He’s fooled hundreds of thousands of people, and it’s not cool.
Deception — pretending you’re something you’re not.
I’ve finally come to a full acceptance that Prem Rawat, the person I trusted to guide me on my spiritual journey, who portrayed himself as an enlightened being and insisted on unwavering loyalty from his followers, is actually a fraud.
I hoped for some time it wasn’t true, but now after some recent events, I know too much to keep my eyes or mouth shut.
He’s anything but enlightened and yet continues to masquerade as a great humanitarian and peace ambassador.
I’ll get into some of the facts about his behavior shortly. However, some facts need to be told directly by those who witnessed or experienced some of his deplorable behavior. I hope they speak out when they feel to do so. The world needs to hear the truth.
The funny thing is, I felt something was off a few years after I got involved in his teachings, but I was still blinded by all the hype around him and the hope that he could bring more peace to the world.
Also, in fairness, it was the 1970s. Many of us believed we could end the war in Vietnam, and to some degree, we made a difference. So, when someone comes along and says, I can help bring peace to the world, it wasn’t hard for tens of thousands of mostly young people to get on board that train.
But, when I heard things about Prem’s lifestyle habits, like excessive drinking, red flags went up, and my mind rationalized it as a spiritual test by the master, or “there must be something wrong with me because no one else seems to care.”
I found it hard to stop thinking about what I felt was incongruous — a spiritual leader preaching inner peace and devotion to him by day while knocking back shots of expensive French cognac after dinner night after night.
But I marched on. Trying to convince myself he’s not the problem — I am.
If there’s a takeaway in this article, it might be this: Trust your intuition and do your due diligence.
Our intuition is powerful stuff. It’s programmed to seek authenticity, and when it doesn’t find it, our brain triggers silent alarms that manifest as disturbances in our psyche or stress in our bodies.
I’m talking about a fake spiritual leader here, but deception can come from a lover, a friend, a colleague, or a boss.
My journey down this twisted roller coaster of a ride into the world of spirituality started because I wanted to know my higher self, the life force, god within. Noble aspirations, I would say.
In 1972 I learned how to meditate and discovered a wonderful experience of peace within me. In that sense, the promise he made about inner peace was legit. I still practice one of the techniques I was shown — it works beautifully.
He didn’t invent the techniques he teaches. His teacher handed them to him, and he did nothing, in particular, to be chosen as the new guru when his teacher passed. He was nominated and pushed to the front of the line by a small faction of his teachers’ followers in a power struggle amongst the various contenders.
In the early days, Prem made it clear that if anyone had any experience of inner peace through the techniques, it was because of his blessings. I mean seriously. I believed this crap.
But something happens to you when you repeatedly listen to the same message. It’s called brainwashing.
And tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands throughout the world, drank the Kool-Aid. We were all fooled by the hype promoted by the teacher himself and his close followers, one of which I became.
The hype and deception weren’t about the inner experience of meditation— but convincing his followers the key to enlightenment was through devotion to him. Not many knew what was going on behind the curtain. Those that did were sworn to secrecy.
But this is what was happening behind the curtain: More devotion meant a fatter bank account. The money poured in.
I know because I stood up on more than one stage facing hundreds of loyal followers, encouraging them to go home, empty their piggy banks and send that money in. They did.
I know because I sat in a Holiday Inn airport hotel several times, waiting for trusted couriers to arrive with briefcases full of cash. Literally, over half a million dollars showed up each time.
I know what went on behind part of the curtain because, for four years, I was president of the organization that sponsored his teachings. I worked in his legal and financial affairs office. I saw his multi-million dollar estates, the private jets with advanced avionics, the helicopters, the Rolls Royces, the Bentleys, and way more.
After I became a meditation instructor, traveling the world on his behalf and helping people learn to meditate, I was still troubled by the stories about his excessive use of alcohol, so I asked to have a private meeting with him. He agreed, and when I explained my concern, he didn’t deny it. The first thing he asked me was,” Who told you?”
That was what he cared about — who ratted out his private life that was supposed to be hidden from public view?
How many people would follow a guru with a drinking problem? Not many. Bad for business. Not to mention no one ever saw him practice meditation regularly.
The drinking was just a part of it.
There are well-documented reports by those closest to him about his misogyny, hot temper, degrading treatment of his personal staff, sharp tongue, and other abhorrent behavior.
I’ve seen him humiliate people in public. I’ve talked to friends whom he emotionally abused and heard stories about how he enjoyed getting a laugh by making fun of those around him.
This is not someone I can admire or look up to, which I did in my younger years.
I don’t find him to be a nice man.
Fortunately for me, at age thirty-three, I left after ten years of being in his cult, got married, and started a family. After that, I slowly drifted away. Then, after an online blog came out in 1999, I read more about his lifestyle and behavior in blogs written by his former personal secretary, Michael Dettmers.
It was worse than I could have imagined and continues to worsen as I’ve learned more about how far from goodness he’s gotten.
Sad actually.
But this is all too common a story.
The so-called religious or spiritual leaders — intoxicated by power, money, and idolization, take advantage of those who believe in them but don’t know who they are behind the curtain.
I’d like to see Prem apologize for his lies, deception, and misuse of wealth given to him by people who believed he was honest, moral, and conscientious.
But that’s wishful thinking. We’ll only get more of the same — a whitewashed version of the truth that only brainwashed loyalists will accept.
Those of us who dare to look behind the curtain have to make peace with the fact that we were fooled.
And, to be clear: I’m not looking for sympathy here. I made my choices, and the whole experience, the good, the bad, and the ugly, is my dharma, my path.
I’d like to see people who deceive others pay for their crimes. But, unfortunately, I don’t know if that will ever happen in this case. So all I can do is continue to speak about what I know to be factual.
We don’t need more lies, deception, and greed in the world right now.
We need more peace, love, and kindness, particularly from those in positions of power.
-Don Johnson
First published on Medium.com