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The Divine Light Mission (DLM) was a spiritual organisation founded by Shri Hans Ji Maharaj in 1960 to further his work in northern India. When Shri Maharaji died in 1966, he was succeeded as guru by his fourth son, Prem Rawat (also known as Sant Ji and Balyogeshwar at the time, and later as Guru Maharaj Ji, then Maharaji).

Under Rawat, the Mission expanded to the West and grew rapidly. In 1974, disagreements with his mother and two of his brothers led to a lawsuit in India over control of the Mission. As a result, Rawat's brother Satpal was given control of the DLM in India, while Rawat remained the leader in the rest of the world.

The DLM in the US changed its name to Elan Vital in 1983, by filing an entity name change. According to the Encyclopedia of American Religions, the mission was disbanded Prem Rawat personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion, to make his teachings independent of culture, beliefs and lifestyles.

Founding and early years in India

Shri Hans Maharaj Ji, initiated by the Sant Mat guru Sapuranand Ji, began teaching in the Sind and Lahore provinces of India in the 1930s. He began initiating Mahatmas, followers who could themselves initiate devotees, in 1950 and formed a magazine called "Hansadesh."

By 1960, to organize followers found across Northern India, he founded the Divine Light Mission (Divya Sandesh Parishad in Hindi) in the city of Patna. By the time of the guru's death on July 19, 1966, the Divine Light Mission had six million followers in India.

Succession

Prem Rawat was accepted as his father's successor in 1966, though effective control of DLM was shared by the whole family as Rawat was only 8 years old at the time. In the early 1970s, his family told American reporters that Shri Hans was travelling at the time of his death, but had written a letter home essentially naming Prem as his successor. Shri Hans' personal driver, who was a witness, confirms that Shri Hans publicly requested that Rawat would continue his work, but that some disregarded this request. During the customary 12 days of mourning, discussions were held about the succession. This culminated in Prem Rawat addressing the crowd and being accepted by them as their teacher.

Following the DLM's leadership split in 1974, Satpal claimed that his father, Hans Ji Maharaj, had "bequeathed his mission and unfinished work" to Satpal, not to Prem, and so he, and not Prem, is the sole legitimate heir of their father's guru lineage. Scholars that have written about the succession report the contrary, and it is clear that Satpal and the rest of the family accepted and supported Prem's declaration of succession for eight years.

International expansion

Under Prem Rawat, the movement expanded rapidly. Rawat, then known as Guru Maharaji Ji, travelled to the West in 1971 and a DLM was established in the US and the UK. In the US, the DLM was registered as a non-profit corporation, and in 1974 was recognized as a church by the United States Internal Revenue Service under section 501(c)(3).

By 1972 DLM was operating in North and South America, Europe and Australia. Tens of thousands of people had been initiated (become premies) and several hundred centers and dozens of ashrams formed.

In November 1973, the DLM booked the Houston Astrodome for "Millennium '73," a three-day gathering of Rawat and several thousand of his students, coinciding with Shri Hans' birthday. The event lost money for the organization but Rawat expressed his satisfaction with it.

Split in leadership

In 1974 tension between Rawat and his mother and two of his brothers grew into a permanent rift after he became a legally emancipated minor and married an American follower 8 years his senior. A lawsuit in India resulted in his brother Satpal gaining control of the Divine Light Mission in India, and Rawat continuing to lead in the rest of the world.

From this point Rawat and his teachings became more Western. He removed the Indian connotations from his message and adopted a more universal style that was independent of culture, religion and belief. The ashrams were closed, as were the Denver headquarters, and the organisation's name was changed to Elan Vital. Prem Rawat asked to be referred to as "Maharaji" instead of "Guru Maharaj Ji." He continues to write, lecture, and tour actively.

Satpal, now known as Shri Satpal Ji Maharaj, continues to teach "Manav Dharam" ("the "Dharam of Mankind.") He is also a politician in India, and founded Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti which he describes as an "an all-India registered voluntary social welfare and charitable organization", that is also "making freely available the spiritual Knowledge which is the essence of all religions."

