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Guru Maharaj Ji, born Mohammed Ajirobatan Ibrahim on December 20, 1947, [1] is a Nigerian spiritual leader. He lives in Ibadan. [1] He has declared himself to be a Living Perfect Master, Guru Maharaj Ji, [1] and is also called the "Black Jesus". [2] He says that he has power over all illnesses and all problems affecting humanity. [1]
Maharaj Ji was born in Oyo State, Nigeria. He worked for Nigeria Airways and travelled between Africa and London. [3]
Maharaj Ji leads a communitarian group with various names, such as One Love Family; [2] the One Love Mission; [4] One Love, One Family; [5] and the Divine Love Family. [1] [6] The group has an ashram, "Satguru Maharaj Ji Village", [3] on a lonely stretch of the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway near Ibadan. [7] Its members are vegetarians [3] and wear badges as signs of their loyalty. [8]
In 1989, former members claimed that 200 bodies were buried around the ashram. Ji was arrested, but the charges were dropped when no bodies were found. [6] In 1999, the ashram was burned down by youths connected to the Iju Youths Progressive Union who were angered by the alleged killing of a Ghanaian man by devotees. [2] Ji was charged with the crime along with twelve of his disciples, and was kept in jail for several months. He was again acquitted in 2000. [3] [4] While incarcerated he received an average of 25 visitors a day. [9] The judge criticized the prosecution for its lack of diligence. [4] A state governor tried to shut down the ashram and acquire the property, but Ji was able to prove ownership in court. [6]
In 2000, he asserted that a visit by US President Bill Clinton to Nigeria was part of an American plan to open a military base in Nigeria and to take control of Africa. [10] In 2003, he said the re-election of Olusegun Obasanjo as president of Nigeria was part of a "Golden Change", for which he was responsible. [11] In 2004, he predicted that John Kerry would defeat George W. Bush. [12] The same year he held a press conference warning church leaders to use contributions in accordance with biblical principles, such as feeding the poor, or else they would face the wrath of God. [13] At a press conference in 2008, he expressed his support for Nuhu Ribadu as chair of Nigeria's anti-corruption Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying, "The fight against corruption must be seen as a genuine effort to stabilize Nigeria and give meaning to all". [14]
During the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Ji at a press conference said Nigerians must move away from religion and the "Holy Ghost syndrome" and embrace divine knowledge instead in order to win the fight against the pandemic. [15]
On December 21, 2022, he predicted that the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate will win the 2023 general election, saying, "he is from the South, and what Nigerians are clamoring for, is that the South must produce the next president.” [16]
Those who have sought spiritual guidance from him include Mohammed Abacha and Hamza al-Mustapha. [17]
Maharaj Ji disavows any connection to Prem Rawat, who also led a group called Divine Light Mission and was also known as the Perfect Master and Guru Maharaj Ji. [6]
Neem Karoli Baba or Neeb Karori Baba, also known to his followers as 'Maharaj-ji', was a Hindu guru and a devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman. He is known outside India for being the spiritual master of a number of Americans who travelled to India in the 1960s and 1970s, the most well-known being the spiritual teachers Ram Dass and Bhagavan Das, and the musicians Krishna Das and Jai Uttal.
Knowledge is a term used by Shri Hans Ji Maharaj to denote a formulation of four specific techniques that were imparted in a process of initiation. The term continues to be used by two of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj's sons, Satpal Rawat and Prem Rawat.
Prem Pal Singh Rawat, formerly known as Maharaji, is an Indian international speaker and author. His teachings include a meditation practice he calls "Knowledge", and peace education based on the discovery of personal resources such as inner strength, choice, appreciation and hope.
Hans Rām Singh Rawat, called Shrī Hans Jī Mahārāj and by various other honorifics, was an Indian religious leader.
Kirpal Singh was a spiritual master (satguru) in the tradition of Radha Soami.
The Divine Light Mission was an organization founded in 1960 by guru Hans Ji Maharaj for his following in northern India. During the 1970s, the DLM gained prominence in the West under the leadership of his fourth and youngest son. Some scholars noted the influence of the Bhagavad Gita and the Radha Soami tradition, a.k.a. Sant Mat movement, but the western movement was widely seen as a new religious movement, a cult, a charismatic religious sect or an alternative religion. DLM officials said the movement represented a church rather than a religion.
