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By 1976 the worlwide membership had declined from 6 million to 1.2 million,<ref name="GuruFollDown" /> and in the U.S. the 50,000 initiates had dwindled to 15,000 regular contributors.<ref name="GuruStyle" /> By the end of the 1970s the movement had lost an estimated 80% of its followers in the U.S.<ref>Lewis, James R. ''Cults in America''. ABC-CLIO, Inc. Santa Barbara, 1998. p 83</ref>Bromley and Hammond attribute the decline of groups including the Divine Light Mission to internal factors, but also in part to the news media's "discrediting reports about their activities", accounts which created a "wide-spread public perception of 'mind control' and other 'cult' stereotypes."<ref name="isbn0-865-54238-4">Bromley, Hammond, 1983: 113-4, 227</ref>
By 1976 the worlwide membership had declined from 6 million to 1.2 million,<ref name="GuruFollDown" /> and in the U.S. the 50,000 initiates had dwindled to 15,000 regular contributors.<ref name="GuruStyle" /> By the end of the 1970s the movement had lost an estimated 80% of its followers in the U.S.<ref>Lewis, James R. ''Cults in America''. ABC-CLIO, Inc. Santa Barbara, 1998. p 83</ref>Bromley and Hammond attribute the decline of groups including the Divine Light Mission to internal factors, but also in part to the news media's "discrediting reports about their activities", accounts which created a "wide-spread public perception of 'mind control' and other 'cult' stereotypes."<ref name="isbn0-865-54238-4">Bromley, Hammond, 1983: 113-4, 227</ref>
Rawat stopped giving interviews to the press and avoided contact with non-members.<ref>Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), p.220 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5</ref>


According to [[Ron Geaves]], a follower and religious scholar:
According to [[Ron Geaves]], a follower and religious scholar:

Revision as of 02:03, 20 April 2008

Divine Light Mission
Formation1960
Key people
Shri Hans Ji Maharaji, founder
Succeeded by Prem Rawat

The Divine Light Mission (DLM) was a spiritual organization founded by Shri Hans Ji Maharaj in 1960 to further his work in northern India. When Shri Maharaji died in 1966, he was succeeded as guru by his eight year old fourth son, Prem Rawat (also known as Sant Ji and Balyogeshwar at the time, and later as Guru Maharaj Ji, then Maharaji).

Although Prem Rawat was accepted as his father's successor in 1966, effective control of DLM was shared by the whole family.[1][2][3] In 1971 Rawat travelled to the U.K. and the U.S. where local branches of DLM were established and rapidly expanded. In 1974, Rawat took a more active role in Western DLM. Following setbacks and internal rifts his mother and two of his brothers took legal action in India that resulted in Satpal gaining control of the DLM in India, while Rawat remained the leader in the rest of the world. The Western DLM in the U.S., U.K. and Australia changed its name to Elan Vital in 1983.

History

Founding and early years in India

Further information: Hans_Ji_Maharaj § Succession

Shri Hans Maharaj Ji, initiated by the Sant Mat guru Sapuranand Ji, began teaching in the Sind and Lahore provinces of India in the 1930s. In 1950 he began initiating Mahatmas, followers who could themselves initiate devotees, and formed a magazine called "Hansadesh." [4]

In 1960 in the city of Patna, he founded the Divine Light Mission (Divya Sandesh Parishad) to organize followers across Northern India. At the time of the guru's death on July 19, 1966, the Divine Light Mission had six million members in India. [5]

Prem Rawat was accepted as his father's successor, though effective control of DLM was shared by the whole family as Rawat was only 8 years old at the time.[6][7][8][9] In the early 1970s, his family told American reporters that Shri Hans was travelling at the time of his death, but had written a letter home essentially naming Prem as his successor. Shri Hans' personal driver, who was a witness, confirms that Shri Hans publicly requested that Rawat would continue his work, but that some disregarded this request. During the customary 12 days of mourning, discussions were held about the succession. This culminated in Prem Rawat addressing the crowd and being accepted by them as their teacher and "Perfect Master".[10][11][12]

International expansion

In 1971, Rawat, then known as Guru Maharaji Ji, travelled to the West. DLMs were established in the U.S. and the U.K. The U.S. branch was headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It was registered there as a non-profit corporation and in 1974 was recognized as a church by the United States Internal Revenue Service under section 501(c)(3).[13][14]

By 1972 DLM was operating in North and South America, Europe and Australia. Tens of thousands of people had been initiated (become premies) and several hundred Divine Information Centres and dozens of ashrams formed.[15] By 1973 the DLM said it had 8,000 devotees and forty ashrams in the U.K.[16]

In the United States, the staff of the headquarters grew to 125. Social service facilities, including a medical clinic in New York City, were opened. A Women's Spiritual Right Organization dedicated to reaching out to persons in prisons, mental institutions, and hospitals, was organized.[17][18]The U.S. DLM published two periodicals, And it is Divine and Divine Times.[19] The World Peace Corps (WPC) was established as a security force, but became the organizing agent of meetings and businesses.[20] A variety of business were founded under the DLM auspices including laundromats, used clothing stores, and the "Cleanliness-is-Next-to Godliness" janitorial service.[21]

On August 8 1973 Rawat made an appearance at the Detroit Common Council in regard to a special testimonal resolution for him when he was attacked by a reporter from an underground paper.[22] Despite Rawat's saying that he did not want the attacker arrested or hurt, the reporter was seriously injured a few days later by members of the DLM. When local members heard of the incident they notified Rawat in Los Angeles who immediately requested that DLM conduct a full investigation. The suspected assailants were located and held for the police but the police chose not to arrest them.[23][24][25]

Millennium '73

In 1973 Rawat put his eldest brother Satpal in charge of organizing "Millennium '73", a three-day event celebrating the birthday of Rawat’s father at the Houston Astrodome, the youth culture event of the year.[26][27][28] Billed as "the most significant event in human history" it was said to herald "a thousand years of peace for people who want peace", the idea being that peace could come to the world as individuals experiencing inner peace.[29] The event featured spectacular staging and a 56-piece rock band.[30][31][29][32] Some predicted that 100,000 people would attend, and even provided a space in the parking lot for a flying saucer to land.[33] When Satpal heard about the flying saucer he said, "If you see any, just give them some of our literature".[34] Rennie Davis, the General Coordinator of the event, predicted 22,000.[35]

Davis, well known as one of the defendants in the Chicago 7 trial, attracted extensive media coverage as a spokesperson for Rawat.[36][31][37][38] At the event he declared that "All I can say is, honestly, very soon now, every single human being will know the one who was waited for by every religion of all times has actually come."[39]