Beliefs and practices

According to some scholars, Shri Hans was influenced by both the Sant tradition and the Bhagavad Gita. Reinhart Hummel wrote that from the former came the reduction of Hinduism to the inner realization of the divine and the veneration of the guru, and from the latter the emphasis on the practical life. Hummel described the DLM as not having a systematically developed doctrine, either during Hans' time or Prem Rawat's time. Hummel also asserted that the influence of the North Indian Sant tradition was dominant in Hans' eclectic thinking, and that from the Sant tradition also came the rejection of outward rituals and ceremonies; the rejection of asceticism in favor of life as a householder; the rejection of veneration of idols and the focus on the guru as the manifestation of the divine. Hummel further wrote that the four meditation techniques are of central importance both to Hans and Prem.

No rules or regulations were imposed, and no beliefs or ethical practices were taught. The fundamental practices of inner peace were embodied and experienced through satsang, service and meditation, the sum of which is an experience that Prem Rawat calls "Knowledge." Members of the DLM meditated formally twice daily and attended discourses on the Knowledge (known as satsang) when possible. Vegetarianism was encouraged but not enforced.

The early years of the Divine Light Mission in the United States were characterized by rapidly growing, loosely affiliated local ashrams, united mainly by devotion to the charismatic figure of Guru Maharaj Ji. As the DLM became increasingly structured and centralized, leadership and power focused in the Denver headquarters. According to scholars, Prem Rawat's desire to consolidate his power and authority over the movement in the United States resulted in greater formalization: rules and regulation for ashram living, standards for recruited "candidates," and pressure toward certifying the movement's teachers.

In the early 1980s Margaret Singer included the DLM in her list of cults. In 1979, Singer mentioned the DLM as one of a set of groups that have "intense relationships between followers and a powerful idea or leader", in an article in Psychology Today..

Ashrams

The Divine Light Mission began creating ashrams in India in the 1960s, starting with a small one in Rajastan and a larger one called Satlok ("Place of Truth") between Delhi and Hardwar.

Soon after the Divine Light Mission expanded to the West, several dozen ashrams were formed in the US, Britain, Europe and Australia. Followers ("premies") who lived in them often worked part or full time at ordinary jobs and gave a sizable portion -- sometimes all -- of their income to the movement. In the ashrams they practiced celibacy, vegetarianism, and frequent meditation. The ashram premies became the core of the Mission in the United States, but the ashrams themselves were not a source of income, never becoming more than self-sufficient.

Reception

According to sociologist James V. Downton who studied the DLM for five years, "idealism was one of the motivating forces behind people's conversion to DLM. They wanted to create a more caring world". Five years after the subjects of his study became premies he wrote, "There is little doubt in my mind that these premies have changed in a positive way. Today, they seem less alienated, aimless, worried, afraid, and more peaceful, loving, confident, and appreciative of life. We could attribute these changes to surrender, devotion, and their involvement in the premie community. Each of these undoubtedly had a positive impact, but, if we accept what premies say, none were as critical as their experience of the universal spirit. Meditating on the life-energy for five years, they report having more positive attitudes about themselves". He quotes one subject as saying, "Today, I'm less paranoid, fearful, unhappy, hung up, and selfish. I'm still basically the same person, but now I'm more positive, confident, understanding of others, stronger as a person, and happier."

Prof Marc Galanter (MD) wrote that "over the long term of membership, meditation also played an important role in supporting a convert's continuing involvement. An analysis of the relationship between the time members spent in meditation and the decline in their level of neurotic distress revealed that greater meditation time was associated with diminished neurotic distress. This association suggests that the emotional response to meditation acts as a reinforcement for its continued practice." That is, the more a member meditated, in general, the better the person was likely to feel.

The Divine Light Mission, alongside other movements, was perceived by many outsiders, particularly parents, as engaging in financial exploitation and cult-like behaviour. A 1980 article in The Washington Post reported that a Maryland House of Delegates committee listed, among other controversial groups: "Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission ... as cults that employ manipulative techniques and turn children against their parents." A 1997 article in Time Magazine referred to the Divine Light Mission as part of the "cultism of the '70s".

