The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 22 - The Rajneeshees

Episode Date: September 21, 2014

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine the city of Rajneeshpuran, Oregon.Tour Dates Dollop MerchSourcesPatreon - Main from a 6 Part OregonLive.com series on the Rajneeshee commune collapse by Les Zaitz.

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virgins go to mingle and do what? Hi, Gavie. No. Has he done my friend? No. No. Gareth. If you did add a new R in the menu there too. Into what?

Gareth that came out of it. Gareth, let me ask you some. Gary. Hey, Gary. You've lost the war. That's not what this is about. You had a point. Just make your point. Don't worry about it. No, just make, you continue to make the point that you were making before. How are you?

I'm fine. I was fine. I don't know why I did it. I don't know why I did it. I was fine. I was fine. And I'm not good. It's going to be okay. I feel like it's fine. Yeah. No, don't worry. The English language is a fluid language. The words change and the meanings of words change. That's not what this is about. The word literal is currently being changed by its use. It's like when people go, that's not the definition of literal. No, it's not. But the English language which changes as people use words in different ways. So the word literal is literally being changed. The meaning.

That's a fair use of it. And your name is fluid and it's changing and it's it's it's becoming. It's evolving into a super name. It's becoming more approachable. Yeah. No, it's working for me. Yeah. Your name is Gareth Reynolds. Yeah.

But you're not a fan of that name. Take down some of the walls. Well, it's like we're not in a kingdom in England. Why? Well, we're not. Gary. Today's story begins in India. All right. Do you like it when they start in other countries? Sure. Yeah, I feel like that's, yeah, I like the origins. Chandramohan Jain.

Wow. That's pretty good. He was born on December 11th, 1931 in Kuchawada. Oh boy. Kuchawada, a small Indian village. It's great that I can't see the words. So there's really no way for me to know, but I know it's off. I know it's way off.

He was gifted but rebellious student in school and he gained a reputation as a debater. All right. Which is a good thing for a young child to have. Sure. That's called an argumentative child. He's a real debater. He's always debating with the other kids over this things being his and everything's his. You know, he's just loves to debate.

He went to college when he was 19 and was such an argumentative asshole that he was asked to leave. Get out. Good luck. Out. Go. You're terrible. Or no, they'd probably be like, stay here and he'd be like, no, I'm out of here. That's how you do it.

So then he went to a second college and he was such a douchebag at that college that they told them he didn't have to come to school. He could just come to take the test. Now, that's why the world sucks is because assholes do like if you're a big enough asshole, you almost get fast tracked. Yeah. All right. Okay. So I had a test. I was in a graduate school, mostly graduate students in college and everybody in the class got D's and F's like the teacher just like threw us all these fucking curveballs.

Right. And we were all like, dude, you even came when we were studying all this shit. And you're like, you guys are going to nail that I'm seeing what you guys are doing. And I stood up in the middle of the class and I was like, no, your test was bad. You had a bad test. Yeah. I mean, you're blaming us and you're saying that this is where the Japanese are ahead of us. Like we were having an argument and he was, come on.

I talked to you outside and he takes me outside and he goes, I'm going to let you retake the test. Just come to my office next time. Yeah. Exactly. Just like completely insane. Completely insane. Yeah. So I was this guy.

Yeah. He was teaching in public at faith meetings and continued to do so for the next 17 years. He got a master's degree in philosophy and got himself a job teaching at college, but was quickly asked to transfer to another college because the vice chancellor considered him as a danger to his students, morality, character and religion. I mean, this guy is a real fucking asshole. This is so far everybody's like, just go. Yeah.

Go. Please leave. Just get the fuck out of here. Yeah. He then began traveling the country under the name Atchariah Rajneesh. Who hasn't? Giving lectures critical of socialism and Gandhi. Okay.

So someone, so finally someone. Yes. Taking up to the monster that is Gandhi. The satanic monster. Gandhi. He thought Gandhi was a masochist reactionary who worshiped poverty. Wow. Okay.

So he's a Republican. Yes. He sounds like a really, he sounds like a rich asshole at that point. Yes. If you tell someone they worship poverty, like how can you look at Gandhi? It's Gandhi. It really, it is really hard to, Gandhi is George Clooney. We all like him.

Right. Yeah. He is George Clooney. Yeah. So Rajneesh thought Indian needed capitalism, science, technology, and birth control. That's what he would talk about mostly. He gained a big loyal following of wealthy merchants and businessmen. Of course.

The asshole Brigade. He just, he just, like if you're going up and talking shit about Gandhi, then rich people are like, get a load of this guy. This guy's actually finally making some sense. Yeah. We're going to go murder Gandhi. Yeah. He's awful.

Yeah. We don't like him. He's a pacifist, so we're going to hurt him. So, and of course you can tell right now that he is just saying shit that rich people love right to get rich people on his side. Yeah. That's all his fucking game is. Yeah.

He then started charging them gobs of money for individual consultations about spiritual development. There it is. There it is. Right there. Then he started meditation camps and centers. Okay. How is he?

Yeah. Okay. India. Yeah. They don't meditate. Oh no, asshole or they can pretend to. Yeah. Or maybe they have like asshole-y meditations where they're just kind of focused on like

their greed and stuff. Yeah. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Gonna fucking take everything and murder Gandhi home. Money. Money.

Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money.

Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money.

Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money.

Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money.

Money. First P. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money. Money.

Money. Money. Uh, so the disciples had to change their name, uh, dress in orange, and wear a locket with a picture of rash niche at all times. Hey, hey. Totally normal. Let me know when there's a red flag coming. And the guy's like, hey, listen. I got you this.

Like, I want you to wear an outfit, but also, everybody carries a little picture of me. Alright, so sign there. And uh, and then come on the Dix, Dixxuckin' tent. And then we'll go to the Dixxuckin' tent, that's where I live, and I'm the only man allowed in there. A locket with your, I'm going to do that. Yeah. I'm going to buy 50 lockets and just give them to people with my picture inside of it. Just be like, will you start wearing this for me?

Please? Uh, his followers started creating audio tapes, which began to be distributed worldwide. His number of Western followers increased, well, it's the 70s. Okay, but is these, these audio tapes are about, I mean, he's really, but it's about more about fucking now. It's now, it's a lot of, it's about fucking now. And yeah, he's sort of, well, he still does the capitalism science technology, you know, stuff, but, but he's, people, he's about fucking a lot.

