Arrival in London.

Maharaji left India for the first time in 1971. He arrived in the UK in June, and then traveled on to the US and Canada. He gave many lectures on "Knowledge" - four meditation techniques which were revealed to sincere seekers in "Knowledge sessions". Guru Maharaj Ji (as he was then referred to) did not personally reveal the meditation techniques. The Knowledge sessions were conducted by East Indian "mahatmas" (loosely translated as "great souls"), many of whom had previously been followers of his deceased father and DLM founder, Hans Ji Maharaj. Thousands of people received Knowledge in the early seventies. Most of those initiated were young people in their teens and early twenties.

Although Maharaji had stated repeatedly that all that was required to receive Knowledge was sincerity, a "guileless heart", and a desire to know the truth, many of those who were selected by the Mahatmas to receive Knowledge were surprised to find that they were required to promise that they would dedicate their lives to him before they were allowed to be initiated. Almost all of those to be initiated accepted this, however, and most of Maharaji's followers at the time believed that he was an incarnation of god.