| Criticism Of Prem Rawat |
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The sources of criticism come from individuals related to the , financial exploitation, hypocrisy, encouragement of uncritical acceptance, and at other issues. The criticism by ex-premies is dismissed by of Queensland by two ex-premies who allege that the underlying purpose of the ex-premie group is to harass, defame and annoy Rawat and his students, and to purposely interfere with the rights of people to experience their own spiritual discovery and their right to peacefully assemble.http://www.elanvital.org/faq/JMG_AFFIDAVIT.pdf Affidavit by John Murray Macgregor, http://elanvital.com.au/faq/PDF/gubler.pdf Affidavit by Thomas R. Gubler In a website that claims to be authored by Tom Gubler, one of the affidavit signatories, the author claims that he signed the affidavit under duress and he ridicules and criticizes the affidavit he signed. Website purportedly by Thomas Gubler (Retrieved Oct 2005) Unfortunately though, Gubler was not able to provide evidence to the court that he had made the affidavit under duress and the court would not allow him to retract it. The court stated that there was a "credibility handicap" in Gubler's claim.State Reporting Bureau - Supreme Court of Queensland, Order 9538 01/03/2004 p.5-7 "The affidavit also makes it plain that the interaction between those present and Ms McDonald from Quinn and Scattini on this occasion was not stressful and that no illegitimate pressure was brought to bear.[...] Gubler suffers from the credibility handicap of having sworn one thing in one occasion and another on a later occasion after having spoken to a party to the proceedings about his evidence" J. Muir. CRITICISM IN THE MEDIA After Prem Rawat's first arrival in the s and until the late 1990s , there was very little media coverage of Prem Rawat and his organizations. CRITICISM BY FORMER FOLLOWERS Since the late 1990 the main criticism levelled against Rawat, his students, and affiliated groups The Prem Rawat Foundation and Elan Vital, has been orchestrated by a group of critical ex-students. They call themselves "ex-premies," based on the practice that was used in the 1970s and 1980s of calling Rawat's followers "premies". Outside India, that practice has been discontinued. Ex-premies' criticisms are outlined in the form of a letter titled The 14 objections, An Open Letter to Prempal Rawat's Followers. The criticisms and 14 objections are: claims of divinity made by Prem Rawat; financial exploitation; demands by Rawat to live in ashrams; the techniques of the Knowledge meditation; Rawat's lineage claims; X-Rating of premies who work closely with Rawat (inner circle); his $7 million yacht; front row seats at programs and darshan for sale; Rawat's encouragement that the premies' inner experience is a due to his grace; and Rawat telling his followers that they should rely solely upon him as their "inner friend," eschewing all other human relationships. Ex-premies view the way that Rawat and his current students explain these fourteen issues as apparent Historical Revisionism . Some of these critics claim to have been former senior staff within the organizations and have rejected Rawat and his teachings after years of practicing his techniques. They deny belonging to an organized group, asserting instead they are a small number of internationally dispersed individuals tied together only by their common history and criticism, although many of the webpages utilized by the ex-premies are ostensibly registered with ICANN as organizations. Forum8.org ICANN registry information (Retrieved September 2005) John Brauns, a member of ex-premie group has put online multiple websites from which simliar grievances and allegations are presented. Some of these websites contain scanned pages of publications of the Divine Light Mission from the 1970s.[http://www.elanvital.org/faq/websitesJB.pdf Documentation of ownership of websites by John Brauns] (Retrieved Aug 2005) The FAQ of Elan Vital asserts that "'the purpose of this trick is to try and flood internet search engines with a skewed amount of negative websites."FAQs elanvital.org FAQs (Retrieved Aug 2005) Elan Vital further complain that Brauns has made no effort to provide journalists or interested parties with any independently verifiable documents or factual support for the allegations appearing on his websites. Allegations Allegations about personal divinity One of the ex-premie group's central criticisms is that from the age of eight until his mid-twenties Prem Rawat made public claims of personal divinity and that he and his students continue to make such claims in private while denying them in public. They demand that Rawat and/or Elan Vital explicitly disabuse all his current students of such claims. They point to statements supposedly made by Rawat—there is no evidence that he made them—like "Guru is greater than God" (an expression also voiced by Brahmanand and somewhat in correspondence with the elevated status that some traditional Indian saints gave their guru), and "The only one who can settle the governments down is the Perfect Master, the incarnation of God Himself, who comes to Earth to save