Prem Rawat
Prem Rawat, born in India, is known for having spent more than fifty years touring the world presenting his message of peace, for which he is recognized as an Ambassador of Peace by various institutions. In recent years he has also published two books, & # 34; When the Desert Blooms & # 34; and "Listen to yourself". His Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF The Prem Rawat Foundation) helps him spread his message but also offers social assistance and Peace Education (PEP) courses, which have had a great impact in study centers of all levels, prisons, veterans of war and professional associations in more than seventy countries, on six continents, and translated into thirty-six languages.
Prem Rawat has received numerous awards for his work for peace. such as "Ambassador of peace", and on November 28, 2011 as part of the European Parliament declaration 'Pledge to Peace' for his commitment to promote a message of universal peace and prosperity as the true wealth of humanity.
Prem Rawat –62 years old– celebrated in 2016 the 50th anniversary of the start of his activity. At that time, he was a boy of barely 8 years old, accustomed to addressing the public since he was 4 years old, when he accompanied his father –a respected Master– through the north of India. Prem Rawat traveled from India to Europe and America at the age of 13, and since then he has not stopped lecturing all over the world.
Biography
Prem Pal Singh Rawat was born in Kankhal, near Haridwar (North India), where he spent his childhood. He studied at the Catholic primary school St. Joseph's Academy, in Dehra Dunn. At the age of four he began to speak at the public gatherings of his father, the teacher Hans Ji Maharaj. who taught him meditation techniques at the age of six.
After his father's death in 1966, the young Rawat assumed the role of teacher at the age of eight, teaching students and lecturing throughout northern India.
In the late 1960s, a small group of young hippies urged him to travel to the West, where, they told him, there were others waiting for his teachings. In 1970 many of his new Western students traveled to India to meet him, being present when he announced at a massive rally in India (Delhi) his intention to take the message to the West.
Taking advantage of his school vacations, he traveled on June 17, 1971 to the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. He was interviewed on the BBC and spoke at the first Glastonbury festival, where he returned to give his message of peace. After traveling to Paris and Heidelberg (Germany), on July 17 he flew to Los Angeles starting a tour of cities in the United States where he settled, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1977. He married Californian Marolyn Johnson (marriage to a Westerner caused his family's estrangement) with whom he has four children.
Gradually he was abandoning the religious contents of the Indian tradition who had his father's DLM organization. During the 1970s, Prem continued his speaking tours and his work began to be officially recognized.
He returned to India in October 1980 and since then has continued to give lectures and attend public events in culturally diverse places such as India, Japan, Taiwan, the Ivory Coast, Slovenia and others in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Pacific. Many of these lectures were broadcast regularly via satellite for years and later on television and the Internet.
Teachings
His method is born from the natural need of each individual to find a fulfillment that, according to Prem Rawat, is found by turning the attention towards the interior of each one, providing a constant source of joy and personal satisfaction.
Prem Rawat's teachings come from two sources: personal experience and the lectures he gives.
His method is found in The Keys, a collection of free videos for people interested in learning the techniques of Knowledge. All other written and video materials are available on the Internet. Structured into five programmes, The Keys is the first official compilation made by Prem Rawat.
A new official compilation by Prem Rawat called PEAK (Peace Education Program and Knowledge) was recently released and is freely accessible.
Knowledge as an individual method
According to various scholars, his teachings stem from the sat tradition in northern India, which underestimated rituals and dogmas in favor of seeking an inner experience.
According to this tradition, The center of these teachings rests on a process of self-discovery summarized in this very common phrase in his conferences: "The peace you seek is within you."
Prem Rawat says that through his method of self-knowledge you can achieve an experience of peace, joy and satisfaction. To do this "you have to learn to focus your attention from the outside in".
He maintains that his teaching is universal and that "Knowledge has nothing to do with either India or the United States." Around 1974, the date of his marriage, she began to break with the Indian molds and, according to Andrea Ceigan, his teachings are interpreted in a more universal sense without forgetting the personal aspect. Prem Rawat conceives the method of Knowledge as understanding oneself, as opposed to "knowing" or scientific knowledge about nature.
Language
Prem Rawat does not argue or articulate the different topics on which he speaks, given his spontaneous, colloquial and non-academic language. By not presenting a structured discourse on topics, his statements do not conform to the concepts of true / false or good / bad, which logic or ethics deal with.
According to Ole Grünbaum, Prem Rawat does not speak from a philosophical or intellectual current, nor does it propose normative moral principles, nor does it promote a certain lifestyle.
His thought is closer to aesthetics and vitalism than to normative morality. He often uses repetition, metaphor and similes to explain the values that drive his speech, as well as frequent short stories to illustrate his message.
