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Premies
are encouraged to offer him donations, and are told that
it's a way to avoid paying taxes on the money. Maharaji's
bank account number and address are made available to
premies in case they want to make donations to him
personally.
Maharaji also receives a lot of gifts from premies. Premies
are "allowed" to serve him and his family by working as
domestics at his residences, as drivers, as security
personel for his children, and so forth. These are
considered to be very choice positions by devotees, and many
perform this unpaid "service" regularly for years. Maharaji
gets volunteer help to build and maintain his residences.
When he's traveling, he can often get gifts of anything he
wants: suits for himself in Italy, clothing for his wife and
daughters in Paris, etc. His holidays are often financed by
the premies of the country he is visiting.
Maharaji will often let premies know if he wants some
special item such as a car, a house, a piece of property,
etc. This information is passed along to influential
premies, since Elan Vital is not legally allowed to get
involved in fundraising for gifts to him. These influential
premies have a private network of "friends" who will obtain
such items. The gift is then sent to Maharaji privately. As
a US citizen, he may receive anything as long as it's a
gift.
For tax reasons, Maharaji cannot be seen to receive any
profit from what he does. He goes to great lengths to avoid
being seen accepting money given directly to him by Elan
Vital or any other associated organization, since he would
have to pay taxes in the country in which he gets this
money. For legal and copyright reasons, he cannot receive
any profits from the sale of videos, audiotapes, or
publications containing his discourses.
Maharaji takes a lot of time and trouble to show that his
job is no ordinary job, and that he is no ordinary human
being. He does this by saying that he is only living on the
support of the people who believe in him, and that because
he has given these people the gift of Knowledge, they should
support him in whatever he is doing to bring it to
others.
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