Editing Rajneesh (section)

== Reception ==
Rajneesh is generally considered one of the most controversial spiritual leaders to have emerged from India in the twentieth century.<ref name=Mehta133>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=133}}</ref><ref name="Chryss207-208" /> His message of sexual, emotional, spiritual, and institutional liberation, as well as the pleasure he took in causing offence, ensured that his life was surrounded by controversy.<ref name="JMF7"/> Rajneesh became known as the "sex guru" in India, and as the "Rolls-Royce guru" in the United States.<ref name="Gordon114" /> He attacked traditional concepts of nationalism, openly expressed contempt for politicians, and poked fun at the leading figures of various religions, who in turn found his arrogance insufferable.<ref>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=1}}</ref><ref name=Mehta83>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=83}}</ref> His teachings on sex, marriage, family, and relationships contradicted traditional values and aroused a great deal of anger and opposition around the world.<ref name="NYT160981" /><ref>{{harvnb|Joshi|1982|p=2}}</ref> His movement was widely considered a [[cult]]. Rajneesh was seen to live "in ostentation and offensive opulence", while his followers, most of whom had severed ties with outside friends and family and donated all or most of their money and possessions to the commune, might be at a mere "subsistence level".<ref name=Zaitz4 /><ref name=Galanter>{{harvnb|Galanter|1989|pp=95–96, 102}}</ref>

=== Appraisal by scholars of religion ===
Academic assessments of Rajneesh's work have been mixed and often directly contradictory.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} [[Uday Mehta]] saw errors in his interpretation of Zen and [[Mahayana Buddhism]], speaking of "gross contradictions and inconsistencies in his teachings" that "exploit" the "ignorance and gullibility" of his listeners.<ref name=Mehta>{{harvnb|Mehta|1993|p=151}}</ref> The sociologist Bob Mullan wrote in 1983 of "a borrowing of truths, half-truths and occasional misrepresentations from the great traditions... often bland, inaccurate, spurious and extremely contradictory".<ref name="BM48">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=48}}</ref> American religious studies professor [[Hugh B. Urban]] also said Rajneesh's teaching was neither original nor especially profound, and concluded that most of its content had been borrowed from various Eastern and Western philosophies.<ref name="HBU-ZTB169" /> [[George Chryssides]], on the other hand, found such descriptions of Rajneesh's teaching as a "potpourri" of various religious teachings unfortunate because Rajneesh was "no amateur philosopher". Drawing attention to Rajneesh's academic background he stated that; "Whether or not one accepts his teachings, he was no charlatan when it came to expounding the ideas of others."<ref name="Chryss207-208" /> He described Rajneesh as primarily a Buddhist teacher, promoting an independent form of "Beat Zen"<ref name="Chryss207-208">{{harvnb|Chryssides|1999|pp=207–208}}</ref> and viewed the unsystematic, contradictory and outrageous aspects of Rajneesh's teachings as seeking to induce a change in people, not as philosophy lectures aimed at intellectual understanding of the subject.<ref name="Chryss207-208" />

Similarly with respect to Rajneesh's embracing of Western counter-culture and the human potential movement, though Mullan acknowledged that Rajneesh's range and imagination were second to none,<ref name="BM48" /> and that many of his statements were quite insightful and moving, perhaps even profound at times,<ref name="BM32">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=32}}</ref> he perceived "a potpourri of counter-culturalist and post-counter-culturalist ideas" focusing on love and freedom, the need to live for the moment, the importance of self, the feeling of "being okay", the mysteriousness of life, the fun ethic, the individual's responsibility for their own destiny, and the need to drop the ego, along with fear and guilt.<ref name="BM48-89-90">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=48, 89–90}}</ref> Mehta notes that Rajneesh's appeal to his Western disciples was based on his social experiments, which established a philosophical connection between the Eastern [[Guru-shishya tradition|guru tradition]] and the Western [[growth movement]].<ref name=Mehta133 /> He saw this as a [[marketing strategy]] to meet the desires of his audience.<ref name="HBU-ZTB169" /> Urban, too, viewed Rajneesh as negating a dichotomy between spiritual and material desires, reflecting the preoccupation with the body and sexuality characteristic of late [[capitalism|capitalist]] [[consumer culture]] and in tune with the socio-economic conditions of his time.<ref name=GIA183 />

