Professor Ron Geaves introduces Prem Rawat at a rented room in Oxford University

Professor Ron Geaves who is not an Oxford Don but works at a lowly university

So good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Professor Ron Geaves and it's my pleasure to welcome you to "Peace is Possible" tonight's event with Prem Rawat.

There is a seamless join between my academic pursuit of knowledge and my personal journey towards fulfilment. The boundaries have always been permeable and that owes much to Prem Rawat. His inspiration throughout most of my adult life, particularly upon my own innate capacity to question. There's a kind of symmetry for me to be able to introduce Prem Rawat and welcome him to Oxford. I lived in this city nearly 40 years ago and it was here that I first met two undergraduates who had an interest in Sufism and they inspired me to look beyond the parameters of my upbringing and go further afield in my journey for fulfilment. More importantly, it was in Oxford that I germinated a seed of desire to travel eastwards to India, leaving from this city in 1968 on an overland journey that was still possible in those days.

It was in India in the summer of 1969 that I first met Prem Rawat or Maharaji as he is affectionately known in India and by many around the world At the time Prem Rawat was only 11 years old. He could combine the normal life of a young schoolboy at St Joseph's Academy, Dehraldun with something much more unusual in one so young. He had picked up the challenge to continue the teachings of his father, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, who had tragically passed away in 1966 when his youngest son Prem Rawat was only eight. Every school holiday where his classmates would be engaged in the more conventional pursuits of childhood, Prem Rawat would tour northern India addressing the public. It was at one such gathering in Ghaziabad just outside Delhi that I first heard him speak. There was a crowd of around 10,000 people, some certainly attracted by the novelty of an 11 year old speaker. I could not understand what he was saying. My Hindi was virtually non existent but I could certainly judge that whatever he had said, he had spoken with passion and authority, and clearly from the heart rather than reading from a prepared script like I am.

I was impressed by that and resolved to know more during that summer I came to listen to him speak on a number of occasions and accepted his hospitality to pass some time at his family home in Dehradun. By then I knew a little more about his message and why that passion to communicate it fired someone so young. He had begun to inspire me with his enthusiasm for peace and inner fulfilment, and it was in Dehradun in 1969 that I first spoke to him about coming to the West. The rest is history. He arrived in London on June the 17th, 1971 at the age of thirteen, spoke at several venues, including the first Glastonbury Festival and also travelled to France, Germany and the United States. Thus began a journey that would take him around the world countless times up to the present day, speaking to audiences that range in size from hundreds to hundreds of thousands.

I have observed him closely over the years. There have been changes. Of course there have been. His 4 children are now considerably older than Prem Rawat was when I first met him. But one thing remains the same and it still impresses me. The heartfelt passion to communicate remains undiminished. Over the years. I've come to admire his passion for existence and I remain infused by the content of his message. In my own personal growth as a human being that has been significant, sometimes a source of strength when required, sometimes a force for stability when everything else shifted and I must confess, even in my career, it has helped to develop a world view that underpins my thinking and writing. It is a special moment for me to welcome him to this city, where for me so many years ago, a journey first began that has such an has had such an significant impact on the person I am now. I would like to offer my thanks to him for giving his time and energy to speak to us this evening. Would you please join me in given a very warm welcome to Prem Rawat.

References:

Prem Rawat Pretending to be at Oxford