Yeah, okay. A lot of it's about fucking. Okay. Um, he then began group therapy at his ashram as a source of income. So some on bottom of a big piece of property, one of the wealthy people, and now a source of income, search group therapy, group therapy groups were experimental, allowing physical aggression and sexual encounters between participants. Wow.

That is, so that's a different kind of group. You know what, uh, I feel weird and a little bit angry and, all right, why don't you finger Martha? Do you feel better, what finger Martha and punch Jerry in the face, and then you're going to fight Jerry in that dirt circle. Okay. We're just, we're kind of working the kinks out, we're ironing it out. I'm going to go fuck your wife in the dick sucking tent where I live.

Um, reports of injuries sustained in group encounter sessions began to appear in the press. Oh, that's so good. So good press is happening. It was discovered that the therapy groups encouraged participants to be violent. Fucking hit him. Hit him. You're going to take that shit.

Did you hear what he said to you? Oh, you need to get your shit together. I was under the impression we were just kind of fucking, you think you're going to walk out of here? Oh Jesus. One prominent member of the ashram, uh, left the ashram with a broken arm after eight hours locked in a room and the participants armed with wooden weapons. What the fuck?

Okay. What the fuck? What? So he went to group therapy. This isn't therapy. And a bunch of guys with bats beat the shit out of him. And broke his arm. For eight hours.

Feel better? Good to get that off your chest? Still mad at your dad? Yeah. You don't miss your brother anymore, do you? The violence stopped in January 1979 when the ashram issued a press release saying the violence had fulfilled its function within the overall context of the ashram as an evolving spiritual commune.

Yep. Okay. No more beating each other up. Okay. Some guys like fuck, I just got here. Sorry, buddy. We're evolving. God fuck.

Can I get my dick sucked? Yeah. Your dick's going to get sucked. You're at the ashram. Come on. Of course, your fucking dick's going to get sucked. Even if I got to do it, yeah. People who graduated from the ashram are called Sunny Seans Sunny Asans Sunny as it's s a n

n y a s i n s Sunny Asans Sunny Asans. Drug use amongst Sunny Asans began to become a problem with some Western Sunny Asans paid. So what some Western Sunny Asans paid for their extended stays in India's with prostitution and drug running. This was all approved by Rajneesh. Yeah. Well, Rajneesh doesn't seem like he's a very good ashram leader. Hey, Rajneesh.

So you know, to stay here, where's the money to pay for my stay? Well, here's what I'm talking about. I got a bunch of, I got some ladies that I captured in Urduvan. And I got some blow. I'm listening. And I'm going to head on to the city. I'm going to get some dudes to fuck those ladies for like a hundred bucks each. You know you're at an ashram, right?

Yeah. I'm going to sell the blow and then I'm going to give you the money. This is a very good idea. Okay. This is perfect. Let's do it. Yeah. Let's do it.

I just need some gas money. All right. I'm going to finger your wife. Okay. All righty. Thank you. Come again. Not actually my wife.

What? This is ashram hosted 30,000 visitors, visitors a year. What? I'm picturing 12 people, no, 30,000 are going there to fuck, fight and do drugs. Yeah. And, but a lot of them are going there like meditation and peace and love and so that's happening too. Yeah.

Okay. But there's okay. But there's a bad element to it. Well, it sounds like it's mostly bad. I think I'm highlighting the bad elements. Yeah. I'm sure. I mean, I guess if I went through the and then they go to the Koi pond, Larry went there

and he touched a fish and he thought about flowers. That's not. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

So most of the 30,000 were American and European. Now the Indian government was getting tired of the bullshit that was happening there. They revoked his tax exempt status. They stopped issuing visas to foreign visitors who were going to see him. So he decided to move his operations to boy, he's coming here, isn't he? Have you heard of Oregon? I know he was coming here. Oh, no.

Oh, no. He's in the blood. He's in the blood. His second in command was a woman named Ma Anand Sheila. Okay. On June 13th, 1981, Rajneesh bought the Big Muddy Ranch, a 64,000 acre ranch near Antelope, Oregon for 5.75 million. Now, 64,000 acres is huge.

Huge. And he just has all this money just because all these rich people are just kind of buying into his shit and donating. Yeah. Giving him tons of money. Right. Okay. Yeah.

The ranch is so big it spans two Oregon counties. What? It's a two-counier, huh? Yeah. She's a two-counier. Oh, my God. Holy shit. He did what up there, Joe?

That's right. The two counties? You know what you want to do? You want to go to the other county and that's where that Frisbee went. That's the worst directions ever. Yeah. I wasn't looking for a Frisbee. Okay.

They expected to put up housing compounds, warehouses, and support buildings. Business enterprises once based in India would move to the ranch. It all started happening. But Sheila closed the deal quickly without checking Oregon law. Turns out the state severely limits how many people in buildings can be placed on ranch land. An interesting curveball. But it was too late.

Hundreds of Seneasans were on their way. They told local officials they planned to operate a farm commune. Workers would be brought in to restore abused ranch land, which the Oregon was like, oh, that's cool. But they needed building to house those workers. Dan Durrow, a young county planner, was intrigued by the idea of a farm in a commune. God, he got taken advantage of, huh? The well.

They discussed how the ranch could legally house perhaps 150 people. Okay. Durrow asked, are you a religious organization? No. Said Sheila. We celebrate life and laughter. We are simple farmers. At which point he probably went.

Okay. And someone was like, and we just hate Gandhi. Okay. Did that? Did she say we celebrate life and laughter? So this is Oregon, and I'm going to go get my stick. So Durrow was like, checking up on him all the time. Okay.

And he'd go there and he'd see a house. But then if he went into the house, it would just be a big empty building with mats all over the floor because there were shitloads of people, but they made it look like it was a house. Right. On the outside. Yeah, four people are in there. Yeah.

And you go in there and that's weird. It looks like. A lot of suitcases. I think there's a human farming happening here. You've been farming. Are you growing humans in here? What's happening? To get around the laws, the Rajneesha's decided to form their own city.