The British professor of religious studies [[Peter B. Clarke]] said that most participators felt they had made progress in self-actualisation as defined by American psychologist [[Abraham Maslow]] and the [[human potential movement]].<ref name="Clarke466" /> He stated that the style of therapy Rajneesh devised, with its liberal attitude towards sexuality as a sacred part of life, had proved influential among other therapy practitioners and new age groups.<ref name="Clarke432-433" /> Yet Clarke believes that the main motivation of seekers joining the movement was "neither therapy nor sex, but the prospect of becoming enlightened, in the classical Buddhist sense".<ref name="Clarke466" />

In 2005, Urban observed that Rajneesh had undergone a "remarkable [[apotheosis]]" after his return to India, and especially in the years since his death, going on to describe him as a powerful illustration of what [[F. Max Müller]], over a century ago, called "that world-wide circle through which, like an electric current, Oriental thought could run to the West and Western thought return to the East".<ref name=GIA183>{{harvnb|Forsthoefel|Humes|2005|pp=181–185}}</ref> Clarke also said that Rajneesh has come to be "seen as an important teacher within India itself" who is "increasingly recognised as a major spiritual teacher of the twentieth century, at the forefront of the current 'world-accepting' trend of spirituality based on self-development".<ref name="Clarke432-433">{{harvnb|Clarke|2006|pp=432–433}}</ref>

=== Appraisal as charismatic leader ===
A number of commentators have remarked upon Rajneesh's [[charisma]]. Comparing Rajneesh with [[Gurdjieff]], [[Anthony Storr]] wrote that Rajneesh was "personally extremely impressive", noting that "many of those who visited him for the first time felt that their most intimate feelings were instantly understood, that they were accepted and unequivocally welcomed rather than judged. [Rajneesh] seemed to radiate energy and to awaken hidden possibilities in those who came into contact with him".<ref name=Storr47>{{harvnb|Storr|1996|p=47}}</ref> Many sannyasins have stated that hearing Rajneesh speak, they "fell in love with him".<ref name="SJP122">{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=122}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=368}}</ref><ref name="BM67">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=67}}</ref> Susan J. Palmer noted that even critics attested to the power of his presence.<ref name="SJP122" /> James S. Gordon, a psychiatrist and researcher, recalls inexplicably finding himself laughing like a child, hugging strangers and having tears of gratitude in his eyes after a glance by Rajneesh from within his passing Rolls-Royce.<ref name=Gordon109>{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=109}}</ref> [[Frances FitzGerald (journalist)|Frances FitzGerald]] concluded upon listening to Rajneesh in person that he was a brilliant lecturer, and expressed surprise at his talent as a comedian, which had not been apparent from reading his books, as well as the hypnotic quality of his talks, which had a profound effect on his audience.<ref name="FF2-106">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986b|p=106}}</ref> Hugh Milne (Swami Shivamurti), an ex-devotee who between 1973 and 1982 worked closely with Rajneesh as leader of the Poona Ashram Guard<ref>{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=159}}</ref> and as his personal bodyguard,<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|1988|p=67}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Belfrage|1981|p=137}}</ref> noted that their first meeting left him with a sense that far more than words had passed between them: "There is no invasion of privacy, no alarm, but it is as if his soul is slowly slipping inside mine, and in a split second transferring vital information."<ref>{{harvnb|Milne|1986|p=48}}</ref> Milne also observed another facet of Rajneesh's charismatic ability in stating that he was "a brilliant manipulator of the unquestioning disciple".<ref>{{harvnb|Milne|1986|p=307}}</ref>

