Wild Wild Country (2018) s01e06 Episode Script
Part 6
1
[man] Both of them are carrying
some of these Rajneesh people from Oregon.
[man 2] He is transporting bad guys.
Hardened criminals.
If he deviates
any from his route of flight,
you got to let the president know
he's got an open line to security.
[woman]
Okay.
The search is on
throughout the Northwest tonight
for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
It became
fairly common knowledge out there
that the immigration service was about
to execute, uh, warrants for their arrest.
[male reporter]
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,
easily the most controversial figure
in Oregon,
is in the middle of a controversy tonight
that he's not controlling.
Once we heard he was in the air
and was running,
your adrenaline takes over.
And it was just a matter of getting him
finding and getting him
and putting him in handcuffs.
[indistinct chatter over radio]
[Bill Callahan's "Drover"playing]
I'll find a better way ♪
Someday ♪
[male reporter] The Coast Guard and FAA
have been tracking the two jets
since they left Rajneeshpuram
about 5:30 this evening.
We got on phones
and started trying to get hold
of the plane to tell them to turn around.
Somehow, federal agencies were blocking
communication to the airplane.
We attempted for over four hours
to communicate with the plane,
but no call was coming back.
I spent the evening listening to the news
and getting periodic updates
from the U.S. attorney on his progress.
[male reporter] Frohnmayer said he wanted
to brief these high level officials
from the White House
and Justice Department.
This is a fortunate break, uh
but one that was,
in some ways, predictable.
At least it was not unexpected
that he might try to fly.
[Weaver]
We contacted the FAA to be informed.
We were able to establish the fact
that they were heading to Bermuda,
and Bermuda was selected
for one reason only, maybe two.
It's nice and sunny.
And secondly,
he was un-extraditable from Bermuda.
He would have
successfully escaped, uh, prosecution.
It was an interesting evening.
Uh, I don't think any of us knew
how that would end.
[Weaver] One plane was going
to refuel in Pueblo, Colorado,
and the other
was going to refuel in Salt Lake.
We found out that there was a significant
chance they were going to Charlotte.
Yeah, one thing
About this wild, wild country ♪
[female reporter]
Rumors of a pending arrest intensified
at the central Oregon ranch
after a Chicago Tribune reporter
saw Bhagwan and some disciples
leave the ranch on Learjets.
This was shortly before 5:30 p.m.
It was a little bit
like the low speed chase for OJ Simpson.
It just didn't seem like there was
a plausible ending to that episode.
[Weaver] So I got down on the floor
and looked at a map
to find out how many airports
were in the vicinity of Charlotte.
Special Agent LaDage
was able to contact another agent
and they took up positions
at the Charlotte airport.
Wasting my time ♪
I was at home on a telephone
talking to agents who were on the ground.
They were expecting that these people
in the plane might be heavily armed
and by the time the customs agents
and the Charlotte police arrived,
they had every bit
as much firepower as the Rajneeshees.
They staked out a position
and secured themselves
and instructed the tower
to tell the planes when they landed
to come down to the place
that they had staked out.
[man]
Not for long.
But the planes didn't do that.
[male reporter] Two Learjets carrying
Rajneesh and ten of his followers
landed at the Charlotte airport
at 2:00 a.m.
The U.S. Marshal Ray Abrams,
U.S. Customs agents,
local and airport police
were waiting for the guru.
The planes proceeded to, one
then another, to Butler aviation,
and so the agents
had to race down the tarmac.
And they got the jump on the planes.
They surrounded them,
pulled out their weapons,
told the pilots
to put their hands on the glass.
[pilot] We were approached
by many vehicles
and these people started
piling out of these vehicles
with high-powered weapons and started
pointing these weapons at us.
Cops everywhere, people with shotguns,
sawed-off shotguns, handguns
telling the people to get out of planes
and put their hands up on their head.
I just put my hands up
in the cockpit, you know?
And at that time I figured,
"I think we're in some kind of trouble."
The agents were able to bring everybody
off the plane without a shot being fired.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
was hiding behind the seat,
and I think Ron Taylor
found him behind the seat
uh
and was able to encourage him to deplane.
