Roshani reports on a retrospective on Rajneeshpuram which was held at the University of Oregon Library last April.
The Archives Department, which has many documents and the entire Mirdad book collection, filled four large glass display panels with artifacts, photos, news headlines and the like to celebrate the ’30th Anniversary of the Ranch’.
I was invited to participate on a panel, along with former Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer and University of Oregon Sociology Professor Mimi Goldman. There was a fairly large audience of about 150 and many stayed after the panel to ask more questions. The atmosphere in the audience was primarily one of curiosity. There was very little hostility and actually some interest in the spiritual and transformational aspects of Rajneeshpuram.
Although, I have to say, inevitable questions about criminal activities and Rolls Royces also emerged. One of my strongest impressions was how angry and vindictive the former Attorney General remains, even after all of this time. However, the audience generally responded in a very positive way to the environmental, transformation and spiritual aspects of Rajneeshpuram.
If you would like a taste of the panel, or have time to watch the whole video [1:20:04], here it is:
Watch on UO Channel: The Rajneeshees in Oregon: A Communal Experiment
Interest in the Ranch lives on in Oregon!
Report by Roshani
Comment by Yashu:
I just read your account of the 30th anniversary of the Ranch and Dave Frohmeyer still being an angry man. I returned to Portland around 1986 and got a message that Frohmeyer wanted to talk to me. I called and directly said, “What do you want?” He knew that I had visited Sheela at the Multnomah County Jail several times and in the Federal Prison in California. He asked, “Did Sheela ever tell you where the 4 million dollars were?” I laughed and said no. He asked if I was still with “The Bhagwan” and I replied, “It is something like when you took algebra in the 9th grade. You may never work algebraic problems but the way of thinking that you learned is still with you – with me. I truly felt that he got it. Om Shanti Om!
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