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Maneesha’s Trilogy #2
Bhagwan: Twelve Days That Shook the World
The inside story of the arrest and jailing of the controversial, world famous mystic, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. What really happened over those twelve days? Picking up the story of her years with Bhagwan from where her first book (Bhagwan: The Buddha for the Future) ended, Juliet Forman describes the arrest, imprisonment and attempted murder of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh by the Reagan Administration.
This is a vivid portrayal of one man who dared to expose the “hypocrisy called democracy” that is America. It is the electrifying account of America’s response to a visionary who offered her a blueprint for a new future. It is the shattering story of a modern day mystic – and his contemporary crucifixion.
This is a vivid portrayal of one man who dared to expose the “hypocrisy called democracy” that is America. It is the electrifying account of America’s response to a visionary who offered her a blueprint for a new future. It is the shattering story of a modern day mystic – and his contemporary crucifixion.
518 pages, Hardcover
Published June 1, 1989
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September 16, 2024
THE STORY OF THE GOVERNMENT'S PURPORTED "CONSPIRACY" AGAINST BHAGWAN SHREE RAJNEESH
The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 1931-1990; he changed his name to "Osho" shortly before his death) was a controversial Indian spiritual teacher with an international following. His teachings on Tantra and sexuality earned him the name "the sex guru" in the mass media; he moved his ashram from India to Oregon in 1981, where they had substantial conflicts with the local community (including a criminal food contamination attack on Oregon residents ordered by the ashram leaders); he was deported in 1985, and finally settled in India again, where he died.
His teachings continue to be promoted by the Osho International Meditation Resort. His daily lectures were recorded for many years, and turned into books such as 'I Am the Gate: The Meaning of Initiation and Discipleship,' 'Book of the Secrets Three,' 'Philosophia Perennis Volume 2,' etc.
Author Juliet Forman was a disciple of Osho who helped compile and publish his lectures; she has also written 'Bhagwan: One Man Against the Whole Ugly Past of Humanity' and 'Bhagwan: The Buddha for the Future.' Other books about him include 'Dying for Enlightenment: Living with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,' 'Bhagwan: The God That Failed,' 'Ultimate Game: The Rise and Fall of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,' 'The Promise of Paradise,' 'The Quest for Total Bliss,' 'The Golden Guru,' etc.
She wrote in the "Author's Note" to this 1989 book, "This is the story of the American government's conspiracy against Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, which culminated in his arrest and incarceration in several American prisons where attempts were made on his life. Finally, he left America. The story is complex but is still incomplete. The investigation is ongoing."
She notes that a newspaper observed, "[Bhagwan's] numerous critics ... must have chuckled at his complaints about having to sleep on a steel bench without pillows or blankets, and about having to breathe the cigarette smoke from his incessantly smoking cellmates. This bit about the smoke should not be so funny to all those people who are trying to get state and local governments everywhere to ban smoking where non-smokers are present. And is it true there are no blankets on those steel cots in the federal lockup in Charlotte? What is it the federal judges are tell Linn and other counties about their unconstitutional jail conditions? Maybe they should look at their own lockups first." (Pg. 75)
She suggests, "There was little doubt that [Ma Anand Sheela] Sheela's gang had covertly and overtly helped bring about Bhagwan's arrest. The immigration charges against him were only minor technicalities, but they were excuse enough for Ronald Reagan's government to act. They wanted Bhagwan; there was no doubt about that, and Sheela helped them out. She in fact delivered Bhagwan to them by undermining his work, by undermining the achievements of Rajneeshpuram.
"HER criminal activities had provided the excuse for the government's law enforcement agencies to move in, and the discovery of HER crimes was responsible for the air of general disquietude that had pervaded the commune for some time... Charles Turner, the United States attorney, was asked---after Sheela was convicted... why Bhagwan wasn't jailed for them as well. He explained that there was no evidence to connect Bhagwan with the crimes." (Pg. 142-143)
She recalls, "one week in 1985... all the American embassies throughout the world were simultaneously bedecked with floral arrangements---and all because of America's imprisoning of a renegade! OUR way was not then, nor has ever been, to respond with violence to adversity... That is the way of the world... we responded not with fury, but with flowers, not with speeches to incite, but with a silence that touched people, in spite of themselves. We demonstrated that we had the manpower and the energy to disrupt embassies and cause havoc around the world---but we chose not to." (Pg. 199)
She asserts, "There was more than the pursuit of justice going on here. In fact in the name of justice the government was pursuing a personal vendetta... No, the real reason behind this, the real reason for [Magistrate Barbara De Laney] being so pigheaded ... [was] She didn't want to stick her neck out. She didn't want to do something that might make her unpopular with the government, something which might negatively influence her career. Maybe there was a promise of a promotion lined up for her if she didn't make waves... she probably wanted to be a federal judge. Perhaps she'd simply find herself being overlooked when the possibility of promotion ever came up in the future... IF she gave Bhagwan bail now... Or... maybe she was taking direct orders." (Pg. 285)
She observes, "Sheela was away on one occasion when Bhagwan cheerfully made fun of finding himself in semi-desert... she was bound to feel personally rebuffed if he was somewhat less than thrilled with her version of the ideal setting for the new commune. But apart from Bhagwan making it very clear publicly, after he resumed discourses in October of 1984, that he wasn't particularly delighted to be in America, Sheela had known privately all along that he didn't want to be there." (Pg. 359-360)
Although widely reported in the mass media at the time, there isn't a whole lot in terms of BOOKS about the end of Rajneeshpuram; and this very sympathetic (if also very opinionated) account will be of considerable interest to anyone interested in Osho's later career.
