Hi again Cynthia. The way I see it is that Maharaji has the ability to show you and remind you of the power within you. Even if you think Maharaji is deceitful, that doesn't change whether or not you have that power within you. My experience is that there definitely is a power within - whatever you want to call it, the power of love, a guiding light, peace, whatever you want to call it - it can be difficult to believe sometimes that peace, love, etc., lie within if you are not experiencing it, but when you experience it, you know it's there. You don't have to believe in Maharaji to experience it. But Maharaji is always talking about it, so at the very least, he is reminding people about it. If Maharaji reminded someone about that power within, and that person consequently became very interested in some other way of experiencing it (say, for example, Buddhism, or Yoga, or whatever) rather than following Maharaji, I would regard that as something very positive, to which Maharaji would have contributed. I follow Maharaji because for me he is by far the best at showing me and reminding me how to experience that inner power. Someone else may find a way that suits them better. Or some people may see things completely differently and think all this talk about a power within is rubbish - that's their choice and their right to see things their way. But for anyone who is open to the possibility that there is a power within each one of us, Maharaji, at the very least, is reminding us about it. And, for ME, he does it in a very good way. For ME (maybe not for everyone), he is a very good teacher.
I never lived in an ashram, Cynthia, but I received knowledge in 1974, so I remember the ashrams well, and I was active in my premie community(s) back in the days there were actual communities - yes.