Ideology
As collected from his lectures, and especially from his latest book "Listen to yourself", Prem Rawat situates the timeless and immutable, in a physical dimension of life; he does not conceive of it as a reality outside of this world. He talks about a physical place within the body where peace can be found.
It is not necessary to do without physical well-being ―which he calls prosperity― nor to renounce material things to obtain the advantages offered by his teachings. There is no incompatibility between the spiritual and the earthly or mundane
The teachings have a human dimension. Another practical aspect of his ideology is the help that his students give him in making his message known to other people. According to Eva Peña, her teaching of peace is a practical teaching because it is about values, not ideas.
Values
According to Andrea Ceigan, Prem Rawat's teachings can produce changes in the value that people have about life, peace and other values related to these. Andrea Ceigan talks about a hierarchy of values that guides us to understand the thought of Prem Rawat. Leading the values that appear in her conferences we have: the desire for fulfillment, appreciation for life takes on more importance than the value of peace itself. The values of identity -the return home-, joy and understanding appear in the same context as peace. Happiness as the fruit of inner peace and Knowledge, simplicity as a factor to find one's own identity in being, mutual help to progress, and thirst as interest and search that leads the student to deepen and to be interested in knowing himself. Although Prem Rawat addresses people as individuals, the values of his teachings are applicable to every human being.
The universal values of personal peace appear in his speech as a counterpoint to violence, due to its ability to reduce the levels of structural violence (competitiveness, violence of power and personal dissatisfaction)
Teaching the value of peace as harmony
Prem Rawat exposes, in his conferences and interviews, the value of peace as a feeling inherent to the human being. He does not speak of political or social peace. The emotional element does not turn their learning -discovery- into something irrational in the sense of absurdity, since it requires reflection and self-criticism in the student, who must assess whether what Prem Rawat teaches is valuable and applicable to their individual life and in their relationship with those around you.
Another aspect of this concept of inner peace is its relationship with the idea of harmony. Emilio Colombo, speaking of values, states that harmony is the spirit of the Law, its foundation; and he distinguishes the social peace derived from the exercise of the law, from harmony as an internal balance and foundation of social peace.
Activities from the year 2000: Social projection
Towards the year 2000 a change is observed in Prem Rawat's activities, not in the content of the message that remains focused on individual peace, but in the forums and institutions in which he is now invited to give lectures, and also for a greater social projection of his message and the humanitarian activity of the Foundation that bears his name. According to Ceigan, her peace message takes on a new dimension because of the number of listeners who hear her lectures.
The reasons for this change seem to be due, according to Ceigan, to a broader audience and a maturity in the generation that listened to him in India and in the West in the 1970s that have now been inserted into the system. The students of that generation are now between 50 and 60 years old.
The discourse of this period includes allusions to a greater responsibility of individuals in the task of peace. Before the Rotarians of Rotary International Worldwide, he explained his concept of success and that if we want to attract peace to others, it must begin with oneself.
In 2001, he created TPRF (The Prem Rawat Foundation: Prem Rawat Foundation) with the aim of providing humanitarian aid to countries in situations of natural disasters. TPRF (Prem Rawat Foundation) started the "Peace Education Program" (PEP) in 2007. This program consists of a series of workshops designed to help people discover both their own resources such as inner strength, the ability to choose and hope, as well as the possibility of personal peace. The PEP has attracted particular attention for its success in maintaining a low recidivism rate for inmates from correctional institutions once they are released. The program had already been followed in 28 prisons in 10 countries, including Australia, Spain, the United States, India, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. In 2015, the documentary about the PEP, 'Inside Peace' Directed by Cynthia Fitzpatrick, it was awarded at six different festivals.
Since 2002, a series of humanitarian aid has been started. On September 12, 2002, she delivered a speech at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2003, she toured various universities: Nova Southeastern in Florida, University of Colorado, Berkeley, University of Salamanca in Spain, Griffith in Australia, and Harvard University.
among other. Since the beginning of the century he has been interviewed on various television channels;
Carmen Posadas in La Razón -June 25, 2004. Marta Robles in Telemadrid in 2007.
On July 7, 2004, he spoke in the Italian Parliament (Conference Hall of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, in Palazzo Marini).
In 2005, at the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations Association of San Francisco, he spoke at a pre-celebration event at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, where the United Nations Charter was signed in 1945 (June 2005). 2005). It is worth noting "The Inner Journey", by CNN journalist Burt Wolf
Between 2005 and 2010, Prem Rawat continued his annual tours of Asia, America and Europe, intensifying her humanitarian and social work through the & # 34; Food for People & # 34; (food for the people) and the "Education for Peace Program" (PEP).
