Skip to main content

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
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Grouchiest Blog Post

Hello! This post is literally just Grumpy Lydia complaining. If that sounds miserable, congratulations! You have my full permission to click away now. If that sounds like something you wouldn't mind reading, please enjoy and/or suffer through this list of Lydia's Miseries. I was on vacation in Italy all last week, which means that there are many lingering tasks that have not been completed. My flight was delayed on Monday, which means that I missed class, which has led to me being even more behind.  Housing selection was yesterday, and I am trying to force myself to come to terms with the fact that I'm pretty much definitely going to be living alone next year, which will contribute to my depression next year and makes me feel lonely in the present. There are just, like, a lot of lingering thoughts that I cannot find the words to write about.  It is cold and wet and sad outside, which means that a Self-Imposed Walk to Help With Lingering Sadness would probably jus...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reviewing My August 2019 Goals

This is an image of my desk during Fall Semester 2018. On the right side of the photo, there is a vintage Singer sewing machine which, unfortunately, does not work. To the left of the sewing machine, there is a crate books inside. On top of the crate, there is a stack of Rookie Yearbooks with a crocheted jellyfish (wearing glasses) on top of it, and a picture frame containing a print that reads "all the time". To the left of the crate, there are a few more books. In lieu of a proper bookend, I have placed a tarot deck (stored in a black makeup bag) and a book-themed Halloween decoration (featuring book spines with the words "Potions", "Hexes", and "Spells") to keep my books from toppling over. I chose this photograph because, unlike my current desk, this desk looks like it belongs to someone who creates monthly goals. Hello! At the start of this month, I made a list of goals. As September 1 draws near, I am l...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Brief Reflection on the Practice of Blogging Daily

Image of a canyon in White Rock, New Mexico. There is a ridge in the horizon of the picture, with orange-brown rock. The canyon is dry and dirt-covered, with small bushes and trees dotted near the bottom. A green pine tree sits in the bottom left corner of the frame. Hello! I seem to be in a season of my life where I am eager to start a project, but struggle to follow through. *stares at sentimental items on my desk that been sitting there for days, waiting for me to sort through them*  By blogging every day this month, I am trying to create some consistency, and to keep Slanted Rays from becoming just another abandoned project. This habit has become surprisingly well-ingrained, even with yesterday's post being written in my parents' car on the way to Sonic at 10 PM. At the same time, maintaining a daily post schedule is a bit exhausting. It's weird to sometimes create meaningful content that I really enjoy, while also occasionally churning out words just so that I...
Post a Comment
Read more