The Rajneesh Movement: A learning experience

Oh wow, I honestly do not even know where to start with this one, because I feel like my views have changed so tremendously over the course of this semester. The word cult and all of its negative connotations that come with it have been in my vocabulary since I was about 12 years old. Granted, I did not know what any of the words meant or how much gravity they held. It was likely I heard it in a conversation and eventually, I came to know the definition that society gave it as well as who it was targeted towards. Over time, because I was never told different, nor had I ever done research on my own, these misconceptions grew stronger and I had accepted them. If  was ever confronted with a conversation regarding the matter, I would simply try and avoid it because in all honesty the ideology I had at the time really frightened me.

I am happy to say, however, that my views have become more clarified and I can see the bigger picture, so to speak. First things first, I quickly realized that the people involved in these movements were not all that bad. Instead, many of these terrible things I believed, were misconstrued by the media. Now I can see these movements for what they really are and value them accordingly. I am also thankful, that I am not gullible anymore. I know how to find a reliable source and I can find the truth for myself now and because of that, I do not have to take anyones word for anything.

In terms of the Rajneesh movement, I had never even heard of them before, as with many of the other movements we studied this semester. The only way I was able to learn anything was through research and I felt like the way the course was set up allowed me to do so according to myself. I could look for whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and that sense of freedom was really nice because as a student we do not get that very often. Plus, I was eager to apply my new ideologies into my research. With my knowledge of sources expanding, it was challenging at times, but still doable. It was all worth it in the end though, because I learned the truth and was able to understand the movement fairly.  

I felt like the Rajneesh commune gave me a good overview of itself and it was easy for me to follow. I particularly enjoyed researching was the beliefs and practices portion. It was beautiful how this movement tied together and integrated many other beliefs and practices from various religions and made it into their own. In addition, it was interesting watching how the media portrayed this commune. There were countless example of when the media overstepped without any actual evidence. It still boggles my mind that if you type in “The Rajneesh Movement” a vast majority of the articles that pop up are from biased sources or only focus upon the “Bio-terrorism Attack” in Oregon. If you want the truth, you truly have to put in a lot of work and dig for them. All in all, taking this course opened my eyes in more ways than one. I feel like my understanding of religion as a person has grown so very much.

Natasha Young

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog # 2: From Within

After some searching, I came  ac ross  this article published by the New York Times titled   SHOCK SETS IN AS GURU'S FOLLOWERS IN OREGON LEAVE TO FACE OUTSIDE WORLD . The article covers a few key followers of  Bhagwan  Shree  Rajneesh  and  their departure from the  Oregon  commune. I felt it really captured the feelings of uneasiness they felt. Plus, I  chose  to  use this article instead of someone who willingly left, so I could see it from a different perspective.  I thought it  w ould  be beneficial to see both sides since the first thing that is usually at the  forefront of searches regarding former movement members tends to be very biased.  While I would not normally choose to use a source that uses the word "cult" so carelessly, I felt this article really captured what I wanted to be illustrated. When  Rajneesh  moved  back to India people were faced with some li...
Read more

Reception

Maggie Billingsley The Rajneesh was first exposed to media in 1978 when Time magazine featured an article called "God Sir." This article was not the best article for the Rajneesh considering the fact that the media was never really on their side. The Rajneesh commune was harassed by media and overlooked by society into thinking this commune was so negative. It almost seemed as if the FBI's goal to tear this commune down. The FBI went out of their way to investigate even further after the Rajneesh commune had already collapsed, to break it down even more. The Rajneesh have been a form of fascination and horror according to the media. The media has very much affected the way people that do not follow the Rajneesh look at them and think about them. Rajneesh is known for his revelation on sex and has constructed a vision of the new man that holds reputation to prior norms.  According to Rajneesh, a man is free to carve out the cosmos of his own image. This means th...
Read more

Through The Camera Lens

8 November 2017 By: Zach Schultz          The Rajneesh movement did not have a very good relationship with the media. Like many religious movements, the Rajneesh were portrayed very poorly with many different forms of media. They were looked at through a negative light. Many people thought they were doing illegal or awful things just because of the stories they were seeing in the media. The media was able to scare people away from trying to understand the movement rather than to open up their minds and give their beliefs a chance.      Media infected the local towns people so much that they began to make clothing and necklaces with catch phrases like "Nuke The Guru". They also had bumper stickers that were being distributed around town in order to try to scare the commune away. The media was doing everything in their power to create opposition to the movement. They did not want the Rajneesh anywhere near the state of Oregon. The media was co...
Read more