Sheela —
Continued from Page 1
anything as bad as this. But still
I give (Oregonians) the credit
that they have average,
mediocre minds, same as in the
world.” Ma Anand Sheela says.
She compared the situation in
Oregon to boiling milk. “You
boil Oregon, you get bigotry on
the surface."
There is a possibility for
change, she says, although she
cited an Amnesty International
study calling Wasco County the
most bigoted county in the
world.
“If they are intelligent, I ex
pect change very soon. If they
are not intelligent, 1 don’t ex
pect change for eternity,” she
says.
The 35-year-old secretary's
fiery words and outlandish
remarks have prompted na
tional curiosity and local
criticism. On ABC’s Nightline,
host Ted Koppel turned off her
microphone because she
wouldn’t stop haranguing and
interrupting her fellow guest,
state Hep. Wayne Fawbush, 13
Hood River.
And yet she claims the media
consistently misrepresent her
because of their lack of
understanding.
“They come here for about
two hours and think they’re ex
perts on Rajneeshees. When so
meone comes with that kind of
fallacy, you know they’re going
to misrepresent," Ma Anand
Sheela says.
She has known Rajneesh
since she was 17. and though
she has had two husbands, she
describes him as her "number
one lover.”
“He's my lover — that has
nothing to do with genitals, you
understand. But I think that
gives him a much better posi
tion than God. A God I can even
curse — ‘God damn it!’ — But I
can’t say ‘God damn it.
Bhagwan!' It doesn't rhyme.”
Sheela says.
Ma Anand Sheela. who was a
fine arts student at New Jersey’s
Montclair College, describes
herself as a housewife.
“I was a housewife. I still am
a housewife, just my household
has increased.” says Ma Anand
Sheela, who insists on com
mune members calling her
“Mom.”
The innovative changes in
lifestyle that are part of Ra
jneeshism will have to affect
those around it, she says.
"Whether you want it or not,
you do get affected by the
greatness of the flower, and 1
have a feeling that (Oregonians)
will be affected,” she says.
She thinks the antagonism
between Rajneeshees and
Oregonians stems in part from
jealousy.
“All their lives, they’ve lived
miserable in every aspect.
They’ve lived with nagging
wives and nagging children.
Then they get jealous, and they
try to knock it,” she says.
But although there are pro
blems, Ma Anand Sheela
doesn't regret choosing the land
that she did to establish the
commune.
“1 love this land. It’s just this
land’s bad fortune that it hap
pened to be in Oregon,” she
says.
For all the flamboyance of the
Rajneeshees, Ma Anand Sheela
says their only desire is to live
in peace.
"Our purpose is for all Ra
jneeshee lovers to live together
in harmony, just being here and
enjoying ourselves 100
percent.”