This six episode documentary (not "docu-drama") revisits the culture clash, the story of worlds in collision, that was the Rajneeshpuram experiment in Oregon. The filmmakers find a sweet spot between a lot of rear view mirror distance, from events in the 1980s, yet with many of the principals still able to be forthcoming about their personal experiences.
We get it from the mouths of the horses involved. Except not from Osho directly (the Baghwan himself).
Teachers will advise you to look within for your teacher and follow that still, small voice (or whatever shoptalk blah blah), however the truth of the matter is if a lot of us agree on a teacher, other than ourselves, and if we all plunge into service mode, great accomplishments of collaboration might be achieved.
Rajneeshpuram was in that sense a monument to what humans of like mind and sufficient skill are able to achieve in short order. They built a dam, shaped the lakes, provided both power and pumps, and turned a desolate ranch into fertile farmland. They built structures and instituted a form of self governance, based on the model of Master and top drawer Secretary.
However, the rate of change was too bewildering for the slow-moving, deliberately backwater surroundings of rural Oregon. Making Wasco County the site for an annual festival (like a Burning Man) for a global network of centers, was not making Wasco correspondingly wealthy. On the contrary, the locals were being bought out and/or were fleeing, as the aliens invaded. Some decided to stay and fight, only to be called out as ignorant bigots (i.e. "deplorables").
The chemistry wasn't clicking. Curiosity turned to dread and mutual demonization.
Given time, making Rajneeshpuram a tourist experience, and a gateway to Oregon travels more generally (Crater Lake, High Desert Museum...) would have benefited a broader base. A whole boomer generation has already embraced so-called Eastern Religions. The cultural DNA is all there. However, embedding more seamlessly with the surroundings would have required a longer period of mutual adaptation and gestation, more diplomacy, better PR.
Naming it Rajneesh University from the get go, and encouraging outsider tuition paying visitors to sample the lifestyle, saying "campus" instead of "puram" might've been one way to go. Osho could have been the prez, a more recognized title, or CSO (chief spiritual officer).
I should be clear that although I am currently a resident in Portland, I didn't return to this city of my early boyhood until around 1985, when the Rajneeshpuram experiment was unwinding. I was aware this melodrama was unfolding around me, but not until now, in 2023, do I feel like I have a handle on what all went on, thanks to this documentary.
Arming themselves with assault rifles after the bombing of the Portland hotel was a missed opportunity to get Oregon's existing law enforcement agencies more on their side.
Their willingness to reinvent every wheel (including chemical warfare) was actually a barrier to better intercultural understanding and integration.
I'm not saying it ever could have worked out well. Some experiments teach a lot more because they failed. We all have much to learn from this chapter. I have a lot more to think about. The experiment contained so many potentially volatile ingredients we still juggle, such as homeless disenfranchised veterans with no existing governments able to realistically address their situation. At least this group gave it their best college try.
I thank everyone who agreed to be interviewed for this film and for the thoughtful job of splicing it together the editors did. Top notch.
