In 1981, ambitious young Ma Anand Sheela transported the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to the United States to fulfill his dream of creating a utopia for his thousands of disciples. Four years later, the incendiary Rajneeshpuram commune in Oregon collapsed under the weight of audacious criminal conspiracies hatched in its inner sanctum, including the largest bioterrorism attack in US history, an unprecedented election fraud scheme, and multiple attempted murders.
Rajneeshpuram explores how this extraordinary spiritual community, featured in the Netflix docuseries Wild Wild Country, went so wrong. Drawing from extensive interviews with former disciples and an exhaustive review of commune records, government and police files, and archival materials, author Russell King probes the charismatic power that Bhagwan (later known as Osho) and Sheela exercised over the community and the turbulent legal and political environment that left commune leaders ready to deceive, poison, and even murder to preserve their home and their master.
Rajneeshpuram is a fresh examination of the Rajneesh story, using newly available information and interviews with high-ranking disciples who have never before shared their stories.
'Russell King has written the most definitive account of this grand American saga. Rajneeshpuram is rich storytelling.' — Chapman and Maclain Way, directors of Wild Wild Country
By:
Russell King
Imprint: Chicago Review Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 228mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 30mm
Weight: 730g
ISBN: 9781641609029
ISBN 10: 1641609028
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 01 April 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Author’s Note Prologue Part I: New Jersey, 1981 1. The Godman of Mumbai 2. Oasis in Pune 3. The New Commune 4. Exeunt Part II: Oregon, 1981–1982 5. Foundations in the Desert 6. The Mirage 7. Between a Rock and Antelope 8. “Better Red Than Dead” 9. A Small Farm Town 10. Making It Legal 11. Bhagwan Takes a Trip 12. Truth and Consequences Part III: Oregon, 1983 13. Religion at Its Highest 14. Children of the Commune 15. Horse Trading 16. Terror in the Buddhafield 17. God Versus the Universe Part IV: Oregon, 1984 18. The Spook 19. The Enemy Inside 20. Sharpening the Sword 21. The Chinese Laundry 22. How to Win an Election 23. Something in the Water 24: Desperate Times 25: Sannyasin Hospitality 26. The Election of 1984 27. The Lost Discourse Part V: Oregon, 1985 28. Desperate Measures 29. Downward Spiral 30. The Turning Point 31. Internal Affairs 32. The Garden of Epicurus 33. Master’s Day 1985 34. Catharsis 35. Plan B 36. Collapse 37. Glad News Part VI: Flight, 1985 38. Cracks in the Dam 39. Life and Death 40. Meanwhile in Europe 41. Flight from Oregon 42. Wind Down 43. Aftermath Acknowledgments Notes Selected Bibliography Index
Russell King is a writer, investigator, and attorney. In 2018 he created the podcast Building Utopia: Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, which explores the history of Bhagwan and his disciples using an immersive narrative nonfiction approach. A former partner at an international law firm, King draws on his experience piecing together factual narratives based on contradictory evidence to tackle this rich and complicated history.
Reviews for Rajneeshpuram: Inside the Cult of Bhagwan and Its Failed American Utopia
Simultaneously horrifying and captivating, and readers interested in books about cults won't be able to turn away. -- Booklist Rajneeshpuram was my home in the '80s as a child and a teenager. Russell King's book powerfully tells the very dramatic story of this 'utopia.' Through his words I can feel the many voices he's interviewed and researched to try to tell this story from a place of wanting to understand 'what happened here.' As an ex-resident I truly appreciate that approach as many voices are included, and neither the good or the bad are being sensationalized. This story is not only about one or two people who gained a lot of notoriety at the time, and it touches on many lives and many emotional topics. There's always more to any story, especially one that involved so many players, and this book is a very well conceived introduction to it all. If anyone asks me for the most complete recounting of the story of Rajneeshpuram that I've seen, I would point them to this book. --Dickon Kent, former commune member Russell King has written the most definitive account of this grand American saga. Rajneeshpuram is rich storytelling, weaving together behind-the-scenes testimonies with factual precision. King has crafted an investigative brew of religious zealotry, xenophobia, local politics, personal betrayals, and warfare. This is a rabbit hole you cannot wait to go down; at times you'll ask yourself, 'Did all this really happen?' And the answer is, yes--it did. --Chapman and Maclain Way, directors of Wild Wild Country King's intense focus on the inside of the cult is fascinating, and paints a tense, claustrophobic picture of a society collapsing in on itself. -- Blogtown
