Wild Wild Rajneeshpuram

Wild Wild Country is the story of one of the great utopian experiments in America that failed. It was fueled by the exalted spiritual philosophy of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931–1990), subsequently known as Osho, who taught an eclectic version of Indian mysticism. The holy city of Rajneeshpuram ("city of Rajneesh") was constructed rapidly between 1981 and 1985 in Oregon under the direction of the Rajneesh's personal secretary, Ma Anand Sheela (b. 1949, now Sheela Birnstiel). Rajneeshpuram was beset with obstacles and challenges posed by Oregon citizens and state and federal authorities over land use and immigration laws. An advocacy group named 1000 Friends of Oregon filed a lawsuit to have Rajneeshpuram's buildings torn down for allegedly breaking Oregon land use laws (episode 2). Officials such as Oregon attorney general David Frohnmeyer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Charles H. Turner, and Assistant United States Attorney Robert Weaver made decisions that threatened the existence of Rajneeshpuram (episode 4). But the future of this unique holy city was finally undermined by the hidden crimes of Ma Anand Sheela and her core group of women leaders who, in reaction to the threats to their utopian enterprise, had plotted ways to control their opponents through medicating and poisoning, or to eliminate them entirely through assassinations.

The spreading of Salmonella on salad bars in The Dalles, the Wasco County seat, in 1984 (episode 4) and the attempted contamination of the city's water supply (episode 5) were part of Sheela's plot to take control of the county board by incapacitating voters. A plot to shoot Charles H. Turner was carried out in 1985, but failed when he did not appear at the expected location (episode 4). Meanwhile—according to Sheela—she decided to order the assassination of Rajneesh's doctor Swami Devaraj (Dr. George Meredith) on 6 July 1985, Master's Day in the commune, after a surveillance device in Bhagwan's residence recorded him asking Devaraj for medication that would cause his death on Master's Day. As with the unsuccessful assassination of Mr. Turner, Ma Shanti Bhadra (Jane Stork) volunteered to carry out the attempted murder of Devaraj by injection of adrenaline (episode 4). This unsuccessful assassination brought the crime spree to an end with the sudden departure of Ma Anand Sheela and her co-conspirators, who were subsequently denounced by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in a press conference.

In six episodes, Chapman Way and Maclain Way document the mounting tensions between an unconventional spiritual community and its Oregonian neighbors. Conflicts began when the Rajneeshees bought a 63,000-acre ranch in rural Oregon, near the small town of Antelope, and commenced building a city. The Way brothers draw upon an impressive range of source material, using decades-old found footage of the construction process at Rajneeshpuram, and also of the encounter groups at the ashram at Pune, India. Scenes from archival news footage enliven the narrative. The directors show skill in negotiating access, having prevailed upon certain of Bhagwan's former devotees (including two who had served time in prison for conspiracy to murder and for actual assassination attempts) to open up in lengthy interviews.

Having worked on a documentary myself about the Children of God,¹ I was impressed by how the directors of Wild Wild Country resisted the temptation to cave in to the popular anticult interpretation of events. I found the narrative quite balanced—with attractive sannyasins sharing their spiritual enthusiasm; Bhagwan exhibiting his wisdom and charisma; townsfolk describing their bewilderment and outrage at the "red invasion" and takeover of Antelope; and one of Sheela's core group of militant would-be assassins—Jane Stork (Ma Shanti Bhadra)—discussing her crimes with surprising frankness and insight.

For the scholar of new religious movements, the series is riveting, but frustrating, since it only partially explains the violent undercurrents swirling beneath Rajneeshpuram. It would have taken a sociologist to explore these elements, and no scholars are included in the episodes. Academics in the field of new religions studies...