What was the Rajneesh movement?

In the 70s, an Indian mystic named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (also known as Osho) founded his religious group with ashrams in India and the United States. The sect became known as the Rajneesh movement and was at the center of numerous political controversies. The conflicts between Rajneesh and law enforcement agencies intensified, ultimately culminating in a bioterrorial attack and numerous arrests.

The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Born in Chandra Mohan Jain in 1931 in India, Rajneesh studied philosophy and spent the first part of his adult life traveling to his native country, talking about mysticism and oriental spirituality. He worked as a philosophy professor at the University of Jabalpur and, in the 60s, he became somewhat controversial thanks to his extensive criticism of Mahatma Gandhi. It was also contrary to the idea of ​​state-sanctioned marriage, which he considered oppressive for women; instead, he advocated free love. Eventually he found wealthy investors to finance a series of meditation retreats and left his position as a university professor.

He began to initiate followers, whom he called neo-sannyasin. This term was based on a Hindu philosophy of asceticism, in which practitioners renounced their worldly goods and possessions in order to ascend to the next ashrama, or phase of spiritual life. The disciples dressed in ocher-colored clothes and changed their name. Jain formally changed his name from Chandra Jain to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

In the early 70s, Rajneesh had nearly 4.000 sannyasin initiates in India. He founded an ashram in the city of Pune, or Poona, and began to expand his following around the world.

Beliefs and practices


In the early XNUMXs, Rajneesh wrote a manifesto outlining the basic principles for his sannyasins and followers, who were called Rajneeshees. Based on principles of joyful affirmation, Rajneesh believed that every person could find their own path to spiritual enlightenment. His plan was to form intentional communities around the world where people could practice meditation and achieve spiritual growth. He believed that a common, pastoral and spiritual lifestyle would eventually replace the secular mentality of the cities and large cities of the world.

Because of his disapproval of the institution of marriage, Rajneesh encouraged his followers to give up marriage ceremonies and simply live together according to the principles of free love. It also discouraged reproduction and supported the use of contraception and abortion to prevent children from being born in its municipalities.

During the XNUMXs, the Rajneesh movement accumulated a phenomenal amount of wealth through numerous businesses. Operating as a company, with business principles in place, Rajneesh owned dozens of companies, both large and small, all over the world. Some were spiritual in nature, such as yoga and meditation centers. Others were more secular, such as industrial cleaning companies.

Settle in Oregon

In 1981, Rajneesh and his followers purchased an impressive complex in Antelope, Oregon. He and over 2.000 of his disciples settled on the 63.000-acre ranch property and continued to generate income. Shell corporations were created to shuffle the money, but the three main branches were the Rajneesh Foundation International (RFI); Rajneesh Investment Corporation (RIC) and Rajneesh Neo-Sannyasin International Commune (RNSIC). All of these were managed under an umbrella organization called Rajneesh Services International Ltd.

The Oregon property, which Rajneesh called Rajneeshpuram, became the center of the movement and its commercial operations. In addition to the millions of dollars the group generated each year through various investments and holdings, Rajneesh also had a passion for Rolls Royces. It is estimated that he owned nearly a hundred cars. According to reports, he loved the symbolism of wealth presented by Rolls Royce.

According to Hugh Urban's book Zorba the Buddha, a professor of comparative studies at Ohio State University, Rajneesh said:

“Thanks to the praise of poverty [of other religions], poverty has persisted in the world. They do not condemn wealth. Wealth is a perfect medium that can improve people in any way ... People are sad, jealous and think that Rolls Royces does not adapt to spirituality. I don't see that there is any contradiction ... In fact, sitting in a cart full of oxen it is very difficult to be meditative; a Rolls Royce is the best for spiritual growth. "

Conflict and Controversy

In 1984, the conflict intensified between Rajneesh and his neighbors in the city of The Dalles, Oregon, which had an upcoming election. Rajneesh and his disciples had assembled a bloc of candidates and decided to incapacitate the city's electoral population on election day.

From August 29 to October 10, Rajneeshees deliberately used salmonella crops to contaminate salads in nearly a dozen local restaurants. Although there were no deaths from the attack, over seven hundred residents fell ill. Forty-five people were hospitalized, including a boy and an 87-year-old man.

Local residents suspected that the people of Rajneesh were behind the attack, and spoke out loud to vote, effectively preventing any Rajneesh candidate from winning the election.

A federal investigation revealed that many experiments with bacteria and poisonous chemicals took place in Rajneeshpuram. Sheela Silverman and Diane Yvonne Onang, called Ma Anand Sheela and Ma Anand Puja in the ashram, were the main plans for the attack.

Almost all respondents to the ashram said that Bhagwan Rajneesh knew about Sheela and Puja's activities. In October 1985, Rajneesh left Oregon and flew to North Carolina where he was arrested. Although he has never been charged with crimes related to the bioterrorism attack in The Dalles, he has been convicted of three dozen counts of immigration violations. He entered an Alford request and was expelled.

The day after Rajneesh's arrest, Silverman and Onang were arrested in western Germany and extradited to the United States in February 1986. The two women entered Alford's grounds and were sentenced to prison. Both were released early for good behavior after twenty nine months.

Rajneesh today
More than twenty countries have denied entry to Rajneesh after his expulsion; he finally returned to Pune in 1987, where he revived his Indian ashram. His health began to fail, Rajneesh said he was poisoned by American authorities while in prison in retaliation for the bioterror attack on Oregon. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh died of heart failure in his Pune ashram in January 1990.

Today, the Rajneesh group operates from an ashram in Pune and often relies on the Internet to present their beliefs and principles to potential new converts.

Breaking the Spell: My Life as a Rajneeshee and the Long Journey Back to Freedom, published in 2009, illustrates the life of the author Catherine Jane Stork as part of the Rajneesh movement. Stork wrote that her children were sexually abused while living in the Oregon municipality and that she was involved in a plot to kill Rajneesh's doctor.

In March 2018, Wild Wild Country, a six-part documentary series about the Rajneesh cult, premiered on Netflix, bringing a more widespread awareness of the Rajneesh cult.

Key takeaways
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh has accumulated thousands of followers around the world. He settled in the ashrams of Pune, India and the United States.
Rajneesh's followers were called Rajneeshees. They gave up earthly goods, dressed in ocher-colored clothes and changed their name.
The Rajneesh movement has accumulated millions of dollars in assets, including shell companies and nearly a hundred Rolls Royces.
Following a bioterrorist attack by group leaders in Oregon, Rajneesh and some of his followers have been charged with federal crimes.