That link holds a wealth of unvarnished information about this cult as told by people who experienced it first-hand. (For anyone who may not know, the link can be opened by highlighting it and right-clicking to "go to..." I recently learned that not everyone knows this.)

In the mid-70s, Prem Rawat made a surprise visit at a premie retreat in the Pocono mountains. At the same time, we were holding a remote retreat in Michigan. An initiator made contact with the Malibu residence and requested that Prem speak to us via telephone. On his way out the door enroute to the Pocono retreat, he stopped for a moment and spoke to us: "Premies who meditate by the clock are pursuing death. Blessings to all the premies." That's all he said: the alternative to practicing Knowledge is death.

Indeed, our leader was perfect and infallible and the slightest doubt or thought to the contrary was taboo. Except that Prem Rawat claimed to have no doctrine, our heavy indoctrination into a lifetime vow of poverty, chastity and obedience to him - our perfect leader - or at least 24/7 total immersion in satsang, service and meditation, was by any standard extreme, coercive and controlling.

For many premies, the guilt associated with falling short... with not being able to live-up to the Lord's standards, was paralyzing. Not to mention the fear Prem Rawat instilled of the horrible fate that would befall a premie if they were to ever to leave him.

Reluctant as I am to keep repeating it, I witnessed and had to deal with an initiator who adamently insisted that the only solution for an accutely suicidal premie was more satsang, service and meditation, i.e., Guru Maharaji. In the Team Trainings in the mid-2000s, Rule No. 1 was simply "Maharaji." I had an anxiety attack when I thought for a moment that he might test my devotion by ordering me to do something way outside my comfort zone.

I'm sure the last thing the tragic victims of Jonestown were thinking at the time was that they were in a cult. I'm not suggesting that Prem Rawat would ever do such a thing, but I am suggesting that the level of cult-indoctrinated devotion and obedience is frighteningly similar.

Yes, a deeply appreciative thank you to all who have ever posted here.

I can only conclude that Prem Rawat caused them to behave that way. Consumed and overtaken by a reflexive, involuntary survival instinct and backed into a corner by a terrifying monster - the possibility (fact) that they might've just given thirty or more years of their adult lives to a fraud - they lashed out.

Not to minimize the seriousness of what they did, but it's sad in a way. I expect that none of them were like that or even capable of that deplorable behavior before they met Prem Rawat. Where else would all that spiteful self-righteous superiority have come from? And the only thing any of those who were attacked ever did to deserve it was try to help them by exposing the truth about Prem Rawat: the truth he and his minions bent over backwards to hide from them.

When Prem Rawat said something to the effect that premies who leave or break their connection to him shatter into a million pieces, he probably knew that finding out the truth about him would be that upsetting. He'd be right about that. It hurts like hell at first, just like it always does when you find out you've been lied to and taken advantage of.

As different as they are, it seems that all cults are essentially the same. How easy it is to identify every cult except the one you're in.

I'm feeling particularly thankful today!

Hi Susan,

The harm caused by sexual predators like Jagdeo, self-interested complicit co-conspirators and fully indoctrinated cult zealots who thrive (or thrived) on power derived from their positions in the cult right under Prem Rawat's supposedly omniscient nose can't be overstated.

I can't thank you and others here enough for continually elevating the conversation and stating it like it is.

One time I was unceremoniously handcuffed and thrown in jail when a belligerent police officer blew up because I had the audacity to ask him for his badge number.* I felt totally victimized, powerless, humiliated and stripped of my dignity. And yet that was nothing compared to what many in that cult endured: rape victims, premies duped into handing over huge sums of money and everyone who ended up emotionally shattered on the deepest level.

On a much smaller but similar level, most of the stress I endured in the cult was a result of my own cult-indoctrinated submissiveness - abandonment of my own free will - to mahatmas, initiators and others who were fully aware of the influence they had over weaker followers and seemed to delight in wielding it.

Thanks again!

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* Flying Solo was moonlighting for me on a project at work. When I called my assistant to let FS know where I was and to get a ride home, my assistant botched the call transfer and said, "Oh well. It was just Bob. He's probably in jail and it was his last dime."

The cult as a microcosm crossed my mind when I replied to Susan. As she described them, there were certainly premies with predatory or awful personality traits before they became involved with Prem Rawat. So for a moment, I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he had no control over who approached him for Knowledge. That's what the cult would surely say in his defense. Then it struck me that he had complete control over the people he allowed to be around him (his inner circle) as well as mahatmas and those who became initiators and instructors. He had every opportunity to lead by example and set standards for them. Instead, he set horrible standards of behavior that he knew had to be kept hidden from premies and the public at large.

The fact that many premies willingly took vows of secrecy (x-rated) and signed non-disclosure agreements intended to prevent what they witnessed from being exposed to premies and the public tells me everything I need to know about their charachter, or at least the detrimental effect Prem Rawat had on their charachter.

