124. Rajneesh in Rajneeshpuram / The Legend of Heceta Head Lighthouse

Summary

A little different take on “true crime” this week in Bettina’s story. She shares about the “religion-less teacher” who leads with his religious teachings…Rajneesh. He led by a vow of silence in his Rolls-Royce driving down the streets of the little city his followers created, Rajneeshpuram in Oregon. With his devout followers, laughing and crying, meditations, sex, and the color red Rajneesh and his “right hand woman” Sheela, changed the little town of Antelope, Oregon forever! Beth takes her paranormal story to the coast of Oregon – to Heceta Head. Where there’s the most picturesque bed and breakfast and Lighthouse that’s “haunted” by a ghost named Rue?

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Transcription

Chandra Mohan Jen, aka “the sex guru”, later changed his name to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (or just Rajneesh), and then even later to Osho. He started holding meditation camps and recruiting followers in 1964. He grew in popularity, not only in India, but throughout the world. He promoted dynamic meditation and free love. By 1981 Rajneesh had so many followers that they ran out of room in the ashram in India. Rajneesh sent his right hand woman, Ma Anand Sheela, to the US to buy land. 64,229 acres in central Oregon were purchased, right outside of the small town of Antelope in Wasco county. It took only 3 years for the followers of Rajneesh to build a city, Rajneeshpuram. A city complete with an electric power plant, a sewage plant, townhouses, fire and police departments, and a large shopping center with eateries and boutiques (all of which sold only red clothing, the color the followers were asked to wear). After the city was built and Rajneesh and his followers settled in, the trouble started. Listen as Bettina covers time before Rajneeshpuram, its seven year existence, and into the end of the community in Oregon.

Along the Oregon coast is a 200 foot bluff, Heceta Head, that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. Nestled on the bluff is a 56 foot tall lighthouse that has shone its light since 1894. The life of the lighthouse keeper and his two assistance was a bit dismal. Each had a house for the men and their families, but that was pretty much all that was there. It was a very isolated life. Now days the lighthouse keeper’s house and the lighthouse have been restored and serve as a lovely, quaint Bed and Breakfast, with a residential ghost named Rue. Rue is said to have been the wife of one of the lighthouse keepers. Legend has it that her daughter fell from the bluff into the sea and drowned. Rue still searches for her lost daughter. Beth gives more information into the history of Heceta Head Lighthouse, the present Bed and Breakfast, the ghost, Rue, and how the name was given to the ghost,

Rajneesh and his followers. (Photo Credit: Netflix) https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2018/05/24/wild-wild-country-raises-serious-questions-about-modern-religious-life

Thousands of Rajneesh’s followers would line the street of Rajneeshpuram every afternoon to pay homage to him as he drove slowly by in one of his 94 Rolls Royces. https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/104308772/wild-wild-country-i-did-research-at-rajneeshpuram-and-here-is-what-i-learned

Ma Anand Sheela with Rajneesh. She was his right hand woman, his spokeswoman, and his protectress. (Photo credit: Netflix) https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jun/25/cult-degrading-sheela-wild-wild-country-bhagwan-rajneesh

Heceta Head Lighthouse and the Lighthouse keeper’s house were put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heceta_Head_Light

The lighthouse keeper’s home is now beautifully restored as a Bed and Breakfast. Rue, the ghost, is said to move things around, to sit on the beds, often leaving her imprint, and turn lights off and on, among other things. https://www.hecetalighthouse.com/latest-news/bpage/2

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Anand_Sheela

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneesh

ttps://www.indiewire.com/2018/04/wild-wild-country-faq-netflix-1201943035/

https://www.biography.com/religious-figure/bhagwan-shree-rajnees

https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2018/spring/feature/rajneeshpuram-was-more-utopia-desert-it-was-mirror

https://newrepublic.com/ Bhagwan’s Biggest Gamble: The Attempted Takeover of Wasco County

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jun/25/cult-degrading-sheela-wild-wild-country-bhagwan-rajneesh

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cult-wild-wild-country-netflix_n_5ab2b37de4b054d118df49c1

https://www.indiatimes.com/entertainment/free-sex-samadhi-everything-you-need-to-know-about-oshos-controversial-aide-ma-anand-sheela-538290.html

https://starsunfolded..com/osho-rajneesh/