I rose like a drover ♪
[indistinct chatter]
For I am in the end the drover ♪
[male reporter]
Rajneesh is presently in custody
of the United States Marshals Service
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
[Jane]
We were sitting watching TV
in the holiday apartment
that we had in the Black Forest.
We were watching footage
of Bhagwan walking across the tarmac
in North Carolina in chains.
We couldn't believe it.
[male reporter] With $55,000 in cash,
guns, boxes of jewelry, and his throne,
the Bhagwan and a handful of his followers
fled the ranch commune.
They got as far
as Charlotte, North Carolina,
where U.S. Marshals arrested Rajneesh
and 12 of his friends.
At the same time, the doorbell rang
in the holiday apartment where we were.
Suddenly, our pension got raided
by FBI and German secret police.
The police officers informed us
that they had arrest warrants
for Ma Anand Sheela,
Ma Shanti Bhadra, and Ma Prem Puja.
The charge was attempted murder
of Bhagwan's physician.
My knees went out from under me.
[male reporter] Two FBI agents began going
through Sheela's personal effects,
gathering evidence as they waited
for her extradition to the United States.
Wild, wild country ♪
Charges against Sheela
and two of her compatriots
for attempted murder, conspiracy
to commit a murder, and assault.
[male reporter] The American authorities
have indicated they'll move rapidly
to get both the Bhagwan and Sheela
back to Oregon to face charges
a reunion neither of them wants.
Okay, I just have this one thing to say.
All I can say at this time is that
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is in custody
on a federal indictment
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Uh, the United States Attorney
for this district, Charles Turner,
seeks to have him removed to this district
uh, to prosecute him
pursuant to that indictment.
The indictment is sealed.
It will remain sealed
until further order of the court.
-That's all I have.
-[man] Can you tell us the charges?
No, I can't.
[man] How many other people
are named on the indictment?
[woman]
Had he been informed of the indictment?
Is he arrested because of the charges
on the indictment or for illegal flight?
He's arrested for the charges
on the indictment. I'm sorry that's all.
[woman] Was he informed of those charges?
Was he aware
Sorry that's all I have.
[man]
Watch your mic. Watch your mic.
[male reporter]
What's the next step?
We'll proceed.
We'll consider our available options
and take what legal steps are available.
[male reporter]
When will you start working on it?
[Niren]
Now.
[Weaver]
I went to Charlotte.
There was a little bit
of a circus atmosphere there.
There were songs on the radio about
the Bhagwan was captured in Charlotte.
There were T-shirts
being sold outside the courthouse.
[man] Big seller, the hot pink there.
Everybody likes that one.
[male reporter] Rajneesh will spend
the next couple of days
in a jail in Charlotte,
where people suddenly find
his name at the top of the news.
I think his wealth
is really something else.
It just blows my mind
that somebody can have 90 Rolls Royces.
Isn't that how many he has?
And two Learjets.
That's really impressive.
It's a free country. I don't know.
If he's breaking the law,
I guess they should do something.
If he's not,
I suppose they should leave him alone.
[male reporter]
Inside the Mecklenburg County Jail,
one of the offices looks
like a flower shop.
These flowers have been streaming in here
since the Bhagwan arrived.
Some have even been sent to the sheriff
by Bhagwan followers who appreciate
the kind of care he's been getting here.
[male reporter] Bhagwan is held
in a third floor medical unit
with half a dozen others behind this door.
Jailers say he moves about very little
and, to deal with the noise of jail,
is using a set of earplugs.
He gets vegetarian food and medical care
from 24-hour nurses in his cellblock.
[warden]
Bhagwan's a very good prisoner.
He's been very patient with us
and he's been very cordial
to all our treatment and everything.
[male reporter]
He's a somewhat unusual prisoner for you?
Very unusual.
He's one of the, I guess,
biggest we ever had.
[Niren]
I actually was the only one
who could go in
and talk to him who was a Sannyasin,
because I was his lawyer.
So I went in
and spent hours with him every day.
I mean here's this man who is
the most amazing presence on the planet.
And he's in jail.
He's in jail.
And I need to get him out.
It's my job.
[male reporter] This is not normally
the way we see you dressed.
Is it awkward or embarrassing for you?
It is absolutely awkward and embarrassing
because I'm absolutely innocent.
I have not done any crime.
I will first fight and finish the case
because I still see
that the American Constitution
is one of the most valuable constitutions
in the world.
