Sunday, March 11, 2012

Controversies of the Cults- PART I

The longer that I stayed away from my blog, the easier it was to stay away, if you know what I mean. With hell lot of serious writing happening 8-10 hours a day at work, its was not very hard to stay away from my beloved blog. What can I say? Words just refused to flow. But its time to get back into the groove and pick up where I left. A lots happened in the past few months to write about which I shall try to cover in the days to come. First and foremost is my research and in-depth reading on the cults! There's a whole new weird world out there, I tell you! Crazy, weird yet thought provoking! Makes one wonder how human minds work.. Psychosis - is what I would call it. What makes one desperate enough to turn towards cults that only mess up the already messed-up mind? Surprisingly, many of the followers and disciples being accomplished psychotherapists, VIP's and artists!

Few main cult leaders that caught my attention were Osho, Ma Ananda Sheela, Jim Jones of Jonestown Massacre, U J Krishnamurthy( not a cult but a godsman (???) )Swami Nithyananda (godsman again). I intend to write about all these so called enlightened ones ..

Rajneesh a.k.a OSHO:



"Sex should lead man to his soul. The goal is from lust to light." Rajneesh broke the taboo on sex. The Indian born guru was a controversial figure in the eyes of many without any doubt. He mesmerized thousands with his words and logic.No spiritual person ever spoke about sex so openly as Osho did. But was Rajneesh really enlightened, given his scandals and disastrous public image?

Osho's seen it all. Love, hate, trust, suspicion, fame,allegations.The flow of disciples had become a flood in the early 1970's. 'Sex Guru' in 1980's and his 'sannyasins'  as they were referred to, left for Oregon USA to build their own town of Rajneeshpuram.[ I wasn't even born then! Its hard to believe at those times Rajneesh advocated sex so openly!] In Oregon he set up the commune, Rajneeshpuram in making himself the ultimate dictator of Rajneeshpuram..Maroon-robed men and women, mainly foreigners, streaming in and out of the gates. Osho  got into controversy because of his elite lifestyle
Osho driving by in his Rolls Royce while disciples wait for his glimpse at Oregon

Take a look at the video to see how prosperous the small ranch became in just 3 years after the disciples built it with their own hands, and how Rajneesh led a life of a king with his subjects blindly worshipping him in the land of free sex.


Oregon was a community completely created, and managed by his rich disciples which included a five star hotel, huge recreational centers, and also an aerodrome. Osho had some 99 Rolls Royce, diamond-studded Swiss watches and an aircraft of his own. He also got into controversy by calling Pope a homosexual, Jesus an unfertilized egg.. To add to it, Ma Anada Sheela the mouth piece and  personal secretary of Rajneesh took over and in a power stupor brought on chaos and murder plots into the commune.. Rajneesh used people, spoke out of both sides of his mouth, and betrayed the trust of his own disciples Heres a short video of Ma anada Sheela in an interview.. Judge for yourself! More on Ma Ananda Sheela in the coming days to be posted..



So what was really going on with Osho and psychedelics? He approved of ingestion of high doses of charas, ecstacy in rituals, nitrous oxide, LSD's ! Speculations are rife that Rajneesh used "hypnosis" to manipulate his disciples.For a man who portrayed himself as the world's smartest and greatest soul,  his drug use had destroyed the quality of his mind. Notoriety continued to surround Rajneesh with sanyasins contracting AIDS, trying to poison residents of Oregon in an attempt to take over and expand Rajneeshpuram. Towards his end Osho even got paranoid and erratic in his behavior.. perhaps the drug abuse took its toll??

Controversy obviously has not died with Osho. The Ashram still has numerous followers seeking what? Free Sex...? I only wonder, can people really be foolish enough to fall into traps of such phony men??

1 comment:

  1. That was a long gap indeed! Hope to see you more often here.
    And as always, the writing is excellent. Since that someone's now a professional writer, do we need to say more!? :)

    ReplyDelete