Dear Gov. Richardson,

I am dismayed to read you have given an award of some sort to Prem Rawat (aka Guru Maharaj Ji/Maharaji/Lord of the Universe). This man leads a destructive cult that is mentioned in almost every book and website dedicated to educating people about the phenomenon of cults. I was in the Divine Light Mission (the name of Rawat's cult in the 1970's) and the impact of having been a cult member upon my life took many years to recover from. Mr. Rawat has accepted gifts of from members who believe his to be some sort of Messiah from the time he was a child. This man has made his fortune encouraging his believers to break ties with all their worldly possessions and give them - you guessed it- to him. Now he claims to be a successful investor; check out where he got his capital.

His current modus operandi is to try to legitimaize himself by very questionable means. I would be suprised if anyone in his organization informed you of who this man really is prior to giving the award. Now you are a cult victim too.

Check out www.ex-premie.org to learn more.