And it will support me and my commune.
So I'm certain that I will win it.
So there I am
in the lawyer's interview room
with him sitting on a chair
and me sitting on the floor.
He was
He was unchained.
He was just the same as when he was
sitting in front of 10,000 people
when he was sitting there
in prison dungarees.
And I would just sit there
and feel his presence and be renewed
uh
and then go out and get back at it.
[female reporter] Last week, the Bhagwan
was indicted for immigration fraud.
Authorities say he lied about
his intention to remain here permanently
and arranged sham marriages
so followers could stay too.
[Niren] He was charged with a technical
immigration violation, marriage fraud.
In the indictment,
almost everything was about Sheela,
almost nothing about Osho.
But that's all they had.
That's all they had.
[camera clicking]
[Niren] If he had not been a guru
and he was just some guy,
they would have put up
a decent bail and let him go.
If the religious leader is guilty
of all of the charges against him,
he faces a 175 years in prison
and up to $350,000 in fines.
The fact of it is the charges
that were brought against him
are almost never criminally prosecuted.
To seek to hold him in jail
pending these charges
is statistically almost unprecedented.
Um
What we are dealing
with is a political situation.
[Weaver] We have a man who has now
been charged with multiple crimes,
fled the United States, abandoning
all his followers by the way,
he was aware of the charge
and was getting out the United States
before he got caught.
The best precaution was to detain him,
return him to Oregon,
and begin to deal with
the prosecution there.
That's what we're preparing for.
[male reporter] What do you think
was the strength of your case?
Well, the strength of our case
clearly was the fact
that three days after a sealed indictment
was returned by the grand jury,
he leaves the ranch
for the first time in four years
and flies across country
in the middle of the night.
[cameras clicking]
[Weaver] We were anticipating
a vigorous trial,
and we had more evidence than we needed.
[Sheela] I was arrested,
and we were brought to the nearest prison.
All three were housed in the same room.
Me,
Puja,
and Shanti Bhadra.
There were so many journalists
around this prison.
[chatter in German]
These German police guys
were pulling out photos of me
and I had to autograph them.
It was bizarre.
The moment the German authorities
had left the room, the handcuffs went on.
The leg chains went on.
The German police handed us over
to American authorities
to take us to America.
[male reporter] Shanti Bhadra arrived on
a commercial airlines flight from Chicago,
and she'll spend the night
at the Downtown Justice Center.
Also due in tonight, Anand Sheela,
Bhagwan's former personal secretary.
[male reporter] By the time she arrived
at a dark and foggy Portland airport,
she was handcuffed,
but still managed to smile for the crowd
of photographers clustered above.
[man]
All right.
-I'll see you back in just a little bit.
-Okay. Take care.
-Okay.
-Bye-bye.
This is the best lawyer in Portland.
[female reporter] Jon, she seemed to be
smiling a lot today.
Do you really think she's enjoying
being back in the public eye?
Well, you saw the smile on her face
as she went into the courthouse today.
[cameras clicking]
[Tuttle] Nobody could be happy
being in Sheela's situation.
Prosecutors have brought
her back to Oregon
because they think they'll have her
staying here in prison for years to come.
[female reporter] Heavy security
surrounded the arrival in The Dalles
of 38-year-old Ma Anand Puja
and 40-year-old Shanti Bhadra.
They were arraigned in Wasco County
Circuit Court on attempted murder charges.
[woman]
Good morning.
-Thanks.
-[man] Very pretty.
Did I tell you
I was going to be wearing tennies?
[Gary] By the time I sat down with Sheela,
she was in federal custody
and agents brought her
and we spent an afternoon together.
I was struck
by how small and unimposing she was
because she'd been a pretty big figure
in Oregon at the time
and frankly in my life.
Um
And she was completely forthcoming,
answered all of my questions.
I believe she answered them
with complete honesty
and with not the slightest trace
of shame or regret
or, uh, anything reflecting remorse.
Um
I left thinking this is a, um
This is a person with no empathy.
[Frohnmayer] Frankly, I'm convinced
the leadership of this group
really believed they were above the law,
that they could move faster than our law
and that they could run circles around us
using our laws or breaking our laws.
Uh There was an arrogance about it
that's almost breathtaking.
