Editing Rajneesh movement (section)

=== 1984 bio-terror attack and subsequent decline ===
{{main|1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack}}

Several incidents that led to a decline of the movement occurred in [[The Dalles, Oregon|The Dalles]], the county seat and largest city of [[Wasco County, Oregon]].

In 1984, Rajneeshee teams engaged in a [[Bioterrorism|bio-terror]] attack in which they purposely contaminated salad products with [[salmonella]] at local restaurants and shops. Their actions resulted in the non-lethal poisoning of 751 people. The motivation behind the attack was to rig the local election allowing the Rajneeshees to gain political power in the city and county.<ref name="desnot">{{cite news|last=Hale|first=Sally|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdwzAAAAIBAJ&pg=6687%2C1314510|title=Desolation – not guru – reigns at Rajneeshpuram|date=5 October 1986|work=Eugene Register-Guard|agency=Associated Press|location=Oregon|page=15D}}</ref>

The Rajneesh were also discovered to have been running what was called "the longest wiretapping operation ever uncovered".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/2011/04/part_one_it_was_worse_than_we.html|title=25 years after Rajneeshee commune collapsed, truth spills out – Part 1 of 5|first=Les Zaitz &#124; The|last=Oregonian/OregonLive|date=15 April 2011|website=oregonlive}}</ref>

These revelations brought criminal charges against several Rajneesh leaders, including [[Ma Anand Sheela]], personal secretary to Rajneesh, who pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault.<ref name="Kahn41">[[Rajneesh movement#Kahn|Kahn 2009]], p. 41.</ref>

The convictions would eventually lead to the deportation of the leader of the movement, Rajneesh, along with a 10-year suspended sentence and $400,000 fine, in 1985.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/04/rajneeshees_in_oregon_25_years_after_the_collapse_of_rancho_rajneesh.html|title=Rajneeshees in Oregon 25 Years After the Collapse of Rancho Rajneesh}}<br>- {{cite news|last=Reed|first=Christopher|title=Sect women gaoled for attempt to kill doctor: Former aide to Indian guru Rajneesh jailed in US for poisoning|date=24 July 1986|work=[[The Guardian]]}}<br>- {{cite news|title=Judge Refuses Bail For Guru's Ex-Secretary|date=15 February 1986|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=6 (Section 1)}}</ref> Urban has commented that the most surprising feature of the Osho phenomenon lies in Rajneesh's "remarkable [[apotheosis]] upon his return to India", which resulted in his achieving even more success in his homeland than before.<ref name="urban181">{{Harvnb|Urban|2005|p=181}}</ref> According to Urban, Rajneesh's followers had succeeded in portraying him as a martyr, promoting the view that the Ranch "was crushed from within by the Attorney General's office&nbsp;... like the marines in Lebanon, the Ranch was hit by hardball opposition and driven out."<ref name="urban181" /><ref name="RP155-158">{{harvnb|Palmer|1993|pp=155–158}}</ref>

A long drawn out fight with land use non-profit organisation [[1000 Friends of Oregon]] also hurt the organisation. This took the form of both organisations pursuing legal interventions against each other. 1000 Friends objected to Rajneesh proposed building plans. The fight lasted for several years and attracted the attention of the media.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bird|first1=Frederick|last2=Palmer|first2=Susan J.|date=1 January 1992|title=Therapy, Charisma and Social Control in the Rajneesh Movement|url=https://academic.oup.com/socrel/article/53/Special_Issue/S71/1675954|journal=Sociology of Religion|volume=53|issue=Special_Issue|pages=S71–S85|doi=10.2307/3711252|jstor=3711252|via=academic.oup.com|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Sarasohn|first=David|date=2018-04-12|title=Antelope's Last Stand|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/147876/antelopes-last-stand|access-date=2021-02-12|issn=0028-6583}}</ref>

In 1990, Rajneesh died and was cremated at the ashram in Poona; which became the Osho International Meditation Resort.<ref name="SFC24804">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/29/ING9G8DKC31.DTL|title=Mystic's burial site at commune is reincarnated as posh resort|date=29 August 2004|work=Mike McPhate|access-date=15 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214110119/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/29/ING9G8DKC31.DTL|archive-date=14 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="JMF41">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=41}}</ref> Identifying as the [[Esalen]] of the East, the resort has classes in a variety of spiritual techniques from a broad range of traditions and markets the facility as a spiritual oasis, a "sacred space" for discovering one's self, and uniting the desires of body and mind in a beautiful environment.<ref name="GIA182-183">{{harvnb|Forsthoefel|Humes|2005|pp=182–183}}</ref> According to press reports, it attracts some 200,000 people from all over the world each year;<ref name="SFC24804" /><ref name="wweek">{{cite web|url=http://www.wweek.com/html/urbanpulse020200.html|title=Osho? Oh No!|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012180308/http://wweek.com/html/urbanpulse020200.html|archive-date=12 October 2007|access-date=16 January 2009}}</ref> prominent visitors have included politicians, media personalities and the [[Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]].<ref name="JMF41" />

The movement continued after Rajneesh's death.<ref name="urban171" /> The Osho International Foundation (OIF), the successor to the Neo-Sannyas International Foundation, now propagates his views, operating once more out of the Pune ashram in India.<ref name="hunt127" /> The organization ran a pre-web, global computer network called "OSHONET".<ref>{{cite book|page=17|title=Rajneeshpuram: Who Were Its People?|author=Bert Webber|isbn=0936738448|year=1990|publisher=Webb Research }}</ref> The movement has begun to communicate on the Internet.<ref name="goldman120">{{Harvnb|Goldman|2004|p=120}}</ref>{{When|date=February 2020}} Current leaders downplay early controversies in Oregon in an effort to appeal to a wider audience.<ref name="goldman120"/>

After Rajneesh's death, various disagreements ensued concerning his wishes and his legacy. This led to the formation of a number of rival collectives.{{When|date=February 2020}} One of the central disagreements related to OIF's copyright control over his works.<ref name="Lewis120" /><ref name="JMF44-45" /> One group, Osho Friends International, spent 10 years challenging the OIF's use of the title OSHO as an exclusive trademark.

In 2003, sociologist [[Stephen J. Hunt|Stephen Hunt]] wrote in ''Alternative Religions'' that "the movement has declined since 1985, and some would argue it is now, for all intents and purposes, defunct."<ref name="hunt127" />

In the United States, on 13 January 2009, the exclusive rights that OIF held over the trademark were finally lost. OIF filed a [[Notice of Appeal]] on 12 March, but eventually filed for withdrawal in the Court of Appeals on 19 June, thus cancelling the trademarks of Osho in the US.<ref name="Osho" />

On 16 March 2018, [[Netflix]] released a six-part documentary entitled ''[[Wild Wild Country]]'' regarding the Rajneesh movement.<ref name="oregonian-2018mar14">{{cite news|last1=Turnquist|first1=Kristi|title=Netflix documentary on Rajneeshees in Oregon revisits an amazing, enraging true story|newspaper=[[The Oregonian]]|date=March 14, 2018|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2018/03/netflix_documentary_on_rajnees.html|access-date=March 23, 2018}}</ref>