"Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Wayfarer
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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I’ve found a very good recent book for which there is a generous preview on Google Books about Rajneesh - Zorba the Buddha: Sex, Spirituality and Capitalism in the Global Osho Movement Hugh B. Urban. Chapter three on Rajneesh’ teaching on sexuality, drawn mainly from Wilhelm Reich, is particularly illuminating.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Wayfarer wrote: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:12 am I’ve found a very good recent book for which there is a generous preview on Google Books about Rajneesh - Zorba the Buddha: Sex, Spirituality and Capitalism in the Global Osho Movement Hugh B. Urban. Chapter three on Rajneesh’ teaching on sexuality, drawn mainly from Wilhelm Reich, is particularly illuminating.
So Rajneesh ripped of Reich too... Why not read Reich? I thoroughly recommend his book "The Mass Psychology of Fascism".
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by climb-up »

Grigoris wrote: Tue Apr 10, 2018 11:01 am
Wayfarer wrote: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:12 am I’ve found a very good recent book for which there is a generous preview on Google Books about Rajneesh - Zorba the Buddha: Sex, Spirituality and Capitalism in the Global Osho Movement Hugh B. Urban. Chapter three on Rajneesh’ teaching on sexuality, drawn mainly from Wilhelm Reich, is particularly illuminating.
So Rajneesh ripped of Reich too... Why not read Reich? I thoroughly recommend his book "The Mass Psychology of Fascism".
I think that his native/dynamic meditation based on Reich.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by LuisR »

philji wrote: Sun Apr 08, 2018 8:21 am I wonder how the film would pan out if it were about Trungpa and Shambhala in those days.
We would see a group who seemed to play out with militarism, there was sexual abusive activity, there was an adoring group of followers and a charismatic leader who liked dressing up.
Those times...70’s and 80’s dharma and eastern spirituality was still settling in and there were some very wacky things going on.
I feel sorry looking at the film for the townsfolk who were living in fear and also the naive followers who thought they were creating a brave new world.
It is so easy to manipulate people...especially on the spiritual path.
It would probably be a boring film considering the Shambhala community were pretty normal compared to OSHO crowd.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Malcolm wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:55 pm
dzogchungpa wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:53 pm It's been a while since I looked at it but if I recall correctly, some of that Rajneesh stuff is very well spoken.
Your memory is failing you.
DJKR quotes him. I love the guy. Not saying I’m into his teachings. But he’s a hero. OR got what it deserved.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Crazywisdom wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:24 pm
Malcolm wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:55 pm
dzogchungpa wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:53 pm It's been a while since I looked at it but if I recall correctly, some of that Rajneesh stuff is very well spoken.
Your memory is failing you.
DJKR quotes him. I love the guy. Not saying I’m into his teachings. But he’s a hero. OR got what it deserved.

Yes, DJKR seems to be quite fond of him. I've watched the series now and I really got a kick out of it.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Osho is a hero for what he did in racist Oregon. I was a kid there during that time. The place was a haven for KKK. He was unstoppable, had he just kept his mouth shut. According to the documentary, the cops only got warrants based on his mouth. Almost all of the bad acts were due to a cohort of extreme followers, who were acting in their own while he was in silence. Thy admitted what they did. None of this would have been press if it came from Mormons or Catholics. The cops would have sealed the cover up. How do you think the Churches control whole areas? This guy set out to do what those others have done in the past, but because he’s brown and Indian he got shut down. Period.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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You were a kid at the time you say.
Well one of my closest friends was on the council that ran 'Rajneeshpuram' which was the name temporarily adopted by them for the town of Antelope, and he could tell you stories that would make most people weep concerning the abuse that went on there against some of the women and children particularly. And it was widespread and not just involving the Sheela gang.
Rajneesh/Osho was up to his drugged- out eyes in it.

All this is in the public domain and much of the evidence like that of my friend, is from insiders.

My friend took years to recover from the trauma. Not from external persecution but from the inner dynamics within the community.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Simon E. wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:55 pm You were a kid at the time you say.
Well one of my closest friends was on the council that ran 'Rajneeshpuram' which was the name temporarily adopted by them for the town of Antelope, and he could tell you stories that would make most people weep concerning the abuse that went on there against some of the women and children particularly. And it was widespread and not just involving the Sheela gang.
Rajneesh/Osho was up to his drugged- out eyes in it.

All this is in the public domain and much of the evidence like that of my friend, is from insiders.

My friend took years to recover from the trauma. Not from external persecution but from the inner dynamics within the community.
The Pope is no better. I’ve been abused. Everyone has. Sometimes you can fight it sometimes you can’t. Being a little Indian kid in Oregon who was violently abused by racists, seeing those guys patrol with machine guns was very encouraging. A great man has many sides. One can be heralded. Another despised, like Alexander the Great. Buddha was a malcontent who named his son “Fetter” and abandoned him at birth. And yet here you are. Had Buddha been alive today no doubt that would be the headline, not Nirvana.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by Simon E. »

We can certainly agree that the Catholic Church has been no better.

