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There is a film coming out soon called Children of the Cult. Directed by Maroesja Perizonius, herself a child of the Rajneesh commune, and Produced by David Modell of DM Productions, the film will broadcast in the UK on the 13th of October at 10:15pm by ITV Exposure series. The premier is in London tomorrow night here: https://www.curzon.com/films/children-of-the-cult/HO00005674/

Bhagwan was a flawed man. He changed his name to Osho as a way to distance himself from the atrocities that took place in his name in the United States. As a human being, he did not care about his people, or the communities surrounding them. If he had done so, none of this would have been accepted behavior and allowed to take place.

Coming to terms with abuse can take years, and there are a lot of those stories coming out now from what happened many years ago. In addition to the children who were abused and raped at his communes all over the world, you can listen to the story of a young adult woman that he abused here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/surviving-wild-wild-country-erin-robbins-speaks-out/id1553334816?i=1000556151327

Tragically, there are many, many more of those stories.

Is anyone else going to talk about the fact that the leader of this, “cult” went “missing” for 3 years and then suddenly showed up when his assistant left the country. After a FAILED MURDER ATTEMPT. I feel like no one is talking about the fact that this man made an entire religion come back into fruition, made everyone work hard to create what he said, and then just disappeared to do drugs with the, “Hollywood crowd.” Not to mention he signed off on EVERYTHING. His assistants underground layer that was found by the FBI. You think he didn’t plan, or at least know about that?????

Too many people are focusing on his assistant sheelah and not enough on him. Yes she did insane things, is anyone else wondering where he was this entire time? She doesn’t just seem like a woman to randomly do insane things like this that could possibly disrespect her “master”. He is very clearly the “brains” of the operations. Not to mention he literally fired his first assistant and pushed her out of the group just because she wasn’t able to find land for 10k people.

I’m shocked that no one is talking about this. Or even attempting to look into HIS faults in this. He clearly did everything and is now blaming the women he put In charge. Especially in that conference meeting where he said sheela was “in love with him and he didn’t love her.” That showed me everything I needed to see.

Why did the US settle for him to just be deported when the women were given hard prison sentences?

How did that happen?

Unfortunately, a name wasn't included in his little segment (only about 10-15 seconds, I think). But he was one of the young homeless men who had been brought to the ranch and was interviewed while doing farm chores. He looked so fucking full of joy and his face was just beaming. It kills me to think about how disappointed/heartbroken he must have been when it all shut down.

Anyone have ideas about how to find out more about him?

So I've watched the documentary for a third time. I admit, I like it, but there's a question that has been popping up in my mind and I felt like I had to ask it.

I became more interested in the commune's police, the peace force.

I was wondering what happened to them after it disbanded. Since the members were trained at various police academies, thar meant they were technically valid to continue serving as police officers elsewhere.

So if any of you used to be a member of the peace force, knew someone from the peace force, etc. I'd like to know a few more details about it, its members, and the aftermath.

Crimes Sheela and her squad committed aside, how can anyone look at how America reacted and think it is okay or justifiable? I went into this documentary fully expecting to side with Antelope/Oregon. Instead, I wound up feeling terrible for the Rajneeshees from almost the very beginning.

The people of Antelope were/are fucking terrible. Horrible. Just awful. Racist, bigoted, closed minded, insufferable people. The commune was no where near them and Sheela only started the take over when these bigots made it clear they weren’t going to let the commune exist in peace. The take over was done out of self-defense. It was extreme for sure, but when you have bigots threatening your peaceful life, what are you to do? Lay down and let them bulldoze over you? You do what is necessary to secure your way of life. This documentary made it painfully clear that the Rajneeshees weren’t in the wrong in the beginning, it was the people of Antelope who were in the wrong. A bunch of grumpy old racist bigots couldn’t stand that, 19 miles away, happy people were living how they wanted.

Throughout the documentary, I just became increasingly more disgusted with Oregon, Antelope, the government and the authorities (especially wearing down an old Osho to the point he was not physically able to fight to stay in America.) It just makes me sick. They were all so proud of chasing this group of free lovers out of their home. So proud. Absolutely vile.

Obviously what Sheela (and her gang) did was horrendous, but I can comfortably say that a lot of her actions were done because she was pushed to her absolute limit. When you attack and attack and attack people out of pure hatred, bigotry, out of evilness, you can’t be pikachu shocked when you get back exactly what you dished out. Have some fucking self awareness.

