Rawat is vague about pretty much anything he can get away with being vaugue about - he doesn't offer anything more than the minimum that he's forced to, to achieve his own ends.

His early mission was defined by his father's inheritance - in that he was 'satguru' - and all other Guru's were false. The parable of the 'ants and snake' was frequently told ( Guru is out walking with disciples - they come across a hoard of ant's attacking a snake -the Guru says  "There, that snake was a false guru in his last life - and the ants were his disciples").

When Rawat found the religious stuff was a constriction on his own life, he didn't think through the consequences of the changes he made when dumping (IMO he basically didn't care) For the old time premies the snake and ants ethos still applies - they just don't mention it, but of course if Rawat isn't religious, isn't  'the one' - he has to acknowledge (just occasionaly) that there are other 'teachers'. But Rawat isn't interested in what they teach - only in dealing with them  as an unwanted distraction from the focus being on him.

It's not true to say the Rawat 'avoids' mantras - the words 'so hung' were formerly offered as an assistance with concentration in practicing the breath technique - although this is no longer the case. Again IMO, Rawat would happily give up selling the meditation as part of his schtick if he could hang on to his following and keep the income stream bubbling through. There's no sign he has ever used the meditation himself and I don't think he believes in it as anything more than part of his product range of  'TV Dinner' enlightenment.