Filmmaker and author Suzanne Taylor was instrumental in bringing together for a video interview, journalist and CEO of Ideapod Justin Brown and Pennell Rock, a scholar in Comparative Religions and Philosophy and former resident of Rajneeshpuram.
Introductions (00:00:20)
You can’t transcend sex by being a good Christian (09:47.06)
What if women ruled the world? (14:17.10)
Why were so many people in thrall in Osho’s presence? (17:00.14)
The Lord of the Night was not a paragon (21:47.05)
A sermon on the word “fuck” (24:40.04)
Spiritual groups have a tendency towards fascism (28:06.03)
The paradox of a guru’s power: freedom vs submission (32:19.02)
When fascism started to get out of control (38:08.17)
Recognize the fascist within you (40:15.18)
Will Osho become the next great religious figure? (46:19.27)
Was Osho consciously provoking or did he lose control? (49:58.28)
What did Wild Wild Country miss about Osho’s teachings?
Excerpt from the article by Justin Brown on Ideapod (ideapod.com)
By now you’ve probably heard of the Wild Wild Country documentary series that premiered on Netflix on March 16th.
It tells the incredible story of the Indian spiritual master Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers founding a commune, Rajneeshpuram, in rural Oregon in the early 1980s. Remarkably, the commune attracted thousands of people from around the world inspired by the promise of a new kind of society.
The movement also drew controversy, with significant figures from the commune ending up being charged with terrorism and jailed for immigration fraud and attempted murder.
The documentary series is entertaining to watch. However, there is very little exploration of Osho’s teaching that caused so many thousands of people to come together to create a new way of living in Oregon. It was a revolutionary project and the residents seemed to sincerely hope their ways of thinking would spread around the world.
Wild Wild Country is truly stunning to watch. If you haven’t yet seen it, check out the trailer below.
Yet while watching the documentary series, I couldn’t help but think that it didn’t give justice to the many thousands of people who moved to Oregon to create a new way of living. They did this based on Osho’s teachings and felt his ideas were more appropriate for modern day society.
I then came across the beautiful short video below by Suzanne Taylor from Sue Speaks. She visited the commune and expressed remorse at the lack of focus on Osho’s teachings in the documentary series.
I reached out to Suzanne to discuss this issue, and she invited Pennell Rock into the discussion. Pennell was a disciple of Osho. He visited Oregon often but lived there for only three months. Prior to Osho’s sojourn in the States, Pennell lived intermittently at the Ashram in India and brought his girlfriend there. She became Hasya, who plays a major part in the documentary, as she became Osho’s right hand when Sheela fled from Oregon. Pennell is a scholar in Comparative Religions and Philosophy, so he was the perfect person to join us for this discussion.
Links
Transcript of the video (thanks to Ideapod): docs.google.com
Article on Ideapod: ideapod.com
Article on Suzanne’s blog: suespeaks.org
Pennel Rock’s website: sacredperformance.com
Justin Brown’s YouTube channel: youtube.com
Obituary of Hasya (Françoise Ruddy): oshonews.com
More about Wild Wild Country on Osho News: oshonews.com
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