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In the late 1960's American Counterculture dropouts went to India seeking a guru to
follow
8
. During their trip to India the Americans became associated with Maharaj Ji's
movement and received the "Knowledge." The Americans soon returned home as his followers
and in 1971 invited him to the United States
9
. At the age of thirteen Maharaj Ji spoke in the mountains of Colorado, thereby
starting the Divine Light Mission movement in the United States. By 1972 the movement
had spread across the country and followers were going to India to "acquaint themselves
with the movement there"
10
. The American Divine Light Mission movement eventually grew so large that the
international headquarters were placed in Denver, Colorado.
As the movement grew worldwide, the premies (followers of Maharaj Ji) began to believe
that the day would soon come that the "masses would join them in their mission of peace"
11
. However, the Divine Light Mission never acquired the following of the masses they
sought. In fact, the public attitude towards the guru was often one of hostility. A
1973 festival called Millennium 1973 was supposed to fill the Houston Astrodome with
followers, spread the word of the beginning of 1000 years of world peace, celebrate the
birthday of Maharaj Ji's father, and place Guru Maharaj Ji in a good light with the news
media
12
. The Astrodome was not filled and the news media were further angered by Maharaj Ji
when he answered their questions in a "flippant and arrogant way"
13
. After the failure of the Millennium 1973 event the DLM owed more than $600,000
14
. When funding of other DLM programs was cut, some disillusioned premies started to
leave the following
15
.
Further turmoil was experienced within the DLM when Guru Maharaj Ji married the premie
Marolyn Johnson. His marriage to Marolyn Johnson, who he renamed "Durga Ji" "(the Name
of an Indian Goddess)" broke the already strained relationship he had with his mother.
DLM/EV History: 1974
Much of the DLM organization was restructured after the break of his family ties.
Many of the "Indian mahatmas (teachers of the Knowledge) were fired or went back to
India with Maharaji's mother because they did not understand the changes"
16
. Some premies also left the movement after the family break up, though most stayed.
The number of DLM programs were also reduced after the family split.
The weakening of the DLM's eastern influence, led many premies to change their view of
Guru Maharaj Ji
17
. The premies started refering to Maharaj Ji as a "humanitarian leader" instead of
"Lord of the Universe"
18
. (A discussion with an ex-president of the DLM, Bob Mishler, about the changes can be
found here
Mishler Interview
) Many ashrams closed at this time, and some premies started leaving the organization.
When the premies started to leave so did the money, so in late 1976 Maharaj Ji reverted
back to the DLM's traditional ways. The reversion back to old customs did bring some
premies back, but not all of them
19
.
The years 1977 and 1978 saw Maharaj Ji's programs get more and more elaborate; more
elaborate costumes and dances became part of the programs. The renewed surge of energy
from the new programs brought even more old premies back, in fact many of the closed
ashrams re-opened
20
. With the renewed growth of the DLM came the movement of its headquarters, in 1979,
from Denver, Colorado to Miami, Florida.
While Maharaj Ji continued giving elaborate stage programs more money was always
needed. In 1983 the ashrams were ordered to be closed by Maharaj Ji. The closing of
the ashrams devastated the premies
DLM/EV History: 1980 - 1983
. Soon after the ashrams closed, most of those employed by the DLM were fired and the
DLM became a charitable group known as Elan Vital
DLM/EV History: After 1983
. Elan Vital was established "to make available the teachings of Maharaj Ji"
21
. The Maharaj Ji's touring was kept to a minimum, and Knowledge was given to very
few people.
"Propagation activities restarted" in 1984 and 1985, "with halls being rented for
satsang"
22
. The Maharaj Ji then re-established the instructor role into Elan Vital. Instructors
were to teach Knowledge to new followers. (A copy of the
Instructor's Manual
on the ex-premie web site.) The instructors were the only ones besides the Maharaj
Ji who could spread the knowledge
23
. After several years Maharaj Ji decided that only he could spread Knowledge, and so
he increased the number of speeches he made every year. The Maharaj Ji also started
making video tapes, audio tapes, and information packets to spread his ideas
24
. During this time period the Maharaj Ji changed his name from, the Indian sounding,
Guru Maharaj Ji to Maharaji.
At present Maharaji still gives programs on Knowledge and distributes videos, and other
media around the world. The group dropped "its original Eastern religious practices"
25
. According to Barret "there is no connection between what he [Maharaji] teaches and
the religions or religious background of that country [India]."
26
. Instead the "Maharaji only encourages people to experience the present reality of
life now"
27
. Elan Vital has set up non-profit organizations in countries around the world.
