There is appreciative laughter at the incongruous Americanisms which find their way into the Indian Mahatmas' discourses--words like "freaked out," "far out," "A-OK," and "out of sight." More than any other of the guru's sales techniques, these phrases pinpoint the incongruity of the entry of a 15-year-old saint into middle class American life. Their laughter rises with the blissful knowledge that they have attained a freedom from doubt so robust that this pudgy 15-year-old boy appears unquestionably to be God's medium on earth.

The bulk of the guru's devotees are young and middle class, although there are some older members of the Divine Light Mission. The movement counts few blacks in its ranks: one observer noted only one black in an audiece of nearly 500 at MIT Friday night, and could find only six at the mass meeting in Boston on Saturday. No blacks were among the Divine Light officials at the Boston gathering.

The devotees fit their leader's description of them well: people in search of peace, in search of a respite.

Pat Bonati, a 19-year-old who attended the University of Hartford, in Conn., is typical of many devotees in that she traveled the "guru circuit" before becoming a member of Divine Light Mission. "I tried yoga, and a lot of different kinds of meditation," she said. "They were relaxing, but this is so much more--there is so much love in it."

Bonati, who will be going to Houston with other devotees in November, called the mind "an obstacle, full of fear, doubts, and skepticism." Bonati meditates at least two hours a day. She said that the energy revealed to her through Maharaj Ji is "higher than the mind: It provides a resting place for the mind."

Marshall Lentini, who joined Divine Light after working with the Vietnam Vetrans Against the War (VVAW), urged people in "the movement" to "check out Maharaj Ji."

Lentini said that he was disillusioned with VVAW. "We had no plan. We didn't know where we were going," he said of his time with the veterans' organization. Lentini stressed the professionalism he finds in Divine Light Mission. "We had no feedback in the movement," he said. "Now we always know what's going on with the people outside."

"Maharaj Ji has a practical plan to bring about world peace by providing the necessities of food, clothing and shelter along with the Knowledge," he said. Lentini said he respects Rennie Davis for joining Divine Light. He said that Davis is performing "top-notch, professional work" for the Guru. Lentini said he believes that Davis is "a saint, who was around at the time of Christ."

"In Vietnam," Lentini added, "a joint is peace. But Maharaj Ji is peace."

A middle-aged Brooklyn woman, a devotee who came to Boston to see the guru again, after having seen him in New York last week, said that her children, both devotees, had introduced her to Divine Light. She had just gone through a divorce, she said, and her children felt that she "needed some help."

She said that receiving knowledge had improved her relations with her children. She uses the guru's Knowledge "instead of a psychiatrist," she added. Divine Light "is not a religion," she said. "I still go to temple every week." "It takes an intelligent person to realize the truth behind the guru's teachings," she said.

She turned to one of the non-believers in the Saturday night audience, and quoted one of Maharaj Ji's Mahatmas. "How do you react to this statement: Truth is the consciousness of bliss," she asked. "Is truth bliss?" he replied.

"Maybe not," she said. "But wouldn't it be nice if it was?