At the festival an architect gave details of a planned "Divine City" to be built from the ground up. It was to feature translucent hexagonal plastic houses stacked on concrete columns and connected with monorails. Polluting vehicles would be banned and solar power would be used. The proposed site was in the Blue Ridge Mountains or maybe near Santa Barbara, California.[40]

Instead of 100,000 the actual attendance was estimated at 25,000 by followers and 10,000 by police.[29][41] The Mission incurred a debt which has been estimated as between $600,000 and over $1 million, severely damaging its finances, though it had been able to reduce the debt to $80,000 by late 1976.[42][43][44] The event was depicted in the award-winning U.S. documentary "Lord of the Universe" broadcast by PBS Television in 1974.[45][36]

Also in 1973 the DLM organized a major festival in the United Kingdom. The "Festival of Love" was held at Alexandra Palace in London. While it drew thousands of attendees, the erratic behavior of Prem Rawat antagonized the press. Following the event the organization was directionless and underfunded.[46]

The setbacks caused by the bad press from the festivals, along with the rift caused by Prem Rawat's marriage in 1974, marked the end of the movement's growth phase.[47][48][49][50]

Rawat assumes of U.S. DLM

In December 1973, when Rawat turned 16, he took administrative control of the Mission’s U.S. branch and his conflict with his family over the direction of DLM became a permanent rift after he became an emancipated minor and married an American follower.[51][52][53]

The Divine Light Mission attracted the attention of the anti-cult movement Members were deprogrammed and even kidnapped. Some of these former members and even leaders became outspoken critics of the organization.[54] Bob Mishler, the founding president of the DLM in the U.S., left the organization 1977 and gave an interview in 1979, along with the former vice president, in which he said Prem Rawat engaged in inappropriate behavior, accused the DLM of becoming a "tax evasion for the guru", and said he feared a repeat of Jonestown. Mishler's charges found little support and did not affect the progress of the Mission.[55][56]

Financial trouble caused the DLM to close ashrams, to sell its printing business and real estate, and to drop the lease on its IBM computer. Monthly donations fell from $100,000 to $30,000. Spokesman Joe Anctil announced that the Indian-derived customs of the DLM would be dropped along with claims of divinity.[57] In reference to ex-followers, Anctil said that "A lot of people were just on a trip in the beginning. They felt they had to be 'hyped', and some didn't stay long enough to get beyond that. But we've changed as our understanding has changed."[58]

By 1976 the worlwide membership had declined from 6 million to 1.2 million,[57] and in the U.S. the 50,000 initiates had dwindled to 15,000 regular contributors.[58] By the end of the 1970s the movement had lost an estimated 80% of its followers in the U.S.[59]Bromley and Hammond attribute the decline of groups including the Divine Light Mission to internal factors, but also in part to the news media's "discrediting reports about their activities", accounts which created a "wide-spread public perception of 'mind control' and other 'cult' stereotypes."[60]

According to Ron Geaves, a follower and religious scholar:

Maharaji has chosen a route of perpetual transformation in which organizational forms are created and utilized and then destroyed, thus providing flexibility to deal with rapidly changing social attitudes, to provide pragmatic solutions to internal problems, and above all to keep his students focused on the core message rather than the peripheral requirements of organizational forms.[61]

In the 1980s, the Rawat-led DLM became more Western as he removed the Indian trappings from his message and adopted a more universal style.[62] The ashrams were closed, as were the Denver headquarters, and the organisation's name was changed to Elan Vital in 1983, by filing an entity name change.[63][64] Similar name changes occured in the U.K. and Australia. Since then the Elan Vital has been "virtually invisible." Rawat stopped giving interviews or making public announcements of his travels.[65]

According to the Encyclopedia of American Religions, the mission was disbanded [when] Prem Rawat personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion, to make his teachings independent of culture, beliefs and lifestyles.[66][67] Prem Rawat asked to be referred to as "Maharaji" instead of "Guru Maharaj Ji." At the close of 2007 [68] he was continuing to write, lecture, and tour actively.

DLM in India

His mother, Shri Mataji, took control of the DLM in India and installed Rawat's eldest brother as its head claiming Rawat had broken his spritual discipline by marrying and becoming a "playboy".[69][70]

The eldest brother Satpal claimed that his father, Hans Ji Maharaj, had "bequeathed his mission and unfinished work" to Satpal, not to Prem, and so he, and not Prem, was the sole legitimate heir of their father's guru lineage.[71] Some scholars that have written about the succession report the contrary, and it is clear that Satpal and the rest of the family accepted and supported Prem's declaration of succession for eight years.[72][73][74] A lawsuit in India resulted in his brother Satpal gaining control of the Divine Light Mission in India, and Rawat continuing to lead DLM in the rest of the world.[75][76][77] In the United Kingdom Mataji maintained control of the DLM but the organizing center was shifted to the Divine United Organization by Rawat's followers.[78] Satpal, now known as Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj, continues to teach "Manav Dharam" (the "Dharam (Religion) of Mankind"). He is also a politician in India, and founded Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti which he describes as "an all-India registered voluntary social welfare and charitable organization", that is also "making freely available the spiritual Knowledge which is the essence of all religions."[79]

The Divine United Organization (DUO) was an organization registered under the Societies Registration Act 21 of 1860 with the Registrar of Delhi in 1977, to disseminate the teachings of Sant Ji Maharaj (known also as Balyogeshwar) in India.

Shri Sant Ji Maharaj was one of honorary names given to Prem Rawat by his students in India.

DUO was replaced in recent years by the Raj Vidya Kender (Center for the King of Knowledge), in New Delhi, India.

Beliefs and practices

Further information: Teachings of Prem Rawat

According to some scholars, Shri Hans was influenced by both the Sant tradition and the Bhagavad Gita. Reinhart Hummel wrote that from the former came the reduction of Hinduism to the inner realization of the divine and the veneration of the guru, and from the latter the emphasis on the practical life. Hummel also noted that the DLM never developed a systematic doctrine, either during Hans' time or Prem Rawat's time. Hummel also asserted that the influence of the North Indian Sant tradition was dominant in Hans' eclectic thinking, and that from the Sant tradition also came the rejection of outward rituals and ceremonies; the rejection of asceticism in favor of life as a householder; the rejection of veneration of idols and the focus on the guru as the manifestation of the divine. Hummel further wrote that the four meditation techniques are of central importance to Prem, as they were to Hans.[80]

No rules or regulations were imposed, and no beliefs or ethical practices were taught.[81][82] The fundamental practices of inner peace were embodied and experienced through satsang, service and meditation, the sum of which is an experience that Prem Rawat calls "Knowledge." Members of the DLM meditated formally twice daily and attended discourses on the Knowledge (known as satsang) when possible. In a study by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman former followers said that they had spent 32.9 hours per week in group-related processes and ritual and 19.9 hours in additional study or indoctrination (lectures, seminars, workshops etc).[83] Vegetarianism was encouraged but not enforced.

