Looking back now what Mishler did going to the press was remarkable. Thanks for keeping these records.
I will say again, the Miami Herald story is very important because it has a quote from Mishler about Prem Rawat-
"Mishler catalogued instances of what he called Ji's "contempuous lack of concern for his followers."
He described occasions when the Perfect Master, who packed a rotund 160 pounds on his 5-foot 4-inch frame, would punch aides in the face, or pour motor oil over their heads, or knee one in the groin.
Once, Ji ordered two members of his personal staff to strip and poke each other's penises with sticks while he watched, Mishler said."
"The two former Mission officials said Maharaj Ji's private behavior included physical and sexual assaults on followers by stripping them, pouring abrasive chemical on their bodies, administering psychotropic drugs and having them beaten with sticks or thrown into swimming pools."
"He said the guru regularly humiliated followers.
"He would have followers strip in front of others," Mishler said.
He said Maharaj Ji once poured a can of oil over a devotee working on his car and "did it jokingly as if it was great fun."
Mishler said he had witnessed the Guru's sadistic nature on more than one occasion. "He personally humbled me and hit me with sticks. He would do that to people in his inner circle. He would knee people in the groin," he said.
An old thread I saved-
Date: Fri, Jan 23, 1998 at 01:40:11 (EST)
Poster: JW
Email:
To: Everyone
Subject: Maharaji the Violent/Sadist
Message:
Does anyone else recall these stories, both of which were told to me, or in satsang, by someone who was actually there and witnessed them personally? One time Guru Maharaj Ji forced Bihari to get into a tub or water on the roof of the ashram in Kansas City one night in the middle of the winter and then laughed when Bihari shivered. Another story was when someone at the Malibu palacial residence was training his dogs and was wearing a suit that protects from dog bites. Anyhow Maharaji made the guy stand still, while he shot a gun at him and laughed. Apparently, the bullets did not actually penetrate the suit, but the shots were very painful. Both of these stories were told in the "lila" mentality in that they demonstrated the total trust you had to have in Maharaji to surrender to him 100% as he was demanding, and as was your obligation as a devotee of the perfect master. I also heard stories of how Maharaji terrorized people who worked on the plane and/or planned programs, and of course, there were those initiator training programs that sounded like living hells. Has anyone else heard these or similar stories?
Date: Fri, Jan 23, 1998 at 10:12:19 (EST)
Poster: John K.
Email:
To: JW
Subject: Re: Maharaji the Violent/Sadist
Message:
Don't remember those stories, but Joe, what about this logic: God = creator of an existence which is filled with pain God = sadist since God is creating an existence which brings about pain. Now, and I swear this is the train of thought that I had when I was a devotee of the guru: the guru is the superior power in person; therefore, the guru is allowed to do whatever he wants eg. have sadistic tendencies. Also, I remember hearing in satsang stories of gmj getting angry or 'playing' with devotees by putting them in physical danger and that those premies were considered the luckiest people on the planet because gmj was showing them so much love (attention). Perhaps you are reading too much into it though. I don't think it indicates that gmj is 'evil' or in some heightened state of sadism. The more I think about it, the more I think their (meaning the guru and family) frame of reference for their existence has got to be totally skewered, and in a way they are dysfunctional human beings. Think of Raja ji. I think he's a good example because he seemed totally average to me. I never got the sense (and maybe that was just me) in listening to him talk that he had anything interesting to say. In other words he sounded to me like he was just repeating what he had heard and what he thought was appropriate to say. Nevertheless, from day one he was worshipped (since I am assuming we got all this holy family jazz from the situation in India); from day one he had people pranaming/bowing down to him, showing him the utmost respect. How can anyone expect him to turn out normal? And the same goes for his little brother except worse because at age eight he stopped being just a part of the 'holy family' but the BIG CHEESE himself. I find it fascinating to imagine what that would do to one's ego, self-esteem, expectations in personal relationships etc. I would think eventually there would be a price to pay, but maybe not as long as there are people willing to worship.
Date: Fri, Jan 23, 1998 at 12:46:25 (EST)
Poster: JW
Email: joger02@aol.com
To: John K.
