1980 article in The Washington Post reported that a Congressional Panel had singled out, among other controversial groups: "Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission...as cults that employ manipulative techniques and turn children against their parents."[37] An article which mentioned the Divine Light Mission appeared in Time Magazine in 1997.[38] A 1998 article in Rocky Mountain News referred to Elan Vital as a "cult".[39]

In 2002, an article by the Australian Associated Press referred to the organization as the "Elan Vital cult."[40]

Criticism by former members[edit]

J. Gordon Melton describes that in the mid-1970s several ex-members became vocal critics. Some of the criticism leveled at Rawat derives from Robert Mishler, former President of DLM ( who died in 1979). According to Melton in a 1986 article, Mishler's complaints that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaji's personal use found little support and did not affect the progress of the Mission.[41]. Another scholar, James Lewis, notes a number of ex-members made claims of brainwashing and mind control.[42] Some of the criticism leveled at Prem Rawat derives from Bob Mishler, a former president of DLM, and Robert Hand after they parted ways with Prem Rawat in the 1970s.[43]

May 2007 version[edit]

Prem Rawat has at times been the subject of criticism from religious scholars, individuals related to anti-cult movements, articles in the press and media, and former members.

Jan van der Lans, a professor of psychology of religion at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (now Radboud University Nijmegen) wrote about followers of gurus in a book published in 1981 commissioned by the KSGV, a Christian-inspired Dutch association that organizes conferences and publishes articles and books related to faith, religion and mental health.[44] Van der Lans wrote that Maharaji is an example of a guru who has become a charlatan leading a double life. On the one hand, he tried to remain loyal to the role in which he was forced and to the expectations of his students, yet on the other hand, his private life was one of idleness and pleasure, which was only known to small circle of insiders. According to van der Lans, one could consider him either a fraud or a victim of his surroundings. In 1986 van der Lans reported that compared to the educational level of the general Dutch population, high academic levels are overrepresented in Rawat's students[45][46] [47]

Kranenborg asserted that Jos Lammers, whom he labelled as an "ex-premie", made similar comments as van der Lans about Maharaji's lifestyle in his interview with the Dutch magazine Haagse Post. He further wrote that when Christians get into dialogue with premies that the lifestyle of the guru is of great importance. He argued that a satguru who drives an expensive car and owns a big yacht may not be a problem for premies, but it is a problem for Christians and that they should ask premies why Maharaj ji does not live what Kranenborg considers to be a normal and simple life.[48]


The sociologist Stephen A. Kent described Prem Rawat's message as "banal" based on his personal experience with Rawat in the preface of his book and treats elsewhere in his book the criticism by the countercultural left on him in the 1970s.[30]

The psychiatrist Saul V. Levine, who has published several articles about cults and new religious movements, wrote in an article titled Life in Cults, published in 1989, that public perception is that the Divine Light Mission, the Hare Krishna, the Unification Church, and the Children of God are seen as cults held in low esteem and that families' perceptions "that their children are being financially exploited" is one of the most pernicious and malevolent aspects of these groups, where "the leaders live in ostentation and offensive opulence." He also wrote that "[...] in the Divine Light Mission, members are expected to turn over all material possessions and earnings to the religion and to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, meat, and sex".[49]

Melton reports that "Maharaj Ji, who frequently acted like the teenager that he was in public, was seen as immature and hence unfit to be a religious leader." [50]

An author initiated in Knowledge describes Rawat as being the subject of great controversy in India, "where he is also a major heretic." [51]

Original fork, Jan 2007[edit]

Observations from scholars[edit]

Scholars and authors that have written about Prem Rawat and related organisations without criticism include Andrew Kopkind,[52] Charles H. Lippy,[53] John Bassett McCleary,[54] Ruth Prince and David Riches,[55] Bryan R. Wilson,[56] Dennis Marcellino, Erwin Fahlbusch,[57] Tim Miller, Raymond Lee, Rosemary Goring,[58] George D. Chryssides, David V. Barrett, Lucy DuPertuis J. Gordon Melton, Jeffrey K. Hadden, Eugene M. Elliot III,[59] Sandra S. Frankiel,[60] and James Lewis. Barret, Dupertuis, Melton, and Lewis mention criticism by the media, Rawat's mother, Bob Mishler, and former members respectively.