Five "commandments" were part of the Divine Light Mission's teachings:[84]

  1. Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
  2. Constantly meditate and remember the Holy Name.
  3. Leave no room for doubt in the mind.
  4. Never delay attending satsang.
  5. Always have faith in God.

In the United States, the early years of the Divine Light Mission were marked by the rapid growth of loosely affiliated local ashrams, united mainly by a shared devotion to Guru Maharaj Ji. As the DLM became more and more structured and centralized, leadership and power came to be concentrated in the Denver headquarters. According to scholars, Prem Rawat's desire to consolidate his power and authority over the U.S. movement led to increasing formalization, with rules and regulations for ashram living, standards for recruited "candidates," and pressure towards certification of the movement's teachers.[85][86]

David V. Barrett noted that the DLM movement was often criticized for emphasizing the superiority of subjective emotional experience over intellect.[87] The sociologists Ralph Larkin and Daniel A. Foss made similar observations in 1978.[88] In response, the religious scholar Ron Geaves, himself a member of the movement, accused Foss and Larkin of bias.[89]

Members

In a comparison of new religious movements, Gartrell and Shannon noted that people appeared to seek out such religious organizations to get answers to questions about ultimate meaning as well as answers to more prosaic issues. In discussing the differences in recruiting tactics employed by these groups, they placed the Divine Light Mission in the middle ground between movements in which recruits were love bombed, or overwhelmed by waves of intense sentiment, and those in which affective bonds were discouraged. They reported that close ties between newcomers and DLM members developed gradually over a period of three to four months, between initial contact and their attending a "Knowledge session", and the emergent friendships were an important forum in which recruits aired doubts and discussed DLM beliefs. These relationships thus supplemented a very cognitive conversion process, in which active consideration of the movement's ideas and beliefs was encouraged from the outset. They found little evidence to suggest that social rewards were orchestrated by the movement, either in degree or timing.[90]

The sociologist James V. Downton, who studied the DLM for five years, reported that the "idealism of these premies was one of the motivating forces behind their conversion [to DLM]. They wanted to create a more caring world".[91] Five years after the subjects of his study became premies he wrote:

"There is little doubt in my mind that these premies have changed in a positive way. Today, they seem less alienated, aimless, worried, afraid, and more peaceful, loving, confident, and appreciative of life. We could attribute these changes to surrender, devotion, and their involvement in the premie community. Each of these undoubtedly had a positive impact, but, if we accept what premies say, none were as critical as their experience of the universal spirit. Meditating on the life-energy for five years, they report having more positive attitudes about themselves."[92]

Ashrams

The Divine Light Mission began creating ashrams in India in the 1960s, starting with a small one in Rajasthan and a larger one called Satlok ("Place of Truth") between Delhi and Hardwar. [93]

Soon after the Divine Light Mission expanded to the West, several dozen ashrams were formed in the US, Britain, Europe and Australia. Followers ("premies") who lived in them often worked part or full time at ordinary jobs and gave a sizable portion – sometimes all – of their income to the movement. In the ashrams they practiced celibacy, vegetarianism, and frequent meditation.[94][95][96] The ashram premies became the core of the Mission in the United States, but the ashrams themselves were not a source of income, never becoming more than self-sufficient.[97][98][99][100][101]

Carroll Stoner and Jo Anne Parke, in their 1977 book, All God's Children, wrote of their visits to several ashrams that -

"There was no persuasion or cajoling for us to become part of this group. We did feel a sense of calm and peace in the ashrams. Most of the premies seemed sincere and rational. They appeared to be in control of their own lives and seemed to be achieving some measure of peace as a by-product of a lifestyle they feel is constructive and healthy.[102]

Marc Galanter, in his 1990 book, Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion, wrote of his visit to a DLM ashram that –

"The atmosphere in the ashram was indeed quite striking. ... 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. ... Caring and intimacy, reflective of the group's cohesiveness, seemed to mute any expression of animosity. ... I was made to feel as if I were entering a supportive envelope, to be protected from the rough edges of relationships in the outside world.[103]

Reception

The Divine Light Mission has been described in various and sometimes conflicting terms. It has been called a new religious movement,[104] a cult,[105] a charismatic religious sect,[106] an offshoot of Sant Mat,[107] an alternative religion or spin-off from other traditional religions,[108] a Radhasoami offshoot,[109] an orthodox Sikh community,[110] an Advait Mat related tradition,[111] as a founded, proselytizing religion ("Guru-ism"),[112] and a defunct religious movement.[113] A study of terms used in U.S. newspapers and news magazines, which examined the media's failure to use the more neutral terminology favored by social scientists, found that the Divine Light Mission was referred to as a "sect" in 10.3% of articles, as a "cult" in 24.1%, and as both in 13.8%. It was referred to as a "sect" in 21.4% of headlines, with 0% for "cult".[114]

The group called itself a "church not a religion".[115]

Bromley and Hammond describe the Divine Light Mission as belonging in a "medium tension category", defined as movements that were seen by the public as peculiar rather than threatening and to which society responded with watchfulnes and ostracism.[60] Psychiatrist Saul V. Levine wrote that the DLM, along with other groups such as the Unification Church, was widely held in low esteem – families felt their children were being financially exploited, while the groups' leaders lived in "ostentation and offensive opulence."[116]

Summarizing his 1985 review of studies of a number of new religious movements, such as The Jesus Movement, the Unification Church, the Children of God group in Europe and the Divine Light Mission, James T. Richardson stated that "life in the new religions is often therapeutic instead of harmful", and that other information would suggest that the young people attracted to these movements were affirming their idealism by their involvement. Richardson asserted that his review found there was little data to support the almost completely negative picture of these groups painted by a few mental health professionals and others.[117]

