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Wednesday, February 2, 2022 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Guru ‘sold enlightenment’ in Central Oregon
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
<I sell contentment,=
said the guru then known as
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. <I
sell enlightenment.=
It was a big claim. For
many followers, it rang true.
During the 1970s the India-
based cult grew in popular-
ity among well-off, educated
Westerners, and tensions
increased around their ash-
ram in Pune (Poona). The
Rajneeshees decided to build
their own utopia in the United
States.
They found a location
right here in Central Oregon:
Big Muddy Ranch, near the
town of Antelope.
Rajneeshpuram, the large
intentional community they
built from the ground up in the
early 1980s, is featured in the
High Desert Museum9s new
exhibit, <Imagine a World=
(see related article, page 6).
Photos, informational mate-
rial, and a Rolls Royce are
part of the installation.
What9s up with the car?
Well, the Baghwan became
famous for combining spiri-
tuality with materiality and
carnality. Unlike most other
gurus, he didn9t preach asceti-
cism or reject wealth and con-
sumerism. On the contrary, he
embraced them, along with
unconventional approaches to
sex and violence.
Rajneesh became known
for his <drive-by darshan= at
Rajneeshpuram. He had taken
a vow of silence, so this was
a primary way of interacting
with his followers: driving
down a dusty road, occasion-
ally nodding to them or press-
ing his hands together.
The undeniably weird
image of a long-bearded,
robed Indian mystic driving
through the Wild West land-
scape of Wasco County in
one of his 93 Rolls Royces,
the road flanked by red-,
pink-, and orange-wearing
devotees singing and danc-
ing, captured the imagination
of many. He became known
in the American media as the
Rolls Royce Guru or Guru
of the Rich; in India, he had
once earned the moniker The
Sex Guru.
In 1982 he told an immi-
gration officer, <All the reli-
gions have commanded and
praised poverty, and I con-
demn all those religions.
Because of their praise of
poverty, poverty has persisted
in the world. I don9t condemn
wealth. Wealth is a perfect
means which can enhance
people in every way& So I
am a materialist spiritualist.=
Money matters, in other
words. By the time Bhagwan
Shree Rajneesh left India
in 1981, according to The
Oregonian, <his empire
was embroiled in disputes
over millions of dollars in
unpaid taxes.= In the United
States, the legal problems
of Rajneesh, his right-hand
Ma Anand Sheela, and other
Rajneeshee leaders eventually
encompassed far worse.
In a very brief period of
time, the Rajneeshees built an
entire mini-metropolis, with
sewage systems, housing, a
bus system, and other munici-
pal functions. Devoted fol-
lowers learned to plan, build,
and farm together, embracing
hands-on hard work as part of
their spiritual ethic. Building
their own city and infrastruc-
ture from scratch became part
of their spiritual practice.
Te n s i o n s d e v e l o p e d
between the thousands of
residents at Rancho Rajneesh,
later incorporated as an actual
city called Rajneeshpuram,
and residents of nearby
ranches and houses in the
town of Antelope. (The con-
flicts are well described by
residents interviewed in
<Wild Wild Country,= stream-
ing on Netflix.)
The museum shows mem-
orabilia of Antelope-area
residents and Oregonians
in general revolting against
the sudden appearance of a
new mini-city in their midst.
These items are displayed in
the trunk of the Rolls Royce,
naturally.
Some opposition shown
at the time can be interpreted
as xenophobic or racist.
Nevertheless, in terms of pub-
lic relations, the Rajneeshees
largely dug their own grave.
At one point, they recruited
thousands of unhoused people
from around Oregon, promis-
ing them a place to live, good
meals, and beer. The point
wasn9t necessarily religious
conversion, but to boost
Rajneeshpuram9s voter base
PHOTO BY TL BROWN
Memorabilia of Oregonians opposing the Rajneeshees building a city in
Central Oregon is on display in the trunk of a Rolls Royce at High Desert
Museum.
to gain a stronger political
foothold in the county.
When those folks arrived
at the polls, local pollsters
didn9t let them vote. Back at
camp, they became <rowdy,=
according to a report in
Good. <To keep the peace,
the Rajneeshees separated
these disenfranchised people
from the rest of the group,
drugged their beers with seda-
tives, and made them listen to
chanting.=
Sheela and others were
later accused of poisoning
Oregon locals with salmo-
nella bacteria to prevent them
from making it to the voting
booth; trying to take over the
city of Antelope; and even a
plot to assassinate a federal
official. So much for utopia.
Convicted of immigration
crimes, the Bhagwan paid
fines; globetrotted a while,
only to be run out of most
countries; and returned to
India. He changed his name
to Osho and is often quoted
in Internet memes and New
Age environments. He died in
1990.
Ma Anand Sheela pleaded
guilty to attempted murder
and assault for her role in the
bioterrorist poisoning attack.
She was sentenced to 20
years in prison, paroled after
about three years. Convicted
of criminal acts related to
an assassination plot against
federal prosecutor Charles
Turner, she was tried in her
new adopted country of
Switzerland and sentenced to
time served.
As for Rancho Rajneesh:
it is now called Washington
Family Ranch, owned and
operated by Young Life, a
Christian organization.
SUDOKU EASY PEASY!
FUN & GAMES
Place a number in the empty boxes in such
a way that each row across, each column
down, and each small nine-box square con-
tains all of the numbers from 1 to 9.
MATH SQUARE
Pizza
Word
Find
Use the numbers 1 through 16 to complete
the equations. Each number is used once.
Each row is a math equation. Each column is a
math equation. Remember that multiplication
and division are performed before addition
and subtraction.