ORGANIZED RELIGIOUS TANTRA

At the shallow end of the Neotantra gene pool we have the expansionist plans brought to the Pacific Northwest in the early 80s by Guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (i.e. Guru Blessed Mr. Rajneesh) and his organization. Also known as Osho, sometimes refered to as the Sex Guru, he set up his Rajneeshpuram Ashram Carnival in the high desert of Northeastern Oregon near the town of Antelope. At first the immigrants were welcomed by the local ranchers as saviors flooding the community with money, driving up property values, and giving long time residents dreams of wealth. Osho’s ashram threw a lot of money around for social projects, attempting to gain political clout and control of the region. That’s when a modern day range war broke out, with locals fearing they would lose control of their culture and future.

I had my first newspaper job at that time, working in Oregon for a publisher who was a State Politician. He went to the hills representing the people of the State, but got his gonads and neurons worked over. He stayed longer than planned, and came back like an acid-stoned hippie from the summer of love, thinking Oregon should give the newcomers a break. I have to say the change in his demeanor was welcome; he was much easier to get along with. His wife wasn’t exactly on the bandwagon; she brought him back to the reality distortion field they shared. The media had a field day, and contributed to the animosity between the opposing parties.

The newspaper folded shortly after we ran stores and showed photos of the red-robed faithful lined up along the dirt roads like in some banana republic, greeting Osho daily when he drove by in one of his 93 Rolls Royce luxury automobiles. His plan was to become the largest single owner of the most expensive luxury car in the world; his followers wanted him to have 365, one for each day of the year. He also had a small fleet of airplanes, along with an airport at his Ashram.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada might have been impressed, he was the founder of ISKCON, The International Society of Krishna Consciousness who Osho seemed determined to outshine. For all his charm, charisma, and lovability, the Bhagwan and his inner circle let delusions of grandeur run wild, unable or unwilling to distinguish between the material and immaterial. Compassion for mankind took a backseat, and his message got obfuscated. After Rajneeshpuram folded, Tantra became even more misunderstood by the public, and associated with aspects the religious right uses to threaten principles held sacred by the Moral Majority.

You would have thought Osho’s band learned their lesson before leaving India, where their expansion plans had already been thwarted by the denial of land use permits. Then the government stopped issuing visas to foreign visitors who indicated his ashrams as their main destination. The situation repeated itself in Oregon. Issues once again involved land use, zoning, and attempts to take over local cities (Antelope, the nearest, had a population of 50, whereas 7,000 lived on his 64,000 acre Rajneeshpuram Ashram).  Accused unjustly or not of various infractions, including ‘bio-attack’ poisoning of a restaurant salad bar in an Oregon restaurant, the police raided and confiscated the huge estate, its buildings, planes, and all the limousines. Tax problems were the organizations’ downfall, Oregon Courts confiscated much of what he accumulated, and his lawyers got the rest, bringing the party to an end.

He seemed to have worn out his welcome in his home country, declaring orthodox Indian religions dead, filled with empty rituals, and oppressing followers with fears of damnation and the promise of blessings. Calling Mahatma Gandhi a masochist, Osho authored many books on his version of Neotantra, in addition to volumes concerning meditation, Taoism, Buddhism, mysticism, and what he called his ‘Book of Secrets’. In March of 1984, Osho predicted the death of two-thirds of humanity from AIDS. Followers were required to wear rubber gloves and condoms when having sex, and to refrain from kissing. In fact, public affection and kissing is socially unacceptable in most parts of the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia, even shaking hands is rare. He might have been ahead of his time insisting on condoms, the measures were considered an overreaction back then, not yet commonly recommended for prevention of AIDS. He suffered from health problems, and did everything he could to stay in the United States, dying in New Jersey where he underwent medical treatment during 1990.

Some members of his organization fled the country; some were extradited from Europe and served prison time. The impression is that more than from external forces, Osho was victimized by certain members administrating his organization.  His legacy includes authors, self proclaimed Dakinis, sexologists, massage instructors and convention organizers, some loved and well respected. His Religious Empire and Rajneeshpuram Ashram in the Hills above Baker Oregon might have been a flash in the pan, but at least he pumped a lot of money into the local economy for a while.

For better or worse, the Pacific Northwest inherited a culture of camouflaged Sex Professionals offering Telephone Tantra, Hindu jargon, and Western sexualized Neotantric rituals to stimulate erogenous zones and control body responses, offering vague promises of better orgasms, richer sex lives, and rebirthing experiences. True spirituality often takes a back seat, with the internet and its social pages providing a manner for ‘less than sincere’ people to make connections. Sometimes a dozen or two individuals needing to get their acts together are invited to group grope, kiss, and become familiar. They are encouraged to open their hearts and doors, lowering filters in the midst of strangers, unaware if parasites or physic vampires laden with baggage and bad craziness are included in the mix. Rubber gloves and condoms won’t help in this form of Tantric Russian Roulette. Physical and spiritual threats apart, the mental and emotional ramifications combined with long term effects on the body and soul can destroy families, partnerships, and interpersonal relationships. Polyamory and hedonism both require responsibility, integrity, forethought and consideration, even when practiced in the most spiritually motivated manners.