"Maharaji is still married to Marolyn Johnson and has four children"
28
.
It is important to understand some terms before Knowledge is discussed in length. The
following terms are described as they are defined in Downton's book
Sacred Journeys
. "
Knowledge
" is the primordial energy, or the source of life. "
Satsang
" literally means "the company of truth." Satsang is spiritual discourse about
Knowledge. An "
ashram
" is a monastic living arrangement for those who want to seriously dedicate themselves
to spiritual devotion and practice. "
Mahatma
" means "great soul" in Hindi. "
Premie
" literally means "lover of God" and is a term applied to members of the Divine Light
Mission. A "
devotee
" is one who has surrendered to a guru and to the inner spiritual experience he or she
is thought to represent.
31
Knowledge, or the primortial energy as Downton describes it, is obtained through four
forms of meditation. The four techniques, or
kriyas
, originate from "surat shabda yoga (the yoga of the sound current)"
32
. The meditation techniques were taught to Maharaji by his father Shri Hans Ji
Maharaj. Shri Hans Ji Maharaj learned them from a guru "in the Sant Mat tradition, who
is identified only as Dada Guru"
33
. These forms of meditation used to be taught by many people in the DLM but are now only
taught by Maharaji.
The four steps of meditation
34
:
The four different meditation techniques should all be done for roughly the same amount
of time.
Many of the practitioners of Knowledge meditation techniques "report a remarkable
transformation of consciousness"
35
. According to Messer's information on the meditation "the first obvious change is the
discovery that meditation is a source of [physical] energy"
36
. The second change starts when "one begins to feel that events in one's life are
being arranged for the sole purpose of getting one's attention;" the meditater feels as
though they are motivated by "external and internal worlds working together" to take
certain actions in their lives
37
. Meditaters start having an "increasing awareness that reality is not quite the way
it looks, and that it is arranged to look the way it does for the one who sees it"
38
. Knowledge may be seen, through this description, as a very personal/individual
experience. Though some of the experiences are similar, there is not a predetermined
experience all meditaters will have. (
39
)
When the first two forms of meditation are learned, instructors will walk around the
group to make sure that they are being done as Maharaji showed. If they are not being
done correctly they will be shown once again how to do them correctly. During the
third and fourth meditations the instructors stay in the room and just make sure nothing
goes wrong. Maharaji usually repeats the meditation tutorial several times to make sure
that they are being done correctly. Maharaji states not to expect anything spectacular,
and that the major goal of the meditation is to focus on the inside
40
.
The meditation techniques are used so that the person practicing them may have an
inner experience, during which time the life force may be revealed to them
41
. The philosophy of the meditation is one of the individual experience; "'That which
is already within us. The process of reaching it is one of learning to experience what
is already there. It is one the individual has to perform for him- or hersef, with the
guidance of the teacher'"
42
. The focus of Knowledge is on the individual experience, or the "god within you, or
the divinity within, as the power that gives existence"
43
. (
44
)
Counter cultists have also raised questions as to what the mind set of DLM followers
was and is after they have received Knowledge. According to Barret the DLM "was
sometimes criticized for [the] stressing of emotional experience over intellect"
50
. An ex-premie known as T.D. on the ex-premie web page (see
Journeys
) questions why he always felt as though he was "at war with my mind as a premie," and
why he felt as though he was "on the verge of going crazy."
51
. T.D. goes on to say that he felt more fragile after receiving knowledge: "It seemed
to me the world outside of Knowledge was becoming much, much darker, and I became more
reliant on seeing videos, listening to Maharaji and practicing Knowledge to make me feel
good"
52
. Another ex-premie, Helen Clark, states that the "notion of Mind and Soul being at
odds with one another creates enormous inner conflict," and may lead to the "feeling of
going insane"
53
. Clark also states that she "had to cut off an important part of myself -- the brain --in order to be a 'good devotee' or to be accepted by the premie group"
54
. Clark states, and others agree, that "the single most destructive thing... about my
premie experience was this idea that critical thinking or intellectualism was being in
'your mind,' when you were supposed to be within your spirit"
55
.
Around the time of Millenium 73 the anti-cult movement "reached national proportions,"
with "several deprogrammed ex-members bec[oming] vocal critics of the mission"
56
. Jim Ardmore left the DLM after being deprogrammed by Ted Patrick. (For information
on deprogrammming please go
here
.) After being deprogrammed Jim states, "'I had to work on learning to think again.
