'And what do you want for Christmas?...Nobody thinks about why Jesus came into this world. Nobody thinks of that: what's really true of Knowledge, why Jesus came as Guru Maharaj Ji for those devotees, revealed Knowledge to them, gave them that experience. Nobody remembers that. Because Christ came. His purpose, was for sat chit and anand. What he came in this world for, what he revealed in this world, was this Knowledge, that love, that devotion...For a devotee it's always Merry Christmas because there is never a time in this world when Guru Maharaj Ji isn't here.'

Where did we ex-premies get all those ideas about Perfect Masters and Guru Maharaj Ji being the same (no, greater) than Christ?  Come on!  Raise your hands!  How many of you thought Rawat was referring to his father, Shri Hans, when he gave "satsang" like this?  And on Christmas??  Who thought about going home for Christmas when he's sitting in front you telling you he's like Christ?  No one that I knew.  This "satsang" was given a short time after the DECA move from the tiny Hialeah, Florida warehouse to the big complex.  That's where this "satsang" took place -- in the shiny new satsang room that was also used for the IDP (Initiator[Instructor] Development) programs in the coming year.

Rawat was 22 years old at the time.  I didn't notice anyone forcing him to say this stuff.  Not one Mahatma was playing his puppeteer.  Quite the contrary -- how the Indian Mahatmas behaved in Rawat's presence would be described as excessive devotional fawning!  As did we all -- fawn in excess, that is.

Not only were most of the workers at DECA ashram premies -- no one gave too much thought to going home for Christmas.  There was no way to do that (especially to ask to be flown home for the holidays--no way!! lol!).  To ask would have been blasphemy.