Ron Geaves states that although the Divine Light Mission was established as an organization for promoting Prem Rawat's teachings, it developed into a vigorous new religious movement with its own specific traits that included characteristics of a contemporary North Indian Sant panth and nirguna bhakti, combining intense reverence for the living satguru with the millennial expectations of the 1970s counter-culture.[118]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp.141-2 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5 "Just six years after the founding of the Mission, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was succeeded by his younger son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who was eight when he was recognized as the new Perfect Master and assumed the title Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji had been recognized as spiritually adept, even within the circle of the Holy Family, as Shri Hans' family was called. He had been initiated at the age of six [...] He assumed the role of Perfect Master at his father's funeral by telling the disciples who had gathered. [...] Though officially the autocratic leader of the Mission, because of Maharaji's age authority was shared by the whole family."
  2. ^ Aagaard, Johannes. Who Is Who In Guruism? (1980) "During the first 6 years of the new movement its head was Shri Hans, the father of the young Maharaj Ji, who, at the age of 8 years, succeeded his father in 1966."
  3. ^ U. S. Department of the Army, Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains (2001) pp.1-5 , The Minerva Group, ISBN 0-89875-607-3
    Following his death, Shri Hans Ji appointed the youngest of his four sons, Sant Ji as the next Perfect Master and therefore he assumed the head of the Divine Light Mission as decreed by his father."
  4. ^ J. Gordon Melton, "Encylcopedic Handbook of Cults in America, Revised and Updated Edition", Garland Publishing: New York, 1992 p217-218
  5. ^ "Whatever Happened to Guru Maharaj Ji? ", Hinduism Today Magazine, October 1983 Available Online (Retrieved March 2008)
  6. ^ Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp.141-2 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5 "Just six years after the founding of the Mission, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was succeeded by his younger son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who was eight when he was recognized as the new Perfect Master and assumed the title Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji had been recognized as spiritually adept, even within the circle of the Holy Family, as Shri Hans' family was called. He had been initiated at the age of six [...] He assumed the role of Perfect Master at his father's funeral by telling the disciples who had gathered. [...] Though officially the autocratic leader of the Mission, because of Maharaji's age authority was shared by the whole family."
  7. ^ Lee, Raymond L M. Sacred Tensions: Modernity and Religious Transformation in Malaysia (1997) pp.109-110 The University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-167-3 "Upon the death of the founder in 1966, one of his sons, Guru Maharaj Ji, assumed leadership of the movement and won the hearts of many young Westerners." (p.109)
  8. ^ Aagaard, Johannes. Who Is Who In Guruism? (1980) "During the first 6 years of the new movement its head was Shri Hans, the father of the young Maharaj Ji, who, at the age of 8 years, succeeded his father in 1966."
  9. ^ U. S. Department of the Army, Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains (2001) pp.1-5 , The Minerva Group, ISBN 0-89875-607-3
    Following his death, Shri Hans Ji appointed the youngest of his four sons, Sant Ji as the next Perfect Master and therefore he assumed the head of the Divine Light Mission as decreed by his father."
  10. ^ Singh, Bihari. Maharaji Accepted by His Father's Students, Retrieved Jan 2006.
    "Right after Shri Maharaj Ji’s death, the family and several mahatmas were discussing who would become Master after the 13 days of mourning were over. They were thinking about Bal Bhagwan Ji, who was the eldest son. When they asked me what I thought, I said, 'Shri Maharaj Ji told us when Maharaji was born, "He’s going to take my message all over the world."' [...]Some were suggesting that there be several gurus (all four brothers or some group of 5 or 7 gurus), and others were still in the Bal Bhagwan Ji camp. Particularly in India, when a father dies, the older son steps into his place. [...] Twelve days after Shri Maharaj Ji’s death, Maharaji went on stage with a handkerchief on his head and spoke for about 45 minutes to the people who had gathered. After listening to him, everybody accepted him as their Master."
  11. ^ Fahlbusch E., Lochman J. M., Mbiti J., Pelikan J., Vischer L, Barret D. (Eds.) The Encyclopedia of Christianity (1998). p.861, ISBN 90-04-11316-9
    "At the funeral of Shree Hans, his son Prem Pal Singh Rawat [...] comforted those who mourned his father's death with the thought that they still had perfect knowledge with them. The son himself had become the subject of this knowledge, the perfect master, in the place of his father, and took the title of "guru" and the name of Maharaj Ji, or great king, a title of respect to which other titular names were added. The honors paid him by his followers gave him the characteristic of a messianic child. These were supposedly his by nature and they helped him to eliminate rival claims from his own family."
  12. ^ Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), p 218 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
  13. ^ Stephen J. Hunt Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp.116-7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8 The leader of the Divine Light Mission, the Guru Maharaji, was 13 years old when he spectacularly rose to fame in the early 1970's. His global tour in 1971 helped to establish a large following in Britain and the USA.
  14. ^ http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?partner=amex&ein=23-7174539#rptlink1
  15. ^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, pp. 141-145
    "Many were initiated and became the core of the Mission in the United States. Headquarters were established in Denver, and by the end of 1973, tens of thousands had been initiated, and several hundred centers as well as over twenty ashrams, which housed approximately 500 of the most dedicated premies, had emerged."
  16. ^ Price, Maeve (1979): "The Divine Light Mission as a social organization". Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296. "It was an opportune moment for DLM to appear on the scene and, by the summer of 1973, the mission claimed to have a following of 8,000 devotees, or premies, in Britain. From the small beginning of one mahatma in London and a handful of premies, the mission grew, with up to half a dozen mahatmas at any one time giving knowledge, the establishment of Divine Information Centres in most major towns and cities and the setting up of about forty ashrams (designated premie households) throughout Britain by the end of 1973."
  17. ^ Melton J. Gordon Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York/London: Garland, 1986 (revised edition), ISBN 0-8240-9036-5, pp. 141-145
  18. ^ Messer, Jeanne. 1976 "Guru Maharaj Ji and the Divine Light Mission," in Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, eds. The New Religious Consciousness. Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress. pp.52-72. ISBN 0-52003-472-4
  19. ^ Lewis, James R. Cults in America. ABC-CLIO, Inc. Santa Barbara, 1998. p 83
  20. ^ Price, Maeve (1979): "The Divine Light Mission as a social organization". Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296. "A special branch of the mission, known as the World Peace Corps (WPC) was established, initially to provide protection for Maharaj Ji. However it soon became the main agent for organizing meetings or 'programmes' and securing financial support and it ventured into all kinds of supposedly money-making enterprises such as transport, building and the distribution of vegetarian food and certain Indian products such as incense. "
  21. ^ "Guru's 17th birthday observed", KENNETH T. WALSH Associated Press, GREELEY (Colo.) TRIBUNE December 11, 1974 p.16
  22. ^ "15-Year Old Guru Slapped in Face by Shaving Cream Pie", UPI, Los Angeles Times, Aug 8, 1973; pg. 2
  23. ^ Page 2 - Section B – Sun News – Las Cruces, New Mexico - Wednesday, August 22, 1973
  24. ^ Guru Goons Loose Fifth Estate Magazine Article - December 1973 - Volume 8 No. 18 he Guru immediately requested that the Divine Light Mission conduct a full investigation . . As a result of this investigation the assailants were located, confessed their part in the incident, and offered to turn themselves in. The local authorities were immediately notified but apparently made no effort to arrest.
  25. ^ J. Gordon Melton Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America (New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, p 380
  26. ^ "Under the Astrodome: Maharaj Ji – The Selling of a Guru", Gregg Kilday, Los Angeles Times, Nov 13, 1973 So when the DLM's annual Hans Jayanti [= birthday] festival drew near, although it has been traditionally held in India, the decision was made to move the show to America.
  27. ^ Worshipping the Absurd 'The Negation of Social Causality among the Followers of Guru Maharaj Ji.' Article by Daniel Foss and Larkin in Sociological Analysis, 1978.
