Word: maharaj
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...theme--that of the religious group known at Harvard as the Divine Light Mission. An array of framed photographs of a baby-faced 15-year-old guru smiles out at visitors, inviting them to tap a superfocused sunlight within each individual: the religion of the perfect spiritual master Guru Maharaj...
...Guru Maharaj Ji is but the latest in a long line of perfect spiritual masters, tracing back over centuries, who have kept alive the Divine Light. He "received Knowledge" from the previous perfect master, his father, at the age of six, and became a perfect master at eight, two days after his father died. His perfection lies ostensibly with his complete detachment from worry for his physical being, and the constant flow of love and peace from him to others and back again...
...whole thing is so improbable that present believers retain vivid memories of their reactions upon first learning of the religion. "A guy in my Ec 10 section said one day that I ought to look into the Guru Maharaj Ji," Chadwick said early this month as he sat eating lunch in Winthrop House. "I said he was crazy." Nevertheless, Chadwick agreed to attend a Sat-sang--a regularly held introductory meeting--shortly afterwards. "I thought the people didn't believe in a word they said," he continued. "I didn't relate to it, that hocus pocus about a Divine Light...
Inner light is not the only sensation felt by followers of Maharaj Ji. The second commandment on Chadwick's poster--"Constant Meditation...and remember the Name"--refers to the Holy Name, a subtle vibration felt during meditation throughout the body. With practice, harmonious chords can also fill the ear, and a taste of "nectar" may appear in the mouth. And besides receiving "Knowledge" in these four forms, the believer loses subservience to repressed desires. "You can get rid of your unconscious mind," Chadwick said. "What are we prisoners of? Our unconscious. We [people who "have Knowledge"] don't suppress...
Over 45,000 Americans have received Knowledge at the present time, as compared to the six individuals in the whole country who had seen the light just a year and 11 months ago. The Guru Maharaj Ji's worldwide following now numbers over six million, with the bulk of it concentrated in India, followed in Western countries by Great Britain and the United States. The religion is, in Chadwick's words, "chameleonlike" in nature. In communist countries, the Divine Light mission operates as the "Raj-Yoga Academy"; in Third World and European countries it acts as a church...