Also interviewed: Antelope residents (including Silvertooth), followers of Rajneesh, attorneys for both sides, attorney generals, politicians and investigative journalists. If this is anyone’s story, it is Sheela’s: obsession personified. I am not sure I would want any relative of mine going there. There are extensive interviews, most notably with Sheela, now out of jail (for attempted murder and assault) and living in Switzerland, where she works in a nursing home. It doesn’t matter how well you know the Rajneeshpuram story – you won’t have seen or heard it told as thoroughly as this. And don’t forgot the beaver in a blender. Look hard and you might even see parallels with more recent events: electoral manipulation a poison terror attack on a small town (people know whodunnit, but where is the evidence?). Plus attempted murder, biological warfare, an arms race, automatic weaponry, bombs, Learjets, the FBI, the National Guard, espionage, drugs, the biggest immigration fraud case in US history, wire-tapping, a sad subplot involving 6,000 homeless people, Hollywood glitz, Nike, the US constitution getting waved about by various people. You want fear and loathing, paranoia and megalomania? You got it, baby, big time. It wasn’t just about a bunch of blissed-out, brainwashed hippies waving their arms in the air and shagging whomever they fancied, whenever and wherever, while their neighbours – the God-fearing folks of Antelope – cursed them and waved their stars and stripes from over the fence. What did go on? Ha – what didn’t go on, more like. Or maybe simply a hippy with a long, wispy beard, a collection of dodgy outfits and a penchant for Rolls-Royces.Īlong with Rajneesh came several thousand of his followers, including Ma Anand Sheela, his personal secretary, lieutenant and mastermind of most of what went on at Rajneeshpuram, which is what the land formerly known as the Big Muddy Ranch became. Or the dangerous cult leader, master criminal and terrorist, depending on which side you were on.
The great guru, spiritual teacher and mystic. Who came? Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, from India. Sounds like a big deal, but the population of Antelope, in Wasco County, Oregon, was about 40, most of whom had probably been mayor at some point.Īnyway, John was walking to the post office and he ran into a man – not an American, John could tell from the shoes – standing in the middle of the street. John, now a smiley old dude with a moustache and dungarees, was the mayor of Antelope. A t the start of the first episode of Wild Wild Country (Netflix), John Silvertooth is remembering how it all began, back in 1981.
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