The psychiatrist Saul V. Levine, author of several articles on new religious movements, wrote in a paper entitled Life in Cults, published in 1989, that the DLM, the Hare Krishna movement, the Unification Church and the Children of God were widely seen as cults and held in low esteem, with parents feeling that the financial exploitation of their children was one of the most pernicious and malevolent aspects of these groups, while "the leaders live in ostentation and offensive opulence." The inequality between the leaders' luxurious lifestyle and the subsistence lifestyle of adherents was seen as particularly offensive in the groups mentioned. With regard to the Divine Light Mission, Levine observed that members were "expected to turn over all material possessions and earnings to the religion and to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, meat, and sex", although he also noted that the practices his analysis were based on, such as the monastic life in ashrams, were abandoned in the 1980s, when the movement discarded anachronistic Hindu religious and cultural trappings previously associated with it.

David V. Barrett noted that the DLM movement was often criticized for emphasizing the superiority of subjective emotional experience over intellect. The sociologist Ralph Larkin and Daniel A. Foss similarly observed in 1978 that the DLM "emphasized formal structure without substantive content." In response, the religious scholar Dr. Ron Geaves, himself a member of the movement, accused Foss and Larkin of bias, pointing to the number of people attracted to the DLM.

Footnotes

1. Colorado Secretary of State, Business Center.
2. Elan Vital FAQs - About Elan Vital, Inc. Available online (Retrieved May, 2006)
3. Melton, Gordon, Encyclopedia of American Religions 7th edition. Thomson (2003) p.2328 ISBN 0-7876-6384-0
   "In the early 1980s, Maharaj Ji moved to disband the Divine Light Mission and he personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion, disbanding the mission, he founded Elan Vital, an organization to support his future role as teacher." Maharaji had made every attempt to abandon the traditional Indian religious trappings in which the techniques originated and to make his presentation acceptable to all the various cultural settings in which followers live. He sees his teachings as independent of culture, religion, beliefs, or lifestyles, and regularly addresses audiences in places as culturally diverse as India, Japan, Taiwan, the Ivory Coast, Slovenia, Mauritius and Venezuela, as well as North America, Europe and the South Pacific.
4. J. Gordeon Melton, "Encylcopedic Handbook of Cults in America, Revised and Updated Edition", Garland Publishing: New York, 1992 p217-218
5. "Whatever Happened to Guru Maharaj Ji? ", Hinduism Today Magazine, October 1983 Available Online (Retrieved March 2008)
6. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp.141-2 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5 "Just six years after the founding of the Mission, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was succeeded by his younger son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who was eight when he was recognized as the new Perfect Master and assumed the title Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji had been recognized as spiritually adept, even within the circle of the Holy Family, as Shri Hans' family was called. He had been initiated at the age of six He assumed the role of Perfect Master at his father's funeral by telling the disciples who had gathered. Though officially the autocratic leader of the Mission, because of Maharaji's age authority was shared by the whole family."
7. Lee, Raymond L M. Sacred Tensions: Modernity and Religious Transformation in Malaysia (1997) pp.109-110 The University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-167-3 "Upon the death of the founder in 1966, one of his sons, Guru Maharaj Ji, assumed leadership of the movement and won the hearts of many young Westerners." (p.109)
8. Aagaard, Johannes. Who Is Who In Guruism? (1980) "During the first 6 years of the new movement its head was Shri Hans, the father of the young Maharaj Ji, who, at the age of 8 years, succeeded his father in 1966."
9. U. S. Department of the Army, Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains (2001) pp.1-5 , The Minerva Group, ISBN 0-89875-607-3
   Following his death, Shri Hans Ji appointed the youngest of his four sons, Sant Ji as the next Perfect Master and therefore he assumed the head of the Divine Light Mission as decreed by his father."
10. Singh, Bihari. Maharaji Accepted by His Father's Students, Retrieved Jan 2006.
    "Right after Shri Maharaj Ji’s death, the family and several mahatmas were discussing who would become Master after the 13 days of mourning were over. They were thinking about Bal Bhagwan Ji, who was the eldest son. When they asked me what I thought, I said, 'Shri Maharaj Ji told us when Maharaji was born, "He’s going to take my message all over the world."' Some were suggesting that there be several gurus (all four brothers or some group of 5 or 7 gurus), and others were still in the Bal Bhagwan Ji camp. Particularly in India, when a father dies, the older son steps into his place. Twelve days after Shri Maharaj Ji’s death, Maharaji went on stage with a handkerchief on his head and spoke for about 45 minutes to the people who had gathered. After listening to him, everybody accepted him as their Master."