mankind." Tokyo, Japan, October 3, 1972 (from the Divine Light Mision magazine ''And it is Divine'', July 1973) However, in his first talks in the west, Prem Rawat explicitly and repeatedly stated that a human being cannot be God. In 1971 Rawat said "What is God? You don't know what God is. God cannot be a human being. God is Light; God is power. God cannot talk" The Living Master -Quotes from Guru Maharaj Ji - Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 2 1971 . In Westminster in 1971 Rawat said "The world thinks, people think, that God is man. People think that God has got ears, nose, teeth, and he rises daily in the morning, brushes his teeth and washes his mouth. And they think he is an old man and has a beard. All these things people think. But no, God is energy. God is perfect and pure energy" "Who is Guru Maharaj JI" Bantam Books. And again in Colorado in 1971 Rawat said - "Some people think that God is a human being but he is not. God hasn't got ears like us. nose like us,teeth, tongue, lungs, chest, bones. He isn't like that" "Who is Guru Maharaj JI" Bantam Books.And in an interview with in 1973 Tom Snyder host of "The Tomorrow show" TV series, Snyder asked Prem Rawat: "Now I'm not trying to be disrespectful but' Ive got to ask you this question: Many of your followers say that you are God. What do you have to say about this?" To which Rawat replied: "No, I am not God. I am only a humble servant of God.Marcellino, Dennis ''Why Are We Here?: The Scientific Answer to This Age-Old Question (That You Don't Need to Be a Scientist to Understand).''Lighthouse Publishing, 1996. p. 129. ISBN 0-945272103 At a press conference during the 1973 Millennium gathering, Rawat also denied to the press that he believed himself to be the Messiah , characterizing himself instead "as a humble servant of God trying to establish peace in this world." A reporter then asked him about "a great contradiction" between what he said about himself and what his students were saying about him, and he responded by suggesting the reporter ask the devotees themselves about that. In a still-later speech, Rawat was to characterize as mistaken the early Western reaction to him upon his arrival, saying, "When people saw me at that time, they really didn't understand what it was all about."Press conference. Astroworld Hotel, Houston Texas, November 9, 1973. In 1975, at a program at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, he said: "... {Link without Title} here's this little kid who doesn't know anything about God. Their parents tell them about God but if the kid turns around and asks, 'What is God anyway, who is He?' they try to project an image to him." Prem Rawat went on to say that the parents probably had not touched or experienced God either, so they were just guessing as to what He was like."At the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia, on 18 October 1975," ''The Golden Age'' 24 (September 1975), 6–13. In a proclamation published in 1975, Rawat also said, "I do not claim to be God, but do claim I can establish peace on this Earth by our Lord's Grace, and everyone's joint effort". In an interview with the ''Miami Magazine'', in 1979, Prem Rawat spoke of what he believed God to be. In answer to the question, "If God is within, can't people experience God without the help of someone else?", Prem Rawat said, "God being within is one thing, and experiencing God is another. Just like having water in front of you is one thing, and drinking is another. God is within you. God is omnipresent.""An interview with Guru Maharaji," ''The Golden Age'' 54 (July 1979), 3–5. Allegations of financial exploitation The ex-premie group complain that Prem Rawat exploited them to build a luxurious lifestyle for himself, and blame themselves for being gullible and naive in giving donations. On 14 February 1981 an article appeared in the Dutch magazine Haagse Post in which ex-premie Jos Lammers complained about Prem Rawat's behavior when visiting the Netherlands. His complaints were that Rawat surrounded himself with "security premies", refrained from associating with local premie leaders and required the local DLM center to pay for his shopping while, at the same time according to Lammers, he received huge amounts of financial donations during his programs. Elan Vital and the Prem Rawat Foundation report that the financial records of these organizations are impeccable in this regard, that absolutely no money flows from these organizations to Prem Rawat or his family and that he receives no benefit from the activities of the not-for-profit organizations supporting his work and no income from attendance at his addresses or from the sale of materials. He supports himself and his family through private means. About Elan Vital , Prem Rawat (Retrieved Sept 2005) Members of the ex-premie group have filed complaints with tax and charity authorities in several countries but none of these have resulted in Rawat or related entities being charged with any wrongdoing. Allegations of lack of credibility The ex-premie group contends Prem Rawat has no credibility in his teachings because of a large gap they assert exists between what he once prescribed for his personnel