One of the keys to understanding the whole K and M situation IMO is to see Maharaji as a human, with the whole array of human emotions, not as some incomprehensible entity. To see him as an arch-fiend would remove him from the orbit of human make-up and perpetuate a whole bizarre and impenetrable mystique.

There's a strong tendency amongst some ex-premies to see Rawat & his trip in terms of religion. That is understandable. It was after all supposed to be about God, once upon a time, but trying to understand the real man in those terms is ultimately fruitless, when one considers the claims made by him in the past. On even the little which is known about the historical Jesus Christ, there is simply no comparison, yet the claim was made that Rawat was in some ill defined way an inheritor of his 'power'.

Looking at other authoritarian leaders about which a great deal is known, is a much more useful way of putting him into some sort of perspective. Of those which I know something about, Mussolini strikes me as being the most apposite, though that's more to do with the structure of his organisations than anything else. The same basic imprint comes through however. The bombastic public front, the love of luxury kept hidden, the micro management of organisations which in theory he had no control over. I could go on & on.

Comparing him to John Gotti is pretty much on the nose too, I would think.

Saying that people who see the man in those sort of terms is making him an 'incomprehensible entity', is way off the mark.

Unfortunately he's all too comprehensible, & becoming more easily understood by the day.