  28. ^ Sophia Collier.Soul Rush'The Odyssey of a Young Woman of the '70s', New York : Morrow, 1978. From the first he had taken a great interest in the festival, and sometime in the early summer Maharaj Ji had put him "in charge" of the festival effort. Despite the title though, it was commonly understood that Rennie Davis, going under the more humble billing of "General Coordinator," was the person to listen to on any nuts and bolts issues involving the event.
  29. ^ a b c “Guru's Followers Cheer 'Millennium' in Festivities in Astrodome", by Eleanor Blau, New York Times, November 12, 1973
  30. ^ J. Gordon Melton Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America (New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, pages 141-145
  31. ^ a b "Oz in the Astrodome", by Ted Morgan, New York Times, December 9, 1973
  32. ^ "Maharaji Ji: The Selling of a Guru, 1973", by Gregg Killday, Los Angeles Times, November 13, 1973, p. D1
  33. ^ "Kent, Stephen A. From Slogans to Mantras Syracuse University Press, 2001. p 156
  34. ^ Oz in the Astrodome; Middle-class premies find Guru The guru enthroned by Ted Morgan, New York Times, December 9, 1973, Page 338
  35. ^ Sophia Collier. Soul Rush – The Odyssey of a Young Woman of the '70s, New York: Morrow, 1978. "From my tours to promote the festival and my previous experience organizing this sort of event, I know 22,000 is all we can count on. It's a reasonable figure," I had heard Rennie remark a few days before. "If others come," Rennie continued almost whimsically, "it will be the grace of God, so then the grace of God can house them, too."
  36. ^ a b "TV: Meditating on a Young Guru and His Followers", by John O'Connor, New York Times, February 25, 1974
  37. ^ "Houston's Version of Peace in Our Time" GREGG KILDAY, Los Angeles Times Nov 25, 1973 p. S18
  38. ^ Sophia Collier.Soul Rush'The Odyssey of a Young Woman of the '70s', New York : Morrow, 1978.it was commonly understood that Rennie Davis, going under the more humble billing of "General Coordinator," was the person to listen to on any nuts and bolts issues involving the event.
  39. ^ "Kent, Stephen A. From Slogans to Mantras Syracuse University Press, 2001. p 52
  40. ^ "Kent, Stephen A. From Slogans to Mantras Syracuse University Press, 2001. p 156
  41. ^ "Worshiping the Absurd: The Negation Of Social Causality Among The Followers of Guru Maharaj Ji", Daniel A. Foss, Ralph W. Larkin, Sociological Analysis, 1978, 39, 2:157-164
  42. ^ "Growing Pile of Unpaid Bills Beneath Guru's Spiritual Bliss", Deborah Frazier, UPI, March 23, 1975, Lincoln, Neb., Sunday Journal and Star
  43. ^ "New Religious Movements Turn to Worldly Success", KIRPAL SINGH KHALSA, JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Jun., 1986), pp. 233–247
  44. ^ Carroll Stoner & Jo Anne Parke All God's Children, Chilton Book Co ISBN 0801966205
  45. ^ "Videotape Explorers on the Trail of a Guru", by Dick Adler, Los Angeles Times, February 23, 1974 p. B2
  46. ^ Price, Maeve (1979): "The Divine Light Mission as a social organization". Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296. "In Britain there was the Festival of Love at Alexandra Palace which drew thousands of premies and seekers, and where the unpredictable behaviour of Maharaj Ji antagonized the British press who had waited for hours for his scheduled appearance. ...A large membership had grown up very rapidly but the organizers had no clear idea where to lead the following, nor did they have the financial resources to maintain so many full-time workers.
  47. ^ "Guru Maharaj Ji." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008
  48. ^ "Guru Maharaj Ji." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, 5th ed. Gale Group, 2001. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
  49. ^ "A LOOK BACK AT THE '70S" HENRY ALLEN, Los Angeles Times Dec 16, 1979; p. K30
  50. ^ Price, Maeve (1979): "The Divine Light Mission as a social organization". Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296.
  51. ^ Melton J. Gordon Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York/London: Garland, 1986 (revised edition), ISBN 0-8240-9036-5, pp. 141-145
  52. ^ Geaves, Ron, Globalization, charisma, innovation, and tradition: An exploration of the transformations in the organisational vehicles for the transmission of the teachings of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), 2006, Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies, 2 44-62."As Prem Rawat developed from a thirteen year old to an adolescent, about to be married and raise his own family, he was no longer prepared to be a figurehead whilst others dictated the direction and management of the movement established on the basis of his teachings"
  53. ^ Price, Maeve (1979): "The Divine Light Mission as a social organization". Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296. "When Maharaj Ji began to assert his independence from his mother, both as an individual and as a leader, the mission entered a period of crises, internal conflict and consequent recession. (25) In May 1974, Maharaj Ji married an American girl, Marolyn Johnson (now called Durga Ji), in direct defiance of his mother's wishes and the event shook the mission to its foundations. This marriage brought about an exodus from the ashrams, the stable core of the mission which had been a vital means of social control, as premies flocked to get married and began to produce their own children, within customary marriage structures. It was an important turning point for the mission. The followers seemed to grow up overnight into adults with normal family responsibilities and ties. The base of support inevitably shifted from the ashrams to the wider premie community. This meant that central control was very much weakened and that the ordinary, non-ashram premie began to play a more important role in determining the mission's fortunes. At the same time, many premies were shaken by the marriage and felt almost betrayed by their leader. It is apparent that the marriage was responsible for a loss of morale and therefore of support for the mission by many premies. "
  54. ^ Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), p 219 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
  55. ^ "FIRM LOYALTY: Guru's Sect: Misgivings in Malibu" MARK FORSTER Los Angeles Times Jan 12, 1979; pg. A1.
  56. ^ Melton J. Gordon Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York/London: Garland, 1986 (revised edition), ISBN 0-8240-9036-5, pp. 141-145
  57. ^ a b "Guru following down; tactics changing", UPI, Waterloo Courier Nov. 25, 1976
  58. ^ a b "Guru's cult changing style" GEORGE CORNELL, AP Religion Writer
  59. ^ Lewis, James R. Cults in America. ABC-CLIO, Inc. Santa Barbara, 1998. p 83
  60. ^ a b Bromley, Hammond, 1983: 113-4, 227
  61. ^ Geaves, Ron, From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital and Beyond: An Exploration of Change and Adaptation, Nova Religio The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, March 2004, Vol. 7, No. 3, Pages 45-62.
  62. ^ 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
    "The Divine Light Mission, for example, in the 1980s became Elan Vital and dropped most of its Asian trappings."
  63. ^ Colorado Secretary of State, Business Center.
  64. ^ Elan Vital FAQs - About Elan Vital, Inc. Available online (Retrieved May, 2006)
  65. ^ Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp 221 222 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
  66. ^ Melton, Gordon, Encyclopedia of American Religions 7th edition. Thomson (2003) p.2328 ISBN 0-7876-6384-0
    "In the early 1980s, Maharaj Ji moved to disband the Divine Light Mission and he personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion, disbanding the mission, he founded Elan Vital, an organization to support his future role as teacher." [...]Maharaji had made every attempt to abandon the traditional Indian religious trappings in which the techniques originated and to make his presentation acceptable to all the various cultural settings in which followers live. He sees his teachings as independent of culture, religion, beliefs, or lifestyles, and regularly addresses audiences in places as culturally diverse as India, Japan, Taiwan, the Ivory Coast, Slovenia, Mauritius and Venezuela, as well as North America, Europe and the South Pacific.
  67. ^ Melton, Gordon, Encyclopedia of American Religions 7th edition. Thomson (2003) p.2328 ISBN 0-7876-7702-7
    "In the early 1980s, Maharaj Ji moved to disband the Divine Light Mission and he personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion. Disbanding the mission, he founded Elan Vital, an organization suited to his future role as teacher." [...]Maharaji had made every attempt to abandon the traditional Indian religious trappings in which the techniques originated and to make his presentation acceptable to all the various cultural settings in which followers live. He sees his teachings as independent of culture, religion, beliefs, or lifestyles, and regularly addresses audiences in places as culturally diverse as India, Japan, Taiwan, the Ivory Coast, Slovenia, Mauritius and Venezuela, as well as North America, Europe and the South Pacific.
  68. ^ "Contact Info - Events". contactinfo.net. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  69. ^ Melton J. Gordon Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York/London: Garland, 1986 (revised edition), ISBN 0-8240-9036-5, pp. 141-145
