Caveat: I personally don't know that many young 20s people other than the co-eds from the local college who keep calling me asking for dates, but...

But seriously, two things:

First, I think the "message" and the "medium" has changed significantly from "our nascent time".  I think that Wadi and Daya and their friends are putting their mark on the family product.  And who knows when the crown might be passed down to one of them or Amar or even Hansi.  So, de-emphasizing Maharaji the Man is not that far fetched and unreasonable as it sounds.  Oh, to us it seems to be quite the flip-flop, but times are a-changing.  And, indeed, there has been a huge effort to tone down the God worshipping aspect for years.

Yes, Maharaji may be less in the foreground than ever, but the stumbling block may very well be when newbies have to actually sit and listen to his ramblings which seem to be less coherent than ever since he no longer seems to be capable of weaving all the various threads he started back to a central point.  But, as it has been mentioned the DVDs are MTV-like sound bites, which is the medium of the day.  There's no way that the modern young generation who has grown up on MTV fast-cuts and video games could ever sit through and endure the endless hours of the most boring and stupid satsang by initiators, Coordinators, Mahatmas, brothers and mothers and wives of the SatGuru and all the other opening acts that lead up to that hour and a half of a sloshed Maharaji.  And think about the YPs attending satsang every night!  No way.

Second, if you look at the Cool Chill (see http://www.coolchill.org) and the rave generation or whatever you want to call it you do see a very tribal movement where people are seeking a shared “together” experience.  And guess what?  Yup, having a father figure or a leader is not at all unheard of.  In fact, it’s almost a prerequisite to the experience.  And that leader or father figure is called the DJ.  (Here’s where Hamzen needs to either help me or discredit my theory.)  The DJ, while not necessarily as reverred as Maharaji, certainly does have a following and a name.  Perhaps, the DJ is not necessarily the centerpiece of the experience but he/she affects it and maybe even controls it to a very large degree.

I think with the possible conditioning from attending raves that YPs might not find attending a slick well produced Maharaji event that alien and disgusting.  I think that YPs are very open to trying the next new thing.  Sure, an evening with Maharaji might not be as exciting as rave, but I suspect if there is a group experience going on in the venue that the YPs will be able to pick up on it and “groove” with it.  Again, it is helpful that Maharaji is no longer giving epic Castro-length diatribes and is instead sticking to short incoherent ramblings.  Perhaps, one reason Maharaji is cutting it so short these days is so that he can quickly get backstage for a smoke.

Also, do not forget or maybe you haven’t seen rave or techno scene poster art and the visuals, but Hindu (e.g. Krishna, Shiva, etc.) images and art are frequently used.

Bottom line for me is that I think Maharaji does have a decent strategy at this point in his game.  Sure, the floodgates will never be as open as they were in the 1970s, but a steady trickle can fill any Malibu swimming pool more reliably than waiting for the once in a century torrent from the sky.