Divine Light Mission

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Divine Light Mission
Formation 1960
Key people Shri Hans Ji Maharaji, founder
Succeeded by Prem Rawat

The Divine Light Mission (DLM) was founded by the Shri Hans Ji Maharaj in Northern India in 1960 and registered in Patna. The name of the DLM in Hindi was Divya Sandesh Parishad. When Shri Maharaji died in 1966, his fourth son, Prem Rawat (Maharaji, formerly known as Guru Maharaj Ji) succeeded him. The DLM came to the United States with the 13-year old Prem Rawat in the 1970s.

The DLM was formed in 1971 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). In the 1970s the DLM was scrutinized by the press and the anti-cult movement. Students of Maharaji were called premies until the early 1990s. Some of them lived in ashrams that were closed in 1983. The DLM changed its name to Elan Vital in 1983, by filing an entity name change.[1][2]. According to the Encyclopedia of American religions the mission was disbanded as Prem Rawat personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion, to make his teachings independent of culture, beliefs and lifestyles.[3]

The sociology professor Eileen Barker classified the Divine Light Mission as a new religious movement.

Contents

[edit] The mission's succession rift and the 1970s

For more details on this topic, see Hans_Ji_Maharaj#Succession.

Prem Rawat succeeded to the leadership of the DLM upon his father's death in 1966[4] [5], which, as he noted, was unusual since he was not the eldest child and not in accordance with Hindu tradition of primogeniture[6]. His family told American reporters during the early 1970s that Shri Hans was away from home at the time of his death and wrote a letter home to the family essentially naming Prem as his successor. A witness account by Shri Hans' personal driver confirms that Shri Hans publicly requested that Rawat would continue his work and that some disregarded this request and discussions were held during the customary 12 days of mourning about the succession. This culminated in Prem Rawat addressing the crowd and being accepted by them as their teacher.[7][8]

The young Prem reportedly spoke in the same terms as his father had done, comforted grieving devotees and declared his intention to continue his father's work. [9][10]

His family's support as the rightful successor to his father lasted for another eight years. In 1974, after a rift in the family due to Prem Rawat's marriage to a Westerner and other Westernizing tendencies7, his mother publicly retracted her support and endorsed instead her oldest son, Satpal, as the legitimate guru of the DLM.[11][12]. According to Biography Resource Center, this caused a rift in the relationship between Rawat, his mother and older brothers. Later, a lawsuit in India yielded control of the Divine Light Mission in India to his mother, and a break in her relationship with her son[12].

Prem Rawat continued the work of the DLM in the West, while Satpal in a lawsuit against his youngest brother was awarded by an Indian court DLM in India and certain of its properties/ashrams. Satpal now claims that his father, Hans Ji Maharaj, "bequeath[ed] his mission and unfinished work" to Satpal, not to Prem, and so he, and not Prem, is the sole legitimate heir of their father's guru lineage[1]. All scholars that write about the succession report the contrary. [13] [14] [15] and it is clear that Satpal and the rest of the family accepted and supported Prem's declaration of succession for eight years. The websites and publications related to Prem Rawat and his work do not use succession claims to substantiate Maharaji's teachnings as they see Rawat simply as an individual gifted with the ability to speak about inner peace. [2].

According to the Dutch religious scholar and minister Reender Kranenborg, a speech by Rawat called 'the 'Peace Bomb' in Delhi in 1970 marked the start of the Maharaji's mission to the west [16].

In 1973 after a reporter at a public event in Detroit hit Rawat in the face with a shaving cream pie, the reporter was attacked with a hammer and severely injured by an Indian Mahatma and a western student. In an article published in Penthouse magazine in July 1974 [3], it was reported that the DLM issued a press release informing that the pair were in fact students, and that they were held in custody at the Chicago ashram. They also promised a full investigation. The Detroit police did not pursue the matter.

[edit] Beliefs, practices and behavioral standards outside India

Note: this section and all other following sections apply to the DLM outside India only.

Professor Eileen Barker refers for more information about the DLM to an article by the student Wim Haan in the Dutch version of her book Introduction new religious movements. In that article that appeared in the official magazine of the Vrije Universiteit about religious movements, that the DLM hardly had a philosophical background and that its central items of faith were summarized in the song associated with the Hindu devotional ritual called aarti. Haan further wrote in that article that the DLM in India was involved in charity and social work but that the spiritual side received more emphasis at the expense of the social work when it came to the West. Haan wrote this article while he was a student of theology at a Pastoral and Theology school in a small town in the Netherlands and while he was part of a critical movement within the Catholic church.

