Wild Wild Country

[King Bob]

This was a series (perhaps more accurate to call it a multi-part documentary) on Netflix about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and particularly focusing on the commune in Oregon. I kind of idly started it, and was totally hooked. It was really well done. The big problem to me is that it's all different people talking, so there's no analysis or viewpoint other than that of the participants on both sides. It's also very timely now, because xenophobia is a big theme to all of it. And it brings the people up to the present day, so you see a bit of how they wound up.

[Greg]

I keep seeing it and thinking about it and now, definitely maybe.

[Drunk Monk]

I’m over halfway through it. Stacy finished it already.

When we lived in India, we rented an apartment for a month in Pune, where both the Iyengar institute (where we were studying) and the Osho center is. Osho’s place was on the other side of town so we only went there once. We didn’t do the tour because it was expensive but we listened to some vids of Osho. He was freaking hypnotic. So trippy. I could've totally fallen under his spell if I let myself. There was an interesting market nearby and we went back there a few times for groceries.  

I intend to finish the docuseries soon. I like the lawyer dude, and of course, Sheela is fascinating.

[King Bob]

The lawyer seems to be messed up to me, or at least pretty weird. The Australian seems more grounded. Sheela seems like a villain for a lot of it - and she really made matters worse with her fiery speeches - but she has a very interesting change at the end.

It is unfortunate that the documentary doesn't look at why he had such pull on people. I guess he was a real guru, at least at first, but clearly fleecing the disciples was part of it from the beginning. At the end in Oregon he looks like he's heavily on drugs; he never blinks and his eyes look dead.

I know I said xenophobia was a big part of what went down, but I should also say that the combined arrogance and naivete of the cult members was also a big part of it.

I just started a book by a guy who was a little kid dragged into the movement by his mom (Growing Up Orange) and will post on it when done.

[Drunk Monk]

The lawyer reminds me of a lot of old deadheads I know. Sheela is fascinating to me because I deal with a lot of senior disciples of grandmasters, and I see that in her.

The gap in this docuseries is that they never really show Osho’s talks so you never get his messages. He was brilliant in many ways, but his Hinduism got sidetracked when it met the West. 

Stacy is rewatching it with me. We cocoon under our red blankets. Yep, Osho red.

[Drunk Monk]

Finito. Fascinating. I feel the short sheeted Osho because they never really deliver his message, why all these people were so dedicated. His lectures are mesmerizing. He does this thing with tempo of delivery that is addictive when you dial into it and those eyes are just hypnotic. Mind you, I’m Buddhist and have studied with Hindu gurus. Stacy more so. We might have followed him if we were of age then.  Some of his teachings are brilliant, although I’ve only listened to lectures, I’ve never read him. But still, a captivating doc - thought provoking.

[King Bob]

I found a good interview with the people who made it: http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/chapman-a...untry.html

[Drunk Monk]

Random flashback - I mentioned Osho in my lone academic publication, a review of the Acid Diaries.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...0.10400714

Not sure why this popped in my head just now.  Acid is strange.