Wild Wild Country, the latest Netflix documentary series based on the controversial and yet having a massive following, Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh or Osho as he later came to be known, is setting fire to the internet these days.
The 6-hour series is being called a must watch in order to understand the life and inner workings of Bhagwan Rajneesh’s much talked about Rancho Rajneesh or Rajneeshpuram, a commune place over 64,000 acres close to the sleepy town of Antelope, Oregon, USA.
In the 6 episodes, the series is supposed to take a look at the rise and fall of the community along with all the controversies they brought with them.
Having heard so much about the documentary and the massive popularity of Osho himself, I took a look at some interesting stories that revolved around the spiritual guru:
1. The poisoning of 751 local people
It is said according to sources that in 1984 the first and one of the largest case of bio-terror attacks came up when followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh/Osho contaminated salad bars and more in Oregon with Salmonella in order to affect the voting population so that their candidate would win that year’s Wasco County election.
The followers of this group apparently wanted political control in the nearby Wasco County Circuit Court but were afraid that the large mistrust of the locals would make them lose, and so they decided to commit food poisoning.
After much investigation, in 1985 Rajneesh coming out of his 4 year self-imposed isolation and silence stated at a press conference that his personal secretary Sheela also known as Ma Anand Sheela and 19 others had left the commune and he accused Sheela and her team of not only this poisoning fiasco but also the attempted murder of an US attorney along with a number of other crimes saying that they were a ‘gang of fascists’.
2. Ma Sheela Anand
Sheela came to be with Rajneesh when she was around 16 years of age and since then remained with him till 1985 when she resigned and left for Europe.
While not the main man herself, Sheela was equally powerful and influential due to her closeness with Rajneesh and being his right-hand person.
It is still not clear exactly what happened to make the devout and crazy in love with Rajneesh Sheela to resign from her position and then subsequently write a book called ‘Don’t Kill Him’ that outrightly bashed the guru and called him out on a number of different things.
She has even said as per some sources that Rajneesh knew about her criminal acts and was complicit in them, something that does not match up to the innocent face the guru had put up while placing all the blame on Sheela.
For her crimes, Sheela was sentenced to a 20-year term in a federal prison but got out on parole after just 29 months due to good behaviour.
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3. Bhagwan Rajneesh, his sex cult, and his Rolls Royce
The biggest mystery would be who was Bhagwan Rajneesh or Osho in reality and whether he truly was everything the media made him out to be.
It is said that by 1985 itself, Rajneesh had about 95 Rolls Royce and pens and watches that were valued at millions. His ostentatious nature had never been something hidden but the reason that is given in certain places that most of it was gifts and not something the followers had to pay for is a little shady.
His sex cult and orgy parties are also famous due to Rajneesh’s open nature towards sex, but what was the actual reality behind all that, we don’t know.
4. Nitrous Oxide and Alford’s Plea
As per some sources, Rajneesh was said to imbibe in nitrous oxide in order to get high and start laughing or making speeches while claiming it was all an after effect of meditation.
It is also interesting to note that in the October of 1985, a federal grand jury is said to have charged Rajneesh and several of his followers of immigration fraud. When arrested, Rajneesh initially plead not guilty, but later on after getting advice from his lawyers entered into an ‘Alford’s Plea’.
The thing to take notice about this plea is that it is a type of guilty plea by which although the convicted does not admit his guilt but does acknowledge that the other side has enough evidence against him to convict him. One usually enters into such a plea in order to escape much harsher punishments and admits to a smaller charge and punishment.
Having heard so much about the Netflix documentary it would surely be really fascinating to see what all they deal with in it.
I have heard that the documentary is interesting because it features home videos of the people involved from both sides, the people from the cult and those who opposed it.
It certainly adds a very authentic and personal look at how things used to be at that time and lets the viewer see for themselves the truth, hopefully.
The makers, I’ve read, tried to remain neutral and put forward both sides of this entire movement.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Hindustan Times, HuffPost, Firstpost
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