Building Utopia: Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Rusty King
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Building Utopia: Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh Podcast

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh rose from a precocious boy in India to a spiritual guru to tens of thousands of people worldwide. He became famous for his controversial teachings and lavish lifestyle, leading some to call him a cult leader. Building Utopia paints an immersive, unflinching portrait of Rajneesh and the people who chose to devote their lives to him -- including his top lieutenants, who fled his Rajneeshpuram commune in 1985 amid a cloud of criminal allegations. Building Utopia will captivate those familiar with Rajneesh, as well as those who have not yet discovered his fascinating and troubling story.

  1. EPISODE 1

    Finding the Master, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

    We'll examine Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's early life and his first years as an enlightened master. We'll explore his initial efforts to organize his followers and how he was able to cement his master/disciple relationship with people from the West. We’ll also visit a tiny farm in the middle of nowhere where Bhagwan conducted an experiment that pushed his followers to the brink of death.

    41 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Oasis in Poona

    Today we'll take a grand tour of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s first ashram in the city of Poona, India. Within a couple years of its founding in 1974, it had expanded into one of the most popular — and controversial — ashrams in India, where people could meditate, commune with likeminded people, and be close to the man they called Master. We'll see how an unstoppable force of nature made it all happen: Bhagwan’s personal secretary, Ma Yoga Laxmi. We’ll stroll the grounds through the eyes of a newcomer to see what this place was all about. And we’ll explore about a new, lucrative, sometimes-terrifying method that Bhagwan developed to instruct his followers — and to keep them there.

    44 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Trouble in Paradise

    As Bhagwan's dreams for the future continued to blossom, outside pressures, like the Indian government, threatened to squeeze the life out of his ashram. We'll also examine the efforts to find a new home for the ashram, led by two very different but equally devoted women: Ma Yoga Laxmi, and her assistant, Ma Anand Sheela. To the surprise of nearly everyone, Sheela was about to take Bhagwan’s future into her own hands … forever changing his life and his legacy.

    49 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Buying Utopia - Rajneeshpuram

    We visit the launching pad for Bhagwan’s American experiment: a castle in Montclair, New Jersey. Bhagwan's followers scramble to prepare for his arrival, and then he manages to get into some trouble while waiting for his next move. Later, we travel America with Sheela as she searches for the perfect place for Bhagwan’s new commune. She’ll wind up about as far from New Jersey as you can get, in a dusty desert town, negotiating the biggest deal of her life.

    41 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    Foundations in the Desert

    As Sheela and the first Rajneeshees arrive at the Big Muddy Ranch in July 1981, we explore why Oregon was about the last place they should have picked for Bhagwan's new commune. To transform the huge tract of agricultural land into a commune fit for an enlightened Master and thousands of his disciples, they'll need to concoct stories to tell their neighbors and government officials. But the truth becomes clear when Bhagwan arrives amidst a fleet of Rolls Royces.

    38 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Between a Rock and Antelope

    War is looming between the Rajneeshees and a town of just 39 people — a “ghost town,” as Sheela calls it. Bhagwan’s followers are about to go to battle with the people of Antelope.

    46 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Inside the Compound

    How do the Rajneeshees go about fulfilling their Master's vision of a new utopia on their ranch? We see what life was like for the hundreds of commune members who toiled from sun-up to sundown each day to make it happen. And later, we catch up with the big man himself. Bhagwan had entered into a silent phase before leaving India. So if he wasn’t talking… what was he doing in his secluded compound?

    48 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Making it Legal (?)

    How could Sheela and Bhagwan establish their new commune in America when most of their members came from other countries? The answer rested in a sacred institution — one the sannyasins were not afraid to twist to their own advantage.

    46 min
See All Season 1 (21)

About

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh rose from a precocious boy in India to a spiritual guru to tens of thousands of people worldwide. He became famous for his controversial teachings and lavish lifestyle, leading some to call him a cult leader. Building Utopia paints an immersive, unflinching portrait of Rajneesh and the people who chose to devote their lives to him -- including his top lieutenants, who fled his Rajneeshpuram commune in 1985 amid a cloud of criminal allegations. Building Utopia will captivate those familiar with Rajneesh, as well as those who have not yet discovered his fascinating and troubling story.

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