I was looking to see if I had a copy of the Glen Whittaker version of events re. the 70s when I came across the attached file. It's the beginning of a transcript of the Nottingham "30th anniversary" event that I did a year or two ago but never got round to finishing.

You're welcome to add it to the collection, if you see fit.

Cheers,
Chris

PS - I found the following via the "waybackmachine". Is it the piece that Glen wrote?

Did Maharaji ever say he was God?

No, Maharaji never at any time claimed to be God. As an Indian national, when Maharaji first started teaching in the west when he was 13 years old, he used many examples from eastern traditions which demonstrated that a student seeking fulfillment could do so by choosing to follow the teachings of a guru or master. As he matured he realized that western traditions put a very different emphasis on the idea of guru and wrongly attributed messianic labels in this process. He changed his language to use the term master only and gradually removed all Indian associations from his teaching, as this is not a path just for Indians but is something that is available for anyone regardless of color, religion or race. It is acknowledged that many people at the time were already looking for a messianic type figure. That Maharaji was not such a figure disappointed some people.

He recollects: “I remember coming to the West and talking to people. Some had the idea that once you attained this ‘high’ state of being, you would become super-human. You would be in a perpetual state of peace with no confusion in your life, ever. Even at my very young age, I understood that this was not the way it was supposed to be.”

“Knowledge is about having a passion for life, falling in love with life. It is about making a continuous effort to learn and grow. It is not meant to take you away from all the experiences of living, it is about accepting and enjoying what it really means to be alive. It's true that I can help people feel something that is beautiful, something that exists inside them. I consider it a gift. But, to become above it all - I have never pursued that, nor do I want to. This is one of those bizarre things. When people saw me at that time, they really didn't understand what it was all about.”

Has Maharaji changed what he is teaching?
Maharaji has been teaching since he was eight years old. Naturally, over the years his appearance has changed, how he expresses himself has changed and his methods of presenting his message have changed. However the message itself has never changed. What he is saying now is no different from what he has always said:

“In essence, the message is the same as taught by many others before me - that which you are looking for lies within you. To me, the divine lives in my heart as the divine lives in everyone’s heart. That's how simple it is.”