Although no beliefs or ethical practices in terms of rules and regulations were taught, the fundamental practices of inner peace were embodied and experienced through satsang, service and meditation, the sum of which is an experience Prem Rawat, or Maharaji, called "Knowledge." Maharaji's perspectives delivered during his satsang talks brought great pleasure and meaning to many listeners. The practice of satsang, service and meditation also resulted for many in an inner calm and contentment which guided their behavior in the place of a belief system. Members of the DLM meditated formally twice daily and attended discourse on the Knowledge (satsang) when possible. Vegetarianism was encouraged but not enforced.4.

According to a text book about the sociology of religion, "the early years of the Divine Light Mission (DLM) in the United States were characterized by rapidly growing, loosely affiliated local ashrams [..] united mainly by the devotion to the ambiguous charismatic figure of Guru Maharaj Ji." The book further states that "as the DLM became increasingly structured and centralized, leadership and power focused in the Denver headquarters." According to the book, Prem Rawat's "desire to consolidate his power and authority over the movement in the United States resulted in greater formalization: rules and regulation for ashram living, standards for recruited "candidates", and pressure toward certifying movements teachers." [17]

[edit] Millennium festival in the Houston Astrodome

In 1973, the DLM booked the Houston Astrodome for a three-day gathering of Rawat and several thousand of his students in November 1973, coinciding with Shri Hans's birthday and called "Millennium '73". The event lost money for the organization, but Rawat expressed his satisfaction with it. After a press conference with Prem Rawat, one of the journalists expressed his dissatisfaction with Rawat's answers to questions. See also Millennium festival. Around the time of this festival the anti-cult movement had reached its peak, resulting in several deprogrammed ex-members becoming vocal critics of the mission5.

[edit] Changes in students outside India

According to a study performed by Jeanne Messer in 1976 the adherents of the Divine Light Mission underwent several psychological changes after they learned and began practicing the techniques of Knowledge, or inner peace, including experiencing benefits from meditation such as increased energy levels, an increased awareness of coincidences and a tendency to see them as divine interventions, as well as improvements in their marriage and work life. Professor Eileen Barker believes, without supplying proof, that the above mentioned changes can be generalized for conversion to other new religious movements.

In a study by Marc Galanter in 2002 about the healing effects of spiritual affiliation6, he found that social and spiritual recovery occurred naturally in certain groups. In the study, Galanter presents as an example the fact that members of the DLM experienced a reduction of symptoms of psychological distress after they joined the group.[citation needed]

In another study by Galanter, in cooperation with P Buckley, R and J Rabkin, on group influence for decreased drug use, it is presented that members of the DLM, many of whom had been involved in the counterculture of the early 1970s, reported incidence of drug use prior to joining which was much above that of a non-member comparison group. Reported levels were considerably lower after joining, and the decline was maintained over an average membership of 2 years.[citation needed]

In spite of the many references that he used to make to Hindu mythology and his former usage of Hindu terminology in his teachings, he used to say, and still says, that Knowledge is independent of and compatible with all religions. Even in the 1970s, his students came from many religious backgrounds and Rawat himself has often quoted Rumi (Iran) and other masters that were not of Indian origin. Rawat has been vigorously criticized by the magazine Hinduism Today for not being aligned with traditional Hindu beliefs.

James Downton, in a study of followers he performed during 1972 through 1976, writes that despite Maharaji's emphasis on giving up beliefs and concepts to experience Knowledge more fully, this did not prevent premies from adopting a rigid set of ideas about his divinity, but that by 1976, the majority of premies had abandoned their beliefs in their guru's divinity, viewing him primarily as a spiritual teacher and guide and started assuming much more responsibility for their spiritual growth. [18]

