Hi Jerry,I think that what's really happening with these people is a middle way between beng 'freaks' and 'that evil'. As you can see from the papal funeral it is quite possible for one person to deeply move millions (especially if he's the head of a religion) while leaving others untouched. For the 'passagers' Rawat is that person and it's quite possible for them to adore him because of their personal historical reasons without being freaks.
On the other hand they are nearly certainly exaggerating the intensity of their feelings except possibly for Joan Apter who after all on the evidence of her testimony in 'Who is Guru Maharaji' was a really strange and bi-polar young woman. They have got into the habit over 30 years of using very emotive language to talk about what are just the normal experiences of any reasonably religious person. It is also quite possible for people to forget what they believed or felt 30 years before especially when they are in a group like Elan Vital without necessarily being conscious of their self deception.
I'm sure they were particularly proud and joyful to be called upon to give their testimony and at the time of being filmed were probably overflowing with happiness and gratitude to Rawat.
The video was undoubtedly made to shore up the troops - to allow the premies outside of the what they imagine is the magic, inner circle to model their attitudes on those being expressed in the video. I may be getting Passages mixed up with another video but I recall scenes of Rawat being "interviewed" in a car "lightheartedly" explaining the "premie mistakes" of the 70s.
