From the India Today archives (1983) | Rajneesh and his Oregon odyssey

(NOTE: This is a reprint of a story that was published in the INDIA TODAY edition dated April 30, 1983)

Almost three years after the self-styled Bhagwan Rajneesh and his free-wheeling followers quit India, the controversies that have haunted them constantly still continue to dog their footsteps, even in the scrubby desert hills of Rajneeshpuram, Oregon. But if Rajneesh’s chief aide, Ma Anand Sheela, 33, is to be believed when she drawls: “We love publicity— good or bad”, the Rajneesh Foundation International (RFI) shouldn’t worry. Right now, they are getting all the publicity they could possibly want—most of it bad.

The foundation’s propensity for generating negative waves surfaced almost immediately after Rajneesh, his fleet of 27 Rolls Royces and 800 of his saffron-draped acolytes halted their travelling commune in the tiny town of Antelope (population: 100) and virtually took it over. The initial resistance was only token. The small group of around 40 elderly and outraged Antelope citizens had little chance against the tightly-controlled and aggressively acquisitive sanyasins, as they prefer to be called. Using the commune as a base, RFI systematically bought up all the commercial property in Antelope and moved some of the sanyasins into the town—just enough to give them a voting majority. Their strategy was obvious. Come election time in Antelope, last November, and the sanyasins steam-rolled over the local candidates, putting five of their members on the city council while their candidate for mayor, Ma Prem Karuna, was elected virtually unopposed.

The events that marked the prelude to elections clearly showed that the RFI was determined to stay on the top ten news charts. When they arrived at their 64,229- acre “Rancho Rajneesh” outside Antelope in July 1981, they professed to be merely a “friendly farming community”. But Sheela’s claim that “we are here to build consciousness and not a city” was rapidly belied. Flamboyantly proclaiming their capitalism with a fleet of Rolls Royces and bumper stickers which said: “Jesus Saves, Moses Invests and Bhagwan Spends”, a head-on collision with the sleepy, conservative Oregon community was but inevitable.

Losing battle: The Antelopians, heavily outnumbered and outgunned, took resort to every possible legal defence to try and stem the saffron tide but it was a losing battle. Prolonged and bitter court battles ended, most of which were won by the sanyasins. Finally, a large number of the original residents packed up and left, some, like Viola Wilson, selling their property to the interlopers. Those who remain, intend to keep a safe distance. Says Mona Reynolds, former city recorder for the council: “You have to live here to really understand what we’re faced with.”

The face of Antelope is now painted in the saffron that is Rajneesh’s hallmark and a cafe called “Zorba The Buddha” dominates the tiny strip of houses. Quips Reynolds: “Everytime you look out of the window you see red.” But that also signifies the constant state of war that exists between the local community and the Godman’s followers. Says Francis Dickson: “There is no coexisting with them, no getting along.” Lately, however, the hostility level seems to have dropped a few notches. Admits Don Smith, who stood for mayor opposite Karuna: “They call us rednecks and naive and maybe there has been some narrow-mindedness on our part.” The result is that the battle is now confined to the odd skirmish like the one over the community church which the sanyasins, typically, want to acquire for a meditation centre. But even so, the Antelopians still sport constant reminders that the battle is not over in the form of buttons stating: “Keep Oregon Green” and “Better Dead than Red” while signboards defiantly proclaim: “This is Jesus Country.”

But there are others who are fairly impressed with the businesslike manner in which the sanyasins have developed Rajneeshpuram despite a court battle over its validity. In May 1982, the 800-odd sanyasins unanimously voted to incorporate about 2,100 acres of the ranch as a city to be called Rajneeshpuram. The move was promptly challenged in the court of appeals by a land-use watchdog group called “1000 Friends of Oregon”. Says Attorney Mark Greenfield: “We feel that Rajneeshpuram is not the place to create a new city.”

Their resistance is fuelled by fears that the arid and hilly scrub land would not have enough water to support the city’s projected population of 4,000. But the major apprehension is that the RFI is building an urban empire on their land under an agricultural guise. These fears are not unfounded. The Rajneesh Investment Corporation, which handles the RFI’s myriad business dealings, owns all the land that the city stands on. If RFI loses the case filed by “1000 Friends of Oregon”, the court could declare the city unlawful and dissolve the organisational city structure which includes a mayor, Swami Krishna Deva, and a city council.

The saffron-robed settlers are well aware that their move into Antelope has been a major public relations fiasco. But it was a calculated risk, with ulterior motives. The state of Oregon has specific zoning laws which prohibit agricultural land being used for commercial purposes. So,when the commune was set up on the largely agricultural “Rancho Rajneesh”, there remained an urgent need to acquire an urban base for the Rajneesh Foundation’s vast business enterprises.

Model city: The pace with which the sanyasins are rapidly developing Rajneeshpuram indicates that they are supremely confident of getting a favourable judgement. Mayor Deva has presented a comprehensive 20-year plan to the Land Conservation and Development Department (LC&D) which envisions a model self-sufficient community growing in harmony with the environment. Whether that will actually materialize remains to be seen but it is impossible to dispute the amazing achievements of the 800-odd sanyasins till now. They have turned the over-grazed low-grade ranch slopes into a flourishing farm and in the process won over local businessmen and county officials. Says Bob Rindy of the LC&D: “It is impressive how quickly and well a group of people can build.”