The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (born Chandra Mohan Jain; 1931-1990; he changed his name to "Osho" shortly before his death) was a controversial Indian spiritual teacher with an international following. His teachings on Tantra and sexuality earned him the name "the sex guru" in the mass media; he moved his ashram from India to Oregon in 1981, where they had substantial conflicts with the local community (including a criminal food contamination attack on Oregon residents ordered by the ashram leaders); he was deported in 1985, and finally settled in India again, where he died.
His teachings continue to be promoted by the Osho International Meditation Resort. His daily lectures were recorded for many years, and turned into books such as 'I Am the Gate: The Meaning of Initiation and Discipleship,' 'Book of the Secrets Three,' 'Philosophia Perennis Volume 2,' etc.
Author Juliet Forman was a disciple of Osho who helped compile and publish his lectures; she has also written 'Bhagwan: One Man Against the Whole Ugly Past of Humanity' and 'Bhagwan: The Buddha for the Future.' Other books about him include 'Dying for Enlightenment: Living with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,' 'Bhagwan: The God That Failed,' 'Ultimate Game: The Rise and Fall of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,' 'The Promise of Paradise,' 'The Quest for Total Bliss,' 'The Golden Guru,' etc.
She wrote in the "Author's Note" to this 1989 book, "This is the story of the American government's conspiracy against Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, which culminated in his arrest and incarceration in several American prisons where attempts were made on his life. Finally, he left America. The story is complex but is still incomplete. The investigation is ongoing."
She notes that a newspaper observed, "[Bhagwan's] numerous critics ... must have chuckled at his complaints about having to sleep on a steel bench without pillows or blankets, and about having to breathe the cigarette smoke from his incessantly smoking cellmates. This bit about the smoke should not be so funny to all those people who are trying to get state and local governments everywhere to ban smoking where non-smokers are present. And is it true there are no blankets on those steel cots in the federal lockup in Charlotte? What is it the federal judges are tell Linn and other counties about their unconstitutional jail conditions? Maybe they should look at their own lockups first." (Pg. 75)
She suggests, "There was little doubt that [Ma Anand Sheela] Sheela's gang had covertly and overtly helped bring about Bhagwan's arrest. The immigration charges against him were only minor technicalities, but they were excuse enough for Ronald Reagan's government to act. They wanted Bhagwan; there was no doubt about that, and Sheela helped them out. She in fact delivered Bhagwan to them by undermining his work, by undermining the achievements of Rajneeshpuram.
"HER criminal activities had provided the excuse for the government's law enforcement agencies to move in, and the discovery of HER crimes was responsible for the air of general disquietude that had pervaded the commune for some time... Charles Turner, the United States attorney, was asked---after Sheela was convicted... why Bhagwan wasn't jailed for them as well. He explained that there was no evidence to connect Bhagwan with the crimes." (Pg. 142-143)
She recalls, "one week in 1985... all the American embassies throughout the world were simultaneously bedecked with floral arrangements---and all because of America's imprisoning of a renegade! OUR way was not then, nor has ever been, to respond with violence to adversity... That is the way of the world... we responded not with fury, but with flowers, not with speeches to incite, but with a silence that touched people, in spite of themselves. We demonstrated that we had the manpower and the energy to disrupt embassies and cause havoc around the world---but we chose not to." (Pg. 199)
She asserts, "There was more than the pursuit of justice going on here. In fact in the name of justice the government was pursuing a personal vendetta... No, the real reason behind this, the real reason for [Magistrate Barbara De Laney] being so pigheaded ... [was] She didn't want to stick her neck out. She didn't want to do something that might make her unpopular with the government, something which might negatively influence her career. Maybe there was a promise of a promotion lined up for her if she didn't make waves... she probably wanted to be a federal judge. Perhaps she'd simply find herself being overlooked when the possibility of promotion ever came up in the future... IF she gave Bhagwan bail now... Or... maybe she was taking direct orders." (Pg. 285)
She observes, "Sheela was away on one occasion when Bhagwan cheerfully made fun of finding himself in semi-desert... she was bound to feel personally rebuffed if he was somewhat less than thrilled with her version of the ideal setting for the new commune. But apart from Bhagwan making it very clear publicly, after he resumed discourses in October of 1984, that he wasn't particularly delighted to be in America, Sheela had known privately all along that he didn't want to be there." (Pg. 359-360)
Although widely reported in the mass media at the time, there isn't a whole lot in terms of BOOKS about the end of Rajneeshpuram; and this very sympathetic (if also very opinionated) account will be of considerable interest to anyone interested in Osho's later career.
Displaying 1 of 1 review