Okay. Whoa. So they're just going to make a city out there. Okay. I don't think you can stop that. Yeah. Well, you can. Can you?

Yes. Can you just make a city? Why not? Because. Can't you just vote to have a city? You can vote, but the people have to vote. The powers to be in Oregon were like, no. That's when the Rajneesha started fighting with everyone.

Oh, no. Debating. Sheila's conduct troubled other Rajneesha leaders, but she did everything with the Guru's blessing and he listened to her first. So she was the only person he really. But she still didn't trust others in the compound. So she bugged the Guru's house with hidden mics. Hey, just a regular, regular religious group hanging out, having some fun, celebrating

and bugging. The Rajneesha's then began a harassment campaign against the county and state officials. Harassment campaign. Two Rajneesha's parked in front of the house of Bill Hulse, a Wasco County commissioner. They just sat there for hours. Dan Durow, the counting, the counting planning director had pretty much had it with them and he decided to strictly follow the letter of the law when it came to land on you. So he was like, okay, now you guys want to play ball?

You want to sit in front of people's houses and freak them out? You want to play leftovers? Then what we're going to do is we're going to, we're going to crack down and keep everything by the rule. Capiche. All right. The Rajneesha's were pissed. At one point he was intrigued by that.

Yeah. At one point he was like, well, that's interesting. Interesting idea. A little con here. That sounds fun. I like this. I like this. And he was like, no, no, I've had enough, no.

So they went to meetings, like planning meetings, the town planning meetings and would yell at him. Oh, God. And they would send letters to him just being, you're a fucking dick, like just letters that were just ridiculous. The Rajneesha's. Packs of Rajneesha's came to his office in the Dalles, which is a city near there, disrupting work by scattering throughout workstations, off limits to the public and just standing

there. What? So they would just like come into your office. They're just like. And then just hang. They're like bugs. They're like ghosts you can see. All right.

Did he see me irritated when you stood there for eight hours? I could tell I was getting to him. I was getting to him. He didn't say anything, but I was getting to him. Dura was so concerned that he sent his three children to live with his ex-wife out of town. Then they really poured it on. When Rajneesha put a nail under the tile, tire of a Wasco County planner while he attended a conference in Eugene, I mean, it's really Bush League shit.

Oh no. This is an intense campaign of harassment. We are going to make his tire deflate. Okay. Does anybody have any ideas? Go ahead and put your, what just put you put your hand up there. What'd you say? Yes.

I was going to say, um, maybe we take his junk mail. I love it. I'll never be able to look at it. Sheila held a courthouse door. Let's pour water on his car. Wait, are you ready for a better one? Oh no. Oh no.

Sheila held the courthouse door open for the state's deputy district attorney. Shut up. His art is full of legal books. As he passed, she stuck out her foot and tripped him. Oh my God. And then they all laughed. So they're Monty Python. It's essentially.

They're more like Betty Hill. Yeah. I mean, this is the best. So these are just, the Rajneesha's at this point are on a harassment campaign. A three stooge's harassment campaign. Where they're standing. They're popping a tire every now and then, and they're just making someone like pick up documents.

Like at the end of the day, the guy had to pick up things for three minutes. Yeah. You'll never forget the Rajneesha's though. Did you like high school? Say my name, bitch. It's the Rajneesha's. Forget that. When you're picking up your folders.

Oregon Attorney General pressed to have the sex city declared illegal. That's a headline. Sheila set up secret squads to strike at the commune's enemies. Ma Anad Pooja was a nurse. She was Sheila's shadow. The two have been close since their time in India. Pooja now supervised the ranch's medical department. Occasionally Pooja retreated to a laboratory hidden in a cabin up in a canyon and the ranch

to secretly experiment with viruses and bacteria. Well, well, well, well. That's not good. That's not good at all. To experiment. Oh, Jesus Christ. Christ. It's not.

Yeah. In the summer of... That's not a good thing to hear right now. In the summer of 1984, Pooja field tested her work handing unlabeled vials to secret sect attack teams. What? When Pooja's nerves knew or suspected, the brown liquid was Salmonella, which produces severe diarrhea and other symptoms.

These people aren't going to drink Salmonella. Over months, they were dispatched to spread the poison in the Dalles, the Neobrai big city. They initially hoped to sicken public officials standing in their way with diarrhea. I mean... Are you ready for diarrhea? What? Pooja's mixture was spread onto fixtures in the men's room at the Westcote County courthouse.

One Rajneesh went to a political rally, puts some of the contaminant on her hand and turned to an elderly man sitting next to her and shook his hand. Okay. This is so bushly. It's your... It's so bushly. Like if you're spreading a virus, you don't put it on your hand and sh... Okay, cool.

Okay. Now we both have diarrhea. Nice to meet you. We both have diarrhea. Hi. Welcome to the world of diarrhea. Join me. Join me on my mission.

So have you changed your mind? About the city? No, I just... No, I just... You had to go to the bathroom a lot for about a day and a half. Oh, yeah? Remember our name, bitch. We're doing it.

We're doing it. How's your pooping going? Yeah. All right, let's... It's not great, honestly. We knew it. We knew it. You were going to poop for the next 30 hours pretty often.

Welcome to hell. Now give us our city. One Rajneesh. Oh, amazing. Yeah. The plan... It's just a spectacular plan. It's just very polite.

Sheila tried her hand at Contamination as well, taking half dozen Rajneesh's, including Pooja to a grocery store in Dallas. Let's have some fun, that Sheila said. Oh, God. Right across the store was Sheila targeting the produce section pouring brownish liquid from the vial she had hidden up her sleeves, but there were no public reports of people getting sick. That's even worse.

So there was no big headline in the local paper saying, Diarrhea destroys city. There never is a headline about... No one's like, hey, Diarrhea really went crazy. Because it's irritating. It's not life altering, it's just... It's just a bunch of people, and no one goes to work and goes, man, I really had Diarrhea yesterday. So no one...

You did the one thing that no one talks about. So everybody had Diarrhea, and nobody wanted to tell each other they had Diarrhea. I was like, yeah, something's wrong with my stomach. Yeah, I'm just not feeling too... Just don't feel too hot. Oh, yeah, there must be a bug going around, because I got a little something weird too. Damn it, Rajneesh, they think it's a bug. Oh, Jesus Christ.