Whenever I would try to think. I'd start meditating'"
57
. James Lewis reports that "a number of ex-members became critics of the movement,
attacking it with charges of brainwashing and mind control"
58
. Lewis recalls that "Maharaj Ji himself was described by anticultists as immature
and unfit to be a religious leader, and his teachings were condemned as lacking
substance"
59
.
Some ex-premies question the fact that Elan Vital seemed to do very little in terms of
philanthropic work. T.D. asks, "Why was no philanthropic or humanitarian work advocated
by Maharaji," and he goes on to say that the "lack of service for people outside of EV
always plagued me"
60
. Like T.D., Helen Clark goes on to say, "the whole movement was (I don't know if it
still is) totally devoid of any kind of philosophy toward helping the less advantaged or
the poor. The whole focus now seems to me to be incredibly narcissistic"
61
. Other ex-premies feel the same way as T.D. and Helen Clark, that Elan Vital should,
but has not done anything to benefit the community around them.
Since the Divine Light Mission first began many premies have left the organization.
Some of these people feel as though they were manipulated while they were part of the
DLM, others do not feel this way at all. With the decreased number of DLM/ EV followers
came a decrease in the amount of public counter-movements against the DLM/ EV. Today
there is much less counter-DLM/ EV publicity than there was in the past, and when it is
found it is often coming from ex-members of the organization.
Enjoyinglife.com-following
Ex-Premie.org
Geocities.com-Contact
Counter Cult Literature
1
Melton, J. Gordon.
Religious Leaders of America
, pg285
Created by
Eugene M. Elliott, III
II. History
The Divine Light Mission was founded in the 1920's by Indian born Shri Hans Maharaj
Ji 2. According to Melton, "The DLM is derived from Sant Mat (literally, the way of the saints), a variation of the Sikh religion which draws significant elements from
Hinduism"
3
. *(For more information on Hinduism click
here
.) Shri Hans Maharaj Ji was initiated into the Sant Mat tradition by Sarupanand Ji,
and took over his following at Sarupanand Ji's death
4
. After establishing an informal mission in Dehli Shri Hans Maharaj Ji's following
grew steadily
5
. Six years after founding the mission Shri Hans Maharaj Ji died
6
. Before Shri Han Ji Maharaj's death "Knowledge" was passed to all of his sons.
After Shri Han Ji Maharaj's death his youngest son, Guru Maharaj Ji, took over his
father's position as spiritual leader of the Divine Light Mission at the youthful age of
eight
7
. Guru Maharaj Ji would call himself "the perfect master" and continue the Divine
Light Mission that his father started.
III. Knowledge/Beliefs
IV. Issues and Controversies
Like many new religious movements the Divine Light Mission/ Elan Vital has received
its fair share of counter cultist publicity. In the early Seventies the "public
attitudes were far from sympathetic" towards the Divine Light Mission
45
. Downton states what the media reaction to the DLM was often like: "Reports in the
media were unfavorable, repeating often that he [Maharaj Ji] seemed to live more like a
king than a Messiah"
46
. David V. Barrett goes onto say, "The Divine Light movement used to be criticized
for the devotion given to Maharaji, who was seen to live a life of luxury on the
donations of his followers"
47
. Some ex-premies state that they too believe that some of Maharaj Ji's motives may
be financial; on the ex-premie page the
floor plan
of the Maharaj Ji's home can be found with the statement "We offer it [the floor
plan] here so that those still finding it in their hearts (if not their wallets) to
contribute their hard-earned money to Maharaji can see what they've bought. Enjoy it,
people. You paid for it"
48
. One ex-premie known as AJW, who's story was published on ex-Premies
Journeys
web page, says that she "noticed the constant, unrelenting drive for more funds," and
the insatiable need for finance."
49
.
V. Links
Maharaji.org
This is the official site of Maharaji. The preface of this site states Maharaji's
ideas on Knowledge and himself. The Journey section gives the history of Maharaji as
told by Maharaji. The site includes quotes by Maharaji, and his views on topics such as
life, time, hope, and courage. The masters section of the web site gives a traceable
history of Knowledge and its masters. The Facts section addresses Maharaji's personal
life and background. Finally there is an Update section that gives updates on
Maharaji's teachings, travels, and statistics of his following.
http://www.maharaji.org
Web page containing current information on Maharaji's following. Maintained by
current followers, it provides personal stories of Mahraji's current followers. Has a
section for followers to write and tell why they are glad to be alive. The site also
has monthly updates about what is going on with Maharaji's followers around the world.
http://www.enjoyinglife.org/ENJOYLIFE/knowledge.nsf
This site is maintained by ex-followers of the Maharaji. Some of the information is
opinionated, but it does gives a great deal of information about the DLM/ EV. The site
provides personal accounts about life within the DLM/ EV. A forum for premies and ex-
premies to communicate is also provided. An extensive history of DLM/ EV is provided.