In 2009, Rawat was named an "Ambassador of Peace" for the region of Basilicata in Italy. In 2010, he spoke at the conference & # 34;Words of Peace for Europe & # 34; held in Brussels, invited by Gianni Pittella, Vice President of the European Parliament. In 2011, he spoke again in Brussels at the conference: "Peace and Prosperity." To base the values of the European Union". In September 2012 Rawat was awarded the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in Malaysia, "for his contribution in defending and promoting world peace."
In June 2014, she attended two events in London. In one of these before the UK Parliament, she presented the European Parliament's 2011 Statement of Intent: the 'Peace Pledge', to promote local activities on United Nations Day of Peace on 21 September.. At the second event at The Water and Food Award (WAF) at London's Westminster Hall, Prem Rawat gave the keynote address and together with Princess Basma Bint Ali of Jordan was a patron of this award. WAF recognizes innovations for the improvement of the environment. The award in 2014 was presented to a team from Zimbabwe.
Message
Prem Rawat's message has individual character and social value The corroboration of her work comes from people and institutions, which allows us to understand the importance of her social dimension. In the last biography of Rawat, written by the writer Andrea Cagan (who in the Spanish language translation was baptized "Andrea Ceigan"), favorable statements are collected from individuals who express themselves in a purely personal capacity:
- Helen Disney, president of the “UN Association” (a private association whose real name is “United Nations Association of Australia Inc.”, not directly related to the UN (United Nations Organization) but uses the prestige of that institution as a screen.
- Laurie Salas, former Vice-President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations.
- Mahendra Swarup, executive president of the Times Foundation.
- Paul Mcdonald, executive director of the Australian Economic Development Committee.
- Neil Evans, communications employee at Microsoft Corporation.
- Fernando Mauro Trezza, president of the Brazilian Association of the Community of Television Chains.
- Prof. Ron Geaves, professor at Chester University.
- Manu Leopairote, director of the Thai branch of the APO, president of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand and "permanent secretary of the Ministry of Industry of Thailand" (non-existent shipment).
More statements about Prem Rawat can be read on the book jacket:
- "What fascinates me of Prem Rawat's message is that he speaks of the possibility that every person has to find within himself a peace and happiness that does not depend on circumstances" (Emilio Colombo [1920], former Prime Minister of Italy [1970-1972] and President of the European Parliament [1977-1979].
- "I am deeply impressed by the magnitude of the recognition that Prem Rawat has received all over the world. Millions of people have come to him for inspiration. He has received honors in many cities and has been invited to speak in some of the most prestigious forums» (S. Haribhakti, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.)
- "For the last forty years he has made a constant effort to teach a lesson in peace... he conveys a message of joy to society and that society can put into practice" (Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, vice president of India).
Critical appraisal
An open critical approach to the Language, Ideology and Message of the above sections could be summarized in these sections:
-- Speech and written materials without logical development. That prevents classifying it in a neoplatonic or religious school of thought since transcendental beliefs are not observed. Since his talks deal with contents of conscience, an objective and rationalist assessment of his ideology becomes unfeasible. In his favor it can be said that he uses everyday experiences, through examples, as a starting point for a discursive reflection instead of doing it from moral principles or spiritual beliefs.
-- Non-original teachings. From the "know yourself" Socratic on an evaluative scale, all its intellectual content is found in Western philosophy and Eastern thought. The concept of being, the valuation of existence, the problem of suffering, among other topics, are exposed in a way that is very close to the public in the language of the street.
-- There are no contradictions between his teachings and the practice of his meditation techniques since he does not propose any type of ascetic renunciation or a certain lifestyle to carry them out successfully. Nor is any type of ethics deduced from his talks, be it hedonistic, utilitarian or materialistic.
-- In his audiovisual and written materials, Prem Rawat insists that he is capable of individually displaying what we would call the "Socratic being" through personal experience. This prevents being able to express this experience in words and also being able to verify it objectively. We only have the comments that appear in the section above, "Message".
-- Individual criticism: Since the 1970s he has been criticized for traveling by private plane. Some distrust the sincerity of its content and others state that they have felt manipulated.
He has been criticized for "lack of intellectual content in his public speeches" and for leading an opulent lifestyle. Although Rawat has always stated that he does not offer an intellectual content but a practical one
Prem Rawat has responded summarizing his career in these words:
Until today, people see me as they want to see me. After all, I imagine it is quite inconvenient to see things as they really are. I have evolved, but my message remains the same. On the outside, I've changed, but inside me, that something is still the same.Prem Rawat
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