Editing Rajneesh (section)

====Establishing Rajneeshpuram====
On 13 June 1981, Sheela's husband, John Shelfer, signed a purchase contract to buy property in [[Oregon]] for [[United States dollar|US$]]5.75&nbsp;million, and a few days later assigned the property to the US foundation. The property was a {{convert|64229|acre|km2|-1|adj=on}} ranch, previously known as "The Big Muddy Ranch" and located across two counties ([[Wasco County, Oregon|Wasco]] and [[Jefferson County, Oregon|Jefferson]]).<ref name=Carter133>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|p=133}}</ref> It was renamed "Rancho Rajneesh" and Rajneesh moved there on 29 August.<ref name=Carter136138>{{harvnb|Carter|1990|pp=136–138}}</ref> Initial local community reactions ranged from hostility to tolerance, depending on distance from the ranch.<ref>{{harvnb|Abbott|1990|p=79}}</ref> The press reported, and another study found, that the development met almost immediately with intense local, state, and federal opposition from the government, press, and citizenry. Within months a series of legal battles ensued, principally over land use.<ref name="CL339341" /> Within a year of arriving, Rajneesh and his followers had become embroiled in a series of legal battles with their neighbours, the principal conflict relating to land use.<ref name="CL339341"/> The commune [[leadership]] was uncompromising and behaved impatiently in dealing with the locals.<ref name=Abbot78 /> They were also insistent upon having demands met, and engaged in implicitly threatening and directly confrontational behaviour.<ref name=Abbot78 /> Whatever the true intention, the repeated changes in their stated plans looked to many like conscious deception.<ref name=Abbot78>{{harvnb|Abbott|1990|p=78}}</ref>

In May 1982 the residents of Rancho Rajneesh voted to incorporate it as the city of [[Rajneeshpuram, Oregon|Rajneeshpuram]].<ref name="CL339341">{{harvnb|Latkin|1992|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|pp=339–341}}</ref> The conflict with local residents escalated, with increasingly bitter hostility on both sides, and over the following years, the commune was subject to constant and coordinated pressures from various coalitions of Oregon residents.<ref name="CL339341"/><ref name="CNR215">{{harvnb|Carter|1987|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=215}}</ref> [[1000 Friends of Oregon]] immediately commenced and then prosecuted over the next six years numerous court and administrative actions to void the incorporation and cause buildings and improvement to be removed.<ref name="CL339341" /><ref name=bend>{{cite web | url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/301352730/Grote-25-Dec-81-Bnd-Bull | title = 1000 Friends Challenges Rajneeshpuram Incorporation | publisher = Bend Bulletin | access-date = 6 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307115032/https://www.scribd.com/doc/301352730/Grote-25-Dec-81-Bnd-Bull | archive-date = 7 March 2016 | url-status=live | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="CNR215"/> 1000 Friends publicly called for the city to be "dismantled". A 1000 Friends Attorney stated that if 1000 Friends won, the Foundation would be "forced to remove their sewer system and tear down many of the buildings.<ref name = marshall>{{cite journal |last= Sullivan |first= Edward|title= The Quiet Revolution Goes West: The Oregon Planning Program 1961–2011 |journal= Marshall Law Review |publisher= Marshall University|volume= 45 |pages= 362–364}}</ref><ref name="Abbot78"/> At one point, the commune imported large numbers of homeless people from various US cities in a failed attempt to affect the outcome of an election, before releasing them into surrounding towns and leaving some to the State of Oregon to return to their home cities at the state's expense.<ref name=Zaitz4>(15 April 2011) Les Zaitz. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110419014650/http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_four_paranoia_takes_hold.html Rajneeshee leaders see enemies everywhere as questions compound&nbsp;– Part 4 of 5], ''[[The Oregonian]]''. Retrieved 10 July 2011.</ref><ref name=Zaitz5 /> In March 1982, local residents formed a group called Citizens for Constitutional Cities to oppose the Ranch development.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Fearing 'religious cities' group forms to monitor activities of commune |last=Hortsch |first=Dan |date=18 March 1982 |work=The Oregonian}}</ref> An initiative petition was filed that would order the governor {{"'}}to contain, control and remove' the threat of invasion by an 'alien cult{{'"}}.<ref name = bend />