and students and what he practised himself, a gap they characterize as hypocrisy. This criticism is based largely on allegations made by Michael Donner, Bob Mishler and Michael Dettmers in the 1970s and early 1980s, in which they acusse Rawat of alcoholism, marijuana use, anxietly and infidelity, that they made after they left the organization or were fired.Accounts attributed to Michael Dettmers Mike Donner [http://www.ex-premie.org/pages/mikedonner.htm and the alleged transcipt of a radio interview by Bob Mishler [http://www.ex-premie.org/pages/mishler.htm] - (Retrieved Sept 2005) Elan Vital characterizes these people and their testimony as fitting the profile of "Type III" . The Prem Rawat Foundation discusses in its website that the audiences of Rawat's meetings include dignitaries, university students, educators, and staff from the host institutions, noting that representatives from these institutions have introduced Rawat at these events and praised his work. Press Release by The Prem Rawat Foundation (Retrieved Sept 2005). ''See also Wikiquote: Accolades by business and government leaders .'' Allegations that the techniques of Knowledge are not unique The ex-premie group claim that the techniques of Knowledge Rawat teaches have been taught for hundreds of years and are not unique. Rawat has never claimed they were and current practitioners of the techniques state that whether they are unique or not is irrelevant, that the experience that they bring to the individual in the moment is what matters. See also ''Techniques Of Knowledge, References To The Krias And The Teacher'' . Allegations against claims of being the only "Perfect Master" The ex-premie group claim that Rawat's credibility is further undermined by his claim to be the only Perfect Master. They point to an interview conducted in August 1973 with the Boston Globe in which Rawat expressed the opinion that there was only one Perfect Mater. Supporters say that indeed Prem Rawat expressed his understading that there is only one perfect master, but that he never said he was one and that is up to the student to "find the one you can trust to help you get where you want to go and stick with him." See also . Other Dr. Mike Finch who was a student of Prem Rawat for 30 years after which he became a critic, writes in response to allegations by Elan Vital that the critical ex-followers calling themselves "ex-premies" are a hate group, that he has seen very little hate and characterizes the emotions as grief, embarrassment for their gullibility, anger perhaps—but not hate and that, in his opinion, there is no harassment in the legal sense of the word. He also asserts that when a person is in a cult, there are no 'independently verifiable documents' which tell their personal story. According to Finch, there are, however, Maharaji's speeches from the past, namely his own journals and magazines, which Elan Vital has tried to collect from all the premies and take out of circulation, as they are so embarrassing to him. {Link without Title} Current supporters of Prem Rawat say that many aspects of Maharaji's past speeches, while consistent in message and meaning to his message today, involved references to defunct means of outreach and use of terms that, rather than serving as sources of embarrassment, would confuse a person today who is being introduced to Maharaji's message. Elan Vital's complaints against the "ex-premie" group Elan Vital, characterizes the critical ex-followers that call themselves "ex-premies" as an an insignificantly small group and dismiss their criticism of Prem Rawat generally as fallacious, ill-intended, and unfounded hearsay. Elan Vital Australia has published a long list of the activities of the ex-premies, stating that "using the anonymity of the Internet, they of the ex-premie group have discussed various plans and threats" including inciting people via the Internet to drug and kidnap members of Maharaji's family, conducting physical assaults, mounting campaigns of telephone calls and letter writing to the employers of Maharaji's students "warning" them that they employ "a member of a dangerous cult", and more.FAQs elanvital.org FAQs (Retrieved Aug 2005) Elan Vital, UK, a charitable organization established in the United Kingdom, present their opinion in this matter: ''"Elan Vital supports freedom of speech and the rights of an individual to express differing opinions. Any legitimate disagreements are looked at sympathetically and responded to accordingly. Over the past thirty years, many thousands of people in Britain have practised Prem Rawat's teaching of inner peace and found them of great benefit in their lives. At the same time, many have also decided not to pursue them and have moved away with no ill feelings. However, to our chagrin, a very small number have formed themselves into a vociferously complaining opposition of whom some actively work against Prem Rawat and Elan Vital in a way that can only be characterised as that of a 'hate group'. For a few years, a small Internet-based hate group of approximately twenty disgruntled former students operating under the cloak of anonymity has been harassing Prem Rawat, his students and Elan Vital. {Link