First of all, I can't stand that woman, Gangaji.  The fact that you can even tolerate her says a lot to me.  Sick, sick, sick.  No human being has any right answering to "Beloved" the way she does.  She represents the Beloved as much as a stick in the mud does.

Ghi, (I will call you Ghi since you hide your identity behind clarified butter as if you are frightened of something), you strike me as a Seeker of Comfort rather than a Seeker of Truth.  Who cares if you ride some kind of high?  Highness comes in a variety of forms and not all of them lead to anything other than comfort.   Anybody who cares about truth would be so frustrated with Elan Vital that their mind would boggle every time they read their site.  And only blind faith can provide the kind of cushion that premies allow Rawat to keep between him and his organizations throughout the years. 

What about the Keys, Ghi?  Surely you understand already what they contain, every bit as well as I do.  What IS Knowledge?  I mean to ask what is unique about Knowledge that is not just normal life?   It's normal to feel all the positive things that premies feel.  What is unique to the system called Knowledge is that it depends upon a relationship with Rawat as the master.  That is the one and only thing that really defines Knowledge as the Keys teach it.  And that is the reason for all the duplicity surrounding the presentation of Knowledge to the public.  This is the big question.  Do we beocme lit by a lit master?  The answer is no.  Rawat is no more lit than any other normal human being.  He just thinks he is.

So we might as well define the situation correctly.  The difference between practicing premies and everybody else is that they accept the concept of a living Master and believe Rawat when he claims to be it.  It serves no purpose whatsoever to whitewash this question away by saying that Rawat is "inspirational."  If Rawat himself believed himself to be merely "inspirational" than there would be no problem, no controversy, and I for one would simply walk away.  No matter how much the premies try to be uncultish they will never succeed escaping cultism because Rawat is the very essence of a cult leader.

Now, I assume you disagree with me.  Fine.  But let's at least acknowledge our disagreement correctly.

One other thing, though.  You speak of the Self.  You say:  "I find that feeling clearer, experiencing ‘connectivity’ and oneness with the Self and life happens the more I trust this Knowledge and experience it."  This is the very thing that I rejected before I rejected Rawatism.  Oneness with the Self is a phrase that should not be used until and unless a person really means it, and I doubt anyone who uses it.  One should use a phrase that can be understood as less than God realization, perhaps self-understanding and self-acceptance.  But even if we grant that you enjoy such a state, I must still object to the fact that you attribute such a state to trusting in Knowledge.  I would say, rather, than such a state comes despite a trust in Knowledge.  What I think is the accuracte statement is this:  "I feel peace the more I trust in the inherent goodness of myself." 

I don't know if I am making sense to anybody reading here who is still a premie.  I think they will read everything I have to say and then reply: "Well, all I know is that Knowledge works for me and I'm quite happy with it."  And I will have to shrug my shoulders in the same way I shrug my shoulders at people who love Christ exclusively or love Allah exclusively.  What can you say?!

You say: "Keeping things honest and real, while appreciating the experience of Knowledge, somehow protects the heart from believing what is not possible. This may sound insensitive."  No, it sounds cultish.    If there is an experience that transcends all religiion then it will certainly transcend Rawat's version as well.   That truth just seems so obvious.  And no, we are not mad and disappointed because our false expectations were never met -  (that does sound both insensitive and quite condenscending) - We are mad at the lies and the continuing lies that masquerade as truth.  This is quite infuriating.

One last thing.  Can't you see that the truth always manifests itself in a way that is beautiful and that we human beings have the grace to be able to appreciate beauty and truth?  It is always something that we can be proud of and totally open about.  Will a message of truth ever be as manipulative and secretive as Rawat is when he attempts to spread his message?    Rawat is manipulative and secretive in many, many ways.  If you don't know this, then your head is in the sand.  One example:  speaking of the purity of the breath onstage and then going backstage and smoking a Marlboro.  Is this an example of the beauty of truth?  If you would like more examples, we will be happy to supply them.  My point here is not about the hazards of smoking but about the public relations problem that Rawat has and will always have.  There is good reason for that.

I will conclude with a friendly note that you are certainly one of the nicest premies to have ever posted here.  If my words are harsh, they do not convey any animosity because I certainly have none toward you.