So I just finished
watching the latest documentary on Netflix ‘Wild Wild Country’’, a six episode,
almost six and hour study on the vision of cult and religious leader Osho or
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh directed by Maclain Way and Chapman Way.
Well obviously the
series is very well made and has all the ingredients to keep you involved. It is
basically about the Oregon scandal or the great Oregon experiment that failed (well
actually that might could very well have been the title of the series). Seldom do
you come across a piece of art specifically in the field of motion pictures
that can shake you from within and introduce you to something you have never seen or
experienced before, it kind of makes you look inside and introspect, you empathize
with the characters, you identify with the paranoia which in a
way tells you more about yourself than anyone else.
(I don't know if you really need to give a spoiler alert while writing about a documentary but still I will do my part, the below paragraph contains information about some key events that take place during the course of series)
So the movie opens in
Poona, India and shows how Bhagwan Rajneesh gained popularity in 70's, especially
among Europeans and Americans and was gaining a cult status. He always dreamt
of a commune which is autonomous and where people can be free of religion,
pressures of society and meditate, make love and be themselves. There would be
no worldly bondages which causes hindrance in the blooming of human consciousness.
Initially they wanted to make it in India but soon realized it cannot he done here so they decide to move to America. Bhagwan with all his Sanyassins and
most importantly his personal secretary Maa Anand Sheela moved to Oregon. Sheela
was given the responsibility by Bhagwan to make this dream a reality. They purchased
a huge ranch in Antelope, Oregon and made a whole city from scratch, ‘City of Rajneeshpuram’
out in the middle of nowhere. Antelope was a town with population of just 40 odd
people with just one community store. The disciples of Bhagawan made City of
Rajneeshpuram there and it was a thriving city with their own police force,
stores, hospitals, school, pub and all sorts of facilities. It was a place to
love and be free. Important thing to note here is that Bhagwan was in silence
the whole time the city was setting up, he never interfered in its functioning
directly, the only interaction he had with the world was through his secretary
Sheela. She was the main lieutenant, she planned it all, got people from all
over the world and made a dream of her Bhagwan a real living thing. By the way everything they did was legal courtesy to
very generous American voting rights. It didn’t go well with the natives they were
outraged with these people wearing red clothes supposedly following Rajneeshism
religion and the fact that they were very much powerful and rich, as powerful
as to virtually buy the whole city of Antelope. Initially it was a fight
between natives to get their town back from ‘outsiders’ and Rajneeshis to
survive, but slowly it blew out of proportion and federal government got involved
and fight got bigger and uglier. Sheela, to win this fight made some decisions
which were not good but which she till date reasons she took to save her master
and his dream. She literally tried to kill people, bomb buildings, and poison
citizens to save ‘her city’. Well it was still going well till some
misunderstandings grew between her and Bhagwan. When she felt she is losing her
position in Rajneeshpuram, the city which she created, she packed her bags and
left. It was then the Bhagwan spoke for the very first time and made some
very serious allegations against Sheela and her associates and in a way opened
the doors of the ranch or the city of Ranjneeshpuram to FBI. It was all downhill
from there, the government wanted Rajneesh out of the country and his city
destroyed and he just gave them the opportunity. FBI framed charges not just against
Sheela and her associates but also against Bhagwan Rajneesh. He was in jail for
few months following which he was deported back to India. The great experiment
to create a community where people can love and mediate and be free had failed.
Osho Rajneesh as he was called in later years of his life came back to Poona
and left his body in 1990.
Well the movie raises so
many questions and I just could not stop thinking about it. It talks about
racism, religious freedom, involvement of church and state in public matters. The way in which American politicians abused laws to get rid of Osho is shocking.
I like to read and
know about different sects/groups and the practices they teach to elevate human
consciousness. I had heard about Osho but knew nothing except of the fact that
he led a very controversial public life. This movie kind of gave a peak inside
his times and life. It made me think of human nature in general I could see
observing Sheela that how people can become from followers to lover to fundamentalists. You really get to understand this gradual process.
Also it made me think
about movies in general, people write fiction and we expect so much from them but
can any fiction ever written can be as complex as reality or as mad as
actual people or as provocative as life itself. I think the answer is no, it
cannot. Reality is always stranger than fiction always. We might get caught up
in the mundanity of life but each moment something is happening in some part of
world or even in your neighborhood which is way stranger and provocative than
any fiction ever written.
Now since I am
watching more documentaries I think they are the real thing, they are better
than stupid fiction movies we feed ourselves with. Of course I know even the documentary
can be based on propaganda and can be biased but you know that when you watch
it if that is the case. Truth shines through and if you get to witness it even for
a moment you feel elevated.
If the great Oregon experiment
would have succeeded it would have been a great place to be in. I’m certain
would have gone there but it failed. (I know my parents would be thankful for
that) But I think it happens every now and then people come with some great
ideas and try to change the world then they get sidetrack, they get lost in the
pleasures and other worldly things which they themselves renounced. It happened
very recently with the great Kejriwal experiment in politics when I for one
truly believed that this man would one and for all would change the way politics
is done in the world. But sadly he himself changed or maybe he was always the
same and I got disillusioned by his ideas. Anyways change is a gradual process and
the longer it takes to change society, the better is the possibility that it
will sustain. These people tried to do too much too quickly.
Wild Wild Country is a
great study not in the life of Osho or his teachings but about an idea a dream
which died and with it died many hopes and possibilities. The film never tires
to get outrageous or make any comment on Bhagwan or his methods it just presents facts and gives equal opportunity to all almost of all the parties involved to present their case and talk, it is then left on the viewers to make their own opinions. Most of the film is told via news reel and old video footage running in
parallel with the recorded interviews of people for the purpose of
film. It is so fascinating because you come to know so much about the people
who were involved and how they changed over the period of time. It is certainty
worth the time go ahead and watch it.
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