Hugh B. Urban said that Rajneesh appeared to fit with [[Max Weber]]'s classical image of [[charismatic authority|the charismatic figure]], being held to possess "an extraordinary supernatural power or 'grace', which was essentially irrational and affective".<ref name="HBU-ZTB168">{{harvnb|Urban|1996|p=168}}</ref> Rajneesh corresponded to Weber's pure charismatic type in rejecting all rational laws and institutions and claiming to subvert all hierarchical authority, though Urban said that the promise of absolute freedom inherent in this resulted in bureaucratic organisation and institutional control within larger communes.<ref name="HBU-ZTB168" />

Some scholars have suggested that Rajneesh may have had a [[narcissism|narcissistic]] personality.<ref>{{harvnb|Storr|1996|p=50}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Huth|1993|pp=204–226}}</ref><ref name=clarke /> In his paper ''The Narcissistic Guru: A Profile of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh'', Ronald O. Clarke, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at [[Oregon State University]], argued that Rajneesh exhibited all the typical features of [[narcissistic personality disorder]], such as a grandiose sense of self-importance and uniqueness; a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success; a need for constant attention and admiration; a set of characteristic responses to threats to self-esteem; disturbances in interpersonal relationships; a preoccupation with [[personal grooming]] combined with frequent resorting to prevarication or outright lying; and a lack of empathy.<ref name=clarke /> Drawing on Rajneesh's reminiscences of his childhood in his book ''Glimpses of a Golden Childhood'', he suggested that Rajneesh suffered from a fundamental lack of [[parental discipline]], due to his growing up in the care of overindulgent grandparents.<ref name=clarke /> Rajneesh's self-avowed Buddha status, he concluded, was part of a [[delusion]]al system associated with his narcissistic personality disorder; a condition of ego-inflation rather than egolessness.<ref name=clarke>{{harvnb|Clarke|1988|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=55–89}}</ref>

=== Wider appraisal as a thinker and speaker ===
There are widely divergent assessments of Rajneesh's qualities as a thinker and speaker. [[Khushwant Singh]], an eminent author, historian, and former editor of the ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', has described Rajneesh as "the most original thinker that India has produced: the most erudite, the most clearheaded and the most innovative".<ref name=Bhawuk>{{harvnb|Bhawuk|2003|p=14}}</ref> Singh believes that Rajneesh was a "free-thinking agnostic" who had the ability to explain the most abstract concepts in simple language, illustrated with witty anecdotes, who mocked gods, [[prophet]]s, scriptures, and religious practices, and gave a totally new dimension to religion.<ref>Khushwant Singh, writing in the ''[[Indian Express]]'', 25 December 1988, quoted e.g., [https://web.archive.org/web/20030523024043/http://www.indiaclub.com/Shop/SearchResults.asp?prodstock=11216 here]</ref> German philosopher [[Peter Sloterdijk]], a one-time devotee of Rajneesh's (living at the Pune ashram from 1978 to 1980), described him as a "[[Wittgenstein]] of religions", ranking him as one of the greatest figures of the 20th century; in his view, Rajneesh had performed a radical deconstruction of the word games played by the world's religions.<ref>{{harvnb|Sloterdijk|1996|p=105}}</ref><ref>[https://petersloterdijk.net/vita/ Peter Sloterdijk vita]. Retrieved 16 October 2019.</ref>