  70. ^ Geaves, Ron, Globalization, charisma, innovation, and tradition: An exploration of the transformations in the organisational vehicles for the transmission of the teachings of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), 2006, Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies, 2 44-62."As Prem Rawat developed from a thirteen year old to an adolescent, about to be married and raise his own family, he was no longer prepared to be a figurehead whilst others dictated the direction and management of the movement established on the basis of his teachings"
  71. ^ [1][dead link]
  72. ^ Beit-Hallahami, Benjamin The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects and Cults (1997), ISBN 0-8239-1505-0 p.85 "Divine Light Mission". "When the founder died in 1966, the eight-year old Pretap [Prem] stood up at the funeral to announce his ascent to the throne and became the movement's recognized leader. [..] Maharaj Ji was considered satguru, or the Perfect Master."
  73. ^ Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp.141-2 entry Divine Light Mission Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "Just six years after the founding of the Mission, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was succeeded by his younger son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who was eight when he was recognized as the new Perfect Master and assumed the title, Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji had been recognized as spiritually adept, even within the circle of the Holy Family as Shri Hans family was called. He had been initiated at the age of six [...] He assumed the role of Perfect Master at his father's funeral by telling the disciples who had gathered. [...] Though officially the autocratic leader of the Mission, because of Maharaji's age authority was shared by the whole family."
  74. ^ U. S. Department of the Army, Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains (2001) pp.11-5 , The Minerva Group, ISBN 0-89875-607-3
    "Following his death, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj appointed the youngest of his four sons, Sant Ji, as the next Perfect Master and thereby the assumed head of Divine Light Mission as decreed by his father. Since that time, Guru Maharaj Ji has inspired a world wide movement and the Mission is active in 55 countries."
  75. ^ 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.
    "As Maharaji began to grow older and establish his teachings worldwide he increasingly desired to manifest his own vision of development and growth. This conflict resulted in a split between Maharaji and his family, ostensibly caused by his mother's inability to accept Maharaji's marriage to an American follower rather than the planned traditional arranged marriage."
  76. ^ Downton, Sacred Journeys. "Nearly sixteen, he was ready to assume a more active part in deciding what direction the movement should take. This of course meant that he had to encroach on his mother's territory and, given the fact that she was accustomed to having control, a fight was inevitable."
  77. ^ name="thomsonwife">"Guru Maharaj Ji", Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan, Thomson Gale, 2007. The marriage further disrupted his relationship with his mother and older brothers. A lawsuit in India gave control of the Indian branch of the Divine Light Mission to Maharaj's mother and led to a complete break with her son, who maintained the complete support of the Western disciples.
  78. ^ Price, Maeve (1979): "The Divine Light Mission as a social organization". Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296. "In Britain a long wrangle ensued over the legal control of DLM as Maharaj Ji was not yet of age, but Mata Ji was out-manoevred by Maharaj Ji's supporters who by-passed the officially registered Divine Light Mission and used Divine United Organization (DUO) (which had already been established in 1973 to co-ordinate the mission's activities) and this became the mission's operational headquarters."
  79. ^ "Manav Dharam". 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  80. ^ Hummel, Reinhart Indische Mission und neue Frömmigkeit im Westen. Religiöse Bewegungen in westlichen Kulturen, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-17-005609-3,
    pp.76-77: :pp.76-77: "Eine systematisch entwickelte Lehre hat die Divine Light Mission weder zur Zeit des Vaters Śhrī Hans noch des Sohnes besessen. Beide haben darin eher einen Vorzug als einen Mangel gesehen. Hatte der Vater sich vornehmlich als »Guru der Armen« verstanden und sich in einer bilderreichen Sprache mehr um praktische Anwendbarkeit als um theoretische Durchdringung bemüht, so blieb doch der Inhalt seiner Satsangs auf dem Hintergrund der Hinduistischen Tradition klar verständlich. Die Satsangs jedoch, die der Sohn im Westen gehalten hat und die mit einem Minimum hinduistischer Terminologie und Konzepte auskommen, müssen für den nichthinduistischen Hörer vage bleiben. Der junge Guru erklärt das konzeptionelle Denken, das auch in deutschen Übersetzungen mit dem englischen Wort »mind« bezeichnet wird, als Hauptfeind der unmittelbaren religösen Erfahrung. So ist es nicht verwunderlich, daß von seinen Anhängern nur wenig Handfestes über die DLM-lehre zu erfahren ist. Anderseits eröffnet ihnen der Mangel an vorgegebenen Konzepten einen Freiraum für Äußerungen einer spontanen Subjektivität, die wohltuend vom unselbständigen Reproduzieren autoritativ verkündeter Lehren absticht, wie man es vor allem bei den Anhängern der ISKCON antrifft. Wie auch immer die Bewertung ausfallen mag – die geistige Konturlosigkeit der Bewegung fällt allen Beobachtern auf. Im Zentrum steht bei Vater und Sohn die vierfache Meditationstechnik, die vier »Kriyas«, die Sri Hans von Svami Sarupanand gelernt hatte. [..]" p. 78: "Innerhalb dieses eklektischen Denkens dominiert der Einfluß der in Nordindien beheimateten Sant-Tradition, der schon in der Geschichte des Radhasoami Satsang wirksam war. Von ihr bestimmt ist die Ablehnung äußerlicher Rituale und Zeremonien und die Forderung, das Göttliche im eigenen Inneren zu suchen; damit verbunden die Polemik gegen den trennenden Charakter der in Äußerlichkeiten erstarrten Religionen und gegen die Kastentrennung; ferner die Ablehnung der Askese zugunsten des Lebens im Stande des Haushalters, wie Sri Hans es selbst geführt hat; die Ablehnung der Bilderverehrung und die Konzentration auf den Guru als die Manifestation des Göttlichen; [..]"
  81. ^ Ron Geaves in 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 Maharaji asserts that he is not teaching a religion and there are no particular rituals, sacred days, pilgrimages, sacred places, doctrines, scriptures or specific dress codes, dietary requirements or any other dimension associated with a religious lifestyle.
  82. ^ Messer, Jeanne. 1976 "Guru Maharaj Ji and the Divine Light Mission," in Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, eds. The New Religious Consciousness. Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress. pp.52-72. ISBN 0-52003-472-4 His teaching consists simply of what he calls "giving knowledge," not of any extensive set of moral precepts. Unlike most Eastern religious teachers, he generally refuses to give concrete instructions regarding what one should eat, how one should make a living, or what one's disciplehood should involve.
  83. ^ Conway, Flo & Siegelman, Jim. Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change. Stillpoint Press, New York, 1995, 2nd ed., p. 361
  84. ^ Larson, Bob (2004). Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative PUBLISHER: Tyndale House Publishers. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers. pp. p.151. ISBN 0-8423-6417-X. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  85. ^ McGuire, Meredith B. "Religion: the Social Context" fifth edition (2002) ISBN 0-534-54126-7 Chapter. 5 "The Dynamics of Religious Collectivities", section “How Religious Collectivities Develop and Change’’, sub-section "Organizational Transformations" p. 175 "As Weber pointed out, the long-term impact of a movement hinges on transformation of bases of authority and leadership from a charismatic mode to either traditional or legal-traditional rational structures. When a movement becomes established, there is a strong tendency for the organization to calcify around the memory of the early dynamism; its own tradition becomes the rationalization for why things should be done in a certain way. Early stages of a movement's organization involve simple structures such as the charismatic leader and followers or leader, core followers, and other followers. The transition to legal-rational structures is typically accompanied by the elaboration and standardization of procedures, the emergence of specialized statuses and roles, and the formalizing of communication among members. The early years of the Divine Light Mission in the United States were characterized by rapidly growing, loosely affiliated local ashrams (i.e., groups of devotees, usually living communally), united mainly by the devotion to the ambiguous charismatic figure of Guru Maharaj Ji. As the DLM became increasingly structured and centralized, leadership and power focused in the Denver headquarters. The guru's desire to consolidate his power and authority over the movement in the United States resulted in greater formalization: rules and regulations for ashram living, standards for recruited "candidates", and pressure toward certifying the movement's teachers."