[edit] Evolution

As Rawat matured from boyhood to adulthood, he removed Indian connotations from his message[19]. In the early 1980s, he began to dismantle the remnants of Indian culture and adopted a more universal style that was independent of culture, religion and belief. The Denver DLM headquarters and the ashrams were closed. He asked to be referred to as “Maharaji” instead of “Guru Maharaj Ji.” Divine Light Mission, the organization founded by his father, had its named changed to Elan Vital. [20]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Colorado Secretary of State, Business Center.
  2. ^ Elan Vital FAQs - About Elan Vital, Inc. Available online (Retrieved May, 2006)
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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 his 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)
  5. ^ Aagaard, Johannes. Who Is Who In Guruism? (1980) "During the first 6 years of the new movement [DLM] its head was Shri Hans, the father of the young Maharaj Ji, who, at the age of 8 years, succeeded his father in 1966."
  6. ^ 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."
  7. ^ 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."
  8. ^ 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 of 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."
  9. ^ 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."
  10. ^ Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedia of American religions, (1978) p.370-1, McGrath Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7876-7702-7
    "As they bewailed their loss at his [Shri Hans Ji Maharaj] funeral, one of the four sons, then only eight-years old arose and addressed the crowd. [...] Thus Maharaj Ji proclaimed his lordship and established himself as the new head of his father's mission"
  11. ^ Cagan, A. Peace Is Possible, 2007, pp.200: "At the wedding, in keeping with Indian tradition, he gave his new wife a new name — Durga Ji, an Indian goddess seen as the embodiment of feminine and creative energy."
    A different interpretation by Thomson Gale in "Guru Maharaj Ji", Biography Resource Center, 2007: "Then in 1974, Maharaj married his 24-year-old secretary, whom he described as an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga."
  12. ^ a b "Guru Maharaj Ji", Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan., Thomson Gale. 2007.
    Then in 1974, Maharaj married his 24-year-old secretary, whom he described as an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga. 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.
  13. ^ 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 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"
  14. ^ 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."
  15. ^ 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 he 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"
  16. ^ Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen ("Eastern faith movements in the West") (Dutch language) ISBN 90-210-4965-1 page 64
    English translation "This prediction comes true very soon. In 1969 Maharaj ji sends the first disciple to the West. In the next year he holds a speech for an audience of thousands of people in Delhi. This speech is known as 'the peace bomb' and is the start of the great mission to the West." Dutch original "Deze voorspelling gaat al snel in vervulling. In 1969 stuurt Maharaj ji de eerste discipel naar het Westen. In het daaropvolgende jaar houdt hij een toespraak in Delhi voor een gehoor van duizenden mensen. Deze toespraak staat bekend als 'de 'vredesbom' en is het begin van de grote zending naar het Westen."
  17. ^ 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" page 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 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 (DLM) 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 regulation for ashram living, standards for recruited "candidates", and pressure toward certifying movements teachers. " (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) ”
  18. ^ Downton, James V. Jr. Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission" p.199. Columbia Press (1979) ISBN 0-231-04198-5
    "Although there were still residues of belief in his divinity, in 1976, the vast majority [of premies] viewed the guru primarily as their spiritual teacher, guide , and inspiration. [...] Having quit imputing great powers to Guru Maharaj Ji by the end of 1976, premies assumed much more responsibility for their own spiritual growth. [...]From the beginning Guru Maharaj Ji appealead to premies to give up their beliefs and concepts so that the might experience the Knowledge, or life force more fully[...] Yet Guru Maharaj Ji's emphasis on giving up beliefs and concepts, did not prevent premies from adopting a fairly rigid set of ideas about his divinity and the coming of a new age."
  19. ^ ^ 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."
  20. ^ Melton, Gordon, Encyclopedia of American Religions 7th edition. Thomson (2003) p.2328 ISBN 0-7876-7702-7
    "In the early 1980, 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 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.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Chryssides, George D. (2001). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, pp. 108-109. The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland and London, 2001. ISBN 0-8108-4095-2
  • Barker, E. (1989), New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London, HMSO
  • Galanter, Marc M. D. (2002) Alcohol & Drug Abuse: Healing Through Social and Spiritual Affiliation, Psychiatric Services 53:1072-1074, September 2002. American Psychiatric Association
  • Galanter M, Buckley P, Deutsch A, Rabkin R, Rabkin J (1980) Large group influence for decreased drug use: findings from two contemporary religious sects Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 1980;7(3-4):291-304.
  • 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 (The study is mainly based on the Dutch branch of the Divine Light Mission) ISBN 90-242-2341-5
  • 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
  • Melton, J. Gordon and Lewis, R. James.The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, & New Religions.
  • Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj: Eternal is He, Eternal is His Knowledge, Originally published by Divine Light Mission, (1970) India

[edit] External links

Related Topics on Prem Rawat (Maharaji)
Techniques of Knowledge | The Prem Rawat Foundation
Elan Vital | Hans Ji Maharaj
Divine Light Mission | Divine United Organization
Lord of the Universe (documentary)
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