Information about Maharaji's family can be found here. The steps to devotion are
discussed extensively on the site. The site also publishes some of the Maharaji's past
and present speaches, guidelines, and quotes. The site also provides links to other
related sites.
http://ex-premie.org
This site calls itself "The only genuine contact service for all people who have ever
been followers of Maharaji."And states "If you know who Maharaji is, then this site is
for you. Use it to get in contact with those oldfriends of yesteryear because the
chances are, they will get to read this site too. This message contact service will not
draw any distinction between anyone's beliefs oropinions about Maharaji."
http://www.geocites.com/Athens/Ithaca/8154
VI. Bibliography
Footnotes
2
Melton, J. Gordon.
Encyclopedia of American Religions:5th Edition
, pg890-891
3
Melton, J. Gordon.
Encyclopedia Handbook of Cults in America
, Pg143
4
Ibid., pg141
5
Ibid., pg141
6
Ibid., pg141
7
Melton.
EoAR:5E
, pg890
8
Downton, James V., Jr.
Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to the Divine Light Mission
, pg3
9
Ibid., pg3
10
Ibid., pg4
11
Ibid., pg5
12
Melton.
EHoCiA
, pg142
13
Downton.
SJ
, pg189
14
Ibid., pg189
15
Ibid., pg6
16
"Maharaji is married, the "Holy Family" breaks up"
DLM/EV History: 1974
.
http://ex-premie.org/pages/bkgrnd5.htm
17
Downton.
SJ
, pg193
18
Ibid., pg193
19
"Re-dedication: The Devotional Period"
DLM/EV History: 1977
.
http://ex-premie.org/pages/bkgrnd7.htm
20
"The Demand for Devotion Continues"
DLM/EV History: 1977-1978
.
http://ex-premie.org/pages/bkgrnd8.htm
21
Melton.
EoAR:5E
, pg890)
22
"Disbanding DLM, and the emergence of Elan Vital"
DLM/EV History: After 1983
.
http://ex-premie.org/pages/bkgrnd11.htm
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid.
25
Barrett, David V.
Sects, "Cults" and Alternative Religions
, pg135
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.
28
"Maharaji's organization today"
DLM/EV History
.
http://ex-premie.org/pages/bkgrnd12.htm
29
Barrett, pg136
30
http://www.maharaji.org
31
Downton.
SJ
pg2
32
Melton.
EoAR:5E
, pg890
33
Ibid.
34
*Note the names of the four techniques were obtained from
New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction
by Eileen Barker, and the basic techniques come from
www.ex-premie.org
.
35
Messer, Jeane. "Guru Maharaj Ji and the Devine Light Mission," in
The New Religious Movements
, pg55
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid., pg56
38
Ibid., pg56
39
The information on these techniques was found on the
Ex-Premie Page
.
40
"Step 5: The Knowledge Session"
The Aspirant Process: Step 5
.
http://www.ex-
premie.org/pages/aspir5.htm
41
Downton.
SJ
, pg3
42
Barrett, pg135
43
Ibid.
44
Some of Maharaji's personal statements on Knowledge and related topics can be found
under
Preface
on the Maharaji's own web page-
www.maharaji.org
.
45
Downton.
SJ
, pg5
46
Ibid.
47
Barrett. pg135
48
"A Peek Behind The Walls"
Malibu Residence
.
http://ex-premie.org/pages/malibu.htm
49
"Journeys Entry: A. J. W."
http://www.ex-
premie.org/pages/journs/j_ajw.htm
50
Barrett, pg136
51
"Journeys Entry: T.D."
http://www.ex-
premie.org/pages/journs/j_td.htm
52
Ibid.
53
"Journeys Entry: Helen Clark"
http://www.ex-
premie.org/pages/journs/clark.htm
54
Ibid.
55
Ibid.
56
Melton.
EHoC
pg142
57
Enroth, pg146
58
Lewis, James R.
The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, & New Religions
, pg210
59
Ibid.
60
"Journeys Entry: T.D."
http://www.ex-
premie.org/pages/journs/j_td.htm
61
"Journeys Entry: Helen Clark"
http://www.ex-
premie.org/pages/journs/clark.htm
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
Spring Term, 1999
Last modified: 11/27/01