You're drinking Salmonella, and if you're on this compound, I mean, you do not want to be one of the people pulled, you're like, so we need six to go drink some Salmonella? You're like, ugh. Just wipe it on your face and kiss people. Okay. I might go home soon. I don't know, this isn't what I thought. That's not what I thought at all.

Remember when we were fucking and fighting? That was fun. That was really fun. I love that. Remember when we broke Jerry's arm? That was hilarious. That was a good time. Now we're just drinking chicken.

Did you know we gave Jerry Diarrhea? Yeah, I know, yeah, but his arm's broken. He talked about that. Is a great cult. So Sheila pushed Pujot to find a more toxic solution. Oh dear, I don't like that. Around the same time, three Wasco County commissioners arrived at the ranch for a tour. They parked outside the commune's welcome center and loaded into a commune van for their

visit. When they got back, the car had a flat. Well, it's been going around. Why don't you touch it? Why don't you touch the brown liquid on the tire and see what's wrong with it? The Ratcheniches arranged a repair on the spot that would cost $12. We've flattened it. You can pay 12 to fix it.

Wait, is there more to what they just did? They flattened the tire. And then they just got them a cheap pair. And then they came out and said, we'll fix the flat for 12 bucks. Wow, these people are animals. These people are absolute animals. Savages. The commissioners probably just like, okay, you really got us.

Yeah, there's a nail in it. Oh, we'll fix it right now. Okay, you guys are literally the worst, literally. As the commissioners waited in the hot August sun, Pujo approached, offering each a glass of water. Her gesture was odd. Yeah. Pujo was in her medical whites and had no role as a greeter.

She wouldn't even fucking change. No, she basically had her murder close. She just comes from lab to person. Yeah. Hey, here's a mixture. Try this water and this beaker. They were really thirsty so they drank the water. Oh, boy.

That night, unbearable stomach pain woke up commissioner Bill Holst. He ran for the bathroom vomiting. He was admitted to the local hospital. Another of the county commissioners stayed in bed alone in his cabin, violently ill for two days. Holst remained in the hospital for four days with doctors telling him he would have died without treatment. As he recovered at home later, he concluded the Reginiches had poisoned him and he said

so publicly. The Reginiches denied it, but the sex leaders hoped sickening public officials would deter future decisions against their operation. They'll just stop taking water from you, dumbass. No. No, they'll be like, okay, I got really bad diarrhea and I threw up and you can have your city. All right.

You know what? You win. Well played. You played the long game well. What? I mean, this is how Trump got his plaza. Alrighty. Now you're going to let us have our sex city.

Meanwhile, sick of buying toilet paper, aren't you? The guru, Reginiches pushed for even more extreme acts. He wanted his people to get a seat on or get control of the county's board of commissioners. One of the Reginiches shed her orange clothes, made herself look like a normal person and moved to the Dallas intending to run for city council. To get elected, the Reginiches had a two-part plan. Oh, I mean, amazing. I'm, I'm equally excited for each part.

One was to depress the turnout by traditional Wasco County residents by, by sickening them. Jesus. The first, the first plan. One is to sicken. Election canceled due to diarrhea. The second was to pack the rolls with new voters loyal to the Reginiches. Okay. They decided to attack people where they ate the restaurants of the Dallas, a young woman

named Manna and Ava was driven to town, stopped at one restaurant after another going inside and poisoning food. This is an insane thing that they're doing. They're going to suppress a vote by giving people diarrhea. I mean, at some point, somebody had to bottom line it and they had to be like, well, when you put it like that, it sounds crazy. If Pepto Bismot had taken advantage of this and used it as a campaign and they could be the voting day medicine.

Yeah. Hey, it's election day. Did you take the Pepto? Or if Pepto ran. God damn it. I mean, okay. Wearing a wig. It's just so good.

It's so good. It's so good. They're going to restaurants in fucking probably awful wigs. Did glasses, glasses. Yeah. Like groucho, groucho glasses. Hello. My name is Smith Smitherton.

Can I look in the kitchen? Pugia went on a separate mission pouring liquid on a salad greens. Terry Turner, a local furniture store owner, took his wife and two year old to a Sunday brunch at a restaurant on the banks of the Columbia River. They enjoyed a casual meal opting for the salad bar across the, across town. State trooper Rick Carlton had the day off. He took his wife, three year old son and four month old baby to a downtown restaurant. After a meal, then included a trip through the salad bar.

They drove home. The next morning. Yeah. Both men were violently ill. So were Turner's young daughter and Carlton's son. Turner headed to the medical clinic, only discover a waiting room filled with people just as ill. When Carlton arrived home, he found his wife and son as sick as him.

Hundreds of people were sick, hospital emergency rooms and medical clinics overflowed with people suffering nausea, diarrhea and enduring weakness. They all suspected the Rajneesha's. Everybody was like, okay, so let's kill them. Yeah. I like, so at this point, they, I mean, they just noticed the people who give people diarrhea. So when there's a huge diarrhea outbreak, they're like, yeah, we know these fucking morons. So we didn't, we had no idea.

No. I just went to the salad bar. We love the salad bar. I'm like, I have my own dressing. Oh, yes. You should try it. It's called salmonella. Salmonella.

Salmonella. Salmonella. A state health official famously concluded that restaurant workers in different restaurants had all ignored proper hygiene at the same time. That's. Well, that's equally trouble. I mean, it's also a troubling thing. Not surprising either.

The standards of Applebee's weren't up to snuff, I guess. The brilliant planning of Sheila continued. The Rajneesha's chartered buses in cities coast to coast and filled them with homeless people. They lured the homeless people to the buses by promising food, beer, and rest. As the homeless came to the ranch, they were obliged to register to vote. Oh my God. They were expected to vote party ticket when it came time to pick the new county commissioners.

Wait, let me ask you this. Now, so they gave everyone diarrhea and there was no vote. So they did that. I think it was a test run. Amazing. Amazing. So you get the homeless people and then you do the diarrhea campaign. Right.

Well, I think they wanted to bring in the homeless later because it would cost them less money to house them up until the election. So really, this last diarrhea run was just for fun. It was a test diarrhea run. TD. The TDR. There was a bit of a problem with the plan, though. It turns out that a lot of homeless people have serious mental problems.