11. Fahlbusch E., Lochman J. M., Mbiti J., Pelikan J., Vischer L, Barret D. (Eds.) The Encyclopedia of Christianity (1998). p.861, ISBN 90-04-11316-9
    "At the funeral of Shree Hans, his son Prem Pal Singh Rawat comforted those who mourned his father's death with the thought that they still had perfect knowledge with them. The son himself had become the subject of this knowledge, the perfect master, in the place of his father, and took the title of "guru" and the name of Maharaj Ji, or great king, a title of respect to which other titular names were added. The honors paid him by his followers gave him the characteristic of a messianic child. These were supposedly his by nature and they helped him to eliminate rival claims from his own family."
13. Beit-Hallahami, Benjamin The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects and Cults (1997), ISBN 0-8239-1505-0 p.85 "Divine Light Mission". "When the founder died in 1966, the eight-year old Pretap stood up at the funeral to announce his ascent to the throne and became the movement's recognized leader. Maharaj Ji was considered satguru, or the Perfect Master."
14. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, (1986), pp.141-2 entry Divine Light Mission Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "Just six years after the founding of the Mission, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was succeeded by his younger son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who was eight when he was recognized as the new Perfect Master and assumed the title, Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji had been recognized as spiritually adept, even within the circle of the Holy Family as Shri Hans family was called. He had been initiated at the age of six He assumed the role of Perfect Master at his father's funeral by telling the disciples who had gathered. Though officially the autocratic leader of the Mission, because of Maharaji's age authority was shared by the whole family."
15. U. S. Department of the Army, Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains (2001) pp.11-5 , The Minerva Group, ISBN 0-89875-607-3
    "Following his death, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj appointed the youngest of his four sons, Sant Ji, as the next Perfect Master and thereby the assumed head of Divine Light Mission as decreed by his father. Since that time, Guru Maharaj Ji has inspired a world wide movement and the Mission is active in 55 countries."
16. J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, pp. 141-145
    "Many were initiated and became the core of the Mission in the United States. Headquarters were established in Denver, and by the end of 1973, tens of thousands had been initiated, and several hundred centers as well as over twenty ashrams, which housed approximately 500 of the most dedicated premies, had emerged."
17. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America,(1986), pp.141-2 Garland Publishing, ISBN 0-8240-9036-5
    "Just six years after the founding of the Mission, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was succeeded by his younger son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who was eight when he was recognized as the new Perfect Master and assumed the title Maharaj Ji. Maharaj Ji had been recognized as spiritually adept, even within the circle of the Holy Family, as Shri Hans' family was called. He had been initiated at the age of six He assumed the role of Perfect Master at his father's funeral by telling the disciples who had gathered. Though officially the autocratic leader of the Mission, because of Maharaji's age authority was shared by the whole family."
18. Melton, Gordon J. Encyclopedia of American religions, (1978) p.370-1, McGrath Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7876-7702-7
    "As they bewailed their loss at his funeral, one of the four sons, then only eight-years old arose and addressed the crowd. Thus Maharaj Ji proclaimed his lordship and established himself as the new head of his father's mission"
19. Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (1982) Oosterse Geloofsbewegingen in het Westen ("Eastern Faith Movements in the West") (Dutch language) ISBN 90-210-4965-1 p.64
    English translation "This prediction came true very soon. In 1969 Maharaj Ji sent the first disciple to the West. In the next year he held a speech for an audience of thousands of people in Delhi. This speech became known as 'the peace bomb' and was the start of the great mission to the West." Dutch original "Deze voorspelling gaat al snel in vervulling. In 1969 stuurt Maharaj ji de eerste discipel naar het Westen. In het daaropvolgende jaar houdt hij een toespraak in Delhi voor een gehoor van duizenden mensen. Deze toespraak staat bekend als 'de 'vredesbom' en is het begin van de grote zending naar het Westen."
