Osho - A psychopathic cult leader

Thank you everyone for this invaluable thread. This kind of valuable collection of research data on such a famous new age leader should be made more public.

I at one point considered using Osho Tarot cards, but decided against it. Now I do not do tarot anymore, but Osho's airy-fairy feel-good focus is certainly tempting.

So glad I found this community.

Again, great work.
 
Some notes have surfaced from a strange series of events that I saw unfold in my own city and state more than 30 years ago.

A self-styled guru from India called Baghwan Shree Rajneesh moved with his flock of followers to Oregon in the early 1980s. They bought an old former cattle ranch called the Big Muddy outside the tiny cow town of Antelope in the high desert east of the Cascades and renamed it Rajneeshpuram. They opened a hotel in downtown Portland, in a building that previously had been residential apartments for single women. They dressed in pink and red robes and were openly sexually promiscuous. The Baghwan liked Rolls Royce cars, and he apparently had a lot of them. He would ride in his Rolls Royce and be adored.

The Baghwan's chief factotum was a woman called Ma Anand Sheila, who unsurprisingly was a power seeking psychopath. Under her direction, the Rajneeshees fixed up the Big Muddy Rajneeshpuram as a commune, took over Antelope, and took aim at taking over control of the nearest large town, The Dalles, which is on the Columbia River, and its county government.

They lured hundreds of homeless men to the commune from California, which wasn't hard because they offered room, board and free sex. They registered their new recruits as voters and plotted to suppress the votes of the local populace at the next election. To do that, they spread salmonella at all the local restaurants' salad bars in The Dalles in the week before election day, causing an intense but fortunately rather brief episode of salmonella poisoning. Their ploy didn't succeed, however, and they lost the election. An investigation of the poisoning ensued, and before long the Rajneeshees faced criminal indictments.

I recall being glad they were in court, because I was getting divorced at the time and had my child support hearing in another courtroom just down the hall from the Rajneeshees trial, which meant that my then-wife and myself, along with our respective attorneys, had our hearing without spectators in the courtroom.

The Rajneeshees' history in Oregon is a strange story. Mystery diary of Rajneesh secrets discovered in locked file cabinet from commune
 
Well, that was pretty creepy. Wonder if they will ever find out who wrote the notes?
 
I am astonished. This bioterrorism was OSHO. I remembered this attempt (_1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack - Wikipedia and _The Largest Bioterror Attack in U.S. History Began at This Salsa Bar) but I never thought it was done by OSHO. It is funny to think how many of his books are sold in Spain every year by people looking for improving themselves. :scared:

Yes, that's really crazy. Do we have a thread dedicated to OSHO? We should, and put all this stuff in it. People need to be aware!
 
Yes, that's really crazy. Do we have a thread dedicated to OSHO? We should, and put all this stuff in it. People need to be aware!
This was a real surprise for me. I never liked OSHO and his teachings, but this about bioterrorism was a surprise.
And I can see so many books in stores here as he is the only one who is writing about the subject of meditation and self-improvement.
I agree with the idea to put all this in one single thread about OSHO.
I looks like a big fraud to me also.
I knew that something is wrong with him since so many books of him were in stores. Realy good books are very hard to find, especially where I live.
 
I thought I recognised Rajneesh's face when I was reading the article this morning but I didn't realise it was Osho:scared:. Not that I held him in high esteem or even payed much attention to him, but I'm just so surprised. When we went travelling in India we came across lots of hippy types who were into Osho and his books were everywhere... It reminds me of Amma too: "Darkness over India" - Amma, the Hugging Saint, aka Mata Amritanadamayi
 
Thanks for the sharing the article. So many weeks ago I watched the Netflix docu-series Wild Wild Country that the article refers to about Osho and the Rajneesh movement. After watching it, I tried locating more info here on the forum about Osho and the movement and found this thread also had good information: Has anybody from this forum become man number 4 (or higher)?.

The Baghwan's chief factotum was a woman called Ma Anand Sheila, who unsurprisingly was a power seeking psychopath.

That was the take I got of Ma Anand Sheila as well from watching the series.
 
Yes, that's really crazy. Do we have a thread dedicated to OSHO? We should, and put all this stuff in it. People need to be aware!

Threads have been merged and title has been changed.
 
Oh boy, here's another one:

Self-styled Indian ‘godman’ given life sentence for rape of teenager

An Indian court jailed a self-styled religious preacher for life on Wednesday for raping a teenage girl, the latest sexual abuse case against a so-called “godman.”

The case highlights the Indian heartland’s fascination with spiritual gurus, who wield immense influence for their ability to mobilize millions of adherents, amass untaxed funds and find favor with politicians.

A judge delivered the guilty verdict at a jail in the city of Jodhpur, in the western state of Rajasthan, where Asumal Harpalani, commonly known as Asaram Bapu, has been held since September 2013.

The 77-year-old, who has more than 400 ashrams around the world according to his website, had been denied bail a dozen times.

Defense lawyer Sushma Dhara said she would challenge the verdict.

“The sentencing has come as a big relief,” said Kiran Jha Thakur, the founder of Kalpana, a non-government body that helped the victim’s family pursue the case.

“It goes on to show that even if you are a ‘godman’, if you commit a crime, our judiciary will get you,” Thakur said.

India’s Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act permits lifetime jail terms for sexual assault of children, and was recently amended to allow the death penalty for the rape of girls under 12.

Two of the preacher’s aides were also convicted and jailed for 20 years each, while two others were acquitted.

“This judgment is a lesson to people who think they can get away by committing sexual offenses against children,” said Yashwant Jain, a member of National Commission For Protection of Child Rights.

The case dates from August 2013, when the 16-year-old girl accused the preacher of sexually assaulting her at his ashram in Jodhpur, about 335 km (210 miles) from the state capital of Jaipur.

The girl, who reportedly sought to be rid of evil spirits, said in her complaint that she was asked to perform oral sex and was touched inappropriately, media said.

Security forces in four states - Rajasthan and neighboring western Gujarat, as well as northern Uttar Pradesh and Haryana - went on high alert, for fear of a backlash from supporters.

Last year, followers of another guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, ran amok after he was found guilty of rape, unleashing violence that killed more than 30.

Nationwide outrage after a series of child rapes over the last two weeks spurred Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet to approve the death penalty for the rape of girls younger than 12.
 
Here's a bunch of photos: The Rajneeshees in Oregon: Photos through the years . A chilling glimpse of Sheela's personality shows in one of these photos.

Just looking at those photos makes ya want to go "Huh???!!" I mean, how did all that happen? How DOES it happen? Just look at the Pepin thing. Why are so many people so vulnerable to such predators? Yes, all rhetorical questions but it pays to remind ourselves of what can and does happen when people don't have sufficient knowledge and support from a good network.
 
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