No, I won't stand here and let you say something like that. That's sweeping. Fights began to break out. Well, they love that. Too. They don't, right? Yeah. It's bad.

So to regain control, Rajneesh has injected the tranquilizer Haldal into beer kegs used to serve the homeless. What the fuck is going on? So they were just getting them drunk. Yeah. And then they started fighting. And then they're like, well, let's put Haldal in this shit. Jesus Christ.

I mean, just put the fire out. Haldal is like a serious tranquilizer. I mean, they bust all these homeless people to their commune and then we're sick of them fighting. They give them beer and then they drug them. And then they drug them. Well, the homeless began to leave the ranch, both because they wanted to and because the set couldn't take it anymore.

The homeless couldn't take it anymore. I'm just going to go where there's nothingness again. I hate it here. Oh, I want to lay face down on cement like I used to. Yeah. I'm not eating salads anymore either because my God, they go right through me. At first they got busting us to return to their home cities, but that was so expensive that Rajneesh's soon stopped that.

Instead they drove the homeless to small towns near the commune and just left them. They're like recyclables, like things of trash. Like when you take down, when you take apart something and you don't want to throw it out, you just drive to the middle of nowhere, you're like, there we go, run. Yeah, it's also these small towns in Oregon. So all of a sudden these small towns in Oregon were filling up with homeless people. So everybody's like, all we're doing is shitting. There's more homeless people.

Can we just fucking kill the Rajneesh's? It's like, wait, you brought India here. Yeah. You literally got thrown out of India and brought it here. It became a legitimate crisis and now state and local authorities were worried. They started to get worried. Oh yeah? They started to get worried that local residents would attack the commune.

The Oregon State Police and the National Guard devised contingency plans with guard commanders promising the governor they could mobilize 10,000 soldiers if necessary. Why? I wouldn't defend them. I know, kind of, you might want to wait a little while. I mean, I just want to play out a little bit. You're thinking more of like a roadhouse approach. Yeah, I'm saying, listen, these people put salmonella in the salad bar.

That's fine. That just increased the homeless population. Protect them. You know, the cops were like, yeah, I'm going to, if you guys need to go out there, I'm going to wait a little bit. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Sheila thought the crisis was the perfect time to meet with the governor and attorney general. No.

Now we can do some negotiating. Exactly. She figured her genius plans were in motion and the government would negotiate and let her have her way. She thought she had leverage. I have 60 homeless people who are going to move here the second I say go. Hey, do you want homeless people around and other people shitting? Okay, then you'll do what I want.

Yeah, so. This is how World War II ended. A lot of people don't know that. Yeah, that's just the same way. The governor sent his staff- Stop shitting! The governor said her staff to meet with her. She met with chief of staff, Geraldine Thompson. She launched into her demands.

She wanted the governor to help clear visa troubles so her guru could avoid deportation. She wanted the state to drop its court case seeking to disband their city of Rajneesh Purim and she wanted land use obstacles removed so their compounds construction could continue. In turn, she said that Rajneesh's would help get rid of the homeless. Yeah. Okay, thanks. So, listen, all the people we brought in, we'll take them out. We know the key.

You just give us a permanent base of operation. So, deal? Deal. Thompson said no deal. Sheila started swearing at her. Thompson screamed at her that the meeting was over and she left. Somebody's going to have a flat tire. Then, Kishna Diva, a high up sunny eason, poked his head back into the office and told Thompson,

just keep talking to us. The two set up a private link and from then on, Thompson kept the government informed of the most intimate details of what was happening at the ranch, including the escalating danger. Because the Rajneesh's were now fracturing and the compound was coming apart. So, now they're having inner fighting because of the shit, because there's people on the ranch going, I don't think we should give people diarrhea. I really thought this was going to be better. I thought meditation and peace and love and fucking stuff.

It's a really great idea. Diary was not in the pamphlet. That was not in the pamphlet. But then, we were going to be going to grocery stores, diarrheaing aisles. Sheila and her elite group became worse at the commune. She secured loyalty with privileges no one else in the commune had. She'd give private rooms, cars, and special clothing. They began to see themselves within the commune as a bigger threat than those outside.

So, now they're seeing the people who don't believe in what they're doing as the threat. So now they're, I mean, it's like... Yeah. Everybody's becoming an enemy. It's like a cocaine party in hour 18. Yeah. Absolutely. You just got your heavy hitters left.

Really? What are you looking at me like that, Jerry? I mean, fuck you, man. I didn't say anything. I was talking about opening up coin shops. Mark's not breathing. They were scared the guru would be attacked by vigilantes or arrested by authorities. Mostly they feared losing their special place in the sect.

The vast majorities of the Seneesans on the commune were just going about their day during all this. Doing their daily work, meditating, and devising a life intended to be a global model. Most didn't like Sheila or her paranoia. Many were embarrassed by her public flip-outs. But they said nothing because doubters or challengers were punished. One of the commune's top lawyers crossed Sheila and soon found himself driving a bulldozer. Wait.

I'm sorry? I loved it. He was one of the lawyers who joined the sect, and he crossed her, and she put him on bulldozer duty. But wouldn't you just be like, I'm not going to. Yeah. Let me just open this little pin and leave the gate. Bye, assholes.

Man, I've got a bulldoze now. They actually can't do that because complaining Seneesans were kicked off the commune. The problem was that to get to the commune in the first place, they had sold all their possessions and donated all their money to the sect and cut off all ties to family and friends. So basically, if they leave the sect, they're homeless. Dave, you go all in when you've got a flush. You don't fucking go in with a seven high.

I mean, that's on them then. Fuck. I mean, that's ridiculous. Yeah. I mean, you have, if you do that, when it's starting to turn, you're mentally like, oh no, boy. Oh, I mean, it just seems like all we're doing is giving people diarrhea. I had a Mercedes.

Fuck. Mercedes. Fuck. And a family. I had a wife and kids. I haven't missed my kid. Oh, God, I had a job. That was a great job.