I cant imagine what it must have been like being an Indian kid in 70's Oregon. A tough gig.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by Simon E. »

For the sake of honesty, I should add that it took me nearly as long to recover from some of the inner dynamics of CTR's set up.
The nature of the teachings received was not the same however.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Simon E. wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:55 pmWell one of my closest friends was on the council that ran 'Rajneeshpuram' which was the name temporarily adopted by them for the town of Antelope ...

As a point of information, I believe that Rajneeshpuram and Antelope were diferent cities. What happened was that the Rajneeshees basically took over the government of Antelope and renamed it "Rajneesh", but it remained separate from Rajneeshpuram.



It's interesting to note that apparently many people have become fascinated with Sheela, see e.g.
The Rage and Relatability of Wild Wild Country's Sheela.

At any rate, I thought the "tough titties" thing was kind of funny.
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

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Simon E. wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:27 pm For the sake of honesty, I should add that it took me nearly as long to recover from some of the inner dynamics of CTR's set up.
The nature of the teachings received was not the same however.
Yeah, well... At least CTR didn't try to poison a whole county...
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by dzogchungpa »

Grigoris wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:48 pm
Simon E. wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:27 pm For the sake of honesty, I should add that it took me nearly as long to recover from some of the inner dynamics of CTR's set up.
The nature of the teachings received was not the same however.
Yeah, well... At least CTR didn't try to poison a whole county...

As a point of information, I believe Sheela only tried to poison a whole city, namely The Dalles.
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by Adamantine »

dzogchungpa wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:15 pm
Grigoris wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:48 pm
Simon E. wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:27 pm For the sake of honesty, I should add that it took me nearly as long to recover from some of the inner dynamics of CTR's set up.
The nature of the teachings received was not the same however.
Yeah, well... At least CTR didn't try to poison a whole county...

As a point of information, I believe Sheela only tried to poison a whole city, namely The Dalles.
To further split hairs: they were not sprinkling datura, belladonna, ricin or arsenic on salad bars... they were sprinkling salmonella. No resultant deaths. So the correct verb would be “infect” rather than poison it would seem. The intention seems to have been to incapacitate during elections, not to kill.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by dzogchungpa »

Adamantine wrote: Thu Jun 21, 2018 3:00 am
dzogchungpa wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:15 pm
Grigoris wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:48 pm Yeah, well... At least CTR didn't try to poison a whole county...

As a point of information, I believe Sheela only tried to poison a whole city, namely The Dalles.
To further split hairs: they were not sprinkling datura, belladonna, ricin or arsenic on salad bars... they were sprinkling salmonella. No resultant deaths. So the correct verb would be “infect” rather than poison it would seem. The intention seems to have been to incapacitate during elections, not to kill.

I agree that it is unlikely that they intended to kill anyone but I think "poison" is acceptable in this context.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by Grigoris »

Salmonella poisoning can kill you.

I am sure Osho knew about the plot. I think Sheela is a scapegoat. A complicit wacko of the nth degree, granted, but a scapegoat too.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by Simon E. »

Grigoris wrote: Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:47 am Salmonella poisoning can kill you.

I am sure Osho knew about the plot. I think Sheela is a scapegoat. A complicit wacko of the nth degree, granted, but a scapegoat too.
Thats certainly the way my friend saw it. Also scapegoated were a group of other women..ALL of them women. (The whole Rajneesh setup was an old fashioned extreme patriarchy, plus the token woman Sheela) Including two Brits who our craven Home Office allowed to be returned to the US to face trial years after the events. My friend, who we will call Barry, because that was the name he reverted to, said that the real culprits behind the criminal acts were never even interviewed by law enforcement officers. The women kept schtum.
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by amanitamusc »

A Dharma Brother we will call James Rutke because that is his name, a student of ChNN was with Osho for
some time and had only good things to say about him.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-rutke-a04b5633
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Re: "Wild Wild Country" - Osho documentary on Netflix

Post by Simon E. »

I'm sure if we looked long enough we could find someone with nothing but good to say about Michael Roach too.
Barry was part of the largest Rajneesh/Osho commune in the UK. Through Barry, I met a number of them.
All but one have nothing good to say about Rajneesh.
And the one is ambivalent at best.

When I spoke with them (they had a kind of recovery programme for former Rajneesh "sannyasins") several of them actually, physically, shuddered at the memory of their time in Oregon or Poona.
Some went on to follow genuine teachers..others became dyed in the wool materialists.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
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