NZ Skeptics Articles

The child god grows up: Prem Rawat and the Divine Light Mission, Part 2

Bronwyn Rideout - 5 August 2024

At the end of Part 1 of this article, I did gloss over a fair bit of Premie lore once the schism happened between Prem and his family, and that’s due to the absence of surviving or available objective sources.

I guess you can thank the current lawsuit that archive.org is embroiled in for that but, fortunately, Rick Ross and the Cult Education Institute can fill in at least some of the blanks.

The Millenium ‘73 celebration was a financial failure for the organisation, and a reputational one as well. Disregarding the more outlandish rumours about alien visitation, promising to bring about world peace was a big one to make in the US during the final years of the Vietnam War, and feels like an unforced error on behalf of the Divine Light Mission (DLM).

Prem’s decision to marry an older woman not only upset his family, but many followers as well. Ashrams around the world served as satellites for the organisation, and examples of spiritual living to other Premies. On the one hand, many had believed that the Lord of the Universe was above such worldly things, and those who chose the more monastic life of the ashrams felt betrayed by the marriage because their guru (like many before and after him) wasn’t following the path he dictated for them. On the other hand, those who were less upset still left the ashram to have families, but did not fully leave the DLM; despite the immediate drop in donations, this cohort may have been what has ultimately kept Prem afloat through the late 70s to now, as they were able to donate more disposable income.

Many Ex-Premies are, understandably, mad at their ex-guru, but their criticisms sometimes veer into the misogynistic and bewilderingly transphobic. It’s simply very difficult to get a good grip on what was happening with the Divine Light Mission. Was there a power struggle between the wealthier Western branches and the already wealthy Mata Ji and extended family? Is there truth in Prem’s claims that his family were only in it for the money, and never truly supported his divine status in private? It’s possibly all of the above.

The in-between years

After the 1975 lawsuit which split ownership of the DLM in two, Mata Ji declared Prem’s eldest brother as the satguru of the Indian side of the organisation. Satpal currently has a career in politics, and heads a spiritual organisation called Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti. Both Wikipedia and the Manav website mention his father, without mentioning the DLM, but there is a bit of rewriting of history regarding who Hans declared as his heir.

After parting ways with his family, Prem spent a few years trying to establish a new image for his branch of the DLM. One ex-President of the DLM from 1972-1977, Bob Mishler, claimed to have been at the forefront of this transitional period, and convinced Prem that the excessive acts of devotion and similar practices that were introduced by his family were no longer necessary. Mishler also claimed that at one point Prem allegedly considered resigning from godhood in 1976, and plans were made to use the money gifted to him to set up financial investments and become financially independent. However, Prem had gotten used to the good life, and did not want to make the same sacrifices as his followers.

While the Western branches were wealthier, they also carried a lot of debt from staff and ashrams. Prem reportedly vacillated on the issue of Ashrams, but the exact details of what happened are unclear. Some sources claimed that the system was shut down entirely in 1976, while others state it was around 1982/83. With Mishler gone by 1977, Prem briefly reintroduced elements of Indian spiritualism that the ex-President had done away with back into western DLM practice, including reconsidering reopening a small number of ashrams in 1979. This ebbed and flowed through to the late 70s and early 80s. Aside from Mishler, DLM shed several long term senior administrators and devotees, and Prem mainly stayed out of the media spotlight through to the mid 1980s.

However, interest in the DLM was rekindled in 1978/79 after the Jonestown Massacre, with Mishler commenting on the similarities between Jonestown and the DLM. However, Mishler was cagey as to why, merely stating that Prem experienced significant psychological deterioration. An ex-vice president, John Hand Jr, alleged that Prem had a stockpile of weapons (due to his interest in the Mafia) and was abusive to his followers.

After several years of spiritual renaissance, Prem announced in 1982/83 that all DLM media would be destroyed, all ashrams closed, and community activities ceased. Also permanently removed were any vestiges of the Indian garb and spiritual trappings. It is alleged that one of the reasons this was done was because of the liabilities entailed in housing and caring for a group of ageing hippies, being paid for from a decreasing pool of donations.