The Oregon legislature passed several bills that sought to slow or stop the development and the City of Rajneeshpuram—including HB 3080, which stopped distribution of revenue sharing funds for any city whose legal status had been challenged. Rajneeshpuram was the only city impacted.<ref name=shay>{{cite news  | url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/301342590/Shay-TL-1985-Rjprm-Abuse-of-Power  | title = Rajneeshpuram and the Abuse of Power  | author = Theodore Shay  | publisher = Scout Creek Press  | access-date = 6 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307115939/https://www.scribd.com/doc/301342590/Shay-TL-1985-Rjprm-Abuse-of-Power  | archive-date = 7 March 2016 | url-status=live  | df = dmy-all  }}</ref> The [[Governor of Oregon]], [[Vic Atiyeh]], stated in 1982 that since their neighbors did not like them, they should leave Oregon.<ref name=church>{{cite web| url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/301353732/Church-13-Mar-1982-Oregonian| title = Atiyeh Picks Antelopers over Interlopers| publisher = Bend Bulletin| access-date = 6 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307114001/https://www.scribd.com/doc/301353732/Church-13-Mar-1982-Oregonian| archive-date = 7 March 2016| url-status=live| df = dmy-all}}</ref> In May 1982, [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] [[Mark Hatfield]] called the INS in Portland. An INS memo stated that the Senator was "very concerned" about how this "religious cult" is "endangering the way of life for a small agricultural town ... and is a threat to public safety".<ref name="FF1-89">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=89}}</ref> Such actions "often do have influence on immigration decisions". In 1983 the [[Oregon Attorney General]] filed a lawsuit seeking to declare the City void because of an alleged violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The Court found that the City property was owned and controlled by the Foundation, and entered judgement for the State.<ref name=Zaitz1 /> The court disregarded the controlling US constitutional cases requiring that a violation be redressed by the "least intrusive means" necessary to correct the violation, which it had earlier cited. The city was forced to "acquiesce" in the decision, as part of a settlement of Rajneesh's immigration case.<ref name = Richardson>{{cite book | last= Richardson |first= James T. |date= 2004 |title= Regulating Religion, Case Studies from Around the Globe|page= 486 }}</ref>

[[File:Osho Drive By.jpg|thumb|Rajneesh greeted by sannyasins on one of his daily "drive-bys" in Rajneeshpuram, circa 1982]]
While the various legal battles ensued Rajneesh remained behind the scenes, having withdrawn from a public facing role in what commune leadership referred to as a period of "silence." During this time, which lasted until November 1984, in lieu of Rajneesh speaking publicly, videos of his discourses were played to commune audiences.<ref name="America" /> His time was allegedly spent mostly in seclusion and he communicated only with a few key disciples, including Ma Anand Sheela and his caretaker girlfriend Ma Yoga Vivek (Christine Woolf).<ref name="America">{{harvnb|Mistlberger|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=C6nUWy4UYocC&pg=PA88 88]}}</ref> He lived in a [[Mobile home|trailer]] next to a covered swimming pool and other amenities. At this time he did not lecture and interacted with followers via a [[Rolls-Royce (car)|Rolls-Royce]] 'drive-by' ceremony.<ref name="JMF26" /> He also gained public notoriety for amassing a large collection of Rolls-Royce cars, eventually numbering 93 vehicles.<ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=128}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=380}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=14 May 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/us/15bcintel.html|title=The Bay Citizen: Red Rock Island |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=10 July 2011 |first=Hank |last=Pellissier |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116231633/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/us/15bcintel.html?_r=1 |archive-date=16 November 2016 }}</ref> In 1981 he had given Sheela limited [[power of attorney]], removing any remaining limits the following year.<ref name="SJP378">{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=127}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=378}}</ref> In 1983, Sheela announced that he would henceforth speak only with her.<ref name="FF1-94">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=94}}</ref> He later said that she kept him in ignorance.<ref name="SJP378" /> Many sannyasins expressed doubts about whether Sheela properly represented Rajneesh and many dissidents left Rajneeshpuram in protest of its autocratic leadership.<ref name="FF1-93">{{harvnb|FitzGerald|1986a|p=93}}</ref> Resident sannyasins without US citizenship experienced visa difficulties that some tried to overcome by marriages of convenience.<ref name="JMF25">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=25}}</ref> Commune administrators tried to resolve Rajneesh's own difficulty in this respect by declaring him the head of a religion, "Rajneeshism".<ref name="JMF26">{{harvnb|Fox|2002|p=26}}</ref><ref name="Mullan135">{{harvnb|Mullan|1983|p=135}}</ref>

