Hi protoss,

You've been given a lot to think about and I hope you take the kind and caring words of the others here seriously. Other than embellish, I can't add much to what's been said. Instead, I write as much for the many hopefully curious readers here who never post.

We've all felt "that feeling" hundreds of times when listening to Prem Rawat live (and as Acquinas indicated, mistakenly attributed it to him). That feeling, combined with all the reinforcement of practicing, participating and keeping in touch (practicing Knowledge) kept us going back to see him over and over again. And yet, here we are, proclaiming it to be a cult and Prem Rawat to be a fake.

Fake what? For me, a fake guru, master or teacher who teaches or "reveals" truth, god, source of life, peace or anything special at all... let alone "ambassador" or even a genuine advocate for peace.

Fake because he's two-faced: he says one thing out of one side of his mouth and acts in an opposite manner out of the other side of his mouth behind the curtain. Excessive alcohol consumption, heavy smoking, pot, sexual exploitation, grossly excessive and greedy materialism, abusiveness and cruelty are only a few examples of what caused people who witnessed it to leave in disgust: anything he could use to fill the void of his own lack of the "peace" he proclaims to offer.

Fake because the techniques of meditation he claimed to be uniquely his to teach or "reveal" have been debunked and shown to be identical, common or similar to those taught for eons by other so-called guru's or masters.

Fake because in my experience, he's been sadistic, abusive and even contemptuous of his followers. I know that's difficult to fathom, but objectively - going so far as to order that anyone in a position to do so should move into an ashram and take a lifetime vow of poverty, chastity and obedience (to him!) as the best way to "realize" his (debunked) Knowledge - that's exactly how I was treated. Moreover, after a decade of that, he abrubtly closed the ashrams with no advance notice, explanation, apology or assistance to all those destitute people he caused to be dependent on him for literally everything.

Perhaps the best way I can frame all this is by asking you how you would feel if you found out that Prem Rawat laughs at you and mocks you behind your back for being so gullible and easy to manipulate? Whether that's true or not (and I believe it is), in my estimation it's tantamount to my experience of his attitude towards me and countless others over the years. I've spent years on this forum citing examples. To cite a few, is poking naked followers' penis's with a stick and pouring motor oil over them consistent with the man who appears on the stage?

To say something positive, Prem Rawat isn't always wrong. "Listen to your heart" comes to mind... that inner voice or intuition that guides you. The one that resonates when you're listening to him. The problem is that if you're like me and so many other former followers, that process becomes short-circuited (disabled) such that suddenly you're only able to acknowledge one voice while shutting out all the others saying anything contrary to what you want to hear: like removing batteries from your smoke detectors. Listening to your heart often disables objective and rational thinking, intelligence even. Add to that the emotional paralysis that comes from the fear of coming to terms with the possibility that you've been deceived after investing so much of your time, love and energy for... fifty years.

That's the very portrait of a cult and especially personality cults like this one. It's a sad and tragic situation, which is why my heart goes out to anyone caught-up in it. The good news, and I can't emphasize this enough, is the experience on the other side - free from the cult indoctrination and your own blockages - is by far more free, real and exhilarating.

Sincerely and for what it's worth,

Bob

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Post Script: Once I learned about all this, I had no choice other than to recognize and set aside my selfish need to feel good, and instead stand up for the overarching values of basic right and wrong and human decency. This is why so much as been said about the corruption of values in people under the influence of cults.