Externally, in fact, the Divine Light Club resembles no one so much as another better-known tightly-knit religious group: The Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship. At another level, the psychic attractions of the two groups seem to be similar. In members of both one finds a wide-eyed sense of salvation under the veneer of conformity and an eagerness to expound on the glory of it all. Like their Christian counterparts, they speak of the security that knowledge gives.

"There's no confusion now," explained Scott R. Heath '73, president of the Divine Light Club. "You don't waste energy constantly wondering, 'What am I to do next? What is the purpose of my life?' You know the purpose of life."

One possible explanation of the sect's success in the U.S. is that the Guru Maharaj Ji is indeed (gulp) God. If this is an unpalatable hypothesis, there are more mundane explanations. Perhaps the attraction is to a group with all the psychic benefits of old-time religion, but without the stigma attached to them in a liberal society.

"Since receiving knowledge," Heath said, "it's been like one continuous revelation--discovering more and more directly my own individuality while coming closer and closer to universal consciousness."

"When you tap deeply into this source," Chadwick said, "It's an overflowing of love--not an emotion, but a power deep inside each person. It doesn't discriminate between people; you have to open yourself up to feel it."

Whether the reason is in fact metaphysical or merely small-group psychological, DLC members on campus do seem to be just a little "blissed out." It was evident in the wide grins they had for each other (and most everybody else) at Davis's speech. And one couldn't help but wonder if it was this overt bliss as much as Davis's abandonment of the cause, that spurred on the angry hecklers.