Prem Pal Singh Rawat also called Maharaji, (formerly called Guru Maharaj Ji) is a speaker and teacher on the subject of "inner peace", and says that he is able to offer a practical way to experience it.[3][4] He calls his method "Knowledge" which primarily consists of four meditation techniques.[5] Rawat describes it as a way to take "all your senses that have been going outside all your life, turn them around and put them inside to feel and to actually experience you".[6] Born in Haridwar, North India on 10 December 1957, Rawat was initiated in the techniques of "Knowledge" by his father when he was six years old and succeeded him when he died in 1966, being accepted by his father's followers as their satguru (Sanskrit: true teacher) or "Perfect Master" at his father's funeral.[7][8] He thereby became the recognized leader of the Divine Light Mission (DLM) that was started by his father and began taking his message to people throughout the Indian subcontinent.[9] In 1971 he was invited to speak in London and Los Angeles and attracted substantial media attention that focused on his age and the claims of his followers. In 1972 he began touring the world talking about inner peace and teaching Knowledge.[10] His marriage to a Westerner in 1974 precipitated a family rift and Rawat's mother and his eldest brother Sat Pal, returned to India.[11][12] Rawat remained in the West and in the 1980s he changed the style of his message and relinquished the Hindu tradition, beliefs, and most of its original eastern religious practices.[13]Rawat continued to tour extensively in the 1980s and 1990s, most often at the controls of a series of executive jets leased for his use.[14] According to The Prem Rawat Foundation which he established in 2001, Rawat continues to promote a means to achieve a lifelong, individual experience of inner peace,[15] and that he believes that "it is only by individuals finding peace for themselves can the world be at peace". Starting in 2001, he has been invited to address various institutions on the subject of peace,[16] and has, through the Prem Rawat Foundation, spearheaded various humanitarian initiatives.
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