Nowhere in that preface is the word "God" even mentioned. Perhaps you should carefully read my initial reply to Jim in this thread - "Re: A Question for GOK---godonlyknows (Thu, Oct 21, 2004, 11:14:42)" - including the following which I will repeat for your benefit:

Personally I have never heard Maharaji saying that he is "God", I don't recall him ever saying that he is "God" either in the 1970s or since then. I think I recall him in the 1970s saying that he ISN'T "God" (though my memory about that could be faulty), and I definitely heard him say more recently that he definitely ISN'T "God".

I have noticed that there is a lot of confusion about this on this board, because a lot of people here seem to conflate and confuse various different terms - such as "God", "the Lord", "Saviour", "Messiah", "Satguru", "Avatar", "divine", etc., as if these concepts are all more or less synonymous - which they most definitely are not; and as if these concepts are all very simple and easily understood - which they most definitely are not.

And I also said:

But don't worry, I'm not going to argue that black is white. I have been around since 1974, I listened a lot to Maharaji, and attended a lot of events, and read a lot of "Divine Light" magazines, and other magazines, in the 1970s, and I understand the general point you are making...

... In the 1980s Maharaji decided to stop using words with religious and spiritual connotations, and has tried to make his message simpler. I can see various possible reasons why he decided to do that, including, as I have already suggested, it makes his message much simpler. All the religious and spiritual concepts mean different things to different people - and for many people they have negative connotations (and I don't think Maharaji wants to exclude these people - e.g agnostics, perhaps - from receiving Knowledge). And they can be difficult and confusing concepts: I mean, what do YOU mean by words such as "God", or "Lord" or "divine", or "Guru"? Is it the same as my understanding of these concepts? Does someone living in, for example, Japan have the same understanding of these labels as someone, for example, living in Ghana, or England, or Israel? Does someone who is, for example, a Christian have the same understanding of these concepts as someone who is, for example, a Buddhist, or a Hindu, or a Humanist, or a New Ager, etc, etc, etc.

So Maharaji has quite intelligently dropped using such terms. And he has always made the point that Knowledge cannot fit neatly into any concept or label. The experience of Knowledge is the experience of something which existed before words existed. It is not something which can be properly understood through intellectual understanding alone. When you taste a mango, then you understand what a mango tastes like.

But what people here on this board seem to forget, or misunderstand, is that Maharaji's message has not changed. It is only the presentation of the message that has changed. Maharaji has never said that he is merely a "humanitarian leader" (or something like that). Perhaps other people have said that about him, but Maharaji has never said that.