Wild, Wild Country, Building Utopia, and My Obsession with the Rajneesh Movement

This image is titled "Osho Drive By", and it is copyright 2003 by Samvado Gunnar Kossatz. You can find several other photos of the Rajneeshees by this photographer here. This image is from 1982, and it was taken at Rajneesh Purim in Western Oregon. A Rolls Royce, containing respected religious leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, is driving along a dusty dirt road. Dozens of Bhagwan's followers, all clothed in red, are lined up to greet him. In the background, there are several desolate mountains.

Hello!

I have recently become absorbed by the podcast Building Utopia, which examines the life of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. You may be familiar with Bhagwan from the equally absorbing Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country. The podcast shares many details about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's followers (sannyasins) and their commune in Western Oregon that were not shared Wild Wild Country. For those who are unfamiliar with the Rajneeshees, I recommend starting with the Wikipedia page. The shortest possible summary that I can provide is that the Rajneesh movement began in India, created a commune in Oregon, and was ultimately convicted of widespread voter fraud and poisoning. (But, really, you need to be watching Wild Wild Country and/or listening to Building Utopia.)

Upon starting to listen to this podcast, I remembered that a follower of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (who, later in his life, went by the name "Osho") had created a tarot deck. This remembrance led me to look around the Osho website, and learn that you can still live in an intentional Rajneeshee community in Pune, India. In Building Utopia, the host, Rusty King, emphasizes that the Rajneesh movement was inherently a for-profit venture. The same is true for present day, with different retreat options provided for different needs. I found myself thinking "Wouldn't it be interesting to visit? I mean, things have already gotten as bad as they can get, so how much worse could they get now?".

Anyway, this renewed interest in Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh has reminded me of my own fondness for the idea of joining a movement that verges on being a cult. I suspect that I will follow up listening to this podcast with lots of other cult-related content. What do other folks think about when they absorb cult media? Does anyone else vaguely want to run away and join/start a cult?

Until next time,

Lydia

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