without Title} They have made no effort to provide journalists or interested parties with any independently verifiable documents or factual support for any of their allegations. Using mostly anonymous Internet postings, the front of an unregistered association and a Webmaster in the Republic of Latvia, they have committed harassing and sometimes unlawful acts."'' In an 2005 affidavit filed under oath, former ex-premie John Macgregor seems to confirm many of the allegations made by Elan Vital about the ex-premies. He names as the most prominent members and central organizers of this group John Brauns, Jim Heller, Marianne Bachers, Nick Wright and Jean-Michel Kahn. Macgregor says that in his personal experience many of the people in the ex-premie group are ''"irrational, obsessed, and motivated by ill-directed anger [...] and that when they purport to report on factual matters they are frequently false and defamatory, unsupported by actual fact basis, and motivated in many instances by hatred, ill will and spite."'' Macgregor also admitted that with the support and encouragement of the Ex-premies, he filed several frivolous complaints to tax and regulatory bodies around the world, ''"hoping to initiate expensive and burdensome investigation of Rawat and related volunteer entities". Macgregor also admitted that he "had no factual basis upon which to make such allegations"'' and that the complaints were supported by ''"unauthenticated, incomplete or out-of-context documents designed to paint a sinister picture."''[http://www.elanvital.org/faq/JMG_AFFIDAVIT.pdf Affidavit by John Murray Macgregor], Affidavit by Thomas R. Gubler Elan Vital characterizes the ex-premie group as unreliable in their allegations because of members' personal credibility problems such as obsessive internet postings, illegal drug dealing, criminal history, mental illness, and involvement in manufacturing pornography.[http://elanvital.com.au/faq/idx/11/0/ Hate group harasses EV and Maharaji's students] Elan Vital FAQ (Retrieved Sept 2005) It points to the conviction and incarceration of one group member, Neville Ackland, for possession of $2.5 million worth of drugs and illegal weapons. Drug Bust: $2.5 million marijuana haul in Ipswitch PDF (Retrieved Sept 2005) Legal actions and disputes - Chronology Disputes and civil actions have ensued between organizations affiliated with Prem Rawat and members of ex-premie group since 2002. In the legal arena, members of the ex-premie group have yet to prevail in formal legal complaints.
CRITICISM BY PROTAGONISTS OF THE ANTICULT MOVEMENT In the early 1980s the late Dr. Margaret Singer , a controversial Anti-cult Activist , included the DLM (since then disbanded and replaced by the non-religious, educational nonprofit, Elan Vital ) in her list of Cult s. Criticism by the anti-cult movement has diminished over the course of time but has not disappeared. The Christian Countercult activist Anton Hein and controversial anti-cult activists and former Deprogrammers Rick Ross and Steven Hassan list links about Elan Vital on their websites. Rick Ross , Steven Hassan and Anton Hein pages and links on Elan Vital (Retrieved Sept 2005) CRITICISM AND OBSERVATIONS IN SEVERAL SCHOLARLY ARTICLES The psychiatrist Saul V. Levine, who published several articles about cults and new religious movements, wrote in an undated article titled ''Life in Cults'' published in a 1989 book that he believed that public perception saw the . Jan van der Lans, a professor in ISBN 9026305214 The sociologist Dr. , 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 Professor . The Dutch religious scholar and Christian minister . He further wrote that when Christians get into dialogue with premies that the life style of the guru is of great importance. He argued that a Satguru , who drives in expensive cars, who 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. Kranenborg, Reender (1982) ''Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen/Eastern faith movements in the West'' (Dutch language) ISBN 9021049651 Such criticism, however, does overlook the opulent lifestyles led by many prominent Christian evangelists and politicians. The sociologist Ralph Larkin wrote together with Daniel A. Foss in 1978 that the DLM "emphasized formal structure without substantive content." The religious scholar Dr. Ron Geaves who is a student of Rawat accused them in response of bias, pointing to the number of students that were attracted to the DLM. There are other scholars and authors that wrote about this subject that do not level criticism against Prem Rawat, including , Raymond Lee, Rosemary GoringGoring, Rosemary. ''Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions''. p.145, Wordsworth Editions (1997), ISBN 1853263540, George D. Chryssides , David V. Barrett, Lucy DuPertuis Gordon J. Melton , and James Lewis . Barret, Dupertius, Melton and Lewis mention criticism by the media, Rawat's mother, Bob Mishler, and anticultists respectively. Stephen A. Kent makes self-admitted subjective criticism (lacking substance) on Prem Rawat and treats the criticism by the Countercultural left on him in the 1970s . REFERENCES |
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