In the summer of 1976, Michael Dettmers said to me, “The only way to access Maharaji is through Bob Mishler, and that doesn’t sit well with me.” Dettmers had his own ideas about how things should be done. He had a vision of Maharaji as a humanitarian world leader. That was the thinking that prevailed for a period of time. So essentially, there was something of a power struggle between Michael Dettmers and Bob Mishler, who was taken from being the overall Chief Executive to simply being the head of North American Operations. Obviously, that didn't sit well with Mishler at all.
Jon Knight
First of all, according to Mishler's own words, Mishler wanted to try to get Maharaji to stop playing God and come out as a person instead of a deity, partly because the ashram residents were being damaged by what Rawat was doing. So, it would seem that Mishler and Dettmers actually agreed on that. Where was the "power struggle?"
Second, if Dettmers wanted to turn Rawat into a "humanitarian world leader," why was it that Mishler was "demoted," and why did Rawat have Dettmers in charge of everything for the next 10 years, until Dettmers left both the position and the cult?
Finally, isn't "humnitarian world leader" exactly the image of Rawat TPRF is currently trying to project?
As I said, Jon Knight sounds very confused. Maybe he needs more experience of internal peace.