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The Guru: Perceptions of American Devotees of the Divine Light Mission
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2014
Abstract
A common feature of many Eastern religious groups which have found a foothold in Western society is the presence of a charismatic guru around whom belief and devotion can be centered. This study examines one such religious leader, Guru Maharaj Ji of the Divine Light Mission. Attention is directed towards the nature of the guru in the eyes of his followers, the task and mission both assumed by him and attributed to him, and the devotional or worshipful aspect exhibited by the devotees. The ambivalent figure of this guru and the possible crises of the Mission, namely, the question of the sucession of the guru and the youthful age of Maharaj Ji, are deemed important enough to influence the future course of the Divine Light Mission and the role the guru will play in its life.
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References
1 See especially the following works: Zaretsky, Irving I. and Leone, Mark P. (eds.). Religious Movements in Contemporary America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974)Google Scholar, Glock, C. Y. and Bellah, R. N. (eds.), The New Religious Consciousness (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976)Google Scholar, and Needleman, Jacob and Baker, George (eds.), Understanding the New Religions (New York: Seabury Press, 1978).Google Scholar
2 Glock and Bellah's recent study on religious consciousness, quoted above, includes one essay on the Divine Light Mission, but this was written by a member of the Mission and supplies practically no information which a good researcher could not have learned in a short time. Downton's, James V. new book, Sacred Journeys; the Conversion of Young Americans to the Divine Light Mission (New York: Columbia University Press, 1979)Google Scholar was not yet available to the author of this paper when this study was being made.
3 This is imparted for the first time by Guru Maharaj Ji himself, or by someone appointed by him, during a private initiation ceremony. The devotee's religious life revolves around this experience which, according to the Divine Light Mission, is quite indescribable.
4 The literature published by the Mission contains numerous comparisons between Guru Maharaj Ji and the founders of the great religions. This implicit theology of religions merits examination on its own.
5 One should observe that some literature is reserved only for those who have been formally initiated. Members of the Mission argue that this literature can be properly understood only by those who have received Knowledge.
6 See, for example, Hinnells, John R. and Sharpe, Eric J. (eds.), Hinduism (Birmingham, U.K.: Oriel Press, 1972), p. 21.Google Scholar William Cenkner gives a lengthier treatment on this point in his article, “The Guru: Contemporary Religious Educator,” Living Light, 14 (197): 529–43.Google Scholar
7 Cf., Walker, Benjamin, The Hindu World (New York: Praeger, 1968), vol. 1, pp. 419–20.Google Scholar The exalted place of the guru is also expressed in ritual practice; see for instance, Basu, B. D. (ed.), The Sacred Books of the Hindus (Allahabad: Indian Press, 1918), vol. 20Google Scholar, The Daily Practice of the Hindus, pp. 9-11.
8 The description of the guru, of the nature and mission of Guru Maharaj Ji, and of the devotional attitudes of his followers given in the following pages are often expressed in terms used by the devotees themselves. References to the literature published by the Divine Light Mission are supplied only when quotations are given or when the importance of the matter warrants it.
9 And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 10, p. 25.Google Scholar (Note: And it is Divine is the magazine published by the D.L.M. from their headquarters in Denver, Colorado.) The basis of this interpretation may stem from one of the Upanishads, namely the Advaya tāraka Upanishad, where the syllables “gu” and “ru” are said to mean “darkness” and “dispeller” respectively. Cf., Margaret, and Stutley, James, Harper's Dictionary of Hinduism (New York: Harper and Row, 1977), p. 107.Google Scholar
10 And it is Divine, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 31ff.Google Scholar
11 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 10, p. 38.
12 Cameron, Charles (ed.), Who is Guru Maharaj Ji (New York: Bantam Books, 1973), p. 86.Google Scholar
13 And it is Divine, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 48.Google Scholar
14 Ibid., cf., also vol. 2, no. 12, p. 51.
15 Ibid., vol. 1, no. 10, p. 26.
16 And it is Divine, vol. 2, no. 8, p. 10.Google Scholar
17 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 2, p. 36.
18 Who is Guru Maharaj Ji? pp. 105, 108. And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 43.Google Scholar
19 Who is Guru Maharaj Ji? ix; cf. idem., p. 9.
20 And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 24.Google Scholar
21 Who is Guru Maharaj Ji? pp. 29-30.
22 And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 43.Google Scholar
23 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 2, p. 46.
24 Ibid., vol. 1, no. 12, p. 51.
25 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 2, p. 50.
26 Cf., for example, And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, pp. 43, 70 and vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 41, 70.Google Scholar
27 Who is Maharaj Ji? p. 84.
28 Ibid., p. 83.
29 Ibid., p. 84.
30 And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 8.Google Scholar
31 Who is Guru Maharaj Ji? pp. 16ff.
32 Ibid., p. 29.
33 Song entitled “Hand me down my walking cane” which is included in the album The Lord of the Universe published by Shri Hans Records, Divine Light Mission, Denver.Google Scholar
34 Who is Guru Maharaj Ji? p. 14.
35 And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 22.Google Scholar
36 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 9, pp. 4, 20.
37 Ibid., vol. 3, no. 2, p. 50.
38 Who is Guru Maharaj Ji? p. ix.
39 And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 24.Google Scholar
40 Ibid., p. 51.
41 Ibid., p. 41. This same attitude of adoration is expressed vividly in ARTI, a devotional prayer sung to Guru Maharaj Ji first thing in the morning in the Ashram and in the evening after satsang.
42 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 2, p. 33.
43 Glock, and Bellah, , New Religious Consciousness, p. 341.Google Scholar
44 And it is Divine, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 43.Google Scholar
45 Cf., Ibid., vol. 1, no. 10, p. 55.
46 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 8, p. 36.
47 Ibid., vol. 2, no. 2, p. 50.
48 Ibid., p. 33.
49 See For Your Inspiration. The Premie Newsletter from International Headquarters, August, 1975.