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Scholarly opinions and criticism[edit]

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Many scholars and authors that have written about Prem Rawat and related organizations. They include: David V. Barrett, George D. Chryssides, Lucy DuPertuis, Eugene M. Elliot III,[1] Erwin Fahlbusch,[2] Sandra S. Frankiel,[3] Rosemary Goring,[4] Wim Haan, Jeffrey K. Hadden, Andrew Kopkind,[5] Stephen A. Kent , Ralph Larkin, Raymond Lee, Saul V. Levine,[6] James Lewis, Charles H. Lippy,[7] John Bassett McCleary,[8] Dennis Marcellino, Tim Miller, J. Gordon Melton, Ruth Prince and David Riches, [9] Paul Schnabel,[10] Robert P. Sutton [11] Jan van der Lans and Bryan R. Wilson[12]. The Canadian sociologist Stephen A. Kent described Rawat’s message as “banal” in the preface of his book based on his personal experience with Prem Rawat and treats the criticism by the countercultural left on him in the 1970s.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). materialistic, spoilt, and intellectually unremarkable and Rawat discouraging critical thinking was claimed in a 1982 Ph.D. thesis about new religious movements and mental health by the sociologist Paul Schnabel;[13] Rawat having become a charlatan, leading privately a life of idleness and pleasures hidden from the average followers by the professor of psychology of religion Jan van der Lans in a 1981 book about followers of gurus written upon request for a Dutch Catholic institute;[14] and concern about financial exploitation of followers by the psychiatrist Saul V. Levine.[15]The author Barret wrote that the Divine Light Mission used to be criticized for the devotion given to Maharaji, who was though to live a life of luxury on the donations of his followers” and that the movement was sometimes criticized movement for “stressing of emotional experience over intellect. “[16]


J. Gordon Melton describes that in the mid-1970s several ex-members became vocal critics. Some of the criticism leveled at Rawat derives from key personnel who, after they parted ways with Rawat in the 1970s and 1980s, began making allegations against him about purported anxiety. These key personnel included Robert Mishler (who died in the late 1970s). Mishler, ex-president of the DLM, said in a Denver radio interview in February 1979 (a few years after leaving the mission) that Rawat "had tremendous problems of anxiety which he combatted with alcohol."[17] [18]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.[19] Another scholar, James Lewis, notes a number of ex-members made claims of brainwashing and mind control.[20] In an FAQ article about opposition to Maharaji and his message, Elan Vital claims that there are a handful of former students that actively engage in opposing Rawat, his students and organizations, and lists a series of complaints against them. '[21]


Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ Fahlbusch E. (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Christianity (1998). p.861, ISBN 90-04-11316-9
  3. ^ Frankiel, Sandra S. in Lippy, Charles H. and Williams. Peter W. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience p.1521, harles Scribner's Sons (1988), ISBN 0-684-18863-5 (Vol III)
  4. ^ Goring, Rosemary. Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions. p.145, Wordsworth Editions (1997), ISBN 1-85326-354-0
  5. ^ Kopkind, Andrew. The Thirty Years' Wars pp.233-4. Verso, ISBN 1-85984-096-5
  6. ^ Levine, Life in the Cults
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ 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 - "Maharaj Ji was considered to be deeply spiritually imbued, enabling him to teach secret techniques of meditation that would be learned in stages as a process of initiation; for followers this meant two hours of meditation each day. Maharaj Ji’s techniques were considered to heighten spiritual experience and to help people realise their full potential in day-to-day living"
  10. ^ Schnabel, Tussen stigma en charisma, Chapter II, pp.33, Chapter IV p.99 pp.101-2, Chapter pp.142,
  11. ^ "Modern American Communes: A Dictionary. p44. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0313321817 -"In the 1980's, as Maharaji slowly dissolved tmpost of the ashrams and resigned his responsibilties as leader of the Divine Light Mission to become a lecturer, the communal aspects of the movement dissapeared"
  12. ^ Wilson, Bryan, New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response. pp.268-9, Routledge (UK), ISBN 0-415-20049-0
  13. ^ Schnabel, Tussen stigma en charisma, Chapter II, pp.33, Chapter IV p.99 pp.101-2, Chapter pp.142
  14. ^ LansVolgelingen van de goeroe, pp. 117
  15. ^ Levine, Life in the Cults
  16. ^
    "The Divine Light movement used to be criticized for the devotion given to Maharaji, who was though to live a life of luxury on the donations of his followers; Whittaker, clearly conscious of past criticism, is emphatic that Maharaji has never earned anything from Elan Vital or any other movement promoting his teachings.[...] At the heart of Elan Vital is this Knowledge — loosely, the joy of true self-knowledge. [...] The Knowledge includes four meditation techniques; these have some similarities in other Sant-Mat-derived movements, and may derive originally from surat shab yoga. [...]The experience is on individual, subjective experience rather than on a body ofd dogma, and in its Divine Light days the movement was sometime criticized for this stressing of emotional experience over intellect. The teaching could perhaps best described as practical mysticism.
  17. ^ Brown, Chip, Parents Versus Cult: Frustration, Kidnaping, Tears; Who Became Kidnapers 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."
  18. ^ Perfect master? The Frederick News-Post January 25 1979. Newspaper Archive "Mishler said he left the group after trying to get the Maharaj Ji to tell his followers plainly that he was not God, and to live only off his own tax-free gifts, instead of income from the missions. He said the mission took in over $5 million in 1976.
    "When proposed that, I remember his exact words." Mishler said, "the Maharaj Ji asked, "What about me?"
  19. ^ 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."
  20. ^ Lewism 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"
  21. ^ Opposition to Maharaji and his message – Detractors and the negative message they convey.
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