I said to my neighbour: You're a follower of Gurinder Singh, I believe?
They kind of stiffened mildly, their smiles remaining, and I continued: In that case, you were presumably a follower of Charan Singh previously?

Again he agreed.

My neighbour has been a Radhasoami devotee (if that is the current term) since about 1973, which is when I and many others here encountered Maharaji. Charan Singh died in the 1990's I think, and was succeeded by Gurinder.

Gurinder and Maharaji have common roots in the Radhasoami tradition, which dates backs to Dayal Singh in the 1860's, then traces itself further via Tulsidas and other notables to the ten Sikh gurus, and thence, through the mists, maybe to Jesus (I'm guessing the latter, but certainly Maharaji quotes/used to quote Jesus as having been in the direct single line of masters giving Knowledge).

Gurinder teaches Shabd Yoga, which is the light and sound techniques known to premies, and, I learnt last Sunday, the aim is to remain constantly focused on the forehead (regarded as the seat of the soul).

They told me that Gurinder is their Satguru, and were surprised when I told them Maharaji was this to older premies.
They had just been to satsang, which combined both western and Indian followers.
The number of western followers, which they seemed to tell me with some hesitation, was 7.

Gurinder claims 2 million followers internationally, though most, at a bet, will be in the Indian sub-continent.

I found it uplifting to meet these guys - they were so nice and genuine. But they were uncannily reminiscent of Maharaji's premies also, with their slightly jaded look - a kind of inbuilt strain, superficial jocularity seeming to shroud decades of disproportionate effort.
And that 7 - that is virtually the same number as apparently attend local Maharaji events.

What this says to me, in somewhat of a dismal, but enlightening way, is that 2 very similar movements, commencing in the west at about the same time, and teaching roughly the same thing, with exactly the same concepts and terminology, have had about equal success.

I would find it very difficult to believe that Maharaji is attracting a solid new wave of followers outside of a certain amount of friends and offspring of first generation ones. Even if he were, K recipients from later than the 1970s seem to have a very high drop-away rate, owing to the lack of any firm cement. I imagine an initial curiosity may lead to a person receiving K, practising for a short while then abandoning it soon thereafter, when s/he sees that there is no social framework into which it is associated, or that the world of premies is quite bizarre and minimalistic.

My neighbour and his friend were pleasant to meet, because they had a tinge of post-satsang vibe about them, probably destined to last for another hour or so.