  86. ^ Thomas Pilarzyk ‘’The Origin, Development, and Decline of a Youth Culture Religion: An Application of the Sectarianization Theory’’ in "Review of Religious Research" 20, 1:33-37, 1978) Like some of its youth culture counterparts, the Divine Light Mission movement experienced rapid growth from its inception in the United States in 1971. By the summer of 1974, the American movement had grown to a total of 27 ashrams which housed over 1200 of an estimated 50,000 members or "premies." However, its development was not as simple, gradual, consistent, nor as long-lasting as changes within other "Eastern imports" such as the Hare Krsna movement. [...] By July of 1972, the first national conference of DLM leaders took place, and guidelines were laid down which specified certain rules and regulations for U.S. ashrams. DLM officials note that this led to an initial departure of followers who viewed ashram life more as an economic convenience than as a step toward the enhancement of the spiritual path to God-realization.
  87. ^ Barrett, David V., The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions (2003), Cassel, ISBN 1-84403-040-7 Page 65
  88. ^ Foss & Larkin.Worshipping the Absurd 'The Negation of Social Causality among the Followers of Guru Maharaj Ji.' Article by Daniel Foss and Larkin in Sociological Analysis, 1978.
  89. ^ Geaves, From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital and Beyond, 2004: 45-62
  90. ^ Gartrell and Shannon, 1985: 35
  91. ^ James V. Downton "Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Division Light Mission" Columbia Univ Press (July 1979) ISBN 0231041985 Chapter 6: Growing Up/Uncaring Institutions page 87
  92. ^ James V. Downton "Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Division Light Mission" Columbia Univ Press (July 1979) ISBN 0231041985 Chapter 12: Changes Page 210
  93. ^ Hans Jayanti (2000), pp.24-37. DUO, New Delhi, Book published in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Hans Ji Maharaj's birth by Prem Rawat's Indian organization.
  94. ^ All Mission activities depend entirely on volunteered labor and funds. The knowledge itself, the primary source of satisfaction to devotees, is independent of the Mission proper, and DLM has no power to discipline or enforce agreements. Devotees move in and out of service roles or financial commitments, and DLM has little chance to predict or control income or staffing. 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
  95. ^ Premies could live in ashrams to devote themselves more fully to Service. Premies often worked part or full time outside the ashram and gave a sizable portion-sometimes all-of their income to the movement. They also practiced celibacy, vegetarianism, and frequent meditation. The focus of this ascetic existence was their religious mission rather than personal pleasure or gain.Galanter, Marc (1999). Cults: faith, healing, and coercion. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512370-0.
  96. ^ Many of the characteristics of the Indian movement founded by Prem Rawat’s father, who had died only in 1966, were imported wholesale into the western environment. Ashrams were established with a lifetime commitment of celibacy expected from those who joined. Members were expected to forswear drugs and alcohol, and adopt a strict vegetarian diet. [...] The closing of the ashrams took away the possibility of a committed workforce and instead Prem Rawat’s activities to promote his teachings became more dependent on part-time volunteer assistance from individuals who were now raising families and creating careers for themselves. Geaves, Ron, Globalization, Charisma, Innovation and Tradition: An exploration of the transformations in the organisational vehicles for the transmission of the teachings of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), 2006, Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies, 2 44-62
  97. ^ Many were initiated and became the core of the Mission in the United States. Headquarters were established in Denver, and by the end of 1973, tens of thousands had been initiated, and several hundred centers as well as over twenty ashrams, which housed approximately 500 of the most dedicated premies, had emerged. J. Gordon Melton Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, pages 141-145
  98. ^ While the ashrams have often been self-supporting they have not been a good source of income for the Mission. Unlike the Moonies, the Children of God, or the Hare Krishnas, Divine Light Mission members do not sell anything. They do not solicit on street corners, selling candy, flowers, peanuts, or literature. And unlike the Church of Scientology, Guru Maharaj Ji's group does not charge for the courses or the teaching of the techniques of "knowledge." The group gets its money through gifts and the tithing of its members. The more gainfully employed a premie is, the higher the tithe the Mission receives.
  99. ^ Parke, Jo Anne; Stoner, Carroll (1977). All gods children: the cult experience--salvation or slavery?. Radnor, Pa: Chilton. ISBN 0-8019-6620-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  100. ^ Like some of its youth culture counterparts, the Divine Light Mission movement experienced rapid growth from its inception in the United States in 1971. By the summer of 1974, the American movement had grown to a total of 27 ashrams which housed over 1200 of an estimated 50,000 members or "premies." However, its development was not as simple, gradual, consistent, nor as long-lasting as changes within other "Eastern imports" such as the Hare Krsna movement. [...] By July of 1972, the first national conference of DLM leaders took place, and guidelines were laid down which specified certain rules and regulations for U.S. ashrams. DLM officials note that this led to an initial departure of followers who viewed ashram life more as an economic convenience than as a step toward the enhancement of the spiritual path to God-realization. Pilarzyk, Thomas, The Origin, Development, and Decline of a Youth Culture Religion: An Application of Sectarianization Theory Review of Religious Research, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 23-43
  101. ^ From the small beginning of one mahatma in London and a handful of premies, the mission grew, with up to half a dozen mahatmas at any one time giving knowledge, the establishment of Divine Information Centres in most major towns and cities and the setting up of about forty ashrams (designated premie households) throughout Britain by the end of 1973. Ashrams played an important part in the mission's structure. Here premies had chosen to live in small communal households, under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. In practice they were under the direct supervision of head office and acted as cadres for the whole movement.[...] A large membership had grown up very rapidly but the organizers had no clear idea where to lead the following, nor did they have the financial resources to maintain so many full-time workers. The ashrams which should have provided a sound financial basis for the mission's operations were not even self-financing and had to be supported from funds. Price, Maeve (1979): The Divine Light Mission as a social organization. Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296
  102. ^ Carroll Stoner and Jo Anne Parke,All God's Children,Chilton Book Co ISBN 0801966205,During the visit and on previous occasions when we visited ashrams as undeclared aspirants, there was no persuasion or cajoling for us to become part of this group. We did feel a sense of calm and peace in the ashrams. Most of the premies seemed sincere and rational. They appeared to be in control of their own lives and seemed to be achieving some measure of peace as a by-product of a lifestyle they feel is constructive and healthy."
  103. ^ Marc Galanter, Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion, Oxford University Press (1999) ISBN 0-19-512370-0 Initial Encounters, p. 25
  104. ^ Hunt, 2003: 116; Derks and van der Lans Of Gods and Men 1983: 303; Wilson, Social Dimensions of Sectarism, 1990: 209
  105. ^ Beckford, Of Gods and Men 1983: 195; Langone, 1995 :41
  106. ^ Galanter, 1999: 19
  107. ^ Lewis, 2004: 24; Edwards, 2001 :227
  108. ^ Guiley, 1991: 152; >Barret, 1996
  109. ^ Miller, 474: 364; Juergensmeyer, 1991 :207
  110. ^ Sutton, 2005 :44
  111. ^ Geaves, 2002
  112. ^ Axel Michaels, Barbara Harshav. Hinduism: Past and Present. 2004 Princeton University Press, p. 23. ISBN 0691089523
  113. ^ Olson, Roger E., in Miller 1995: 364
  114. ^ van Driel, Barend and James T. Richardson. "Research Note Categorization of New Religious Movements in American Print Media". Sociological Analysis 1988, 49, 2:171-183
  115. ^ "Miami's startled elite wish the guru, in short, a pleasant stay", By Barry Bearak, Knight-Ridder Service, July 30, 1977. INDEPENDENT PRESS TELEGRAM (Long Beach, CA) A-11 "ACCORDING to Anctil and mission president Bill Patterson, they represent a church rather than a religion."
  116. ^ Levine, 1989: 96, 102
  117. ^ Richardson, 1995: 147
  118. ^ Geaves, Ron, Globalization, charisma, innovation, and tradition: An exploration of the transformations in the organisational vehicles for the transmission of the teachings of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), 2006, Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies, 2 44-62