I used to play racquetball. Hey, now I'm getting people to talk. Let's talk more bulldoze. Fucking bitch. By late, late 1984, Sheila and her little group were basically nuts. They saw eyes and mics everywhere and they didn't trust anyone. To keep going, Sheila Ride was relying on a bunch of medications. For anxiety, she was using a drip line for sedation.

Holy shit. So they're basically this small group of drugged out lunatics. But I mean, having your own drip is Michael Jackson shit. I mean, that is some heavy shit. Yeah. That's fucking crazy. Hills won't do. In this awesome state, Sheila decided that county planner, Dan Durow, couldn't act against

the commune if his office was destroyed. She decided to burn it down. Fair. Around midnight, two San Isans were dropped near Durow's office. They pried open a window, crawled inside, and closed the drapes. They rifled through the cabinets and desks, scattering government papers all about. Then they placed eight canals inside cardboard squares soaked with lighter fluid. The pair intended the canals to act as timers, igniting the cardboard once, you know, in

the new burning hole. The two arsonists lit the canals, crept back out the windows, and closed the window. But that starved the canals of oxygen. Oh, my God. I was praying. I was praying they'd fuck up burning an office with their fire, just like just fucking gas in a match. How hard is it?

Only two fires started. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames before much damage was done. Their fingerprints are all over the flames. The heat melted part of the plane and department's main computer, but the hard drive was intact. Some papers were burned. Others damaged by water. Durow and his crew were back in business within two weeks. That May, hearing there was a conference at the state library in Salem about improper

construction at the ranch, a Russianish contaminated unattended drinking water with an overdose of Halval. So on one day, the state's chief electrician inspector got sick. The next day, Assistant Attorney General Karen Green had trouble during questioning as her jaw froze shut. When the session ended for the day, Green's two block walk to her office became a half hour ordeal. Her feet and legs, coarsed with Halval, crept so much that she froze in place.

What? Imagine watching that from a distance. What is going on? Is she being filmed? Is somebody filming her? Is she? Are people in slow motion now? Hey, Karen, you just standing around?

Right. Oil can. Oh, wait. I saw this a bit of Star Trek. Oh, Karen. Oh, it's like some people are going fast enough people are. Karen. Okay.

All right. I don't want to talk. I don't want to talk to you anymore. Gonna go. Texas. Get in this cab. Could you imagine frozen in place? What?

Your head? Yeah. What? Shockingly, the poisons didn't alter the outcome on Hollywood Boulevard. You get like a buck. So I'm going to be like, that's awesome. Thank you. That is really good.

The hearings offer proposed a $1 million fine against the commune for illegal wiring. So just not even enough. I mean, get them out of there. Now, federal prosecutors began investigating the Rajneesh for immigration fraud. A grand jury was convened and word was that the guru himself would face criminal charges. On the state front, the attorney general was winning round after round in his effort to fire Rajneesh Puram on illegal city. The commune's entire legal staff advised the guru of the case was lost.

But the guru had told them to keep going and win. Losing the case meant losing the city and the worldwide base for Rajneesh. So he's like, they're like, it's over, dude. He's like, Hitler. He's like, get in the bunker. We're going to keep bombing. The cornered wasp. Yeah.

Sting. She then went on a business trip to Australia. She completely botched a business deal. Sheila did? Yeah. Wow. Using her usual method of drugging and eavesdropping. Sheila manipulated her.

Can we just isolate that and say how great that is? Her usual method. That's her usual method. Here's what we do. I do drugging and eavesdropping. Yeah. That's kind of my forte. That's my thing.

That's what I love to do. Sheila manipulated her way into part ownership of a public company. But as soon as word got out about the second ownership, the company value plummeted overnight. The move cost the commune nearly $1 million. Oh my God. They know that $2 million. Oh boy. Then they lost a case.

Some guy sued them. Some guy who had given them a loan and then he left the sect and then he sued them for $1.7 million and he won that. So now they're down $3.7 million. He better not be eating at salad bars. Are you going to eat salad? I love salad. Why?

Just curious. Here's your money. No worries. Here's your worries. Here's some salad dressing. That actually smells pretty good. Thank you, Resnice. I'm glad we could end on friendly terms.

Okay. Well, I gotta go. When she got back to the commune, Resnice was focused on one thing. What do you think he was focused on? With all going on, what do you think he was focused on? Drugs. Sex. He wanted to expand his fleet of Rolls Royces.

Can you imagine being like, so when we really, it's a two prong attack and we're really going to, you know, I should probably get two more Rolls Royces. You look like a nice big guy. Yeah. Nice big, I love a Rolls. I love a Rolls. I like one now. We don't have any money, Resnice.

I like a Rolls. Oh, but let's get Rolls Royces. I like a big Rolls. He had a new plan. He wanted to make it into the record books as the man with the most Rolls Royces. Oh my God. What the fuck? I mean, if you were a follower.

If you had given up everything, you'd get, you don't talk to your child anymore. You think about your wife. You have no money. You had a job. We have a new goal. A new goal. Love. Sex.

All out. Yes. We've been dying for a purpose. Thank you. Great fucking cars. Did you say cars? Rolls Royces. The best.

The best. The Rolls Royces. All of them. All of them. All of them. I'm going to have so many. Now the validation will not come from the sky. It will come from the Guinness book. I'm going to have so many.

So many. So many Rolls Royces. For so many people, they must have just been like, my God. Okay. So this awesome idea was costing the commune $200,000 a month. And he was also demanding one. It's happening? Yeah.

It's the guru. Jones. He was also demanding a $1 million watch telling her to divert funds from the commune's needs if necessary. What? Look at my wrist. It looks so normal. Yeah.

I would like it. I found a watch. We don't have any money. We spend it all on Rolls Royces like you asked. Better than a watch. Better than a watch? What? A year.

It's $1 million. Oh my God. The guru would like it. I had a life. I put it on my penis. You put it on. Made me in the dick sucking tent for the watch ceremony. She looked all the meaning of commune leaders.

She was in a very dark mood. Are you people cowards or are you Seneesans of Baguantri Rajneesh? She asked. One more time. I'm a coward. Go from the beginning. What are the options? I heard.