Stephen A. Kent criticizes Prem Rawat based on his personal experience with Rawat and treats the criticism by the countercultural left on him in the 1970s.

Some critical observations and comments about Rawat and his students are as follows:

Wim Haan

An article written by Wim Haan, published in the official magazine of the Free University of Amsterdam in 1981, forwards several critical statements. In the article, Haan wrote that he was a member of a critical movement within the Roman Catholic Church and that he was a student of theology at a Pastoral and Theology school in a small town in the Netherlands. In that article, based on his description of his involvement with the DLM over the course of two years in the Netherlands, he asserts that Rawat's battle against the mind sometimes degenerated into complete irrationality, that sometimes premies branded every critical and objective approach as "mind", and that they often avoided discussions with outsiders because these discussions could possibly stimulate the mind.[61]

Stephen Hunt

In 2003, Stephen J. Hunt wrote in Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction that Prem Rawat has left " his more ascetic life behind him, he does not personally eschews material possessions. Over time, critics have focused on what appears to be his opulent lifestyle and argue that it is supported largely by the donations of his followers". Hunt also writes that by keeping a low profile the movement has managed to escape the gaze of publicity that surrounds other new religious movements.[62]

Reender Kranenborg

Reender Kranenborg, a Dutch religious scholar and Christian minister, wrote in a 1982 article that "in Maharaj ji's satsangs one can notice a speaking style that resembles very much some Christian evangelization campaigns: a pressing request, an emphasis on the last possibility to choose before it is too late and a terminology in which one is requested to surrender to the Lord, in this case Maharaj ji himself. The contents of the message is not Christian, though." Kranenbord's impression was that the person of Maharaj ji had become more central over the course of years, and that Maharaj ji's assertions about himself and his vocation went further as he became more aware of the extent of his divinity. Kranenborg asserted that Jos Lammers, whom he labelled as an "ex-premie", made similar comments as van der Lans about Maharaji's lifestyle in his interview with the Dutch magazine Haagse Post. He further wrote that when Christians get into dialogue with premies that the lifestyle of the guru is of great importance. He argued that a satguru who drives an expensive cars and owns a big yacht may not be a problem for premies, but it is a problem for Christians and that they should ask premies why Maharaj ji does not live what he considers to be a normal and simple life.[63]

Jan van der Lans

Jan van der Lans, a professor of psychology of religion at the Radboud University Nijmegen, wrote about followers of gurus in a book published in 1981 commissioned by the KSGV, a Christian-inspired Dutch association that organizes conferences and publishes articles and books related to faith, religion and mental health[64]. Van der Lans wrote that Maharaji is an example of a guru who has become a charlatan leading a double life. On the one hand, he tried to remain loyal to the role in which he was forced and to the expectations of his students, yet on the other hand, his private life was one of idleness and pleasure, which was only known to small circle of insiders. According to van der Lans, one could consider him either a fraud or a victim of his surroundings. Van der Lans treated several gurus but was only critical about Rawat, but does not provided citations for his very critical assessment.[65]

Larkin, Foss

The sociologist Ralph Larkin with Daniel A. Foss wrote in 1978 that the DLM "emphasized formal structure without substantive content."[66] In response the religious scholar Dr. Ron Geaves, who is a student of Prem Rawat, accused them of bias, pointing to the number of students that were attracted to the DLM. [67]


