Last week we binge-watched the gripping story of Rajneesh (aka Osho) on Netflix called Wild Wild Country; while I have some caveats about the story, it was a well-done documentary well-paced and presented all sides of the story pretty well. My only problem was that it did not show that Rajneesh's ideas were really much more sophisticated and interesting than indicated--there was a reason why so many people were captured by his teachings and that was not really emphasized enough. But, as is usual for American documentaries, this was about people not ideas. As for people, this documentary showed in high relief the issues and conflicts that underlie our deep cultural differences and the folly not only of the Rajneesh people but the locals and the State. I highly recommend watching it.
In raw terms this showed an upper-class/upper-middle-class bunch of spiritual adventurers who were looking for a deeper meaning to life and, even more, a pleasurable and thrilling way of living. The Rajneesh devotees were a charming and vital bunch (one of my close friends actually joined them and he was a erudite intellectual) compared to the locals who were stogy, old, stuck in their ways, prejudiced, small-minded right-wingers that populate that part of Oregon. The contrast could not have been sharper. On the other hand, I sympathized with these people because they now had to face major disruptions in their lives from a globalized and insensitive people who copulated in public and were hyper-charged with what appeared to the locals as Satanic power.
Naturally, I sympathized with the Rajneesh people because they were culturally similar to me yet, their notion that they could just step in and disrupt a community without care is and was typical of the globalization movement. The idea of globalization is that countries, culture, communities, localities don't matter. A piece of land, as the globalists see it, is neutral and not steeped in tradition. The irony, of course, is that the ancestors of the local residents were vital and dynamic people who came in and disrupted the land of the native peoples without caring about those people and their traditions. The Rajneesh people were arrogant, multi-national, privileged and flaunted their disregard for traditional morality and were happy to offend people with their practices. These people were impulsive, seemed to ignore the obvious political problems they face with local, state and federal authorities. The decision makers of the Rajneesh movement (Rajneesh was removed from all this staying in an haze of nitrous oxide) were only able to think in short term crisis mode that ended up feeding their more murderous impulses. The trouble with moving too far too fast into a mass movement that preached the breaking of restrictions was well-illustrated by the documentary.
On the other hand, the Rajneesh people illustrated the extraordinary ability of people to bond together in groups. These people who populated the commune were closely bonded large family unit in many ways. The rapidity of the movement to embrace their fellows is in stark contrast to the rigid separation of people that is still considered normal in our society. We believe in a small unit "nuclear" family that provides little of the nurturing extended families used to provide and still provide in most cultures around the world. Only in the advanced countries in the West and most intensely, in the USA, is there a militant anti-community ideology of the individual who feeds his/her lack of connection with others through consumerism and the culture of narcissism we increasingly live in today.
Human beings are meant to be deeply connected with each other--not just marital partners and children but through deep friendships, deeply felt communality we all feel when working together towards tasks that are mutually beneficial and beneficial even to people we don't know rather than our model of working a job we either hate or are indifferent for the enrichment of corporate masters who care less and less about any community other than their own. Despite their rudeness, occasional criminality, and lack of respect for their neighbors the Rajneesh people come off as at least being explorers in new social relations--something we must do. If we don't, and I don't mean we have to believe as the Rajneesh people die that we ought to remove all resItraints (there are always more restraints) and have sex with anyone we like in the moment but that we need to think about real community, real social ties that humankind once had. I did not approve of what Rajneesh devotees thought back in the 80s nor do I now. We can find new ways of forming community that go beyond our very narrow social contacts. We know too many people casually and few intimately and that may be our greatest problem. Without working on that there is no hope to improve the state of our lives. I'll write more about this later.
In raw terms this showed an upper-class/upper-middle-class bunch of spiritual adventurers who were looking for a deeper meaning to life and, even more, a pleasurable and thrilling way of living. The Rajneesh devotees were a charming and vital bunch (one of my close friends actually joined them and he was a erudite intellectual) compared to the locals who were stogy, old, stuck in their ways, prejudiced, small-minded right-wingers that populate that part of Oregon. The contrast could not have been sharper. On the other hand, I sympathized with these people because they now had to face major disruptions in their lives from a globalized and insensitive people who copulated in public and were hyper-charged with what appeared to the locals as Satanic power.
Naturally, I sympathized with the Rajneesh people because they were culturally similar to me yet, their notion that they could just step in and disrupt a community without care is and was typical of the globalization movement. The idea of globalization is that countries, culture, communities, localities don't matter. A piece of land, as the globalists see it, is neutral and not steeped in tradition. The irony, of course, is that the ancestors of the local residents were vital and dynamic people who came in and disrupted the land of the native peoples without caring about those people and their traditions. The Rajneesh people were arrogant, multi-national, privileged and flaunted their disregard for traditional morality and were happy to offend people with their practices. These people were impulsive, seemed to ignore the obvious political problems they face with local, state and federal authorities. The decision makers of the Rajneesh movement (Rajneesh was removed from all this staying in an haze of nitrous oxide) were only able to think in short term crisis mode that ended up feeding their more murderous impulses. The trouble with moving too far too fast into a mass movement that preached the breaking of restrictions was well-illustrated by the documentary.
On the other hand, the Rajneesh people illustrated the extraordinary ability of people to bond together in groups. These people who populated the commune were closely bonded large family unit in many ways. The rapidity of the movement to embrace their fellows is in stark contrast to the rigid separation of people that is still considered normal in our society. We believe in a small unit "nuclear" family that provides little of the nurturing extended families used to provide and still provide in most cultures around the world. Only in the advanced countries in the West and most intensely, in the USA, is there a militant anti-community ideology of the individual who feeds his/her lack of connection with others through consumerism and the culture of narcissism we increasingly live in today.
Human beings are meant to be deeply connected with each other--not just marital partners and children but through deep friendships, deeply felt communality we all feel when working together towards tasks that are mutually beneficial and beneficial even to people we don't know rather than our model of working a job we either hate or are indifferent for the enrichment of corporate masters who care less and less about any community other than their own. Despite their rudeness, occasional criminality, and lack of respect for their neighbors the Rajneesh people come off as at least being explorers in new social relations--something we must do. If we don't, and I don't mean we have to believe as the Rajneesh people die that we ought to remove all resItraints (there are always more restraints) and have sex with anyone we like in the moment but that we need to think about real community, real social ties that humankind once had. I did not approve of what Rajneesh devotees thought back in the 80s nor do I now. We can find new ways of forming community that go beyond our very narrow social contacts. We know too many people casually and few intimately and that may be our greatest problem. Without working on that there is no hope to improve the state of our lives. I'll write more about this later.
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