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This food-aid help is a total 180 degree about-face from the historical Rawat cult line on the subject of legit charity.
Rawat (and his instructors) used to say - when asked why he (and they) didn't
support charitable efforts, such as feeding the poor - that "if you
feed a poor man today, he'll just be hungry again tomorrow." But if
you give him "the Knowledge," then he'll enjoy that the rest of his
life. (Also, this standard cult 'party line' was used in response to
questions about why people gave money to Rawat, or criticisms regarding
why millions of dollars in contributions were constantly being diverted
for his own material luxuries and personal use, such as Rolls Royces, jet planes, and mansions.)
Of course, the obvious underlying contradiction was always this: if the
poor person with K dies of starvation, then he wouldn't enjoy the K
very long.
So, guess Prem just needed some positive p.r., for a change. It's all
about appearances, and marketing the spin - like any cult, or wily
politician. Just like the "new Nixon": the "new Maharaji," er Guru Maharaj ji, oops, er Prem Rawat, humanitarian motivational speaker. Also, he's been looking bad over the years, compared to his big brother, Satpal, in the Rawat guru-voodoo mafia clan - especially in the charity department.
"Prem - It's real Ham!" Same old Prem.
...Wondering if this operation serves meat, too - since Prem himself eats meat, after all. Those Indian premies should know the truth about their 'master.' Similarly, do they serve cognac with these meals, and hand out chillums, too?
Modified by Mick at Fri, Mar 24, 2006, 18:36:52
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that another reason to not waste resources on pointless charitable gestures was that those resources were needed for the real work of building the Golden Age. Rainbow Groceries would feed the world; Divine Sales would provide the world with all the shampoo, suits and trenchcoats needed; Divine Jumbling would recycle waste goods; Divine Motors would provide the world with transport; Divine Publications would print all the news fit to print (ie the latest darshan story); the WPC would make the world a safer place (not that there would be any need for security, since there would be no crime); the premie carpenters, in their spare time from building Rawat's throne at festivals and extensions to his mansions, would house and shelter the world (in geodesic domes); the Divine Bands would provide all the music anyone could ask for; the premie masseurs, healers and herbalists would remedy the small residue of illness in a world where everybody was constantly in that place; and as if all this were not enough to satisfy everyone's wildest dreams, rawat's satsang would be constantly available on radio and TV channels everywhere. With the Lord himself incarnated specifically to guide all this re-building, who in their right minds would want to waste time, energy and (especially) money on pointless little projects like helping folks in need? rgj
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"....Divine Sales would provide the world with all the ..... trenchcoats needed...."How TRUE! Gawd do I remember that! How in the heck, rjg, did you happen to remember that? Only a divine salesman could possibly have noted that...... LOL LOL
Modified by NAR at Wed, Mar 29, 2006, 17:58:03
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Well, if this is really true, I think it's pretty impressive, given his track record of charitable promises and zero delivery (remember DUO?). 1,000 meals a day? Who is paying for them, Rawat?
He must have had some pangs of guilty conscience about the obscene amount of wealth he has amassed when others less fortunate in his homeland starve.
I'll bet the interest off his successful investments (thanks to all of us) is enough to pay for this without his ever suffering the slightest drop in his personal lifestyle or bank balances.
But still, it's a good start. Perhaps he could do one for the 88,000 homeless people on the streets of L.A. (I read this statistic in an article in the N.Y. Times, and it was so shocking, such a large number.)
Modified by Joy at Fri, Mar 24, 2006, 19:32:43
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"He must have had some pangs of guilty conscience about the obscene amount of wealth he has amassed when others less fortunate in his homeland starve."
IMO Rawat's new philanthropical image is all to do with....well.. just that...."image".It's just a desperate attempt to pretend to be wonderful, and to be able to provide a convincing character reference should he ever find himself facing a lawsuit. After all ,at this stage of his career he wouldn't want to find himself suddenly found out ,publicly discredited and lose all the luxury his slaves worked so hard to keep him in.
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... a tax break, that is. 
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Whether he contributed any money or not, he's not paying because all his money comes from his followers anyway. My guess is that he might put in a token amount from the money he's conned from premies just so he can have his pr people say that he's contributed a 'significant' amount. All or the bulk of this is coming from the 'PR Foundation' (indeed), not from him. I also wonder how much one of those meals costs. They like to speak in terms of 'tons of rice', 'meals', etc.