Saul V. Levine

The psychiatrist Saul V. Levine, who has published several articles about cults and new religious movements, wrote in an article titled Life in Cults, published in 1989, that public perception is that the Divine Light Mission, the Hare Krishna, the Unification Church, and the Children of God are seen as cults held in low esteem and that families' perceptions "that their children are being financially exploited" is one of the most pernicious and malevolent aspects of these groups, where "the leaders live in ostentation and offensive opulence." He also wrote that "[...] in the Divine Light Mission, members are expected to turn over all material possessions and earnings to the religion and to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, meat, and sex". His analysis was based on practices, such as the monastic life in ashrams, that were abandoned in the 1980s when Prem Rawat threw off anachronistic Hindu religious and cultural trappings previously associated with his message.[68]

Margaret Singer

In the early 1980s the late Dr. Margaret Singer included the DLM (since then disbanded and replaced by the non-religious, educational nonprofit, Elan Vital) in her list of cults. In 1979, Dr. Singer mentioned the Divine Light Movement as one of a set of groups that have "intense relationships between followers and a powerful idea or leader", in an article in Psychology Today.[69].

Paul Schnabel

The sociologist Dr. Paul Schnabel wrote in a 1982 Ph.D. thesis about new religious movements and mental health that the message of the Divine Light Mission could be summarized in the person of Guru Maharaj Ji, in which divine love and truth are manifested, and that by completely surrendering oneself to the guru or perfect master (the revealer of that truth and love), one can be a part of it. He further wrote that Prem Rawat was at that moment one of the purest examples of charismatic leadership. He characterized Rawat as materialistic, spoilt, and intellectually unremarkable. He asserted that Rawat stimulated an uncritical attitude of the students' view of the guru and their projections on him.[70]

Criticism in the media[edit]

After Prem Rawat's first arrival in the United Kingdom and United States in 1971 at the age of thirteen and through the 1970s he, his students and his organizations attracted media scrutiny and attention. Examples of articles appearing in the mainstream press in that decade include a 1974 article in Rolling Stone magazine and a 1979 article in the New York Review of Books.[71][72]

A 1980 article in The Washington Post reported that a Congressional Panel had singled out, among other controversial groups: "Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission...as cults that employ manipulative techniques and turn children against their parents."[73] An article which mentioned the Divine Light Mission appeared in Time Magazine in 1997[74]. A 1998 article in Rocky Mountain News referred to Elan Vital as a "cult"[75].

In 2002, an article by the Australian Associated Press referred to the organization as the "Elan Vital cult."[76]

Criticism by former members[edit]

A small group of former followers that have become vocal critics, call themselves "ex-premies"[77][78]. There is also a website that utilizes this term, Ex-Premie.Org[79][80]

Gordon Melton describes that in the mid-1970s several ex-members became vocal critics[81]. James Lewis wrote that a number of ex-members became critics of the movement, attacking it with charges of brainwashing and mind control[82].

Some of the criticism leveled at Prem Rawat derives from Bob Mishler, a former president of DLM, and Robert Hand after they parted ways with Prem Rawat in the 1970s. [83] According to Melton in a 1986 article, Mishler's complaints that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaji's personal use found little support and did not affect the progress of the Mission.[84]

Other criticism[edit]

External links[edit]

Media/Press

References[edit]