I'm going to go with coward. The first one I know. I'm definitely a coward. Sheila said the commune's enemies had to be stopped. They had to be killed. The leaders with her that night included the president of the commune, its investment corporation, and its medical operation. The mayor of the sex city was there as were a handful of operatives who had secretly executed

most of Sheila's plots. After Sheila spoke, another leader gave what amounted to a pep talk. Supporting Sheila is starting to call the action. I would give anything, I would give anything to travel back in time and be able to hear that pep talk. I would be. Okay. Who knows that's about diarrhea?

All right, guys. Listen, I know it's been a crazy ride, huh? We used to fuck. We used to fight. The diarrhea phase. And here we are at the other end, building towards the dream of having more Rolls Royces than anywhere else. And a fucking hot ass watch.

All right. Let's kill some motherfuckers. Get them in. Get them in. One woman raised her hand. I can't kill anybody, but I support you if you do it. Cool. Two men protested that the idea of murder wasn't sound, insane.

They were attacked as cowards. The meeting went on to draw up a hit list. Sheila went to the guru to help encouraging the people, the participants. She returned with a tape of her conversation. The commune insiders heard Reshni say that if 10,000 had to die to save one enlightened master, so be it. Well, the one enlightened master wants more Rolls Royces than anyone else. That's right.

That's an issue. You know it. Their top target was Charles Turner, the U.S. attorney for Oregon. Because he was investigating immigration fraud at the commune. Sheila would probably be charged. Sheila figured killing Turner would somehow end the investigation. Like all of her other plans had worked the same way. Yeah.

No, she's got really good plans. Yeah. Always has. So she decided to gun him down. She's just gonna straight up gun him? Yeah. How is he gonna kill people? Like a salad murder.

I think they've tried salad murder. Maybe like a salmon murder. Murder through by salmon or something. They set up a safe house in Portland, which became the base for scouting Turner's home. On one occasion, two assassins sat in a McDonald's in downtown Portland across from Turner's office, sipping coffee and monitoring his movements. They considered gunning him down in the parking garage, but couldn't figure an easy way to escape.

Jesus. Yeah. Dave Froh mayor, the state attorney general was targeted as well. Also on the list was James Comini, a Waskau County commissioner who had been critical of the Rajneesh's. Pooja went to St. Vincent Hospital on a summer night in 1985. She was there to kill Comini, who was recuperating from ear surgery at the Portland Hospital. She carried a syringe to inject a mixture into Comini's intravenous tube that would

stop his heart. But once inside Comini into the hospital boy into his room, Pooja discovered her target wasn't on an IV, so she ran from the hospital to a getaway car. Oh my God. Wow. Talk about cool under pressure, huh? It's no IV bank. Run!

I got in there! It was so fucked up! God damn it. He's alive? He didn't have an IV. There wasn't a tube thing. Well, just jam him with a duff for fuck's sake. There wasn't a tube thing.

There wasn't a tube thing? He didn't have any salad? I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to kill him. What did you do? Oh, I ran. Oh, God. I ran right out of there.

They were onto me. Yeah, they have cameras in there, a lot of them. Next, the group decided to kill two of the guru's personal staff, his doctor and his caretaker. What the fuck? I mean, we were just talking about estate officials. All right, fuck it. Kill my doctor. That didn't work.

Let's kill the guru's doctor. Kill my doctor. And the person who takes care of him. You know the people that keep him healthy? Out of there. Then we'll show him who's got the most Rolls Royces or whatever the fuck this is all about. Sheila convinced the others that the two were a threat to the guru. The assignment fell to kill Vivek, who is the doctor.

Went to Ma Anandava and Ma Anandasu, president of the sex investment firm. It's so fucking... The sex investment. The investment. So... We're sex festers. It's what we do. The two set out late one night to catch Vivek in her room.

They carried an ether-soaked rag to render her unconscious. The plan was for Ava to inject her with a lethal combination of potassium and adrenaline. Okay. They never got the chance because they couldn't unlock Vivek's rear door. Okay. So really what we're dealing with here is just... I mean, they can't... They just can't do anything.

There are so many roadblocks. I mean, they just... There's so many hard... These people don't have the killer instinct. No, but it's... They do, but it's so hard to get the doors locked. Yeah. Well, especially when we're talking about murder.

Ah, doors locked. He really thought of everything. All right, let's get a pizza. I mean, honestly. No IV bag. I'm going to jump out the window. Okay. So that was the caretaker.

They tried to kill that way. Next, they went to kill... By the way, once the door's locked, you'll never see that person again. So that's why it won't work. That's right. No, you can't ever do it. No, you get one chance. Next, they went to kill the guru's British doctor.

The intent came the morning of July 6, 1985, when the commune was full of Senesans visiting for the annual World Festival. Oh, we all remember the annual World Festival. So great. Great shirts. Robes off. Yep. Robes optional.

During the World Fest. During a dance in the lecture hall, the doctor was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Then, a woman named Ma Shanti Bajra leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. He felt a hot sting in his buttock. She jabbed him with a miniature syringe concealed by her handkerchief. He whirled on her, oh, so this is what it's come to, has it? And he got to his feet. He made it out of the lecture hall and was flown to Bend Hospital.

He nearly died from the injection of adrenaline. This is, again, it's hard to not sound like you're pro-killing these people. Right. But just from a tactical standpoint. Terrible idea. What is the point of injecting him with something that will murder him, and then letting him get anywhere near where he could be rescued? There were some problems with the plants.

Yeah, there's a lot of problems with the plants. Well, I love that. I love that, like, okay. They just stop. We're going to kill this guy. There's no follow-through. No, they just have one person go do it, and they don't all, like, make sure it is done. Like, they feel like, they feel probably like these people will piece it together.

They'll know what to do when they get there. Yeah. But they don't. No. They just, they don't do it. No. The door's locked. They can't get in.

Yeah, thank you. Well, he's going to call 911. Did you let him? Yeah. I did. I didn't know what else to do. Once he picked up the phone, it was over. He called, and they're pissed.

I'm going to be arrested. It's crazy. The attack was a shock. Up to now, the episodes have seemed like pranks or justified acts of self-defense, but now the Rajneeshis had tried to kill one of their own. The guru ordered Badra to be drugged in question, and order Sheila ignored. Yoda Vidya, one of the commune's top executives, had fought Sheila in private about the murder plans.

