WHAT WAS RAJNEESHPURAM? Surely that heading caught your attention. What is Rajneeshpuram? AI: “Rajneeshpuram was a controversial, short-lived (1981–1985) intentional community in central Oregon established by followers of the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later known as Osho). Thousands of followers, or “Sannyasins,” built a city on a remote ranch, seeking a utopian “free-love” society, but the group engaged in severe criminal activities, including the 1984 salmonella bio-terror attack. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh taught a mix of Eastern mysticism and Western psychology, focusing on meditation and sexual liberation. Followers, often seen in red or maroon clothing, viewed him as an enlightened master. Located at the Big Muddy Ranch near Antelope, Oregon, it grew into a self-sufficient city with its own police, airport, and infrastructure, peaking at around 2,000–7,000 residents. Spiritual leader Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) famously owned a collection of 93 Rolls-Royce cars in the 1980s, a symbol of his philosophy challenging the link between spirituality and poverty, with followers donating the luxury vehicles to a trust. The collection included custom-painted models and was part of his opulent lifestyle in Oregon before the commune’s collapse, with the cars later auctioned off. The group aimed to take over local government, leading to intense conflicts with residents. Leaders (notably Ma Anand Sheela) orchestrated crimes, including a massive salmonella poisoning of local restaurant salad bars to influence a local election, the largest bioterror attack in U.S. history. Following FBI investigations, immigration fraud charges, and the poisoning plot, the community collapsed, and Bhagwan was deported in 1985. The story gained renewed attention through the Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country. the Rajneesh movement, now known as the Osho movement (Rajneesh is now known as Osho), is still active globally through the Osho International Meditation Resort in Pune, India, and numerous meditation centers worldwide, focusing on Osho’s teachings on meditation, awareness, and spirituality, while downplaying controversial aspects of its past to appeal to a broader audience. Rajneesh died in 1990.”

WHAT WERE SOME OF RAJNEESH’S BELIEFS? Rajneesh’s views on marriage: “Osho did not marry because he viewed marriage as a restrictive, artificial institution based on fear, ownership, and duty, which stifles natural love and freedom, viewing it as a social trap rather than a spiritual union. He believed true love thrives in freedom and awareness, contrasting this with marriage’s legal bondage that turns love into obligation, ultimately leading to resentment and unhappiness, though he wasn’t against love itself, only the legal contract.” (AI) His belief on God: “”To me, there is no god other than life itself, and there is no temple other than existence itself. Then everything becomes a divine celebration. Osho rejected the traditional concept of a personal God but believed in “Godliness” as the totality of existence, urging people to experience this divine reality through meditation and self-realization rather than blind belief, emphasizing direct knowing over faith. He saw God as synonymous with life itself, an impersonal energy inherent in the universe, and a quality of being, not a separate entity to be worshipped.” Some of what he said is good sense: “Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and nobody can make you happy. “Life begins where fear ends.” “Friendship is the purest love. It is the highest form of Love where nothing is asked for, no condition, where one simply enjoys giving.”

WHO WAS ATTRACTED TO RAJNEESHPURAM? What kind of people were attracted to Rajneeshpuam? AI: “Rajneeshpuram attracted a diverse, international, and largely affluent group of followers—predominantly educated professionals, intellectuals, and women in their 30s and 40s seeking alternative, liberated lifestyles in the 1980s. Many were upper-middle-class Westerners drawn to a blend of Eastern mysticism, capitalist enterprise, and open sexuality. Over half (54%) of the devotees were women, many of whom had successful careers but were looking for alternatives to traditional, conventional life roles.” That has always amazed me that middle-class Westerners could be attracted to a cult like this. In the West we have such a history of teaching about Jesus, giving the proof that He was the Son of God, that he died and was raised, etc. What would cause a middle-class educated person in the West to reject Christianity and follow some Indian mystic to a cult ranch in Oregon?

Not much to say about this cult other than “interesting”, “unbelievable”. I want to watch “Wild Wild Country”! But God can turn bad into good. “The former Rajneeshpuram ranch, once a 64,000-acre commune near Antelope, Oregon, is now the Washington Family Ranch, a Young Life Christian camp. Purchased by billionaire Dennis Washington in 1996 and donated to the youth ministry, the site features a summer camp for kids with a pool, water slide, and sports facilities, including the former meeting hall.” (AI) Wow!