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Knowledge is a term used by Shri Hans Ji Maharaj (Hans Rawat) to denote a formulation of four specific techniques that were imparted in a process of initiation. [1] [2] The term continues to be used by two of Shri Hans Ji Maharaj's sons, Satpal Rawat and Prem Rawat. [3] [4] [5]
These techniques have some similarities to techniques in Sant Mat derived movements and may be derived from Surat Shabd Yoga. [6] Additionally, Kranenborg writes that the techniques of Knowledge originated from the Surat Shabda Yoga or Sant Mat, the Path of the Sound Current, and that some of the techniques are related to the 'japa-' or mantra-yoga which are similar to some techniques of Transcendental meditation and the Hare Krishnas. [7]
The website "Maharaji.org" (1999) included the traceable story of "Masters" that, according to Prem Rawat, referred to the techniques of Knowledge since 1780, including Totapuri, Anandpuri Ji, Dayal Ji, Swarupanand Ji, and his father Hans Ji Maharaj. [8]
According to the Dutch religious scholar and Christian minister Reender Kranenborg and the American religious scholar J. Gordon Melton, these techniques are secret and were originally called "Light", "Sound", "Name" or "Word" and "Nectar" but Prem Rawat now refers to them as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th techniques. [7] [9] [10] Prem Rawat asks practitioners to promise "not to reveal these techniques to anyone", but says to "let other people go through their own journey... [so] they, too, can have the techniques when they are ready." [11]
Kranenborg and Melton provide differing details of them in their writings but agree on a general description of the practices, referring for some of those, to tantric practices or sabda-brahman meditation. [7] [10] Another description including the details of the four techniques of knowledge is provided by Dr. Daniel Kriegman who describes the process for receiving Knowledge utilized by the Divine Light Mission in the early 1970s. [12] Michael Drury, describes these techniques as helping the practitioner to develop "a deep and spiritual self-knowledge." [13]
Jeffrey K. Hadden cites Prem Rawat in saying that "Knowledge is a way to be able to 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... What you are looking for is inside of you." [3]
Glen Whitaker, former national organizer of Elan Vital in the UK, said "That which we seek is already within us. The process of reaching it is one of learning to experience what is already there. It is one the individual needs to perform for him — or herself, with the guidance and help of the teacher". [6]
According to George D. Chryssides, this Knowledge was based on self-understanding, providing the practitioner with calmness, peace, and contentment, as the inner-self is identical with the divine, and that Prem Rawat emphasizes that Knowledge is universal, not Indian, in nature. [14]
According to Stephen J. Hunt "the major focus of Prem Rawat is on stillness, peace, and contentment within the individual, and his 'Knowledge' consists of the techniques to obtain them. Knowledge, roughly translated, means the happiness of the true self-understanding. Each individual should seek to comprehend his or her true self. In turn, this brings a sense of well-being, joy, and harmony as one comes in contact with one's "own nature." The process of reaching the true self within can only be achieved by the individual, but with the guidance and help of a teacher. Hence, the movement seems to embrace aspects of world-rejection and world-affirmation. The tens of thousands of followers in the West do not see themselves as members of a religion, but the adherents of a system of teachings that extol the goal of enjoying life to the full." [15]
The experience of Knowledge is described by practitioners as internal and highly individual. The techniques are to be practised privately, with no social structure or hierarchy related to their practice. According to students, there is no liturgy or social obligation involved, but Prem Rawat instructs them to practise the techniques daily for at least one hour to fully benefit from them. They also say that the techniques are universally applicable and their practice has no impact on or relationship to a student's gender, race, sexual orientation, economic status or national origin. Elan Vital, the organization that succeeded the Divine Light Mission, also states that practice of Knowledge will not affect a person's religion. [16]
In his early days in the West, Prem Rawat or his instructors (called Mahatmas in India) conducted these sessions face-to-face with small groups.
Wim Haan, a student of theology who belonged to a critical movement within the Roman Catholic Church, wrote that receiving Knowledge involved a formal initiation that the aspirant had to keep secret and that he believed that the reason for the secrecy was a direct connection between the techniques, the initiation and the need to live a life of devotion to Rawat. Haan, who did not receive the techniques of Knowledge, also wrote that the fact that other groups may also use the same techniques would probably not help to increase the interest in them. Haan wrote this article based on observations of the Dutch branch of the defunct DLM between 1980 and 1981. [17]
Mahātmā is an honorific used in India.
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.
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:
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."
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.
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.
This list is of topics related to Prem Rawat (Maharaji).
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.
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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.
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.
Shivarudra Balayogi Maharaj, born Srinivas (Seenu) Dikshitar in Kolar in the South Indian state of Karnataka, is a self realised Yogi and a direct disciple of Shivabalayogi.
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