Contemporary Sant Mat Movements, mostly among the Radha Soami tradition, are esoteric philosophy movements active in the United States, Europe, Australia, Latin America, and especially India. These movements assert that Sant Mat shares a lineage with Sikhism and contains elements of thought found in Hinduism, such as karma and reincarnation. They further assert that Sant Mat also contains elements found in Sufism and has inspired and influenced a number of religious groups and organizations. They refer to this spiritual path as the "Science of the Soul" or 'Sant Mat', meaning 'teachings of the saints'. More recently it has been described as "The Way of Life" or "Living the Life of Soul". It incorporates a practical yoga system known as Surat Shabd Yoga.
Surat Shabd Simran is a type of spiritual meditation in the Sant Mat tradition.
The core of Prem Rawat's teaching is that the individual’s need for fulfillment can be satisfied by turning within to contact a constant source of peace and joy. Rather than a body of dogma, he emphasizes a direct experience of transcendence, which he claims is accessible through the four techniques of meditation which he teaches. He calls these techniques "Knowledge" and says that Knowledge will take "all your senses that have been going outside all your life, turn them around and put them inside to feel and to actually experience you."
Sant Nirankari Mission is a spiritual organisation based in Delhi, India. It was founded in 1929 by Buta Singh. Mata Sudiksha, the daughter of Satguru Baba Hardev Singh, is the sixth spiritual head of the Mission since 17 July 2018.
Elan Vital is the name shared by several organizations that support the work of Prem Rawat, a spiritual leader also known by the title "Maharaji". Independent Elan Vital organizations in several countries raise funds, organize speaking engagements by Prem Rawat and in some cases broadcast his public addresses.
Born Shri Beli Ram Ji, Shri Swami Swarupanand Ji Maharaj, was an Indian Guru of Shri Paramhans Advait Mat lineage. He is also known as "Shri Nangli Niwasi Bhagwaan Ji", as "Hari Har Baba", as "Sadhgurudev Ji" and as "Second Guru". Born in the village of Teri in Kohat district, India, he was initiated into the sanyasas in the early 1900s in Teri by Shri Paramhans Swami Advaitanand Ji, who named him Shri Swami Swarupanand Ji. During Swami Advaitanand ji's life, Swami Swarupanand ji created an order of sanyasis in northern India and founded several centers with the purpose of disseminating his master's teachings.
Abubakar Dangiwa Umar was governor of Kaduna state in Nigeria from August 1985 to June 1988 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida. After retiring from the army in 1993, he became a social critic and the founder of Movement for Unity and Progress, a political party.
This list is of topics related to Prem Rawat (Maharaji).
Ajaib Singh, also known to his disciples as 'Sant Ji' was born on September 11, 1926, in Maina (Mehna), Bhatinda district, Punjab, India.
Who is Guru Maharaj Ji?, published in 1973 by Bantam Books is a non-fiction book about Guru Maharaj Ji, now known as Prem Rawat. Edited by Charles Cameron, the book claims to be an "authentic authorized story", and was written when Maharaj Ji was aged 15. The initial printing was of 125,000 copies. A Spanish-language edition was also published in 1975, as Quién es Guru Maharaj Ji.
Millennium '73 was a three-day festival held on November 8–10, 1973 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, United States, by the Divine Light Mission (DLM). It featured Prem Rawat, then known as Guru Maharaj Ji, a 15-year-old guru and the leader of a fast-growing new religious movement. Organizers billed the festival as the most significant event in human history which would usher in a thousand years of peace.
Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj was a yogi who claimed to have attained self-realization through twelve years of arduous tapas, meditating in samādhi for an average of twenty hours a day.
Bibliography of Prem Rawat and related organizations lists bibliographical material regarding Prem Rawat and organizations like Divine Light Mission, Elan Vital and the Prem Rawat Foundation.
Ram Charan (1720–1799)) is the Rajasthani Hindu guru, inspirator of a religious tradition called Ramsnehi Sampradaya or Ramdwara. He initiated and illustrated Nirguna (absolute) Bhakti, although he was not against Saguna Bhakti. He initiated and tried to eliminate "show", blind faith, hypocrisy and misled existing in the Hindu religion and preferred to worship the 'name of God', Rama, over God, to not get involved in false "show" activities.