Throughout the 1980s, Rawat commercialised the organisation as Élan Vital. Instead of mahatmas teaching yoga and the knowledge, there were instead initiators or instructors who provided Knowledge Sessions. Prem also officially began to step away from his divinity, and claimed publicly that he wasn’t god. With the abolition of community activities like satsang, Premies could only gather at events or conferences where Prem was present, or simply watch his new videos. Moreover, it was at Prem’s orders in the late 1980’s that only himself and a chosen few could talk about the knowledge, further funnelling money directly into his pockets. Despite divesting his organisation of any cultural or spiritual trappings, it could not shake the cult label.

Prem purchased two properties in the 1990s to serve as international meeting places, one in Argentina and the Ivory Rock Conference Centre in Amaroo, Queensland. The Queensland property is the only one that remains in operation, and it was the subject of controversy in the early 2000s when a journalist found compromising financial information while fixing the centre’s computers.

What is Prem doing now

Élan Vital ceased operation in 2010, and was succeeded by Words of Peace International (now Words of Peace Global). Prem Rawat maintains a low fanfare touring schedule with his followers, and even has an event in Australia coming up in September 2024. Prem has somewhat gone the Sri Chinmoy route, and touts himself as an Ambassador of Peace. But, like his brother, he hides any connection to the DLM. Instead, his image is that of a precocious public speaker in his youth who is just spreading his father’s message.

Prem also founded the Prem Rawat Foundation, which is focused on worldwide humanitarian efforts - although its effectiveness and legitimacy are questioned by detractors.

The DLM, Prem, and New Zealand

Like any good guru, Prem has made multiple visits to New Zealand. Once in 1975, another that was profiled on NZ television in 1981, multiple times in the 1980s-2000s as part of Élan Vital, and also as part of Words of Peace. Prem has also spoken in the Parliament Building as part of the United Nations International Day of Peace, which you can watch here.

What do ex-members/survivors say?

For a time, The Lord of the Universe had a right hand man at Wikipedia. Jossi Fresco, a long-term Prem Rawat devotee, was also an administrator for Wikipedia, and maintained control over the Prem Rawat page and other related pages. Fresco was a prolific editor, and even published many of the rules and guidelines that directed the website at that time. Until Fresco left Wikipedia in 2009, he was diligent in keeping any cult allegations off the page.

However, now the pendulum has swung the other way - off Wikipedia at least.

Some of the websites I’ve found about Prem Rawat have a suspiciously similar look, re-using fonts and other stylistic elements, oftentimes sharing the same articles, and tending to have urls that are an explosion of hyphens - although this may just be their age.

If you search for Divine Light Mission or Prem Rawat, you may only come across one or two of them. The sites I’ve found so far are:

These websites serve as a vital, if limited, resource for DLM materials and articles. Some are stuck behind a paywall, while a majority were destroyed under Prem’s orders. It is interesting to see a collection of resources which demonstrate that there was always a high-level of pushback to this group, from even its earliest days before Jonestown. There seemingly was always someone ready to call out the failure of the ashram system and the hypocrisy of Prem Rawat.

Like the School of Economic Science, children and teens who grew up in the DLM are starting to share their own experiences now that they are grown up. Author Suzanne Joinson’s book, The Museum of Lost and Fragile Things: A Year of Salvage, now available for pre-sale, will explore her working-class childhood while her parents were members of the DLM in the 1980s.

However, and quite sadly, it shouldn’t surprise you that some children and teens who grew up in the DLM report being victims of sexual abuse. For quite a while, the most public accusations were against longtime associate Jagdeo, who used to run activities for children. However, as recently as January 2024, Prem has come under fire, as his youngest son Hans accused both parents. Currently, there is no evidence online that this is being pursued legally, and the accusation has only been documented by online, second-hand sources. This is not to discredit Hans Rawat, but to signify the difficulty in even verifying that the accusation has been made by the actual Hans Rawat.

Final thoughts…

While the DLM and Elan Vital are no longer an issue, Prem Rawat is still given the occasional platform in New Zealand. Embarrassingly, that attention has been given by individuals who maybe should have done their research before presenting him in the beehive as any sort of authority on peace. There has always been disdain thrown at Prem and the DLM by adults who made the mistake of choosing to follow the Lord of the Universe, but little is said publicly about the generation that grew up in the Premie centres and satsangs. Maybe they are easy to hide when celibacy was so strongly touted as fundamental to elevated spiritual practice.

And maybe Joinson’s book will instigate a revival of criticism and investigation into the DLM, and all the schemes that came after it.