Osho initially claimed that all wars would end by the year 2000 as the
world would become so interdependent between different countries, that wars
would become politically unacceptable for governments. And Osho also affirmed
that with the appearance of the nuclear bomb, the possibility of a new world
war was eliminated.
But later Osho hired an advertising agency to advise him on how to gain
more disciples. He was told that prophesies of the end of the world sold best. So,
after hearing that, Osho completely changed his speech and began to predict the
Third World War would come (see link).
And Osho also pretended that he and his sannyasins (initiated disciples) could survive in caves and underground bunkers, and
then reemerge to save the world.
But this motivated some of his sannyasins, who were already waking up
from the brainwashing, to flee from that congregation, as that was the case of Susan
Harfouche who related the following:
« In order for
you to better understand the paranoid situation that existed in Rajneeshpuram (the small town established by Osho in Oregon) let me
explain the reasons why I finally decided to move away from Osho and his
community:
- Visits from the FBI and immigration authorities.
- Being instructed to lie or not say anything.
- The plans to build a hotel and gambling casino! Sheela lying.
- Future plans to live in underground cities prior to a six-year nuclear war, which is supposed to begin in ten years and destroy everything.
That last topic was the one that really did it for me, because there was
just no way I was going to be
confined in close quarters underground
with these mindless people!
If there really were only ten years left, I decided I should get back
out in the world and enjoy the life God gave me.
There are thousands in this group, and not one enlightened. The realization of the true situation, for me, was sad. I call it: “the death of a
dream.” »
(www.oshounveiled.blogspot.com/2020/08/susans-experiences-in-rajneeshpuram.html)
And Osho not only traumatized adults, but
also and especially he traumatized children, as related by Hira Bluestone, who
was a little girl living in Rajneeshpuram at the time:
« My fears of
death were reawakened when word came down from
on high that the world was going to end, that Rajneesh wanted us to build caves
to live in so that we might survive the inevitable nuclear holocaust. We would
be the chosen people to populate the world and create a society full of love
and laughter. It escaped our notice that this was at odds with the fact that
Rajneesh so strongly discouraged procreation that in four years in a city of
nearly 5000 people, there was only one single birth. In any case, they began to
fill our heads with visions of horror.
They began to fill our heads with
visions of horror. First, I remember them reading a book to us. It was written
from the point of view of a young girl who had survived the attacks on
Hiroshima, but who now had leukemia and was dying. They told us to prepare.
Finally, the thing that pushed this 8-year-old psyche over the edge, was the
movie "The Day After". They often showed us movies, bootlegged copies
of various VHS tapes that they'd managed to score, but they were usually flicks
like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "the Incredible Mr.
Limpet". Maybe not all appropriate for children, but none scary and
usually funny.
Anyway, we were told to meet at
the cafeteria to see a movie. We were told we didn't have a choice, it was
required. We had been paired with "big brothers" or "big
sisters" and it was their job at this time to make sure their charges sat
through this movie. So, we unwittingly piled into the sitting hall at the
cafeteria and gathered to watch this movie. As I remember it, it was about
World War III and the aftermath of nuclear winter. All I remember is the sight
of people's bodies being vaporized into ash. I was terrified. Mouna and I spent
most of the movie hiding in fear in the bathroom together. It was awful. After
that, I became obsessed with death.
I began to think about death
constantly. I worried that Sarv would die. Then I worried that I would die and
Sarv wouldn't survive without me. Then I wondered what happened to me when I
died. Then I worried that I would never kiss a boy or get my period before I
died (I was reading a lot of Judy Blume books at the time). I do think that it
was a little weird that I was so constantly obsessed with death at such a young
age, but being Jewish by birth anyway, I think it was in my genes.
Soon after the constant
end-of-the-world hype, all the talk about it disappeared. It was like they
realized, OK maybe the end of the world is coming, maybe it's not, but lets get
back to the business of living. In any case. no caves were built and no further
plans were made for our survival. I guess they decided that the shit had been
sufficiently scared out of us. »
(www.bluest-one.blogspot.com/2005/09/fear-and-loathing-in-antelope.html)
OBSERVATIONS
In reality, what happened is that Osho got bored with that subject and
simply he abandoned it to return to his usual doctrine, and this shows me how
little circumspect was this guru, because he did not mind modifying his
teaching according to his whims.
For example here, first he assured that there would no longer be wars,
but then as some publicists told him that if he was catastrophic, then he would
attract more people, therefore Osho totally changed his message, ensuring that the
Third War World was coming. But since later he was annoyed by the implication
of having to build the underground shelters and live in caves, then he simply
told his supporters to forget about it and carry on as before.
And that shows how little serious was this individual.
And it also shows the few respects that Osho had towards his followers,
because he did not mind traumatizing them and filling them with paranoia, and
above all the children, leaving them completely horrified, since I ask you:
In what Osho served him terrorize
the children if they weren't going to be able to do anything anyway?
Doing that was completely useless, but Osho did it only to generate more the
noise that the end of the world was coming, but a few weeks later Osho had
already gotten bored with that psychosis environment that he himself had
generated, and he simply dropped that subject as if nothing had happened.
"That I told you that there would no longer be wars and now I tell
you the opposite. It does not matter,
you continue to venerate me... And that later I told you that the end of the
world was coming and now I tell you that is no longer important. It doesn't
matter either, you keep worshiping me..."
