This is to the heart of it:"If aspirants wish to become a premie, they must demonstrate that their "doubt-maker" (read: critical thinking ability) has been cryogenically anesthetized and removed, much like wart removal."
Excellent and succinct analysis Jonathan. In effect, one's ability to critically evaluate the experience of "Knowledge" is expunged before one accepts "the gift." It really is a brilliant control technique which I would be tempted to admire if I weren't so angry about its destructive power, demonstrated and potential.
Further, one swears or vows to "give "Knowledge" a fair chance. Thus further delaying a process of evaluation until such time as deeper and more entrenched conditioning is in place, which of course further and further reduces the ability of an individual to defend himself from the myriad destabilizations inherent in the process of coercive persuasion.
There are many ways in which association with Prem Rawat is destructive, but this may be one of the most insidious, even if also most abstract.