  1. ^ Police block drive-in protest against guru, Courier Mail, Australia, September 4, 2002, Tony Keim
    Neville Ackland, a self-proclaimed "ex-premie" (follower) of "Mahariji" Prem Pal Rawat, was yesterday stopped by police from driving into the Ivory's Rock convention centre to confront the "false guru".
  2. ^ Blinded by the Light, Good Weekend (Sydney Morning Herald), August 31, 2002.
    In 1996, Canadian lawyer and ex-premie Jim Heller was cruising the early cult newsgroups on the Internet, looking for some mention of Maharaji. Nothing. Then, slowly, other ex-premies materialised, including one who happened to have web design skills: www.ex-premie.org was born. As bits of information - recollections, documents, photos - trickled in to the web site from all over the world, an entirely new picture of the Perfect Master began to emerge.
  3. ^ "Former Guru on a Different Mission", Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1998.
  4. ^ Listing, International Cultic Studies Association
    The Elan Vital - Divine Light Mission Papers "The primary purpose of this website is to provide information to current and prospective followers of Divine Light Mission/Elan Vital, that is not made available on Prem Rawat's official sites."
  5. ^ Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia Handbook of Cults in America p.143, Garland Publishing (1986) ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "several deprogrammed ex-members became vocal critics of the mission"
  6. ^ Lewis, James, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions, p.210, Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-57392-888-7
    "a number of ex-members became critics of the movement, attacking it with charges of brainwashing and mind control"
  7. ^ Brown, Chip, Parents Versus Cult: Frustration, Kidnapping, Tears; Who Became Kidnappers to Rescue Daughter From Her Guru, The Washington Post, February 15, 1982
    "Suddenly there were new reports from people who'd actually managed the Divine Light Mission—Robert Mishler, the man who organized the business side of the mission and served for 5 1/2 years as its president, and Robert Hand Jr., who served as a vice president for two years. In the aftermath of Jonestown, Mishler and Hand felt compelled to warn of similarities between Guru Maharaj Ji and Jim Jones. They claimed the potential for another Jonestown existed in the Divine Light Mission because the most fanatic followers of Maharaj Ji would not question even the craziest commands. As Jim Jones convincingly demonstrated, the health of a cult group can depend on the stability of the leader.
    Mishler and Hand revealed aspects of life inside the mission that frightened the Deitzes. In addition to his ulcer, the Perfect Master who held the secret to peace and spiritual happiness 'had tremendous problems of anxiety which he combatted with alcohol,' Mishler said in a Denver radio interview in February 1979."
  8. ^ Ibid. Encyclopedic Handbook pp.144-5 "However as the group withdrew from the public eye, little controversy followed it except the accusations of Robert Mishner [sic], the former president of the Mission who left in 1977. Mishner complained that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaj Ji's personal use. Mishner's charges [...] found little support and have not affected the progress of the Mission but with the coming of the internet Mishner`s observations corrabated by many others subsequently have come back to haunt Rawat."
  9. ^ Rolling Stone Magazine. The Seventies: A Tumultous Decade Reconsidered. Rolling Stones Press, 1998. p. 102, ISBN 0-316-75914-7
  10. ^ du Plessix Gray, Francine. Blissing out in Houston. The New York Review of Books. vol.20, no. 20 (December 13, 1973) [1]
  11. ^ Urged to Probe Cults, The Washington Post, March 14, 1980.
  12. ^ The Lure of the Cult, Time Magazine, April 7, 1997
    The modern era of cultism dates to the 1970s, when the free inquiry of the previous decade led quite a few exhausted seekers into intellectual surrender. Out from the rubble of the countercultures came such groups as the Children of God and the Divine Light Mission, est and the Church of Scientology, the robotic political followers of Lyndon LaRouche and the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. On Nov. 18, 1978, the cultism of the '70s arrived at its dark crescendo in Jonestown, Guyana, where more than 900 members of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple died at his order, most by suicide