During the Oregon years there was an increased emphasis on Rajneesh's prediction that the world might be destroyed by [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] or other disasters in the 1990s.<ref name="Wallis156">{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=156}}</ref> Rajneesh had said as early as 1964 that "the third and last war is now on the way" and frequently spoke of the need to create a "new humanity" to avoid global suicide.<ref name="Wallis157" /> This now became the basis for a new exclusivity, and a 1983 article in the Rajneesh Foundation Newsletter, announcing that "Rajneeshism is creating a Noah's Ark of consciousness&nbsp;... I say to you that except this there is no other way", increased the sense of urgency in building the Oregon commune.<ref name="Wallis157" /> In March 1984, Sheela announced that Rajneesh had predicted the death of two-thirds of humanity from AIDS.<ref name="Wallis157">{{harvnb|Wallis|1986|p=}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=157}}</ref><ref name="JSG131">{{harvnb|Gordon|1987|p=131}}</ref> Sannyasins were required to wear rubber gloves and [[condom]]s if they had sex, and to refrain from kissing, measures widely represented in the press as an extreme over-reaction since condoms were not usually recommended for [[AIDS#Prevention|AIDS prevention]] because AIDS was considered a homosexual disease at that stage.<ref>{{harvnb|Palmer|1988|p=129}}, reprinted in {{harvnb|Aveling|1999|p=382}}</ref><ref name="RP155-158">{{harvnb|Palmer|Sharma|1993|pp=155–158}}</ref> During his residence in Rajneeshpuram, Rajneesh also dictated three books under the influence of [[nitrous oxide]] administered to him by his private dentist: ''Glimpses of a Golden Childhood'', ''Notes of a Madman'' and ''Books I Have Loved''.<ref>{{harvnb|Shunyo|1993|p=74}}</ref> Sheela later stated that Rajneesh took sixty milligrams of [[valium]] each day and was addicted to [[nitrous oxide]].<ref name=Spiegel>{{cite news|work=Sri Prakash Von Sinha |date=9 December 1985 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13515651.html |title=Ich denke nie an die Zukunft |access-date=10 July 2011 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202041230/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13515651.html |archive-date=2 February 2012 |language=de}}</ref><ref name=Storr59>{{harvnb|Storr|1996|p=59}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=4 November 1985|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CO&s_site=charlotte&p_multi=CO&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB6BFB58F61E687&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Rajneesh, Ex-secretary attack each other on TV|newspaper=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|access-date=10 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015081536/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CO&s_site=charlotte&p_multi=CO&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB6BFB58F61E687&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=15 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Rajneesh denied these charges when questioned about them by journalists.<ref name=Spiegel /><ref>Osho: ''The Last Testament'', Vol. 4, Chapter 19 (transcript of an interview with German magazine, ''[[Der Spiegel]]'')</ref>

At the peak of the Rajneeshpuram era, Rajneesh, assisted by a sophisticated legal and business infrastructure, had created a corporate machine consisting of various front companies and subsidiaries.<ref name="urban179">{{Harvnb|Urban|2005|p=179}}</ref> At this time, the three main identifiable entities within his organisation were: the Ranch Church, or Rajneesh International Foundation (RIF); the Rajneesh Investment Corporation (RIC), through which the RIF was managed; and the Rajneesh Neo-Sannyasin International Commune (RNSIC). The umbrella organisation that oversaw all investment activities was Rajneesh Services International Ltd., a company incorporated in the UK but based in [[Zürich]]. There were also smaller organisations, such as Rajneesh Travel Corp, Rajneesh Community Holdings, and the Rajneesh Modern Car Collection Trust, whose sole purpose was to deal with the acquisition and rental of Rolls-Royces.<ref name="urban180">{{Harvnb|Urban|2005|p=180}}</ref><ref name="WRIGHT141-146">{{harvnb|Wright|1985|pp=141–146}}</ref>