Does he now suggest to premies to gave to charity in general, like to Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, Oxfam, etc.? I highly doubt it. He wouldn't be able to use those donations for PR.
Something to consider is his net effect; that's what really counts. If his followers hadn't been following him, would they have given more or less to real charitable work? My guess is more, way more, and what's the current net effect? I only started giving to charity when I became a 'fringe' premie, and only gave significant amounts to charity when I finally broke free of his influence. His b.s., which amounted to a command, was to not give to charity but to give to him instead. I remember that story he told about how he went by a begger and didn't give him any money because the begger would just want more money later.
How much money over the years didn't go to charity because his duped slaves gave their money to him and his organizations (which in turn benefited him) and not to charity?
Well let's see, $20+ million dollar mansion and other mansions around the globe, millions for aircraft expenses, millions spent on that yacht, multi-mullion dollar helicopters, who knows how many hours of labor, etc. We're talking mega millions down the drain that would have gone to charity.
He would have to sell all of his luxuries, give it all to charity, and start leading a modest lifestyle to even start to make amends.
Modified by G at Fri, Mar 24, 2006, 21:28:00
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Absolutely, G! Thanks for your comments. He could have been doing this ages ago! He's being forced to appear to be giving something now--it's the pc thing to do, and also, more than likely, once more, remunerative for him. I would only believe this about-face if he sold off a large portion of his luxuries and lived a modest lifestyle! (my husband is from India, and NEVER bought the "Maharaji and his Knowledge" scam! When, as a good little premie, I told him that well, he COULD have been a good businessman if he hadn't chosen this path of giving peace to people, he laughed! "He's nothing but a businessman" was his comment.). I get it now. ~Shelagh
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"He's being forced to appear to be giving something now"
Exactly, and I wonder how much of his PR stuff is true and how much is fabrications/distortions/exaggerations. Given his history of telling lies, I start with the assumption of outright lies or at least deceit.
"remunerative for him"
That is indeed likely, he can now tell premies to contribute MORE to 'the Prem Rawat Foundation" or the Indian organization because it is, they claim, doing charity work, instead of urging them to give to reputable charities. Oh yes, he's "bringing peace to the world" after all. So there's a lot in this for him including:
1) more money coming in
2) a counter to premies' well-founded doubts about him
3) a way to deal with legal problems (investigations by charity commissions, which I don't know much about)
4) public relations
There are many charities that are corrupt and there are many scammers involved with social welfare organizations.
Prem Rawat has simply "smartened up" and is now playing the charity game, a game that his brother Satpal, as well as Satya Sai Baba and others have been playing for quite some time.
This is not to say that no good is coming from this (if indeed some charity work is actually happening), but to say that he's doing good is like saying that the +1 in the equation "+1 -999 = -998" is all that matters.
The PR release about giving glasses reminds me of Rawat talking about giving glasses to one of his old mahatmas, as if that was a good thing. A question which is now obvious is why didn't this guy have glasses to begin with? It showed that Rawat wasn't even taking care of the higher ups in his cult. As for me, I slept on a cheap mat on the floor in the basement in the ashram, had worn out clothes, and was malnurished, skinny, lacking of adequate sleep, exercise, and mental stimulation, and deprived of normal human relations (no sex, no friendships, abnormal relations with my family and coworkers).
And it's not like Rawat's abuses have ended, no, he's going around doing 'trainings' of his followers, which according to testimony at EPO are psychological torture sessions and costs thousands of dollars. They are trained all right, they are "taught" to obey him implicitly and without question.
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"Food for People" is a custom-built, well-equipped 10,000 sq. ft.
facility providing 45,000 free meals of their liking to people in need
each month. Hot meals are served to 500 children every morning and
evening and to 500 adults every afternoon."
I don't care who financed it or not, it just seems to me like the first SERIOUS attempt at proper support, and I don't care about the motives.
I only care about the motives when it's fake measly charity work, this looks more substantial and the people who need the support come way before my cynicism.
And as for tax breaks etc, fucking every rich ++++ in the world does that, nothing unique in that.
Just a bloody great shame he didn't start doing this stuff seriously years ago, suspect a lot of us would have found it harder to leave to.