Subject: Re: Maharaji the Violent/Sadist
Message:
Don't remember those stories, but Joe, what about this logic: God = creator of an existence which is filled with pain God = sadist since God is creating an existence which brings about pain. Now, and I swear this is the train of thought that I had when I was a devotee of the guru: the guru is the superior power in person; therefore, the guru is allowed to do whatever he wants eg. have sadistic tendencies. Also, I remember hearing in satsang stories of gmj getting angry or 'playing' with devotees by putting them in physical danger and that those premies were considered the luckiest people on the planet because gmj was showing them so much love (attention). Perhaps you are reading too much into it though. I don't think it indicates that gmj is 'evil' or in some heightened state of sadism. The more I think about it, the more I think their (meaning the guru and family) frame of reference for their existence has got to be totally skewered, and in a way they are dysfunctional human beings. Think of Raja ji. I think he's a good example because he seemed totally average to me. I never got the sense (and maybe that was just me) in listening to him talk that he had anything interesting to say. In other words he sounded to me like he was just repeating what he had heard and what he thought was appropriate to say. Nevertheless, from day one he was worshipped (since I am assuming we got all this holy family jazz from the situation in India); from day one he had people pranaming/bowing down to him, showing him the utmost respect. How can anyone expect him to turn out normal? And the same goes for his little brother except worse because at age eight he stopped being just a part of the 'holy family' but the BIG CHEESE himself. I find it fascinating to imagine what that would do to one's ego, self-esteem, expectations in personal relationships etc. I would think eventually there would be a price to pay, but maybe not as long as there are people willing to worship. Good points, John. If you ask me, I think the personality problems that individuals like Maharaji demonstrate arise from the fact that they have no "check" on their behavior. The devotees are in the mindset that you mentioned -- that whatever Maharaji did was "perfect" and they would do mental gymnastics to figure out some rationalization as to why it was really ultimately to their benefit, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary. I don't think this constitutes "evil" either, I think it just constitutes a very sick situation in which people can get hurt. And I think when Maharaji was younger (kids can be cruel) he could have been a real terror with someone like Bihari, as a child god incarnate and being treated that way, because Bihari who was supposed to be a sort of authority/guardian, but also a devotee. The lord/devotee situation also allowed for a lot of psychological abuse. When I heard initiators who had gone through one of those Malibu initiator training programs, that's what it appeared Maharaji was doing a lot of the time. I recall several saying they considered suicide during the "program", including Candy McNary (sp?) who said Maharaji was so heavy with them (and she was so vulnerable to him) that she fantasized about going down to the ocean and just wading in and drowning. Of course, despite the fact that she acted like, and probably had, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and appeared to me to be totally freaked out after the experience, she still rationalized that Maharaji was perfect and could treat her any way she wanted, and was doing it all to make her surrender to him more, which she believed was the purpose of her life. Again, a very sick situation, but I can entirely relate because I believed the same crap, and Maharaji repeatedly said as much to us for years. I remember thinking that as an ashram resident, with an initiator application on file, I needed to do something naughty, like have a sexual affair and get caught, in order to put some black mark on my application, thus saving me from one of those awful programs and becoming a wreck like a lot of those initiators were.
Date: Fri, Jan 23, 1998 at 13:12:37 (EST)
Poster: Joy
Email:
To: JW
Subject: Re: Maharaji the Violent/Sadist
Message:
Joe, I heard one time that GMJ broke Gary Girard's nose. Hadn't heard the one about the gun, though, that's scary. To me it just sounds like a kid who's drunk with power and out of control. If one's treated like a divine god and had his every wish indulged and catered to, and is an immature child at the same time, how else is he going to behave? It's amazing no one got seriously hurt or killed. But two people almost did, in the Malibu fire -- I forget which year it was, late seventies, when GMJ's residence on the hill in Malibu almost burned down in the Santa Ana winds/fire of that year. Many houses in Malibu were lost and fire engulfed his entire home in huge flames, but two devotees stayed inside to wet everything down, I believe it was Marino and John Miller, but am not sure on that. I remember one of them giving satsang about how they couldn't even touch a wall because it was so hot and if even one spark had gotten in that house it would've instantly been engulfed in flame and they had been protected by the divine Lord, etc. etc. Now that I'm on the subject here, I also recall being given the "opportunity" to do divine service at the divine residence in Malibu, around 1979, flying all the way from Denver with another group of IHQ premies considered worthy enough. We were SO blissed out! Then when we got there we were put on some sort of work detail clearing the brush on the entire hill around his residence, in the blazing heat, without adequate clothing or hats; we were just given scythe-type instruments and told to go at it and to be careful of black widow spiders, scorpions and rattlesnakes! I lasted about 15 minutes at this divine "service" before losing it and requesting something indoors (not the done thing to do, to request to change your service, you have to be humble and surrender gratefully to whatever task the Lord hands you).
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