In 18 months, the sanyasins have blasted roads out of rock, built a lake and dam in a desert, planted exotic trees, set up solar greenhouses and a dairy, constructed prefabricated houses and installed communication systems and utilities. Says Ma Prem Sunshine, the commune’s spokeswoman: “One must have an intense passion to build a community before one can live here.” That passion is reflected in the cheerful commitment that the work groups display during their 12-hours-a-day seven days a week labour of love, living in groups in makeshift trailer homes, eating at a common dining hall and doubling up as cooks, construction engineers or accountants without any hierarchical hassles.

Predictably, outsiders and Antelope residents hint darkly at a core group that orchestrates the activity from the shadows. Sheela, as ranch mother and RFI president is undoubtedly the boss but apart from that the informal laid-back atmosphere makes it difficult to identify any type of hierarchical structure. Says Don Smith: “The majority of them you never get to see unless they are pulled out for a demonstration.” They have also successfully managed to launder their image as sex-drug cultists. They still have “encounter groups” and as Sheela says in reply to a question: “Sex? Sure, we have lots of it,” but adding that the sheer physical involvement in building the ranch leaves little time or energy for much else. Drugs are taboo on the ranch and alcohol intake is limited. Up front they appear to be a healthy and intelligent lot, a majority of them Americans and Europeans from obviously affluent backgrounds.

Indian followers: Despite its deep-rooted Indian connection, there are only about 15 Indians currently on the ranch. One of them is Divyagandha who arrived recently from India to join her American sanyasin husband. She says that the ranch reminds her of Mount Abu and she is perfectly happy with her mundane job in the video library and canteen. “I cannot express in words what Bhagwan has done for me,” she says simply. Most of Rajneesh’s Indian disciples are still at the Pune ashram which is still in operation, though the controversies and curiosity value has departed with the foreigners. Those who can afford to, fly out to Oregon for the yearly Guru Purnima festival celebrated each July at the ranch.

But inevitably, Rancho Rajneesh is no different from the Pune ashram as far as local hostility and suspicion is concerned, and it is not just confined to Antelope. Says Joan Precora. who works at a car rental agency in Portland: “ You don’t wear orange or red in Oregon. People immediately think you are a Rajneeshite.” Attorney Mark Faust, host of a popular local TV talk show feels that most Oregonians are convinced that they are weirdos. “People are frightened by the strangeness of their religion,” he remarks. The waves have even reached as far as the US Senate. The Rajneeshpuram newspaper Rajneesh Times recently printed a letter written by US Senator from Oregon, Mark Hatfield to Sol West, a California millionaire and a known Republican contributor. In the letter, Hatfield cites suggestions “about what local jurisdiction can do to slow and stop the financial enterprises of such cults”. Such revelations have only strengthened the Rajneeshees’ claim that they are being subjected to religious discrimination which they compare to “McCarthyism”. In a recent statement, they claimed that they have been “unjustly and unfairly branded as a dangerous cult by bigoted and fearful politicians in Washington and are now suffering because of it”.

Rapid expansion: Suspicions regarding the group’s activities have focused on the rapid economic expansion undertaken by them. Having invested $40 million (Rs 40 crore) on the ranch last year, the group is now setting up several business enterprises. Rajneesh Investment Corporation (capital assets valued at $30million or Rs 30 crore), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RFI, has recently purchased a hotel, a nightclub and a bakery in Portland. All this has put the RFI under close official scrutiny. Says Ma Prem Isabel: ‘‘We are under a big magnifying glass. The INS (Immigration and Naturalisation Service) and the Internal Revenue Service are looking at us with much more care.” Economic expansion is not the only issue worrying Oregonians but political expansion as well. Many Oregonians are firmly convinced that the group’s intentions are to gradually take over the entire state. Says State Representative Ted Calouri: “There is a lot of concern about their perceived tactics—taking over a city and political system, showing that by spending money one can do what one wants to.” And the Rajneeshees are showing every intention of doing just that. Already they have made political forays outside Antelope and are trying for seats on the council of a city called, ironically enough, Madras. Says Rick Allen, a gas station owner in Madras who does good business with the group: “They are a friendly lot but I cannot understand why they want a seat on the city council.”

The Rajneeshees are evidently expanding their political influence with at least one objective in mind—to try and stave off the prospect of Rajneesh being deported from America under immigration rules. Meanwhile, they are rapidly increasing their numbers (Sheela claims they receive between 30 and 50 applications a day).

So far, the Rajneeshees have displayed considerable spunk and staying power in fighting the odds against them and there are definite signs that they are now being treated with far more respect and sympathy than when they first arrived. Says State Representative Mike McCraden: “The commune’s inter-government is creative and well within the law. They are exercising their constitutional rights.” And more and more people are coming round to Faust’s view that: “As far as I’m concerned, if they have a city and it’s legal and they practise their religion, so what? That’s America.”

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