20. J. Gordon Melton, Christopher Partridge (Eds.), New Religions: A Guide. New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities. pp.201-202, Oxford University Press, USA (2004) ISBN 978-0195220421.
    "As Maharaji began to grow older and establish his teachings worldwide he increasingly desired to manifest his own vision of development and growth. This conflict resulted in a split between Maharaji and his family, ostensibly caused by his mother's inability to accept Maharaji's marriage to an American follower rather than the planned traditional arranged marriage."
21. Downton, Sacred Journeys. "Nearly sixteen, he was ready to assume a more active part in deciding what direction the movement should take. This of course meant that he had to encroach on his mother's territory and, given the fact that she was accustomed to having control, a fight was inevitable."
22. J. Gordon Melton, Christopher Partridge (Eds.), New Religions: A Guide. New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities. pp.201-202, Oxford University Press, USA (2004) ISBN 978-0195220421.
    "As Maharaji began to grow older and establish his teachings worldwide he increasingly desired to manifest his own vision of development and growth. This conflict resulted in a split between Maharaji and his family, ostensibly caused by his mother's inability to accept Maharaji's marriage to an American follower rather than the planned traditional arranged marriage."
23. name="thomsonwife">"Guru Maharaj Ji", Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan, Thomson Gale, 2007. The marriage further disrupted his relationship with his mother and older brothers. A lawsuit in India gave control of the Indian branch of the Divine Light Mission to Maharaj's mother and led to a complete break with her son, who maintained the complete support of the Western disciples.
24. Lippy, Charles H. Pluralism Comes of Age: American Religious Culture in the Twentieth Century p.114, M. E. Sharpe (2002), ISBN 0-7656-0151-6
    "The Divine Light Mission, for example, in the 1980s became Elan Vital and dropped most of its Asian trappings."
25. Melton, Gordon, Encyclopedia of American Religions 7th edition. Thomson (2003) p.2328 ISBN 0-7876-7702-7
    "In the early 1980s, Maharaj Ji moved to disband the Divine Light Mission and he personally renounced the trappings of Indian culture and religion. Disbanding the mission, he founded Elan Vital, an organization suited to his future role as teacher." Maharaji had made every attempt to abandon the traditional Indian religious trappings in which the techniques originated and to make his presentation acceptable to all the various cultural settings in which followers live. He sees his teachings as independent of culture, religion, beliefs, or lifestyles, and regularly addresses audiences in places as culturally diverse as India, Japan, Taiwan, the Ivory Coast, Slovenia, Mauritius and Venezuela, as well as North America, Europe and the South Pacific.
26. "Manav Dharam". 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
27. Hummel, Reinhart Indische Mission und neue Frömmigkeit im Westen. Religiöse Bewegungen in westlichen Kulturen, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-17-005609-3,
    pp.76-77: :pp.76-77: "Eine systematisch entwickelte Lehre hat die Divine Light Mission weder zur Zeit des Vaters Śhrī Hans noch des Sohnes besessen. Beide haben darin eher einen Vorzug als einen Mangel gesehen. Hatte der Vater sich vornehmlich als >>Guru der Armen<< verstanden und sich in einer bilderreichen Sprache mehr um praktische Anwendbarkeit als um theoretische Durchdringung bemüht, so blieb doch der Inhalt seiner Satsangs auf dem Hintergrund der Hinduistischen Tradition klar verständlich. Die Satsangs jedoch, die der Sohn im Westen gehalten hat und die mit einem Minimum hinduistischer Terminologie und Konzepte auskommen, müssen für den nichthinduistischen Hörer vage bleiben. Der junge Guru erklärt das konzeptionelle Denken, das auch in Deutschen Übersetzungen mit dem Englischen Wort >>mind<< bezeichnet wird, als Hauptfeind der unmittelbaren religösen Erfahrung. So ist es nicht verwunderlich, daß von seinen Anhängern nur wenig Handfestes über die DLM-lehre zu erfahren ist. Anderseits eröffent ihnen der Mangel an vorgegebenen Konzepten einen Freiraum für Äußerungen einer spontanen Subjektivität, die wohltuend vom unselbständigen Reproduzieren autoritativ verkündenter Lehren absticht, wie man es vor allem dei den Anhängern der ISKCON antrifft. Wie auch immer die Bewertung ausfallen mag - die geistige Konturlosigkeit der Bewegung fält allen Beobachtern auf. Im Zentrum steht bei Vater und Sohn die vierfache Meditationstechnik, die vier >>Kriyas<<, die Sri Hans von Svami Sarupanand gelernt hatte. "pp.78: "Innerhalb dieses eklektischen Denken dominiert der Einfluß der in Nordindien beheimaten Sant-Tradition, der schon in der Geschichte des Radhasoami Satsang wirksam war. Von ihr bestimmt ist die Ablehnung äußerlicher Rituale und Zeremonien und die Forderung, das Göttliche im eigenen Inneren zu suchen; damit verbunden die Polemik gegen den Trennenden Charakter der in Äußerlichkeiten estarrten Religionen und gegen die Kastentrennung; ferner die Ablehnung der Askese zugunsten des Lebens im Stande des Haushalters, wie Sri Hans es selbst geführt hat; die Ablehnung der Bilderverehrung und die Konzentration auf den Guru als die Manifestation des Göttlichen; "
