Journalist Brendan Foster interviewed Avi who was a
former member of the Rajneesh cult, and this is what he told him:
Avi says me he was part of the religious movement in Fremantle in the
early 1980s was like going to a theme park every day but with bucket loads of
sex.
The 63-year-old was a devotee of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as
Osho, who was an Indian self-help guru who attracted thousands of followers
from around the world with his talk about sex as a path of super consciousness.
Somewhere between a holy man and a showman, Bhagwan combined eastern
mysticism and western capitalism and urged his disciples known as Sannyasins,
or Orange People, to cast off their worldly possessions.
Fremantle became a major hub for the movement with hundreds of mostly
young and university educated people, flocking to the port city to expand their
religious dimensions through sex.
Avi said he first became drawn to the religious movement after visiting
India in the late 1970s after quitting his job as a child psychiatrist.
"You could compare it to the 60s and the flower power – it was very
open and very much about sex. Osho said go into your sexuality and explore it
and don't be trapped in relationships. That drew a lot of criticism at the time,"
Avi said.
When he talks about his first and only meeting with the Bhagwan, he is
suddenly rendered catatonic. There is an eternal pause and I could almost hear
the words percolating in his head. His silence is both captivating and
unnerving, before his whispers the word serene.
"He was very serene, quiet...there was nothing in the way. What he
wanted to create was to combine Zorba and the Buddha. Zorba was this big
character and full of life and vitality and the same time meditative and
serene. He wanted to blend the western Zorba aspect and yet have that quietness
and meditativeness of the Buddha," Avi said.
By the time the Bhagwan moved from his ashram in Pune, India, to a
palatial range in central Oregon in 1981, his message of free love and
mysticism was eliciting devotion beyond the guru's wildest dreams.
The Indian mystic had previously shunned any trappings of wealth, but
soon his range became a money-making racket with millions of dollars from
Rajneeshee strongholds overseas, including Fremantle, funnelled into his Oregon
range.
Orange-clad disciples were "encouraged" to sell off their
possessions including their houses and it's reported an estimated $130 million
poured into the ranch between 1981-1985.
One of the images rolled out in the media was the Bhagwan's $7 million
worth of Rolls Royce's parked in the remote, dusty valley of his 64,000 hectare
range.
The Indian mystic would make his daily drive around his property in one
of his luxurious cars, while thousands of followers crowding the roads throwing
flowers at him.
Despite being ridiculed in the media for his opulent lifestyle, Avi
believed the cars had no meaning to the Bhagwan.
"You lose the bigger picture when you focus on that and the bigger
picture is all this is materialism and none of it was important. I know of, but
I don't know people who gave property... people gave up their properties to the
commune and that was invested in things. What really is important is your
journey." he said.
Avi quit the cult in 1985 shortly after the Bhagwan's chief assistant Ma
Sheela came to Fremantle.
She became famous for pronouncing "tough titties" in a 60
Minutes interview in 1985 when it was suggested the Orange People were not
welcome in Pemberton.
Sheela herself quit the commune shortly after cryptically saying
"God's secretary is not easy." She was later sentenced to four and a
half years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of attempted murder,
assault, arson, electronic eavesdropping, immigration fraud and conspiracy.
"I didn't like her. They way she treated people, I didn't like. So
when she came to Freo, I decided I was out," Avi said.
Photo showing sannyasins from the Fremantle commune
awaiting the arrival of Ma Anand Sheela in 1985.
(Source: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/when-the-rajneeshee-sex-cult-turned-fremantle-orange-20170323-gv4nr5.html)
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