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  • Geaves, Ron, Globalization, charisma, innovation, and tradition: An exploration of the transformations in the organisational vehicles for the transmission of the teachings of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), 2006, Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies, 2 44-62
  • Guiley, Rosemary (1991). Harper's encyclopedia of mystical & paranormal experience. [San Francisco]: HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-250366-9.
  • 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 article available in full on the website of the author (PDF file) (The article is mainly based on the Dutch branch of the Divine Light Mission) ISBN 90-242-2341-5
  • Hunt, Stephen (2003). Alternative religions: a sociological introduction. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8.
  • Juergensmeyer, Mark (1996). Radhasoami reality: the logic of a modern faith. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01092-7.
  • Kent, Stephen A. (2001). From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2923-0.
  • Langone, Michael D. (1993). Recovery from cults help for victims of psychological and spiritual abuse. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-31321-2.
  • Levine, Saul V. in Galanter, Marc (1989). Cults and New Religious Movements: A Report of the American Psychiatric Association. American Psychiatric Pub., Inc. ISBN 0890422125.
  • Lewis, James P., Melton, J. Gordon] (1998). The encyclopedia of cults, sects, and new religions. Buffalo, N.Y: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-222-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Melton, J. Gordon and Lewis, R. James. Department of the USA Army, Office of the Chief of Chaplains Religious Requirements and practices. A Handbook for Chaplains
  • Miller, Timothy (1995). America's alternative religions. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-2397-2.
  • Richardson, James, T. Clinical and Personality Assessment of Participants in New Religions, International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Vol. 5, 1995
  • Sutton, Robert Mize (2005). Modern American communes: a dictionary. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-32181-7.
  • Wilson, Bryan (1990). The social dimensions of sectarianism: sects and new religious movements in contemporary society. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-827883-7.

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