During the early 1980s, a number of commentators in the popular press were dismissive of Rajneesh.<ref name="BM8-9" /> The Australian critic [[Clive James]] scornfully referred to him as "Bagwash", likening the experience of listening to one of his discourses to sitting in a laundrette and watching "your tattered underwear revolve soggily for hours while exuding grey suds. The Bagwash talks the way that he looks."<ref name="BM8-9">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|pp=8–9}}</ref><ref name=Bagwash /> James finished by saying that Rajneesh, though a "fairly benign example of his type", was a "rebarbative dingbat who manipulates the manipulable into manipulating one another".<ref name="BM8-9" /><ref name=Bagwash /><ref>"Adieu to God: Why Psychology Leads to Atheism" Mick Power. p114</ref> Responding to an enthusiastic review of Rajneesh's talks by [[Bernard Levin]] in ''[[The Times]]'', [[Dominik Wujastyk]], also writing in ''The Times'', similarly expressed his opinion that the talk he heard while visiting the Puna ''ashram'' was of a very low standard, wearyingly repetitive and often factually wrong, and stated that he felt disturbed by the [[personality cult]] surrounding Rajneesh.<ref name="BM8-9" /><ref>(10 August 2004) [https://web.archive.org/web/20090621002100/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1469028/Bernard-Levin.html Obituary of Bernard Levin], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref>

Writing in the ''[[Seattle Post Intelligencer]]'' in January 1990, American author [[Tom Robbins]] stated that based on his readings of Rajneesh's books, he was convinced Rajneesh was the 20th century's "greatest spiritual teacher". Robbins, while stressing that he was not a disciple, further stated that he had "read enough vicious propaganda and slanted reports to suspect that he was one of the most maligned figures in history".<ref name=Bhawuk /> Rajneesh's commentary on the [[Sikh]] scripture known as ''[[Japuji]]'' was hailed as the best available by [[Giani Zail Singh]], the former [[President of India]].<ref name="TJ" /> In 2011, author [[Farrukh Dhondy]] reported that film star [[Kabir Bedi]] was a fan of Rajneesh, and viewed Rajneesh's works as "the most sublime interpretations of Indian philosophy that he had come across". Dhondy himself said Rajneesh was "the cleverest intellectual confidence trickster that India has produced. His output of the 'interpretation' of Indian texts is specifically slanted towards a generation of disillusioned westerners who wanted (and perhaps still want) to 'have their cake, eat it' [and] claim at the same time that cake-eating is the highest virtue according to ancient-fused-with-scientific wisdom."<ref>(25 April 2011) [[Farrukh Dhondy]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022014849/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/ColumnsOthers/God-knows/Article1-689600.aspx "God Knows"], ''[[Hindustan Times]]''. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref>