  13. ^ "Former Guru on a Different Mission", Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1998.
    Nowadays, former cult members estimate Maharaji (he's dropped the Guru from his name and simplified the spelling) has 100000 to 200000 followers...
  14. ^ "Guru's followers flock to hear him speak", Australian Associated Press, September 3, 2002, Brisbane, Australia
  15. ^ "Wikipedia ruled by 'Lord of the Universe', The Register, February 6, 2008
  16. ^ "Wikipedia ruled by 'Lord of the Universe', The Register, February 6, 2008
  17. ^ KSGV: Objectives
    "Het KSGV onderneemt zijn activiteiten vanuit een christelijke inspiratie."
  18. ^ Cagan, A. Peace is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat, pp.229
  19. ^ Stephen J. Hunt Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp.116-7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8
  20. ^ J. Gordon Melton, Christopher Partridge (Eds.), New Religions: A Guide: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities pp.201-202, Oxford University Press, USA (2004) ISBN 978-0195220421
  21. ^ Downton, James V., Sacred journeys: The conversion of young Americans to Divine Light Mission, (1979) Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-04198-5
  22. ^ Belzen, Jacob A. Obituary (available online) July 12, 2002
  23. ^ Hunt writes - "When his father died in 1966, the Guru Maharaji announced himself as the new master and started his own teaching". And Melton & Partridge - "It is stated that his father had chosen him as the person best suited to carry the teachings forward in an international arena as well as in India. Maharaji's childhood is full of accounts of how he would encourage his father's followers to practice the teachings and speak publicly at his father's events". And Downton "In another sense, the elevation of the youngest to spiritual prominence was no surprise at all, for stories are told about his extraordinary dedication to the Knowledge, which he demonstrated almost from the moment when his father, and guru, had revealed the life force to him. From the age of six, he is said to have voluntarily immersed himself in spiritual practices, sometimes meditating for hours at a time. His exuberance for the Knowledge made him a sensation at satsang, where premies say he spoke spontaneously to mass audiences with the assurance of someone many years older
  24. ^ Lans, Jan van der (Dutch language) Volgelingen van de goeroe: Hedendaagse religieuze bewegingen in Nederland page 117, written upon request for the KSGV published by Ambo, Baarn, 1981 ISBN 90-263-0521-4
  25. ^ Kranenborg Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen, page 65
  26. ^ The Prem Rawat Foundation
  27. ^ Kranenborg, Reender (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen/Eastern faith movements in the West (Dutch language) ISBN 90-210-4965-1
  28. ^ Foss, Daniel, and Ralph Larkin. "Worshipping the Absurd: The Negation of Social Causality Among the Followers of the Guru Maharaji'ji." Sociological Analysis, 39 (1978): 157-164.
  29. ^ 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. ISBN 90-242-2341-5 Note: Haan was part of a critical movement within the Catholic church (Based mainly on the Dutch branch of the Divine Light Mission.) Dutch orginal:
    "Het woordje "mind" wordt binnen de premie-gemeenschap gedefinieerd als de 'gekonditioneerdheid', d.w.z. alle vervreemdende invloeden die de mens van zijn ware aard hebben doen afdwalen.
    Soms ontaardt de strijd die tegen dit woord wordt gevoerd echter in een volstrekte irrationaliteit. Elke kritiek en objektieve benadering wordt dan als mind bestempeld. Als iemand zich slecht voelt of gedurende lange tijd geen goede ervaringen heeft heeft tijdens zijn meditatie, dan is de betreffende persoon 'in zijn mind'. Gesprekken met buitenstaanders worden vaak uit de weg gegaan, omdat dat wel eens de mind zou kunnen stimuleren."
  30. ^ a b Kent, Stephen A. From slogans to mantras: social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam war era, Syracuse University press, 2001, ISBN 0-8156-2948-6
  31. ^ Levine, Saul V. Life in the Cults, article that appeared in the book edited by Marc Galanter M.D., (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
  32. ^ Dr Marc Galanter - Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion page 22-23
