Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji? (book)

Infobox Book
name = Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Book cover, Paperback ed.
author = Charles Cameron, Editor
Rennie Davis, Introduction
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = USA
language = English
series =
subject = Guru Maharaj Ji
genre = Non-fiction
publisher = Bantam Books, Inc.
release_date = November 1973
english_release_date =
media_type = Paperback
pages =
isbn =
oclc = 753466
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?", published in 1973 by Bantam Books is a non-fiction book about Guru Maharaj Ji, now known as Prem Rawat. Edited by Charles Cameron, the book claims to be an "authentic authorized story", and was written when Maharaj Ji was aged 15cite book
last = Cameron
first = Charles
authorlink = Charles Cameron
coauthors = Rennie Davis
title = Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?
publisher = Bantam Books, Inc.
date = November 1973
location =
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ] . The initial printing was of 125,000 copies. ["Bliising Out in Houston", Francine du Plessix Gray, "New York Review of Books", December 13 1973] A Spanish language edition was also published in 1975, as "Quién es Guru Maharaj Ji". [cite book
last = Cameron
first = Charles
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Quién es Guru Maharaj Ji
publisher = Editorial Bruguera
date = 1975
location = Barcelona, Spain
pages = 316 Pps.
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 8-402-03892-1 , ISBN 978-84-02-03892-0 ]

In the introduction, Rennie Davis, a public spokesperson for Maharaj Ji at the time, refers to Maharaj Ji as "the greatest event in history and we sleep through it" and goes on to say "If we knew who he was we would crawl across America on our hands and knees to rest our heads at his feet." [Cameron, "Who is Guru Maharaj Ji", pp.iv.]

"Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?" was also the title of a 60-minute colour film produced by Shri Hans Productions, which gave some background on the Guru and his followers. [cite news
last = Dreyer
first = Thorne
coauthors =
title = God Goes to the Astrodome
work = Texas Monthly
pages =
language =
publisher = Emmis Communications
date = January 1, 1974
url = http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/1974-01-01/feature3
accessdate = ]

Cited in secondary works

The 2000 book, "Pluralism Comes of Age: Religion in Twentieth-century America", by Lippy, cites Cameron's "Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?" for information regarding Maharaj Ji and the Divine Light Mission, along with James V. Downton's "", and Maharaj Ji's own book of quotations, "The Living Master" [cite book
last = Lippy
first = Charles H.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Pluralism Comes of Age: Religion in Twentieth-century America
publisher = M.E. Sharpe
date = 2000
location =
pages = 114, 184, 217, 242
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-765-60150-8 ] . Gray's "Adam and Eve and the City"cite book
last = Gray
first = Francine du Plessix
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Adam and Eve and the City: Selected Nonfiction
publisher = Simon & Schuster
date = 1987
location =
pages = 86
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-671-66830-7 ] cites the work, in a section where she analyzes new religious movements, Tucker cites the book in the context of the New Age movement [cite book
last = Tucker
first = Ruth A.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =
publisher = Zondervan
date = 1989
location =
pages = 364, 365, 453, 460
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-310-25937-1 ] , and Marc Galanter cites the book in the context of analyzing cults [cite book
last = Galanter
first = Marc
authorlink = Marc Galanter (MD)
coauthors =
title =
publisher = Oxford University Press
date = 1999
location =
pages = 6, 7, 11, 20, 22, 34, 122, 181, 251
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-195-12369-7 ] .

The book is cited in a sociological context, in the work "Religious Change and Continuity" [cite book
last = Johnson
first = Harry Morton
authorlink =
coauthors = Alpha Kappa Delta
title = Sociological Inquiry
publisher = University of Texas Press, Jossey Bass Publishers
date = 1979
location = Volume 49, No. 2-3.
pages = Section: Religious Change and Continuity (283).
url =
doi =
id = ] . Sutton cited the book, in the context of the history of communes in America, also citing Downton's "Sacred Journeys" as a source [cite book
last = Sutton
first = Robert P.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Modern American Communes
publisher = Greenwood Press
date = 2005
location =
pages = 44
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-313-32181-7 ] . Mangalwadi used the book as a source in his discussion of Gurus [cite book
last = Mangalwadi
first = Vishal
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The World of Gurus
publisher = Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd
date =
location = India
pages = 9, 191, 193, 202
url =
doi =
id = ] .

"Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?" is also cited by Greenfield's "The Spiritual Supermarket"cite book
last = Greenfield
first = Robert
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Spiritual Supermarket
publisher = Saturday Review Press
date = 1975
location =
pages = 12, 15, 21
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-841-50367-2 ] , which discussed what Greenfield saw as the permeation of media related to specifically to Maharaj Ji that surrounded his lifestyle. Burghart cited the work, analyzing the affect of a new culture on a foreign religion [cite book
last = Burghart
first = Richard
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Hinduism in Great Britain: The Perpetuation of Religion in an Alien Cultural Milieu
publisher = Tavistock Publications, Limited
date = 1987
location =
pages = 258, 269
url =
doi =
id = ] . The book has also been cited by religious scholars writing in other languages, including Holm [cite book
last = Holm
first = Nils G.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Aktuella religiosa
publisher = Åbo akademi
date = 1981
location =
pages = 249, 260
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 9-516-48778-5 ] , and Hummel [cite book
last = Hummel
first = Reinhart
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Indische Mission und neue Frömmigkeit im Westen
publisher = Kohlhammer
date = 1980
location =
pages = 289
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 3-170-05609-3] . Irving Hexham includes the book in his index to "Cults, Sects and New Religions", and puts the work in the context of Neo-Hinduism [cite book
last = Hexham
first = Irving
authorlink = Irving Hexham
coauthors =
title = Cults, Sects and New Religions Bibliography
publisher = Institute for Social and Economic Research
date = 1993
location =
pages = Section: "Neo-Hinduism"
url = http://www.ucalgary.ca/~nurelweb/papers/irving/new-bib.html
doi =
id = ]

Other mentions

According to the book "", copies of "Who is Guru Maharaj Ji" were piled in stacks on the floor and on tables at the Divine Light Mission's "Millennium '73" event, which honored Maharaj Ji [cite book
last = Kahn
first = Ashley
authorlink =
coauthors = Holly George-Warren, Shawn Dahl
title = Rolling Stone: The Seventies
publisher = Little, Brown and Company
date = 1998
location =
pages = Section: Who's Your Guru?, Richard Michael Levine.
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-316-81547-0 ] .

References

Further reading

*cite book
last = Brown
first = Mick
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =
publisher = Bloomsbury
date = 1999
location =
pages = "Her Master's Voice' page 197
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 1-58234-034-X , ISBN 1901952959

* Cagan, Andrea, "Peace Is Possible: The Life and Message of Prem Rawat", Mighty River Press (2007), ISBN 978-0978869496

* cite paper
author=Geaves, Ron
title=From Totapuri to Maharaji: Reflections on a Lineage (Parampara)
date= 2002.
publisher = The 27th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions, Oxford. March 2002.

External links

* [http://www.dci.dk/?artikel=333 Who Is Who In Guruism?] , Johannes Aagaard
* [http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/dlmission.htm Entry] , "Encyclopedia of Religion and Society", James T. Richardson

ee also