28. McGuire, Meredith B. "Religion: the Social Context" fifth edition (2002) ISBN 0-534-54126-7 Chapter. 5 "The Dynamics of Religious Collectivities", section “How Religious Collectivities Develop and Change’’, sub-section "Organizational Transformations" p.175 "As Weber pointed out, the long-term impact of a movement hinges on transformation of bases of authority and leadership from a charismatic mode to either traditional or legal-traditional rational structures. When a movement becomes established, there is a strong tendency for the organization to calcify around the memory of the early dynamism; its own tradition becomes the rationalization for why things should be done in a certain way. Early stages of a movement's organization involve simple structures such as the charismatic leader and followers or leader, core followers, and other followers. The transition to legal-rational structures is typically accompanied by the elaboration and standardization of procedures, the emergence of specialized statuses and roles, and the formalizing of communication among members. The early years of the Divine Light Mission in the United States were characterized by rapidly growing, loosely affiliated local ashrams (i.e., groups of devotees, usually living communally), united mainly by the devotion to the ambiguous charismatic figure of Guru Maharaj Ji. As the DLM became increasingly structured and centralized, leadership and power focused in the Denver headquarters. The guru's desire to consolidate his power and authority over the movement in the United States resulted in greater formalization: rules and regulation for ashram living, standards for recruited "candidates", and pressure toward certifying movements teachers. " (Thomas Pilarzyk ‘’The Origin, Development, and Decline of a Youth Culture Religion: An Application of the Sectarianization Theory’’ in "Review of Religious Research" 20, 1:33-37, 1978)
29. "Coming Out of the Cults", Psychology Today, January 1979.
30. Hans Jayanti (2000), pp.24-37. DUO, New Delhi, Book published in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Hans Ji Maharaj's birth by Prem Rawat's Indian organization.
31. All Mission activities depend entirely on volunteered labor and funds. The knowledge itself, the primary source of satisfaction to devotees, is independent of the Mission proper, and DLM has no power to discipline or enforce agreements. Devotees move in and out of service roles or financial commitments, and DLM has little chance to predict or control income or staffing. Messer, Jeanne 'Guru Maharaj Ji and the Divine Light Mission, in The New Religious Consciousness edited by Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah, Berkeley: University of California Press. pp.52-72. ISBN 0-52003-472-4
32. Premies could live in ashrams to devote themselves more fully to Service. Premies often worked part or full time outside the ashram and gave a sizable portion-sometimes all-of their income to the movement. They also practiced celibacy, vegetarianism, and frequent meditation. The focus of this ascetic existence was their religious mission rather than personal pleasure or gain.Galanter, Marc (1999). Cults: faith, healing, and coercion. Oxford : Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512370-0.
33. Many of the characteristics of the Indian movement founded by Prem Rawat’s father, who had died only in 1966, were imported wholesale into the western environment. Ashrams were established with a lifetime commitment of celibacy expected from those who joined. Members were expected to forswear drugs and alcohol, and adopt a strict vegetarian diet. The closing of the ashrams took away the possibility of a committed workforce and instead Prem Rawat’s activities to promote his teachings became more dependent on part-time volunteer assistance from individuals who were now raising families and creating careers for themselves. Geaves, Ron, Globalization, Charisma, Innovation and Tradition: An exploration of the transformations in the organisational vehicles for the transmission of the teachings of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), 2006, Journal of Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies, 2 44-62
34. Many were initiated and became the core of the Mission in the United States. Headquarters were established in Denver, and by the end of 1973, tens of thousands had been initiated, and several hundred centers as well as over twenty ashrams, which housed approximately 500 of the most dedicated premies, had emerged. J. Gordon Melton Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, pages 141-145
35. While the ashrams have often been self-supporting they have not been a good source of income for the Mission. Unlike the Moonies, the Children of God, or the Hare Krishnas, Divine Light Mission members do not sell anything. They do not solicit on street corners, selling candy, flowers, peanuts, or literature. And unlike the Church of Scientology, Guru Maharaj Ji's group does not charge for the courses or the teaching of the techniques of "knowledge." The group gets its money through gifts and the tithing of its members. The more gainfully employed a premie is, the higher the tithe the Mission receives.