I came out of this liking Sheela vastly more than anyone in Antelope, anyone in Oregon, and any of the officials we saw. Maybe it’s because I’m LGBT and can relate to the bigotry and hatred that the Rajneeshees endured, but my heart goes out to them. It is a tragedy what happened to them, in this land that is supposedly “free”. America quite literally saw this unique group of people and told them “you are different, you don’t belong here.”

I’m just so sick to my stomach. Bigotry has to stop. It never will, of course, but I can’t help but feel it just has to.

I know they were in a ton of debt. But how on earth did they actually manage to build everything? In all of the video clips it seems like everyday commune members who are the ones doing all of the construction. Where did they gain the knowledge that is required for everything from electrical to plumbing to construction of buildings and more? Were they actively recruiting people with knowledge in these fields or hiring outside contractors to come in at times or both? I could see the members driving bulldozer around just learning by trial and error. But what about making quality plumbing and housing?

Was anyone surprised that Sheela owns group homes now? For the vulnerable and disabled? That surprised me. Why would any group home allow an ex-convict to do this type of work?

Then I remembered something S had said...that in Switzerland you are never an ex-convict. You are just a person. Once you serve your time, you are no longer a convict. So maybe that means no ones police record is checked?

I just did a quick google search and it seems like she is still in charge of the group home. I wonder what if any backlash there was for her after the show aired?

Home - Shared apartment for young and old (matrusaden.ch)

If you haven't read the 20 part series by the Oregonian (mentioned in the documentary), then you should! I just started to read it and I find the following fascinating...(I haven't even really started it)...

Sheela and others exaggerated about how influential the cult truly was = they are LIARS.

For example....

This article was published starting in 1985.

1. the portland restaurant owned by the cult had closed due to the lack of income
2. heavy equipment leasing for the cult had been suspended
3. the rolls-royce company was now asking for full cash when they purchased the cars rather than leasing the cars (means they were heavily in debt with this company)
4. the cars were owned by a trust and not by R himself, and some of them had been offered as prizes for competitions but none of the winners received the cars
5. they owed 4 million dollars due to non payment of loans, sales, taxes during their time in India.

So, just a quick note...THEY WERE BROKE!

They had claimed that there were 77 meditation centers in 29 states in 1982. Sheela alluded to this in one episode where a map was shown with pins placed in the various countries . But in actuality, for the American meditation centers, they had all closed, except the ranch. Sheela also said that there was an abundance of cult members in California, claiming that the most cult members were located there, but there were only 1500 cult members in this state. In the article, there is a breakdown of what Sheela had said the numbers of members were in various centers and then it compares it to reality, of the numbers being drastically lower than what Sheela has stated.

The restaurant that took over from a non-cult restaurant, called Zorba The Buddha, which is also mentioned and shown in the documentary had sales of $28,590 in January 1984 but by September, sales were only $7,330 which prompted it to close.

So, just in these first few realizations, all one can assume is that Sheela is a liar!

If you want me to continue to summarize the articles, then let me know. It is a 20 part series and all very fascinating so far!

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I am about halfway through Ep. 3 where they are discussing the government beginning to crack down on the unconstitutional practices of the Rajneeshpuram community. And listening to this former lawyer/ cult member discussing how the government is infringing upon their rights to freedom of religion and freedom of assembly while the people of the town of antelope are living under a mini dictatorship (complete with infringements of freedom of speech, infringements of privacy, and armed patrols) is so infuriating.

Like these people's perspective completely shifts whenever convenient. When the people of Antelope resisted their invasion, they were victims of "bigotry and ignorance", when they bought out Antelope and edged the locals out of their own town government they were the victors and not to be messed with. Now that the AG is sniffing around and making efforts to shut them down they are "a religious minority being thrown out of their homes."

Like the cognitive dissonance required to actively oppress a community and then -when the larger government makes an effort to free that community from your oppression- legitimately believe that it is you who is being oppressed while actively threatening a civil war... is absolutely delusional. It makes me so angry to watch these well-educated people try and virtue signal and victimize themselves with this exhaustingly self-righteous attitude... when if they used a fraction of their brain to utilize their education they would know that what they were attempting was ABSOLUTELY unconstitutional and unethical.

I also am only on EP3. So I assume it gets even worse. So where do they get the audacity to paint themselves of the victims of this situation is beyond me.

Fascinating....the location of the lab was once the school for the kids. The kids began to be homeschooled and Sheela used the lab and the nurse to create the concoctions for the salad bar and the medication injected into the physician by Jane Stork.

