Mick,

I suspect that for Jonx and for most other people who currently practice Knowledge, there are two issues: (1) Prem Rawat as either legitimate or cult leader, and (2) the search for enlightenment.  For me, I did not reject Rawatism until I rejected the search for enlightenment itself.  I think that Jonx believes in a certain "real experience" that is beyond all cults. 

I think it is helpful, in order to put Knowledge in its proper historical setting, to read the  teachings of Rawat's father, whose name was Shri Hans.  The tradition of enlightenment that Shri Hans taught most closely followed the tradition originated by Guru Nanak.  Here is a brief, but very helpful description of Knowledge given by Shri Hans:

God is omnipresent and is in you too. Meditating on God is devotion. Anything else you may do is not devotion. The saints and sages meditated within themselves. Remembrance is through focussing your attention, it is not verbal. Close the outer doors and open the inner.

Unbroken devotion to God is possible through the heart, not through the senses. His form is beautiful Light that frees us from all sorrows. Devotion is like a beautiful crown-jewel. The Divine Light shines day and night, needing neither lamp, oil, nor wick. When you know this devotion, you will be purified, you will cross the ocean of existence.

 Holy Name is what I am talking about too. Which Name could dry up the ocean of life and death? This is the Name I am suggesting that you know. It cannot be expressed in alphabetical letters:  Nanak, remember the Name which sustains earth and water. Why remember anything else which has beginning and an end?

If your mind is running all over the place, what you are doing is not meditation. Until you focus your mind in the real devotion (remembering the Name) you will not get salvation.

 People say they have a guru but they do not see Light. If you are not seeing Light then what good is such a guru? The definition of Guru is, he one who reveals Light.

That Divine Light is revealed by the True Master.  The Divine Light is the great purifier. There is no salvation without the Master. Devotion may seem hard in the beginning but it is easier with practice. 

  Meditation is not just closing your eyes. But by going to satsang (the master's discourse), then receiving initiation, you will actually know how to meditate on the Self. So it is freely given and those who do not take it will regret it.  Guru Nanak at one time was a shopkeeper, but his tendency was to give away whatever the customer asked for. I am also freely giving this Knowledge. At first I used to refuse, even when asked. Then one year, during the Diwali festivities, I noticed that even though one lamp was used to light many others, its flame did not get dimmer. From then on I began to spread this Knowledge. The more I give, the more it grows. So remember the Name more and more and whosoever wants Knowledge may come and get it.

The techniques that Shri Hans showed, and which Rawat shows, includes the Inner Light and the Holy Name.  Rawat no longer uses the term Holy Name.  Instead he uses the term "breath."  But today, his students still meditate on the inner light and the holy name (so- hung).  They spend years trying to deepen their experience of enlightenment, even though they do not call it enlightenment.    Rawat calls it fulfillment, or peace.

For people such as Jonx, the questions remain: (1) is Rawat a true master or a cult leader? and (2) is there such a thing as enlightenment and should I spend my life's energy pursuing it?

I personally made the decision, after more than twenty years of searching for enlightenment, that it was a futile search and even a harmful, inhuman way to live a human life.  I then gave up both enlightenment and Rawatism.  Then, shortly afterwards, I discovered EPO and found out a lot of new information and determined that Rawat is a cult leader and not a legitimate master.

What premies experience is some warm fuzzies, both during meditation and during their times adoring Rawat in person or listening attentively as he speaks his monologues.  These types of warm fuzzies can be experienced in a number of different ways, all of which are used routinely by all human beings.  However, there is no such thing as enlightenment or complete fulfillment or peace with every breath.  That belief is just one of the many silly religious beliefs that people have always believed in, and continue to believe in.  People will be better off as human religion declines.

Rawat is a cult leader, but not a dangerous one, because his teaching is relatively easy to see through for the fake teaching that it is.  He will always be a very minor player on the world stage.  There are more dangerous cults out there.  True knowledge and understanding is the only way for the human family to find peace and harmony.