I fact we are the only lucky ones out of his lack of care and genuineness, if he'd got the ball rolling like this during DUO times in the 70's a lot of us would probably still be there.
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Food in people's bellies is food in their bellies, no matter who gives it to them. I can't think of a situation when it's not the right thing to do. Too many children go hungry in this world. In fact, I would encourage Rawat to spend more and more money on projects that feed people and give them healthcare.
Modified by Cynthia at Sat, Mar 25, 2006, 10:08:35
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... whatever happened to that story about giving a family a fish will feed them them for a day, but teaching them how to catch fish ...?By throwing money at this sector of Indian society, Rawat is certainly hoping to see his own standing in the international community increase. But as regards the recipients of his "charity" ... ? Are they to become dependent on his hand-outs? That might solve some of their problems in the immediate future, but who's to say whether they can depend on such "charity"? And whether doing so would be the best thing for them? There ARE professional agencies who have more experience at this kind of thing than Rawat's amateurs. Yet, rather than contribute the funds that the premies have raised (and that HE apparently is all too willing to take the credit for), to established agencies like Save the Children, Oxfam, etc., he appears to prefer the credit to go to himself, aka the Prem Rawat Foundation ( www.tprf.com ). Something doesn't smell right about this whole venture of his.
Modified by cq at Sat, Mar 25, 2006, 10:18:15
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1) improves his p.r. image; plus he will get free p.r. from the gullible media.2) feed 'em, then convert them; Salvation Army and numerous Christian missionary groups worldwide have already pioneered this approach; 3) gives appearance of helping people, rather than sucking up hundreds of millions of dollars from donations just to support his own insatiable materialist desires; a public relations diversionary tactic. 4) cost of the food is very low, especially buying per ton in India. For instance, USA food banks can buy 5 lbs. (2+ kilos) of food with $1 US dollar. But that's not even purchasing in large bulk quantities. In India, the costs are much much lower. You could probably purchase about 4,000 kilograms of food for $1,000.
5) Another possible 'diversionary tactic.' Think of this, too: With this economy of scale in food purchases, Prem could get his devotees aka 'students' to donate lots of money, then keep part of the contributions, and use the money for other undisclosed purposes (as he's done for 35 years now.) After all, diverting funds for his own personal use and not accounting for those funds [mega millions of dollars] has been his modus operandi. Meanwhile, his p.r. machine will just churn out all the warm fuzzies about the food and what a great "humanitarian" he is, you see, and the total contributions will never be audited by the authorities. Also, then you factor in the undisclosed "administrative costs." These 'costs' could eat up most of the contributions. It's a traditional technique of charity scammers. I was a development officer for a food bank once, and I quit when I discovered that the food bank directors in charge of the whole "non-profit charitable organization" were actually diverting most of the money for their own personal benefit. On the surface, we were generating hundreds of thousands of pounds of food for the needy each month. However, the people in charge were skimming most of the cash contributions right off the top - and we had raised a whole lot of cash. [I still donate to some charities, after carefully researching them. But I will never again volunteer huge chunks of my time like that, only to find myself used and ripped off once more. That was absolutely infuriating!] Charities and religions/cults are the easiest scams around for crooks. People give to charities because they want to help other people, and it also make themselves feel good. (The tax breaks/writeoffs are secondary, except for the filthy rich.) Scammers know this; that's why there are so many charities out there that are basically just scams. Rawat's DLM, DUO, EVI, and PRF have all been p.r. dressed-up scams, serving his megalomaniacal and (and his family's) materialist desires. Like I said, charities are the easiest scam there is for a knowledgeable crook. It's even easier than starting a cult/religion. Now, if you combine the two (a cult + a charity)... This is all about pumping up Prem's stature in India, etc.
When did Prem Rawat EVER give a shit about "charity?"
Remember "Arti," the official Rawat cult devotees' song of subjection and idol worship to HIM, the guru? In the song, we were taught "Charity" will "NEVER give us knowledge of the soul...never reveal the goal." "charity, austerity
never bring you knowledge of the soul
will never reveal your soul" "without the 'grace of satguru'" - Nothing was possible! Rawat's official worship anthem to himself, Arti, PUT DOWN 'charity' and 'austerity'!! Again, when did Prem Rawat EVER give a shit about charity?! He didn't; in fact, he mocked 'charity.' The only charity he advocated - was giving to HIM, HIM, HIM. This latest hyped p.r. operation is all about raising his stature in India. It's hype. The Real purpose: to pump HIM, pump 'propagation' in India, divert attention and get some positive media coverage (for a change), and of course get more suckers to donate more and more MONEY! I smell a Rawrat.
