The link below is another video clip promoting Prem Rawat's Peace Education Program, this time in a public high school and endorsed by the principal, a teacher, a retired Newburyport High teacher* and several students. From outward appearances and without knowing the curriculum, I can't find anything objectionable about it and the program seems to be well received by the students. This, I believe, is a good example of the reinvented and legitimized cult I was trying to describe.
Few if any of these students or faculty are likely to take the next step of "finding out more." What they will take away, however, is a positive, if not thankful, impression of Prem Rawat that they will likely pass on to others. Moreover, these seeds of positive name recognition are likely spreading quickly as institutional endorsers serve as positive references for other institutions considering PEP. It's migrated from prisons to police forces to court systems and now public and private schools and likely beyond. There's no limit to conducive settings.
Many posters here were close to the same age as the students in this clip when they first heard about Guru Maharaji. Those vulnerable students are being targeted and apparently encouraged to become "ambassadors of peace" and "go out there and talk to others." When it comes to spreading positive name recognition, premies may become obsolete: PEP students are already doing it.
Setting aside my cynicism, I'm confident that the curriculum is positive, beneficial and innocuous because the premies behind it are likely highly intelligent, warm beautiful people - just like the posters here. Why wouldn't an institution offer PEP if it saw a potential benefit?
The students in the following clip inspire me and give me hope. What they have to say is sincere and genuine.
A Space For Peace at Newburyport High School:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_DRTey2Tiw
"So what I would tell teachers across the world is that this program is going to allow your students to come to a greater understanding of who they are and the power that they have to be able to make change for themselves, within themselves and for the world, and we really need ambassadors of peace who experience a sense of hope and dignity to go out there and talk to others and be the leaders to help us move forward."
Teacher, Newburyport High School
* well connected to premies on LinkedIn