Apparently, Prem Rawat was aware that Jagdeo had molested at least several young women and he may have known or had reason to suspect much more. Yet he allowed Jagdeo to continue touring and he surely played a role in shuffling him back to India where he was out of reach from justice. Then there's the usual litany of his hypocritical behavior... the procured women, heavy alcohol consumption, chain smoking, insatiable and demanding materialism and all the rest... the point being that it was entirely at odds with his claim of "such a peace as will never die." If that's the "self" he discovered with his so-called "self-Knowledge," then who needs it.

The "break them down and rehabilitate them as utterly dependent on Maharaji... useless without him" template for the "couldn't buy it for a million bucks" Team Trainings came directly from Prem Rawat. He knew full well who and what he was inflicting on vulnerable premies for the purpose of regaining and reinforcing control over them.

And if there weren't enough toxic people who flocked to him and rose through the ranks in the first place, then he simply made as many as he needed. "Molded them in his image" comes to mind. There were plenty of premies willing to sacrifice their values to do his bidding and he knowingly took full advantage of it.

That corruption of values smell wafted down all the way to me and turned me into a mindless pawn in his chain of exploitation... eager to follow orders. I had no genuine respect for anyone or anything not related to Prem Rawat or his Knowledge and he did absolutely nothing to instill any. To the contrary, he disparaged e v e r y t h i n g. Looking back, I don't recognize that person. It's as if cult indoctrination put me in a crazed and myopic dream state.

What a relief to suddenly snap out of it and see how distorted it all was!

She has this amazing list and I think I can't find it anywhere but her videos because it will be in her next book.

Her cult definition

1. The charistmatic leader (and his skinny white woman) 

( other than limiting access to outside world, it's still a cult. And it was 10/10 in the 1970s)

She has a guru gotcha checklist too... I will post a link

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzoNpkWMWxE/

a checklist for toxic AF groups

https://www.instagram.com/p/CydzzOSu-zf/

and what I was looking for here - 

her Ten Commandments for Good Groups that Aren't Cults

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyWA8n1usOY/

1. Thou Shalt not rape the Children or Stand by Those who do

The Prem Rawat cult at least in the 1970s not a good group who is not a cult. Are they now?  I do not think they chant "Rawat" but we sure as hell did the Bhole Shri which fit 10/10 in 1970s. But I am focused on the #1 commandment, broken in so many bad groups and cults.

The reports of the other Jagdeo victims , 8-14 years old. I would not be shocked if he abused girls even younger, or boys, as was once reported. 

You are right Prem Rawat definitely exploited the people who were morally corrupt in the group (even if in turn they too exploited the group). I think it's akin to why he liked mob movies so much.  I think like most victimizers, he can mostly sniff out who will keep his secrets, who is vulnerable to what, who he can use in which way. 

The corruption sentence and not having genuine respect for anyone outside our group. That's how it was. I was that way too. I think that I ever thought that way horrifies me too.

The article describes many of Prem Rawat's traits and behaviors, but it's only accurate when viewed objectively over the course of his entire and unrevised history and not through the lens of a staunch adherent. (It's not entirely applicable because it's more about non-cult interpersonal relationships, but still...)

https://www.measuringknowhow.com/understanding-the-meaning-what-is-toxic-af/

It includes descriptions like harmful, detrimental, controlling, disrespectful, manipulative, abusive, gaslighting, lack of empathy, emotional abuse, emotionally draining, suffocating, constant criticism, belittling, narcissistic, self-centered, inflated sense of self-importance, refusal to take responsibility, makes you feel bad about yourself, sarcastic and bullying.

Toxic AF

Suffice it to say that all of these traits and behaviors have been witnessed or experienced by former followers of Prem Rawat who've posted about them on this forum.

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It's easy to see why Daniella Mestyanek Young is your favorite up and coming cult expert. Her lists are spot on and as you pointed out, they hit ten out of ten for this cult.

Through the myopic lens of a staunch adherent: Rule No. 1: Maharaji!

From the outside looking in: 1. Thou Shalt not rape the Children or Stand by Those who do

Thank you for another illuminating post and link!

Still. 

Reminds me of when I asked Prem Bio if Australians were making fun of us when they marvelled at squirrels in USA … he says no squirrels in Australia but Australian humor/humour it flies by me all the time.

I'm still naive as well, but not nearly as much as I used tdo be. Sometime it takes a silly little thing like waking up to the fact that you dedicated decades of your life to a fraud! to finally get some street smarts. I think His Horribleness only grows because of the steady stream of new revelations. We only know what's been witnessed and reported; not everything there is to know. Based on past revelations, I suspect there's a lot more!

I was so far out there that the memory makes me shake my head, cringe and laugh (in a perplexed sort of way) in disbelief.

Thanks?? to this experience, I feel pretty safe from vulnerability to cults and spurious ideologies, theories, etc., but it's a constant vigil! It helps to not feel a need to fill the void of not knowing. Except, of course, for learning new things like the definition of "toxic AF" and "pents."  

Your last one is a source of constant low-grade anxiety.

I shudder to think of where I might be today if it weren't for EPO and everyone who banded together to expose the truth about Prem Rawat.

Thanks Lesley!