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I see everybody's good points. I think that it's Prem Rawat who's cynical in this case. But, I was simply saying that it's good that people are being fed, especially kids, that's all. I have to acknowledge that it isn't Prem Rawat who's donating the money anyway. It's premies. I also have to factor in the possible strings attached from PR to these village people who have to accept the food (with no choice because they're hungry). That part bothers me a lot, because it places Rawat in a huge position of power over them. Ah, you can't win with this Urug.
Modified by Cynthia at Sun, Mar 26, 2006, 05:32:31
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Hi CynthiaThere's more to this than meets the eye, as I discovered from reading the article at http://perc.ca/PEN/1994-05/s-epp.html : "food can be used by governments or other agencies as a weapon to promote their own religious or political ends. ... Food aid is clearly a hindrance when used as a short-term political expedient, without sufficient thought about its effects. In order to be helpful, food aid has to be planned with the long term in mind. It has to avoid creating dependency or depressing local markets. To state it more positively, food aid can be helpful when it is oriented toward food security rather than immediate needs only, and when it supplements and supports the recipients' own initiative. ... Ideally, the objective of food aid should be its own elimination. It should be a tool to help households, communities, and countries to help themselves. So far, however, there seems to be no hint that the need for food aid has diminished. In order to ensure that this does happen, we need to examine our food aid to see that it does not only give people fish, or teach them to fish, but also helps them gain access to the riverbank. Food security is a basic need. It's also a matter of justice" see also: http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty/FoodDumping/FoodFirst/Consequence4.asp http://new.heritage.org/Research/TradeandForeignAid/bg665.cfm
Modified by cq at Sun, Mar 26, 2006, 06:10:13
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There are just so many things wrong with the TPRF 'food for the glorification of Rawat' programme, its difficult to know where to begin. Putting aside the paltry amounts allocated to food aid compaired to $millions annually received by the EV/TPRF charity combine, the whole approach is at best out dated - at worst it's manipulative and oppressive. Of course food is needed if people are starving, but starvation - and more specifically malnutrition is endemic and systematic in India, any forward looking NGO or charity would be looking to set up/increase local food production and other community based solutions which enable the disposessed to claim a stake in the economy. Not so much 'give them Knowledge' and they'll be happy always', rather 'give them a goat, cow, and/or surface water collection system' and they'll be able to feed themselves. The negative effects of long term 'food only' aid have been understood for over three decades and re-introducing that kind of package to India is stupid if not down right bizarre. The developing world is covered with the scars from 'well intentioned' charity projects - the truth is charity can do harm as well as good and I certainly would not trust Rawat's cohorts with my community at any price. As it is the TPRF self publicity is puke making - not a single voice from the people facing this harsh existence - just the usual twittering from someone in LA. Food yes, but dignity and empowerment should be part of the package too. N
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But when I read this thread, there was neither analysis of food aid like you've just given, nor a detailed analysis of the facts, and it felt like people were just doing reflex trashing.
What we really need is a detailed breakdown of it in practice, because it certainly looks like a more serious attempt by far than the previous pr puffery
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While everyone else makes good points, I tend to agree with Hamzen that it does seem a more substantial effort at actually helping people than some of the more paltry things he's attempted in the past.
1,000 meals a day to starving people seems quite alot, even if they don't cost that much. If it saves the lives of one or two people, I will feel better about the 8 years of full-time service I gave to Rawat, at least it will have gone for something then.
If he keeps this up I may actually begin to have a minute degree of respect for him. Perhaps it's possible that even deluded megalomaniacal "perfect master's" can grow up and find out that it's better to give than to receive? Time will tell if he continues in this vein or if it's just a token effort.
To me, this is the single best way Maharaji can redeem himself for all the years of greed and rip-off he's perpetrated on so many. Keep it up, Mr. Rawat, and if you really want to see what a charitable organization looks like, check out Seva Foundation on the net, and learn a thing or two.