  33. ^ Melton. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in Americapp 141-145
  34. ^ Glock, Charles Y. and Bellah, Robert N. eds.Guru Maharaj Ji and the Divine Light Mission, in The New Religious Consciousness, Berkeley: University of California Press. pp.52-72. ISBN 0-52003-472-4
  35. ^ Rolling Stone Magazine. The Seventies: A Tumultuous Decade Reconsidered. Rolling Stones Press, 1998. p. 102, ISBN 0-316-75914-7
  36. ^ du Plessix Gray, Francine. Blissing out in Houston. The New York Review of Books. vol.20, no. 20 (December 13, 1973) [2]
  37. ^ Panel Urged to Probe Cults, The Washington Post, March 14, 1980.
  38. ^ The Lure of the Cult, Time Magazine, April 7, 1997
    The modern era of cultism dates to the 1970s, when the free inquiry of the previous decade led quite a few exhausted seekers into intellectual surrender. Out from the rubble of the countercultures came such groups as the Children of God and the Divine Light Mission, est and the Church of Scientology, the robotic political followers of Lyndon LaRouche and the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. On Nov. 18, 1978, the cultism of the '70s arrived at its dark crescendo in Jonestown, Guyana, where more than 900 members of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple died at his order, most by suicide
  39. ^ "Former Guru on a Different Mission", Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1998.
    Nowadays, former cult members estimate Maharaji (he's dropped the Guru from his name and simplified the spelling) has 100000 to 200000 followers...
  40. ^ "Guru's followers flock to hear him speak", Australian Associated Press, September 3, 2002, Brisbane, Australia
  41. ^ Melton. Encyclopedic Handbook pp.144-5
    "However as the group withdrew from the public eye, little controversy followed it except the accusations of Robert Mishner [sic], the former president of the Mission who left in 1977. Mishner complained that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaj Ji's personal use. Mishner's charges [...] found little support and have not affected the progress of the Mission."
  42. ^ Lewis The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions, p.210
    "a number of ex-members became critics of the movement, attacking it with charges of brainwashing and mind control"
  43. ^ Brown, Chip, Parents Versus Cult: Frustration, Kidnapping, Tears; Who Became Kidnappers to Rescue Daughter From Her Guru, The Washington Post, February 15, 1982
    "Suddenly there were new reports from people who'd actually managed the Divine Light Mission—Robert Mishler, the man who organized the business side of the mission and served for 5 1/2 years as its president, and Robert Hand Jr., who served as a vice president for two years. In the aftermath of Jonestown, Mishler and Hand felt compelled to warn of similarities between Guru Maharaj Ji and Jim Jones. They claimed the potential for another Jonestown existed in the Divine Light Mission because the most fanatic followers of Maharaj Ji would not question even the craziest commands. As Jim Jones convincingly demonstrated, the health of a cult group can depend on the stability of the leader.
    Mishler and Hand revealed aspects of life inside the mission that frightened the Deitzes. In addition to his ulcer, the Perfect Master who held the secret to peace and spiritual happiness 'had tremendous problems of anxiety which he combatted with alcohol,' Mishler said in a Denver radio interview in February 1979."
  44. ^ KSGV: Objectives
    "Het KSGV onderneemt zijn activiteiten vanuit een christelijke inspiratie."
  45. ^ Lans, Jan van der (Dutch language) Volgelingen van de goeroe: Hedendaagse religieuze bewegingen in Nederland page 117, written upon request for the KSGV published by Ambo, Baarn, 1981 ISBN 90-263-0521-4
  46. ^ Premies Versus Sannyasins by Jan van der Lans and Dr. Frans Derks Update X 2 June 1986 http://www.dci.dk/en/?article=599
  47. ^ Lans, Jan van der (Dutch language) Volgelingen van de goeroe: Hedendaagse religieuze bewegingen in Nederland page 117, written upon request for the KSGV published by Ambo, Baarn, 1981 ISBN 90-263-0521-4
  48. ^ Kranenborg, Reender (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen/Eastern faith movements in the West (Dutch language) ISBN 90-210-4965-1
  49. ^ Levine, Saul V. Life in the Cults, article that appeared in the book edited by Marc Galanter M.D., (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