Watch, "The Cult of Osho" on Youtube. It is excellent and sort of fills in the gaps of the Wild Wild Country documentary

I wonder what became of most of them? How many of them were dropped off at a bus stop? Was it just a few or more than that? I know that at the end one of the people who was homeless said he wouldn't leave until everyone else had left. Do you think most stayed because it was a warm place to sleep and all meals were given to them?

I just rewatched the documentary again and am still so fascinated by this entire cult.

I also have read Jane Stork's book and I was struck by how little remorse she has. Yes, she was a victim of the cult; however, she chose to do so many things and lacks the remorse of harming the man she tried to kill. Again, still playing the victim and not being accountable for her actions.

Did anyone find a pure lack of remorse for anyone involved?

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In the second episode they show some of the building that went down in a sort of montage. The song starts playing at about 8:15 when they start off the montage with an explosion. There was a thread 6 years ago but the question remained unanswered.

In 1981 when he relocated to Oregon, he had just turned 50.

I keep seeing him referred to as an “old man” but it looks like that was just his look- he was never an old man. He was in full faculties (or should have) during the Oregon scandal but somehow wasn’t in very good health. He spent from age 55 talking about his impending death?

It doesn’t seem so farfetched either that he would have sex with his disciples in his early years, he established his ashram in 1974 after all, he was 43, a young man in his prime by today’s standards

If the locals / us government didn’t do everything in their power to try to boot these people out, don’t you think they would’ve remained peaceful? Also their hotel was bombed, that was the first act of violence, which was not from their side.

I’m super late and am just watching the doc, but I’m so confused on something.

Why did Antelope residents care about Rajneeshpuram and vice versa at first? I’m not talking about once everything started going down but at the very beginning of all this. They are nearly 20 miles away (ab 40 minutes), so I’m wondering how they even really knew what was going on? (Again talking about before the Rajneesh started buying property and taking over the town and whatnot).

The people of the town were just hateful. They remind me of the shitty people I grew up around.

The US Attorney spent all that time and energy going after them and at the same time...the cathothic church.

Rajneesh was a teacher of philosophy in India, where he stumbled upon some drug/ potion/ technique to mind control people. This was an ultimate love drug and It's almost impossible to escape that after first handshake (reason why Sheela still loves Osho). All this guy needed were 30-40 hypnotised successful first class americans with some money to start a no-objection, no questions cult.. and then rest just followed.

What would have that achieved even if they had won the election to disincorporate the county? The rajneeshpuram would have gone on normally even without Antelope, right? Am I missing some aspect of the American constitution here?

I am still watching the documentary. Any group with powerful people at the top inevitably engage in or allow harmful activity to please themselves, to remain in power, or just because they want to. So, this post isn’t about what internal problems the group had.

From the info presented in the documentary, it seems that if the townspeople had left them alone or not tried to oust them, they would not have tried to escalate their political power.

The townspeople wanted them out because they were “other”. Several of them said they were afraid of the unknown. Instead of trying to learn more about the Rajneeshees, they wanted them gone, by any means necessary. The townspeople started with the threats of violence. The group members were right to protect themselves with weapons as allowed by the laws of the USA.

The people that were bussed in were planning to stay in Oregon. It had to be unconstitutional that they were just not allowed to register to vote. The levels of government involved also seemed to be biased against the group, not because they had been proven to have done anything wrong, but because they were “other” and the “regular” people wanted them out.

I personally think, the original build/dream of the cult in Oregon, was an amazing achievement

You can't deny the genius of building a whole community from nothing but sand. How they went about it and the actions after the fact may not have been agreeable, but the town itself and self sufficiency of the town was amazing to imagine

Osho is a materialistic bore and that commune is my worst nightmare. I honestly cannot find one appealing thing about the Rajneesh cult. I knew a couple who were all about him and they were constantly trying to feed me his rhetoric. It was mostly absurd fluff. I wonder, didn’t all of these people who follow(ed) Osho have elders in their lives who warned them when they were growing up about people like him? This is all cult 101 stuff.

Do you guys think that the first and the biggest mistake was the decision to bring arms into the ranch?

After that all the steps taken by Sheela was to cover up the consequences because of this decision.

I also believe there was a mistake on Osho's part: He is (or claims to be) an awakened human being. He must know when to remain silent and when talk out loud. He could have anticipated that the things could go out of hands and could have taken precautionary measures to prevent further damage to his "commune" and its "neighbours".