Modified by Joy at Tue, Mar 28, 2006, 18:08:22
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Hi Joy, Ham, So long as Rawat purports to be a teacher of any kind, he's a hollow, manipulative leech on humanity. Doing a few good public works is just all part of the scam and can't possibly redeem him, especially when, as we all know, he's just doing this stuff to smooth out his facade and perpetutate the exploitation. In fact, in plain dollars and cents, it's probably downright profitable for him to do this stuff in the long run. "Hire" some dedicated "students" who, if they don't actually think you're God think you're pretty damn close, to run an organization in your name which gets money from all these other people who worship you because they're in your cult, to then do these public works that you get all the credit for which then enables you to increase or secure your position as a cult leader. In my opinion, it's worth nothing like this. Nothing at all. If that weren't the case, then all it would take would be a few good years of playing this game and Rawat's a respectable "humanitarian leader". Now, on the other hand, if Rawat had renounced his scam and then started doing good works yes, that might, just might, put him on the path to redemption in the human community. But this now is just cynical mugging for the camera. It's pernicious stuff like this that gives all charity a bad name.
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I still think there is merit in feeding 1,000 people a day, no matter what the circumstances.
I do totally agree with what you say, but I don't think it's likely that Rawat is EVER going to give up the guru scam, apologize and make restitution. He just isn't going to do it.
But perhaps it is possible, and I just would like to give him the benefit of the doubt in light of what he is doing here, that he may eventually grow up and get out of it of his own accord. I know it's not likely, and that the scenarios everyone else here have painted are the much more plausible and obvious ones.
But on this one issue I just want to give him the chance to prove, with continued and ongoing substantial good works like this, that he really does care about anyone other than himself. No, it's not the best and most efficient way to help people, as Mick and others have pointed out. But I still think something on this scale is a darned good start and better than nothing. It will be interesting to me to see if he continues with and expands on this operation in any way.
You say we all know he's just doing this to smooth his facade and perpetuate the exploitation. Do we know this? Who's to say he didn't have a sleepless night with his conscience bothering him (if he has one), after seeing the extreme poverty in his country, while he rides around in helicopters and private jets like the Sultan of Brunei? If he were feeding 100 people a day, I'd say yes, perhaps you are right. But 1,000 is a pretty good number, and in light of that, I want to see where he goes from here.
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Joy, I believe that Satpal's created the very thing you're hoping to see from Rawat, a large-scale, ongoing charitable organization. Indeed, I bet sibling rivalry might well be a major catalyst for both teams. But do you respect Satpal then? He clearly asserts himself as Guru Maharaj Ji, old school. He tricks people into worshipping him. Is that okay because he feeds them too? Sometimes these balance sheets are complex. I know a guy who apparently committed some very large-scale fraud, bilking people of hundreds of millions of dollars in an international ponzi scheme. Yet he was also a huge and much-loved patron and benefactor of the arts and other causes. And Pablo Escobar built homes and soccer stadiums. A snake is a snake is a snake. If Rawat's conscience is plaguing him that's good because it shows he's human. But he's still a crook in active service and I think it is reasonable to presume that all good works are mere window-dressing or, at most, a temporary salve he's anointed himself with to help him continue doing what he does so well, trick people.
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I know with my rational "mind" that you are 100% correct, Jim. I can't argue with it. But it's just such a turn-around to see them actually feeding people physically instead of just carping on about Knowledge, peace etc., which is a load of old hogwash as we all know, and a front for devotion to them.
But for all these years now -- what, 30 or more? -- it's been me, me, me, give everything to me, that it's very refreshing to me to see him actually doing something tangible for others. If it's a matter of Prem/Satpal up on their respective thrones having arti sung to them and collecting donations for their mansions, or Prem/Satpal running food banks while still playing guru, I'd take the latter any day. At least that way, at the end of the day, someone, somewhere, gets something tangible out of the whole trip, it's not just a waste of everyone's time and money. It's a small thing, in light of what they demand, but at least it's something.
While I wouldn't say I have as much respect for them as I would someone like Ram Dass who truly lives reasonably simply and devotes himself to consciousness and good works, at least this way my respect for them rises from zero to around 5%. I never thought I'd see the day.
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