  50. ^ Melton. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in Americapp 141-145
  51. ^ Messer, Jeanne 'Guru Maharaj Ji and the Divine Light Mission, in The New Religious Consciousness edited by , Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, Berkeley: University of California Press. pp.52-72. ISBN 0-52003-472-4
  52. ^ Kopkind, Andrew. The Thirty Years' Wars pp.233-4. Verso, ISBN 1-85984-096-5
  53. ^ Lippy, Charles H.Pluralism Comes of Age: American Religious Culture in the Twentieth Century p.114, M. E. Sharpe (2002), ISBN 0-7656-0151-6
  54. ^ McCleary Bassett, John. The Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s. p.140, Ten Speed Press(2004), ISBN 1-58008-547-4
  55. ^ Prince Ruth & Riches Davies, The New Age in Glastonbury: The Construction of Religious Movements, pp.99-100, Berghahn Books (2001), ISBN 1-57181-792-1
  56. ^ Wilson, Bryan, New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response. pp.268-9, Routledge (UK), ISBN 0-415-20049-0
  57. ^ Fahlbusch E. (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Christianity (1998). p.861, ISBN 90-04-11316-9
  58. ^ Goring, Rosemary. Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions. p.145, Wordsworth Editions (1997), ISBN 1-85326-354-0
  59. ^ Hadden, Jeffrey K. and Elliot III, Eugene M. "Divine Light Mission/Elan Vital" in Melton, Gordon J. and Bauman, Martin (Eds.) "Religions of the world: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of beliefs and practices" ABC-CLIO (2002), ISBN 1-57607-223-1
  60. ^ Frankiel, Sandra S. in Lippy, Charles H. and Williams. Peter W. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience p.1521, Charles Scribner's Sons (1988), ISBN 0-684-18863-5 (Vol III)
  61. ^ 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. 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
  62. ^ Hunt, Stephen J. Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp.116-7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8
    " He claims only to encourage people to "experience the present reality of life now." Leaving his more ascetic life behind him, he does not personally eschews material possessions. Over time, critics have focused on what appears to be his opulent lifestyle and argue that it is supported largely by the donations of his followers. However, deliberately keeping a low profile has meant that the movement has generally managed to escape the gaze of publicity that surrounds other NRMs"
  63. ^ Kranenborg, Reender (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen/Eastern faith movements in the West (Dutch language) ISBN 90-210-4965-1
  64. ^ KSGV: Objectives
    "Het KSGV onderneemt zijn activiteiten vanuit een christelijke inspiratie."
  65. ^ Lans, Jan van der (Dutch language) Volgelingen van de goeroe: Hedendaagse religieuze bewegingen in Nederland page 117, written upon request for the KSGV published by Ambo, Baarn, 1981 ISBN 90-263-0521-4
  66. ^ Foss, Daniel, and Ralph Larkin. "Worshipping the Absurd: The Negation of Social Causality Among the Followers of the Guru Maharaji'ji." Sociological Analysis, 39 (1978): 157-164.
  67. ^ Geaves, Ron. From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital and Beyond: An Exploration of Change and Adaptation, Nova Religio, March 2004, Vol. 7, No. 3, Pages 45-62
  68. ^ Levine, Saul V. Life in the Cults, article that appeared in the book edited by Marc Galanter M.D., (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
  69. ^ "Coming Out of the Cults", Psychology Today, January 1979.
  70. ^ Schnabel, Paul Dr. (Dutch language) Between stigma and charisma: new religious movements and mental health Erasmus university Rotterdam, Faculty of Medicine, Ph.D. thesis, ISBN 90-6001-746-3 (Deventer, Van Loghum Slaterus, 1982), Chapter II, page 33, Chapter IV page 99, page 101-102, Chapter V, page 142
  71. ^ Rolling Stone Magazine. The Seventies: A Tumultous Decade Reconsidered. Rolling Stones Press, 1998. p. 102, ISBN 0-316-75914-7
  72. ^ du Plessix Gray, Francine. Blissing out in Houston. The New York Review of Books. vol.20, no. 20 (December 13, 1973) [3]
  73. ^ Urged to Probe Cults, The Washington Post, March 14, 1980.
  74. ^ The Lure of the Cult, Time Magazine, April 7, 1997