Sheila blew her off, but kept Vidya loyal by threatening to kill her husband. Finally, Vidya snapped. She made her way to Sheila's room, interrupting a meeting. It's got to stop. I can't take all this talk of killing anymore. I can't stand it. I can't stand it. She said that she collapsed on the floor, convulsing and crying.

Sheila summoned Badra from an adjoining room, asking her to convid ya. Badra snapped too. I will not kill anybody. No one will be killing anybody. The turning point had come. The party was over. The murder plots ended, as did other dirty tricks. Soon after Labor Day 1985, Sheila quit her post at the ranch and fled to Europe with

selected tape conversations involving the guru, sect promissory notes, and miniature hypodermic needles such as the one used to attack the doctor. A dozen of her allies also quit and joined her in Germany. So she took evidence that could ruin the guru and bailed. The ranch quickly fell apart. At a news conference, the guru described a litany of crimes he attributed to Sheila and her gang. Both Oregonians and Rajneeshees were stunned.

Two of Sheila's most trusted insiders struck deals with the state investigators. One was the Rajneeshpura mayor. I love that there's a mayor. The titles they gave them in their little bullshit town, chief executive of horse shit. That's right. They were at the orange hat. That's right. I absolutely do.

And this is my supervisor. He has the yellow glove. So welcome to the weird place. He's the chejri of that pastor. How are you? Good. Both gave lengthy statements that astonished investigators. The summary of one statement given over eight days was 96 pages.

In the coming months, one Senesan went to court admitting criminal conduct on behalf of the sect. Sheila and Bado stuck struck deals that included federal prison time. They admitted to the attempted murder, poisoning two county officials, setting fire to a county office and setting up an elaborate wiretapping network on the commune's telephone system. The guru attempted to escape on a charter jet, but was caught in North Carolina as he was about to leave the country. He was hauled back to Portland in handcuffs, booked into a jail like a common criminal.

He ordered his lawyers to cut a quick deal and he was soon deported as a convicted felon guilty of immigration crimes. Rajneesh corporations went bankrupt, poisoning victims sued, and the state pressed the case against the city of Rajneesh Poram. The insurance company holding the ranch's mortgage foreclosed, selling the ranch to a wealthy Montana rancher. He turned into a camp for a young life, a Christian youth organization. Rajneesh ended up in India.

He renamed himself Osho. He died in 1990, but the faithful kept alive his teachings, running meditation centers across the world. But they still have... His teachings. They still have Rajneesh meditation centers. But his teachings were great. There was no teachings.

No, they were good. No, they were good. They were good. They were good. Fucking that tent beat that guy up, poisoned some people. Yeah, get teachings. I mean, 10,000 people can die for one of me. Somebody open to die a real one tent, please.

And then we'll go on until we get to many cars. Man to the Rolls Royce. Book of Rolls. But of course, the final book, oh, what a watch. Revelations. Holy shit. Elsewhere, some of the most deeply involved faded back into civilian life, giving no clue to their former allegiance to the sect.

So people just kind of went back to their life. That never happened. What was I doing last year? Man. You know, this was out just a lot of golfing, golfing and a lot of salad bars. How are you guys? What are you up to? You talk about you.

Sheila and Pujo were sentenced to 24 year jail terms in federal prison. Okay. They served their time in a white collar prison. Sheila was released after two and a half years and immediately left for Switzerland. So she was released after two and a half years. Yeah. Even if she's sentenced to, yeah. 24.

I mean, that's just. Yeah. Probably again, because she was just such an asshole, shut her the fuck up. You're ruining the prison. She says she's going to go to Switzerland. Just let her leave. She left for Switzerland on the 13th of December, 1988. Oregon wanted her charged with her a bunch.

They wanted Oregon wanted to charge her in the shitload of crimes, but the Justice Department never told them that they were releasing her. So she just because Oregon were like, we could put her in jail forever. Yeah. So she just got to. Yeah. She tried to kill people. Yeah.

Two and a half years. Kill many people. She married a Swiss son. Oh. Because of her marriage to a Swiss citizen, Sheila gained immunity from extradition, from future charges, including those related to the 1985 plot to assassinate US prosecutor Charles Turner in Switzerland. Sheila started a new profession, owning and managing two nursing homes.

Oh my God. No. Yeah. Why'd you do it like that? Oh my God. That's the real ending. Oh shit. Two nurses.

Oh, man. How do you feel? I mean, that last part's troubling. Feels like there's a secondary dollop there. That is the funniest thing in the fucking... Yeah, they really swung for the fences. Yeah. Really.

They really... It's amazing that the sect didn't bring in one guy who knew how to kill people. Yeah. Like one... Like a CIA guy or a... I mean, could you imagine when they came back and were like, yeah, but his door's locked. You really didn't. So?

So did you just break in? No, we jimmied it, but it's like totally locked. Right. But did you go through the windows? We left. We came right here. So... But did you try the front door or the windows?

No, we didn't. We should have. We totally should have. Okay, fair. Yeah. Yeah. All right, cool. All right, thanks.

See you later. Thank you. Thanks so much. Almost murder. Almost. Almost got that guy. And that was it. Yeah.

All right. Well, we can't ever try again. Let's get the doctor. Well, that's murder the doctor now. Yeah. I remember... I just have... When I was really young, this was like a story and I remember seeing pictures of the people

in their robes and like a Rolls Royce driving. The Rolls Royce? Yeah. He would drive and wave at them and his Rolls Royce driving through the ranch and wave at them. Oh, I kind of know the imagery of this a little bit. Yeah. Once you see the pictures, you'll go, oh, I've seen those pictures.

Right. Okay. Yeah. The Rolls Royce with the hand waving to the people. Yeah. And there's a great... She was interviewed by an Australian reporter when she was in Australia and it's such a fucking great interview and I'll post it on...

He just goes right after her. Good, yeah. She's fucking mad. I'll post it on the Facebook page. Please leave a review if you like the show on iTunes. That helps us out a lot and we are at the Dallup on Twitter and we are on Facebook and there's actually a subreddit of the Dallup. If you did not listen to Rainbow Man, the audio has been fixed as best it can and I'm

going to put it back up so you can go back and re-download that and that will be good. Anything else? No. Sorry. Sorry. No more salad bars.