36. Parke, Jo Anne; Stoner, Carroll (1977). All gods children: the cult experience--salvation or slavery?. Radnor, Pa: Chilton. ISBN 0-8019-6620-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
37. Like some of its youth culture counterparts, the Divine Light Mission movement experienced rapid growth from its inception in the United States in 1971. By the summer of 1974, the American movement had grown to a total of 27 ashrams which housed over 1200 of an estimated 50,000 members or "premies." However, its development was not as simple, gradual, consistent, nor as long-lasting as changes within other "Eastern imports" such as the Hare Krsna movement. By July of 1972, the first national conference of DLM leaders took place, and guidelines were laid down which specified certain rules and regulations for U.S. ashrams. DLM officials note that this led to an initial departure of followers who viewed ashram life more as an economic convenience than as a step toward the enhancement of the spiritual path to God-realization. Pilarzyk, Thomas, The Origin, Development, and Decline of a Youth Culture Religion: An Application of Sectarianization Theory Review of Religious Research, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 23-43
38. From the small beginning of one mahatma in London and a handful of premies, the mission grew, with up to half a dozen mahatmas at any one time giving knowledge, the establishment of Divine Information Centres in most major towns and cities and the setting up of about forty ashrams (designated premie households) throughout Britain by the end of 1973. Ashrams played an important part in the mission's structure. Here premies had chosen to live in small communal households, under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. In practice they were under the direct supervision of head office and acted as cadres for the whole movement. A large membership had grown up very rapidly but the organizers had no clear idea where to lead the following, nor did they have the financial resources to maintain so many full-time workers. The ashrams which should have provided a sound financial basis for the mission's operations were not even self-financing and had to be supported from funds. Price, Maeve (1979): The Divine Light Mission as a social organization. Sociological Review, 27, Page 279-296
39. James V. Downton "Sacred Journeys: The Conversion of Young Americans to Division Light Mission" Columbia Univ Press (July 1979) ISBN 0231041985
40. Marc Galanter: Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion. Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0195123700
41. Whiteman Kaslow, Florence & Sussman, Marvin B. Cults and the Family. Haworth Press (1982). ISBN 0917724550.
42. Bromley, David G. & Hammond, Phillip E. The Future of New Religious Movements. Mercer University Press, (1987). ISBN 0865540950.
43. "Panel Urged to Probe Cults", The Washington Post, March 14, 1980. "In addition to the Unification Church, the Church of Scientology and Guru Maharaj Ji's Divine Light Mission were singled out at the hearing as cults that employ manipulative techniques and turn children against their parents."
44. The Lure of the Cult, Time Magazine, April 7, 1997
    The modern era of cultism dates to the 1970s, when the free inquiry of the previous decade led quite a few exhausted seekers into intellectual surrender. Out from the rubble of the countercultures came such groups as the Children of God and the Divine Light Mission, est and the Church of Scientology, the robotic political followers of Lyndon LaRouche and the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. On Nov. 18, 1978, the cultism of the '70s arrived at its dark crescendo in Jonestown, Guyana, where more than 900 members of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple died at his order, most by suicide
45. Levine, Saul V. "Life in Cults". Cults and New Religious Movements: A Report of the American Psychiatric Association (From the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion). Ed. Marc Galanter. Pg 102. American Psychiatric Pub, Inc (1999). ISBN 0890422125.
46. Levine, Saul V. "Life in Cults". Cults and New Religious Movements: A Report of the American Psychiatric Association (From the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion). Ed. Marc Galanter. Pg 100. American Psychiatric Pub, Inc (1999). ISBN 0890422125.
47. Levine, Saul V. Life in the Cults, article that appeared in the book edited by Marc Galanter M.D., (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
48. Barret, David V. The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions. Pg 65. Cassel (2003). ISBN 1844030407.
49. Foss, Daniel, and Ralph Larkin. "Worshipping the Absurd: The Negation of Social Causality Among the Followers of the Guru Maharaji'ji." Sociological Analysis, 39 (1978): 157-164.
50. Geaves, Ron. From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital and Beyond: An Exploration of Change and Adaptation, Nova Religio, March 2004, Vol. 7, No. 3, Pages 45-62

