Outline of Prem Rawat

Last updated

This list is of topics related to Prem Rawat (Maharaji).

Contents

Organizations

Practices

Family

Notable students, past and present

Books

Scholarly analysts

Students of Prem Rawat
Others

Media

Interviewers

Biographers

Multimedia

Photographs

Audio

Related Research Articles

Mahātmā is an honorific used in India.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prem Rawat</span> Spiritual leader (born 1957)

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.

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.

Ron Geaves is a British scholar of religious studies who was professor of the comparative study of religion at Liverpool Hope University in England, retiring in December 2013. He was formerly Programme Leader and Chair in religious studies at the University of Chester in England (2001-2007) and Head of Department at the University of Chichester (1999-2001). He was chair of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (2007-2010) and instrumental in the creation of BRAIS, remaining on their advisory board.

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.

Maharaj Ji, Maharaji, or similar, may refer to:

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radha Soami</span> Religious faith related to Sikhism and Hinduism

Radha Soami is a spiritual tradition or faith founded by Shiv Dayal Singh in 1861 on Basant Panchami Day in Agra, India.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swami Swarupanand</span>

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 village Teri in Kohat district, India, the young Beli Ram Ji 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.

Sant Mat was a spiritual movement on the Indian subcontinent during the 13th–17th centuries CE. The name literally means "teachings of sants", i.e. mystic Hindu saints. Through association and seeking truth by following sants and their teachings, a movement was formed. Theologically, the teachings are distinguished by inward, loving devotion by the individual soul (atma) to the Divine Principal God (Parmatma). Socially, its egalitarianism distinguishes it from the caste system, and from Hindus and Muslims. Sant Mat is not to be confused with the 19th-century Radha Soami, also known as contemporary "Sant Mat movement".

<i>Lord of the Universe</i> 1974 film by Michael Shamberg

Lord of the Universe is a 1974 American documentary film about Prem Rawat at an event in November 1973 at the Houston Astrodome called "Millennium '73". Lord of the Universe was first broadcast on PBS on February 2, 1974, and released in VHS format on November 1, 1991. The documentary chronicles Maharaj Ji, his followers and anti-Vietnam War activist Rennie Davis who was a spokesperson of the Divine Light Mission at the time. A counterpoint is presented by Davis' Chicago Seven co-defendant Abbie Hoffman, who appears as a commentator. It includes interviews with several individuals, including followers, ex-followers, a mahatma, a born-again Christian, and a follower of Hare Krishna.

<i>Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?</i>

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.

<i>Sacred Journeys</i>

Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Divine Light Mission is a sociological book about the adherents of the Divine Light Mission in the 1970s. In the work, author James V. Downton, Jr. analyzes a sample group of young Americans, and their conversion process to the ideals of the Divine Light Mission and their relationship with Guru Maharaj Ji, currently known as Prem Rawat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millennium '73</span>

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satpal Maharaj</span> Indian politician

Satpal Maharaj is an Indian spiritual guru turned politician. He is a national executive member of the BJP. Currently, he serves as the tourism, cultural, and irrigation minister in the cabinet of the Government of Uttarakhand. He is the founder of Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guru Maharaj Ji (Nigeria)</span> Nigerian religious leader

Guru Maharaj Ji, born Mohammed Ajirobatan Ibrahim, is a Nigerian spiritual leader. He lives in Ibadan. He has declared himself to be a Living Perfect Master, Guru Maharaj Ji, and is also called the "Black Jesus". He says that he has power over all illnesses and all problems affecting humanity.

References

  1. "The Mail man, the Maharaji and the exploding love-bomb: Francis Wheen on: Divine intervention at the Daily Mail." Francis Wheen, The Guardian London, England, July 14, 1999
  2. du Plessix Gray, Francine, Blissing Out In Houston, New York Review of Books, December 13, 1973