Divine Light Mission

The Divine Light Mission (DLM) was one of the better known of the new religious movements that received attention during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, particularly in the United States. The movement originated in India in 1960, led by Guru Shri Hans Ji Maharaji, but was promoted in the United States and other Western nations by his youngest son, Guru Maharaj Ji, whose Indian name was Prem Rawat. Maharaj Ji assumed leadership of the movement when he was 8 years old, after the death of his father, but actual leadership rested with his mother, with whom he had many conflicts before breaking with her and traveling to the United States and United Kingdom at the age of 13 to establish the DLM in those and other Western nations.

The DLM achieved considerable success for a time, especially in Western nations, and at its prime, it was operating in 37 countries and established several hundred centers and ashrams for its participants. The DLM attracted considerable media attention through the large numbers of young people who joined and attended its festivals, which were a major way by which the organization raised funds necessary for its operations. Participants were called premies—the designation for those who had received the special knowledge associated with joining the movement. The movement also attracted some well-known people, inducing them to become followers, at least for a time. Among them was Rennie Davis, one of the famous defendants in the Chicago Seven trial, who was in charge of one major festival that took place in Houston's Astrodome in 1973. This festival was not successful and left the DLM with a large debt that took years to pay off and resulted in severe restructuring of the organization.

[Page 308]Further problems arose for the movement when in 1974 Mahari Ji married his secretary, a non-Indian, which was against his teaching of celibacy and also very upsetting to his mother as well as many followers. Many followers left the movement, and the decline of the DLM became noticeable, with a majority of the followers leaving during the late 1970s. What remained of the DLM in the Western nations became quite Westernized under the leadership of Prem Rawat. The organization's name was changed in 1983 to Elan Vital, and it continued to operate in a limited way using this designation. The DLM does exist in India, with the organization being headed by the eldest brother of Prem Rawat, Satpal Rawat.

The DLM attracted attention from the Anti-Cult movement and even some governments, with many accusations of “brainwashing” and “mind control” being made, based in part on the dramatic behavior changes observed sometimes in members of the movement. Those living in the ashrams were expected to practice celibacy and abstain from alcohol and meat. A number of “deprogrammings” of participants occurred during the time of the DLM's prominence in the media, but attacks against the DLM faded as the movement itself started to decline.