=== Films about Rajneesh ===
* 1974: The first documentary film about Rajneesh was made by David M. Knipe. Program 13 of Exploring the Religions of South Asia, ''A Contemporary Guru: Rajneesh''. (Madison: [[WHA-TV]] 1974)
* 1978: The second documentary on Rajneesh called ''Bhagwan, The Movie''<ref>(1978) Bhagwan, The Movie, by Robert Hillman [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQbFtCEH-34 available here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017031502/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQbFtCEH-34 |date=17 October 2015 }}. Retrieved 6 August 2011.</ref> was made in 1978 by American filmmaker Robert Hillmann.
* 1979: In 1978 the German film maker Wolfgang Dobrowolny (Sw Veet Artho) visited the Ashram in Poona and created a unique documentary about Rajneesh, his Sannyasins and the ashram, titled ''Ashram in Poona: Bhagwans Experiment''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sannyas.wiki/index.php?title=Ashram_in_Poona:_Bhagwans_Experiment_(1979) |title=Ashram in Poona: Bhagwans Experiment (1979) |access-date=23 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323155751/http://www.sannyas.wiki/index.php?title=Ashram_in_Poona:_Bhagwans_Experiment_(1979) |archive-date=23 March 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Ashram in Poona [https://dotsub.com/view/896de5e5-4dfb-4a2e-9e48-2fe8ef03506c available here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323155602/https://dotsub.com/view/896de5e5-4dfb-4a2e-9e48-2fe8ef03506c |date=23 March 2018 }}</ref>
* 1981: In 1981, the [[BBC]] broadcast an episode in the documentary series ''[[The World About Us]]'' titled ''The God that Fled'', made by [[British American]] journalist [[Christopher Hitchens]].<ref name=Bagwash>James, Clive (9 August 1981). [https://web.archive.org/web/20101030143529/http://clivejames.com/books/glued/bagwash "The Bagwash Speaks"]. Retrieved 24 September 2011.</ref><ref>(9 June 2004). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080930104517/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mfx6 Time Shift: Gurus], [[BBC]]. Retrieved 15 July 2011.</ref>
* 1985 (3 November): CBS News' ''[[60 Minutes]]'' aired a segment about the Bhagwan in Oregon.
* 1987: In the mid-eighties [[Jeremiah Films]] produced a film ''Fear is the Master''.<ref>(1987) Fear is the Master,[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTKM1z-o-xg preview available here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911014810/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTKM1z-o-xg |date=11 September 2016 }}</ref>
* 1989: Another documentary, named ''Rajneesh: Spiritual Terrorist'', was made by Australian film maker Cynthia Connop in the late 1980s for [[ABC TV (Australian TV channel)|ABC TV]]/[[Learning Channel]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080512001600/http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm681.shtml Cynthia Connop], Women Make Movies. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref>
* 1989: UK documentary series called ''Scandal'' produced an episode entitled, "Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh: The Man Who Was God".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944700/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|access-date=26 July 2018|title=Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh: The Man Who Was God|website=[[IMDb]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907045639/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944700/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|archive-date=7 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2002: ''[[Forensic Files]]'' Season 7 Episode 8 takes a look in to how forensics was used to determine the cause of the bio-attack in 1984.
* 2010: A Swiss documentary, titled ''Guru&nbsp;– Bhagwan, His Secretary & His Bodyguard'', was released in 2010.<ref>Martina Knoben (27 September 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20100930040552/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/im-kino-guru-der-preis-der-hingabe-1.1004764 "Der Preis der Hingabe"], ''[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]''. Retrieved 9 July 2011. {{in lang|de}}</ref>
* 2012: [[Oregon Public Broadcasting]] produced the documentary titled ''Rajneeshpuram'' which aired 19 November 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rajneeshpuram|url=https://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregonexperience/segment/rajneeshpuram/|date=19 November 2012|access-date=19 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730110306/https://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregonexperience/segment/rajneeshpuram/|archive-date=30 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2016: ''[[Rebellious Flower]]'', an Indian-made biographical movie of Rajneesh's early life, based upon his own recollections and those of those who knew him, was released. It was written and produced by Jagdish Bharti and directed by Krishan Hooda, with Prince Shah and Shashank Singh playing the title role.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4659548/fullcredits|title=Rebellious Flower|date=15 January 2016|publisher=IMDb|access-date=1 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207035418/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4659548/fullcredits|archive-date=7 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2018: ''[[Wild Wild Country]]'', a [[Netflix]] documentary series on Rajneesh, focusing on [[Rajneeshpuram]] and the controversies surrounding it.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wollaston|first1=Simon|title=Wild Wild Country review – Netflix's take on the cult that threatened American life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/11/wild-wild-country-review-netflixs-take-on-the-cult-that-threatened-american-life|publisher=The Guardian Newspaper|access-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417183121/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/apr/11/wild-wild-country-review-netflixs-take-on-the-cult-that-threatened-american-life|archive-date=17 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2023: [[Secrets of Love (web series)|''Secrets of Love'']], an Indian web series
* 2024: ''Children of the cult'', a documentary that presents an international investigation into the Rajneesh movement,<ref name=dartmo>{{cite web | title=Children of the Cult | website=Dartmouth Films | date=1970-01-01 | url=https://www.dartmouthfilms.com/childrenofthecult | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref> focusing on accounts of widespread [[child sexual abuse|sexual abuse of children]] within the movement.<ref>{{cite web | last=Stimpson | first=Mansel | title=Children of the Cult | website=FILM REVIEW | date=2024-10-03 | url=https://www.filmreviewdaily.com/new-reviews/children-of-the-cult | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref>