Ex-Guru Seeks to Expand His Heavenly Rights

These days, life is considerably more sedate for Prem Pal Singh Rawat.

He is no longer Guru Maharaj Ji, the “perfect master” of the Divine Light Mission who left India for the United States at 14, developed an ulcer at 15, married his secretary at 16 and was denounced by his mother as a playboy at 17.

Now 27, he has dropped the “Guru” title and is spelling his professional name “Maharaji.” He is no longer affiliated with the Divine Light organization.

And though controversy continues to dog him, the scope has narrowed from international lawsuits to a neighborhood dispute.

Dispute Over Flights

Ironically, his attorney says, even that dispute stems from Maharaji’s desire to settle down.

The argument centers on how many times each year the one-time guru can descend from the skies in a helicopter to a landing pad at his Malibu mountain-ridge estate, 600 feet above Pacific Coast Highway. Maharaji is seeking county permission to increase the number of landings to 36 each year, triple the number he is currently allowed.

Until last spring, Maharaji was seldom at his mansion, called Anacapa View Estates, said Linda Gross, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents him. He and his family stayed there a few times a year, but they also spent time in Miami and abroad.

Although Maharaji continues to lecture around the world on self-awareness, Gross said, “about a year ago he started staying in Malibu on a more permanent basis. It’s hard to travel with your whole family, and the kids are enrolled in school there now.

“He is there more often, so he needs to use the helicopter more.”

Personal Transport

Maharaji uses the copter for personal transport, Gross said. “For example,” she said, “when he does travel, if he’s just finished an 18-hour flight in from the Pacific, it’s helpful to have a 10-minute helicopter ride to get home from the airport to your bed.”

But the prospect of so many copter flights has upset nearby residents, including some who backed Maharaji’s original request to build the helipad. They say they worry that 36 landings each year would increase the potential for accidents.

“We’re up high on Trancas Canyon. The winds are extremely strong up here and very erratic,” said Margaret Hauptman, who lives within sight of Maharaji’s fenced and gated grounds.

“During January, the wind blew down a garage at one house here and it also blew in five windows at the house next door. And he has to fly over power lines in that wind to get to his landing.”

Supplied Emergency Water

Maharaji won approval to build the helipad in 1980. He had critics then, but he had more supporters because he agreed to build a 45,000-gallon emergency water storage and pumping system that would be available to county Fire Department helicopters.

At that time, the county restricted Maharaji to six landings a year and most neighbors said then that the added fire protection in the brush-covered hills made up for any potential nuisance. Hauptman and her husband, George, were among those who signed letters of support.

“We figured six wouldn’t be too bad,” she said.

In April, 1983, Maharaji requested and received an increase to 12 landings annually for the next five years.

That pattern worries Cherlyn Barrett, who lives at the top of Trancas Canyon. “Now he wants 36. Next he might want 50,” she said.

Opposed by County

The county’s Regional Planning Department also opposes Maharaji’s plans. “First of all, we feel that the area’s beginning to build up. When originally approved, it was still pretty sparsely settled,” said Richard Frazier, supervising regional planner.

“And we just don’t feel that the case has been made for the necessity to have more. Why can’t he just drive like anybody else?”

At a public hearing Tuesday before the county zoning board, Maharaji’s supporters offered three answers. Gross said her client “has had various threats on his life” and “the exposure of being on Pacific Coast Highway is a lot greater than in a helicopter.”

Lauretta Foy, a helicopter consultant, added that Maharaji’s use of a copter keeps his limousine and entourage away from the narrow winding ridge roads and off of the crowded highway.

Grateful for Water

And Perry C. Wander, a Malibu attorney who has supported the helipad at previous hearings, said Maharaji should be rewarded for installing the water storage system. “To deny this would have a chilling effect on private contributions to the public sector,” he said.

Gross also said Maharaji is already considering paying to put power lines underground near his home, eliminating at least one utility pole that would cost him at least $4,000. She told the zoning board her client would be willing to make the change a condition of the increase in flights.

But the board could not decide whether to recommend an increase to the Regional Planning Commission, which has authority over the matter. Board members said they are constrained by planning commission policy from backing any additional copter flights that would not benefit the public.

They said they especially appreciated Maharaji’s water system but wanted to hear from the Fire Department before reaching a conclusion.

Fire Capt. Harry J. Williams of Station 99, which serves the Trancas Canyon area, said in an interview Wednesday that firefighters have not yet made use of Maharaji’s system.

“We have plenty of water right below at Trancas and Pacific Coast Highway,” Williams said. “Our helispot is there. In fact, I would say we wouldn’t use his at all.”