Ever seen people after a Billy Graham stadium event?  How about after a Tupperware Convention?  An EST training session?  How about one of those "Encounter Jesus" weekends?  Did you see the movie, "Saved?"

Group highs, and the relief/joy you get by having your belief system reinforced, and to be reassured that it really is real, is nothing new, or unusual.  Anybody, pretty much, can do that.  But the question is, how much does it cost (financially and otherwise) to have that kind of a weekend and belief system, and what about these peoples' real, day-to-day lives? 

And what if you are in a group event like that, and you don't really like it, you don't seem to be "experiencing" what "everyone" else is?  What if you are really bored stiff, or kind of bothered by the seeming willingness of people to resort to worship of a human being?  What if you think Rawat's jokes are just stupid?  What do you do then?  Where do you go?  Who can you talk to about it?  Probably, you blame yourself, because that is the cornerstone of Rawatism.  Everything good, including a group high, or whatever, is due only to Prem Rawat, and we should be so grateful to him and we need to know that it is all (all the good stuff that is, never the bad), is due to his love.  There is no other source, whatsoever in getting the program high.

Any other experience that is less than blissful is your own, damn fault, you ignorant, miserable, usesless, "in-your-mind" human being!!!  How dare you not appreciate, be grateful to, and LOVE, Prem Rawat!!  Look at all he has done for you.

Something about all of that just doesn't seem healthy, or life-affirming, or conducive to "growth," I don't think.

I got dragged to one by the relatives I was visiting. A Rawat "inspirational" meeting is like dinner theatre compared to that. People was a praisin and a hootin and speakin in tongues. Hal-le-lu-yah! The first preacher told us all how he had a vision from God that Michael Jackson was the genuine triple six antichrist, but the highlight of the occasion was when Eddie Cochran, ex CC Rider drug addict rocker become preacher did his singing ministry. At the end they asked who was ready to reborn in jaysus and suddenly one of the people who I came with and happened to be sitting next to me stood up. I was so embarassed that I started to pray to jaysus to get me the hell out of there. Oh Jaysus, please, make this not be happening. I'm sorry I didn't brush my teeth this morning, I swear I'll never do it again! But please, just make that person sitting next to me sit back down on her goddamn ass again!

But actually now that you mention it, the first time I saw Rawat at a program I felt exactly the way you are describing. I felt totally alienated by the group hysteria and Rawat actually scared me. Had I only listened to my own "heart" at that point and ran out screaming.

Hey, you haven't started selling Tupperware have you? When are you coming to Berlin anyway?

Fond regards,

A couple of kids in my neighborhood got my brother and me to go to one of those Christian revival things.  We thought it was a concert.  Anyhow, I was not only freaked and embarrassed, I was afraid I might accidently stand up and have to go up to the front and "accept Jesus into my heart."  That would have been bad enough, but I was about 10 and a good Catholic kid going to Catholic School and we were taught from the Baltimore chatechism that it was a sin, or close to it, to attend religious services of another religion.  [The nuns even told us it was wrong to belong to the YMCA!!]

I also was freaked by my first Rawat event, too.  But the thing was, it was really the people, the premies I loved, not Rawat.  There were a lot of really cool, sincere premies and I felt accepted by them.  So, when I got freaked by the way the premies were worshipping Rawat as God and getting all hyped about it, they supported me afterwards and I got through it.  Yes, I should have trusted by own, initial gut feelings.  So much for trusting your own "experience," right?

But by the last couple of years in the cult, I always felt that way at Festivals.  I just no longer "got it."  I couldn't relate. 

Years later, when I saw Rawat at a program in SF that I just went to to see how I would react, (and this was supposed to be an intro event) and I was completely creeped out at the way the premies still looked at him gaga, as the Lord, just like I remembered.  It was when Rawat started on his gratuitious rant about how confused and out of it the "people of the world" were that I got offended and walked out.   That's when I really saw the faces of the premies and got permanently grossed out, with full confirmation that I had done the right thing in getting out of that cult when I did.

We would love to come to Berlin, and it is still on the schedule for late Spring, but, as you know, the US dollar, thanks to the brilliant economic policies of Junior, is dropping through the toilet as we speak.  So, we kind of have to re-evaluate our plans, so, we'll see.  Would love to see you.

I went to one of those "Roller" meeting once. My chiropractor invited me. After the formal service, a service replete with spontaneous duck calls from one of the ladies in the audience and an interpretation thereof by a gentlemen, my chiro invited half the congregation to lay hands on me that my back might be healedeth.

This one old fart just about broke my neck leaning into me, I had to get healed real soon before serious damage set in. So I started hammidy yammidy'ing it up a bit myself. It's easy if you have an ear for it and don't stutter. Or maybe it's better if you do stutter.