Forgive me if this has already been noted here.  I've been out of town most of the week and am just catching up a bit.  I haven't read every post here and took a look at ELK only to find this interesting, nay most interesting, comment:

It seemed to begin where most three days events end. In past years it has taken a while for audience excitement to reach fever pitch. The recent emergence of an "ex-premie movement" though has clearly had a positive effect. Suddenly, the hall has no more reluctant doubters with hot criticisms and cold feet. Those with "issues'" have gone elsewhere. Those who remain are not living in ignorance. They know all about the arguments, they understand the accusations, they know full well the "story" of how not everything in the past was perfect.

They also know though, that Maharaji teaches them something so inspiring and heartwarming that it simply makes everything else irrelevant. The thousands of us who sang and danced our hearts out with Maharaji this weekend did so out of a very conscious choice - to embrace love, to enjoy life and to appreciate the eternal wonder of Maharaji's very unique and deeply effective message!

A few things: of course it's not just the past that was less than perfect.  Also, these Happy Clappers are setting an impossibly high standard of doubt-free living for themselves, aren't they?  It's one thing to beat the drum at a revival meeting for a day or so, maybe shed a few tears, but unfortunately for the cult, people have to live with their minds all the time.   Do these guys really think they can avoid the "issues"?  Like, forever?  Uh uh.  No way.  Can't do it.  Nope, not a chance.

It's also worth mentioning that, as far as I can tell, the "hall" may have had "reluctant doubters with hot criticisms and cold feet" but, if so, these people never had much chance to express themselves.  I mean, there was that one woman in England a year or so ago, stood up and griped about the ashrams a bit.  Rawat shut her down toute suite.  Tried to make her look and feel like an idiot.  Hats off to her for trying but ... well, the point is, the cult could never say that the various "issues" or "accusations" were ever actually aired, let alone responded to, in an open fashion.  It's not like some city council meeting where some issue's been discussed to death, a vote's been taken and now someone's trying to bring it up all over again.  Hardly.

But the real kicker has to be this:

They also know though, that Maharaji teaches them something so inspiring and heartwarming that it simply makes everything else irrelevant.

As they say in the law, Res Ipse Loquitor -- "The thing speaks for itself"