"I wasn't suggesting that being deceitful could ever be acceptable. To me Maharaji is definitely not deceitful, but I respect your opinion that you THINK he is deceitful, and rather than arguing with you that Maharaji is not deceitful, I was saying that even if you think he is deceitful, at the very least he reminds people (including you) that there is a power within (put your own label on it), and I think it's good that he reminds people about that, because so much in the world leads us to forget about that. "

Godo,

I already told you I don't believe there is a "power within."  To make it clear, I don't believe in God, either.  So let's take that off the table here.  That's not what this discussion is about (what I believe in).  

You take it completely on faith that Maharaji has never deceived anyone.  But, lets that a bit further.  You said basically I'm completely wrong about Maharaji's deceitfulness so it doesn't matter what I know about him because he inspires you.

In regard to "special powers", what I am saying (without using the word "experience"!) is that Maharaji has a very special ability to teach me how to find a very special power within ME. He does this by teaching me how to get in touch with it, and by encouraging and inspiring me to practice doing this on a regular basis. He teaches me this through his words, and, consequently I also learn through my own actions and activities (I almost said "experience" there!).

The problem with your argument is that Prem Rawat a/k/a Maharaji goes around the world promoting that he has The Key to what you characterize as a power within and invites people to learn about it.  So it's not just about you, Godo.  It's about every single person who ever hears Rawat speak, becomes interested, and receives knowledge (that's if they are accepted).  You don't explain how Maharaji "has a very special ability..."

You still haven't explained how the knowledge of the power within you got somehow zapped into you from the Maharaji to the Mahatma to you.  What is it that gives Maharaji the power or ability to do this, other than he tells people that he can?  What is it that specifically makes you think that Maharaji is, or can be, the only true source of your experience?   

When has Maharaji specifically taught you how to get in touch with anything?  You've said that you have never, ever even spoken with him.  Don't you find that odd?  Don't you also find it odd that when premies get the microphone in an expressions session that they are not allowed to ask critical questions of Maharaji?  How do you explain that about him and still call him a real teacher?  It was tried by a woman and he told her he didn't want to get into a "pissing match" with her.  What do you think about that?  This woman wanted to resolve some issues she had with Maharaji that concerned her time in the ashram, and he cut her off -- and her microphone, too.

Godo, Prem Rawat is not above reproach as a human being just because you believe the experience that you have inside of you is something he gave to you.  Obviously, you have spent many years cultivating your system of belief in his purity, based only on what you've been told by him.  You said it yourself:  Maharaji inspires you.  That doesn't prove anything about his credulity or credibility as a person, nor does it wipe away the many things he has done that have been deceitful to his own devotees. 

Look.  I don't spend time posting on this forum because I don't understand how Maharaji operates.  I've lied personally on his behalf when I was a premie and at his request.  It was wrong of him to ask that of me and the only reason I did it at the time was because of my own belief in him as my Lord.  Now M say's he isn't the Lord of the Universe and never said, implied or suggested he was.  That's a bald-faced lie.  How do you square that circle?

Cynthia