Peace Is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat
by Andrea Cagan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Andrea CaganEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-01-15
ISBN: 0978869494
Number of pages: 410
Publisher: Mighty River Press
Book Reviews of Peace Is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat
Book Review: Choosing peace
Summary: 5 Stars
At last, a detailed, behind the scenes look at a major contemporary figure!
Thank you, Andrea Cagan.
If you had only the knee-jerk portrayals from suspicious, cynical journalists
to go on, you could be left thoroughly in the dark as to why so many people
find the figure of `Maharaji' (Prem Rawat) quite so fascinating, or his message
so compelling. The media relies so heavily on standard tropes to fill out
their predictable narratives, and the `guru' figure seems comprehensible to
them only through a stereotyped reading as an exploitative rip-off artist.
Listening to the enthusiastic testimonies of his followers might not shed much
more light, either, as to the real basis of his astonishingly broad appeal.
Biographer Cagan has managed to tread the fine line between the two options
to provide us with a lot more of the historical facts to inform the public
record. In the process opens up some of the mystery surrounding this thoroughly
modern man, who would always be of great interest precisely because the media
imagining seems to have got him so thoroughly wrong. This book makes a real
contribution to clarifying this fascinating figure, and lays the groundwork
for understanding something of the significance of the work he has achieved,
all without resorting to hagiography.
Cagan has taken on the difficult task of writing a biography of a subject who
is not only still living, but whose energy for the work he has taken on hasn't
shown any signs of flagging... after five decades (he started young, aged 8 or so!)
The international scope of the work must have made it hard to keep him in frame.
But it would be a pity if the significance of what Rawat is doing were to be left
only to later generations to recognise.
Of great interest are her accounts of the early life (the relationship with
the father is particularly poignant). My only quibble here would be that the
similarity in the titles (the father was known as Shri Maharaji, the son - who
is the subject here - is known as Maharaji) might make some sections a little
confusing. The account of the courtship of his wife, from San Diego, is also
touching.
In her willingness to take on the controversies surrounding her extraordinary
subject, while clearly admiring the scale of his achievement, Cagan does not
play down the very real difficulties he has faced. Her portrait, based on
interviews with seemingly dozens of people who have known him for long
periods, shows him to be a very modern master, whose adroit use of contemporary
communications technology to spread the word has kept up a brisk pace with
recent advances. The poring over crumbling scrolls and pedantic probing for
historical authenticity with carbon dating, say, are replaced now by satellite
signals, the World Wide Web, and ubiquitous MP3 players, to track the urgent,
almost restless movements of this teacher for the age of technology.
Cagan depicts him as highly intelligent, naturally curious, innovative, and
capable of adapting to changing conditions, even as his authority as an eminently
pragmatic teacher has deepened. Courageous, always ready to accept the daunting
responsibility of his role, Prem Rawat appears to have maintained a healthy
sense of humour. Yet he has held on to a steadfast vision from the earliest
years and has been able to maintain that vision while engaging in what must
have been in many ways a confusing interface with different cultural expectations
as he has worked to spread his teaching across the globe. The well-chosen
epigrams that are scattered throughout the text (brief excerpts chosen from
talks Rawat has given) give a glimpse of a teaching that is mercifully free
of metaphysical hot air. Full of the common sense that is so uncommon, they
go straight to the point. Rawat seems to have an uncanny insight into a
universal human need, and that is reflected in the interest that continues
to be shown, in wider and wider circles, as his work continues. The original,
enthusiastic uptake in the West through the 1970s, by a generation of hippies
disenchanted by the depredations of the military industrial complex, has
broadened considerably in recent decades, as his perseverance has pushed
past barriers of skeptical resistance and disheartened indifference. One
wonders just how has he been able to do this with so little support?
Enthusiasm is catching, it seems.
The mischievous youth who had the strength to stand up to his mother and
older brother, and the crushing weight of Indian traditions, to find his
own path, emerges as a teacher for a broad international student base who
has also had the wisdom to eschew political means to achieve his peaceful
goals. World peace, one person at a time, might seem to be a wrong-headed
approach in the face of continual war-mongering by world leaders, even with
the `best of intentions', but solutions imposed forcibly from the outside
lack the one ingredient that could make them truly effective, and that is
the willingness of the individual participants to choose peace. Rather
than entertaining the ego mind Maharaji aims straight for the heart; not,
it would seem from this biography, to exploit the gullible, but to invoke
the very sincerity and goodwill that are in such short supply in the troubled
arena of international politics. Watching Maharaji at work, it does begin
to seem possible that real, substantive change could come about from the
grass roots up. What if they gave a war, and nobody came, indeed!
Summary of Peace Is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat
Peace Is Possible is the first full and complete story of Prem Rawat. It documents his extraordinary life, from growing up with a father who was a revered master, to the day he first addressed audiences at age three, to being discovered by hippies at his home by the Himalayan foothills when he was a child, to his dramatic arrival in the West at thirteen, to today. When Prem Rawat was six years old, his father and beloved teacher showed him a special gift, a practical means to discover a world of peace within him. When he was eight, his father passed away, and he accepted the responsibility of spreading the message of peace. He attended school during the week and addressed audiences in the tens of thousands on weekends. He has spent the last forty years inspiring millions of people from all walks of life and offering this same gift to people. Controversy has not eluded him: he was only eight when the Indian media wrote that he was a sixty-year-old posing as a child. Few journalists have gone beyond stereotypes and taken the time to get a real sense of what he offers. While his message is translated into more than seventy languages, it remains a little-known secret, spread mostly through word of mouth. This book lifts the veil on Prem Rawat--the man, his life, his message.Memoirs Books
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