    The modern era of cultism dates to the 1970s, when the free inquiry of the previous decade led quite a few exhausted seekers into intellectual surrender. Out from the rubble of the countercultures came such groups as the Children of God and the Divine Light Mission, est and the Church of Scientology, the robotic political followers of Lyndon LaRouche and the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. On Nov. 18, 1978, the cultism of the '70s arrived at its dark crescendo in Jonestown, Guyana, where more than 900 members of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple died at his order, most by suicide
  75. ^ "Former Guru on a Different Mission", Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1998.
    Nowadays, former cult members estimate Maharaji (he's dropped the Guru from his name and simplified the spelling) has 100000 to 200000 followers...
  76. ^ "Guru's followers flock to hear him speak", Australian Associated Press, September 3, 2002, Brisbane, Australia
  77. ^ Police block drive-in protest against guru, Courier Mail, Australia, September 4, 2002, Tony Keim
    Neville Ackland, a self-proclaimed "ex-premie" (follower) of "Mahariji" Prem Pal Rawat, was yesterday stopped by police from driving into the Ivory's Rock convention centre to confront the "false guru".
  78. ^ Blinded by the Light, Good Weekend (Sydney Morning Herald), August 31, 2002.
    In 1996, Canadian lawyer and ex-premie Jim Heller was cruising the early cult newsgroups on the Internet, looking for some mention of Maharaji. Nothing. Then, slowly, other ex-premies materialised, including one who happened to have web design skills: www.ex-premie.org was born. As bits of information - recollections, documents, photos - trickled in to the web site from all over the world, an entirely new picture of the Perfect Master began to emerge.
  79. ^ "Former Guru on a Different Mission", Rocky Mountain News, January 30, 1998.
  80. ^ Listing, International Cultic Studies Association
    The Elan Vital - Divine Light Mission Papers "The primary purpose of this website is to provide information to current and prospective followers of Divine Light Mission/Elan Vital, that is not made available on Prem Rawat's official sites."
  81. ^ Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedia Handbook of Cults in America p.143, Garland Publishing (1986) ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "several deprogrammed ex-members became vocal critics of the mission"
  82. ^ Lewis, James, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions, p.210, Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-57392-888-7
    "a number of ex-members became critics of the movement, attacking it with charges of brainwashing and mind control"
  83. ^ Brown, Chip, Parents Versus Cult: Frustration, Kidnapping, Tears; Who Became Kidnappers to Rescue Daughter From Her Guru, The Washington Post, February 15, 1982
    "Suddenly there were new reports from people who'd actually managed the Divine Light Mission—Robert Mishler, the man who organized the business side of the mission and served for 5 1/2 years as its president, and Robert Hand Jr., who served as a vice president for two years. In the aftermath of Jonestown, Mishler and Hand felt compelled to warn of similarities between Guru Maharaj Ji and Jim Jones. They claimed the potential for another Jonestown existed in the Divine Light Mission because the most fanatic followers of Maharaj Ji would not question even the craziest commands. As Jim Jones convincingly demonstrated, the health of a cult group can depend on the stability of the leader.
    Mishler and Hand revealed aspects of life inside the mission that frightened the Deitzes. In addition to his ulcer, the Perfect Master who held the secret to peace and spiritual happiness 'had tremendous problems of anxiety which he combatted with alcohol,' Mishler said in a Denver radio interview in February 1979."
  84. ^ Ibid. Encyclopedic Handbook pp.144-5 "However as the group withdrew from the public eye, little controversy followed it except the accusations of Robert Mishner [sic], the former president of the Mission who left in 1977. Mishner complained that the ideals of the group had become impossible to fulfill and that money was increasingly diverted to Maharaj Ji's personal use. Mishner's charges [...] found little support and have not affected the progress of the Mission."
  85. ^ Rick Ross, Steven Hassan and Anton Hein pages and links on Elan Vital (Retrieved September 2005)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Prem_Rawat/criticism&oldid=789554136"