References

• Chryssides, George D. (2001). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, pp. 108-109. The Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland and London, 2001. ISBN 0-8108-4095-2
• Barker, E. (1989), New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London, HMSO
• Galanter, Marc M. D. (2002) Alcohol & Drug Abuse: Healing Through Social and Spiritual Affiliation, Psychiatric Services 53:1072-1074, September 2002. American Psychiatric Association
• Galanter M, Buckley P, Deutsch A, Rabkin R, Rabkin J (1980) Large group influence for decreased drug use: findings from two contemporary religious sects Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 1980;7(3-4):291-304.
• Galanter, Marc. A Charismatic Sect: The Divine Light Mission, in Cults: Faith Healing and Coercion, Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-195-12370-0</ref>
• Haan, Wim (Dutch language) De missie van het Goddelijk licht van goeroe Maharaj Ji: een subjektieve duiding from the series Religieuze bewegingen in Nederland: Feiten en Visies nr. 3, autumn 1981 article available in full on the website of the author (PDF file) (The article is mainly based on the Dutch branch of the Divine Light Mission) ISBN 90-242-2341-5
• Hunt, Stephen J., Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction (2003), pp.116-7, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-3410-8
• Melton, J. Gordon and Lewis, R. James. Department of the USA Army, Office of the Chief of Chaplains Religious Requirements and practices. A Handbook for Chaplains
• Melton, J. Gordon and Lewis, R. James.The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, & New Religions.
• Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj: Eternal is He, Eternal is His Knowledge, Originally published by Divine Light Mission, (1970) India

External links

• Article by Hinduism Today (1983) Available online
• Premies Versus Sannyasins by the psychologists of religion Dr. Jan van der Lans and Dr. Frans Derks in which they compared the adherents of the Divine Light Mission with followers of the Osho-Rajneesh movement, originally published in Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements, X/2 (June 1986)
• Prem Rawat / Elan Vital/ Divine Light Mission at Apologetics Index.
• Website of "Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti", Succcessor to Divine Light Mission - India
• Website of "Elan Vital", Successor to Divine Light Mission outside of India

• Articles with dead external links from March 2008
• Prem Rawat