[cameras clicking]
Much of what happened is monstrous,
and if Sheela had spent
the rest of her life in jail,
that wouldn't have seemed
like an excessive sentence.
[indistinct chatter]
[man]
No back-up?
[man 2]
Okay, man, back-up.
[Niren]
So, he's in jail in Charlotte.
We were told he's going to go from
Charlotte on the next plane to Portland.
[male reporter] Rajneesh's zigzag trip
back to Oregon began here Monday night
at the same airport
where he and six of his followers
were arrested October 28th.
Bhagwan was put aboard
a U.S. Marshal's jet.
[male reporter] Rajneesh left Charlotte,
North Carolina yesterday afternoon
stopping in Missouri
before flying off to Oklahoma City.
[female reporter] Apparently officials
now say he is spending another night
in Oklahoma City
at an undisclosed location.
[male reporter]
He spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights
at the El Reno Correction Institution.
[female reporter]
His third jail in just nine days.
[female reporter]
Where next for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh?
[male reporter]
As you said all week long,
It's been something
of a cat and mouse game
between federal marshals and reporters
as the U.S. Marshals
have been deliberately vague
about the exact time
and place of his arrival.
They take as long as legally possible
taking him from facility to facility,
bussing him around.
What it gave them the opportunity to do is
drag him around the country for two weeks.
I think it's a tragedy for this country
that this innocent and beautiful man
is being held in this country's prisons.
You know, this country is not
that far from the Wild West, right?
So they use every tool they have
to try and coerce accused to give up.
[camera clicking]
They often refuse voluntary surrender
so they can get their perp walk.
They like to arrest
and then put the person in the cuffs
and make them walk through this barrage
of lights to make them look guilty.
[man] Well, to see a man
who's never hurt anyone
shackled like a psychopathic killer
shows me that the United States government
is terrified of this man.
[male reporter]
They persist in their belief that Bhagwan
is being wrongly treated
and is becoming physically ill.
Spokeswoman Prem Isabel called the case,
"government sponsored kidnapping."
All I'm concerned
is with Bhagwan's health.
I don't want the man to die in jail.
That anyone could treat a man with
such grace and such beauty in that way,
I just don't understand it.
Uh He is by no means being given
any special consideration
or any red carpet treatment so to speak.
I think our assumption was he probably
wouldn't like that bus ride.
He probably wouldn't like his roommates.
[Niren] He was subsequently put
in a cell with an individual
who was diagnosed
as having contagious herpes.
Herpes.
I think this is outrageous.
[male reporter]
Charges of mistreatment.
Three strip searches allegedly performed
by local corrections officers.
[male reporter]
At 6:30 this morning,
Bhagwan was put back
on the Marshal's plane.
[male reporter] From Tucson,
it was onto Vandenberg Air Force Base.
From there,
it was a mid-afternoon stop in Sacramento.
Each time that they told him
that he was going to go somewhere,
they told him
that he was going to Portland.
And each time,
it turned out not to be true.
Richard, I understand
the U.S. Marshal is telling us
that the plane has now landed
at Boeing Field in Seattle.
That happened just a few minutes ago.
Our information is
that Bhagwan will be transferred
from that bigger airplane to a smaller one
which will in fact bring him here
to the Portland air base.
[Weaver] Between the time
that he was arrested in Charlotte
and he got back to Portland,
I think it was almost three weeks.
And as a result of that environment
he was ready to surrender.
[male reporter] Sheela,
Bhagwan's former personal secretary,
back in Oregon
to face charges of attempted murder,
first degree assault
and conspiracy to commit murder.
[male reporter] This time there was
no entourage of Rajneeshee supporters.
Sheela came to the U.S. Courthouse
in Portland under heavy guard,
virtually surrounded by federal marshals.
[male reporter]
State authorities say
she tried to poison
two Wasco County commissioners
and tried to burn
down the Wasco County Planning Office.
I thought if Sheela did all of this,
it would be possible
for her to testify against Osho
avoid prosecution herself
and that Osho could be subject
to criminal prosecution.
[camera clicking]
[Sheela] It was never a thought
in my mind to barter against Bhagwan
or barter with anybody
so that I can avoid my misery.
You cannot betray people
for their own freedom.
[male reporter]
And some major developments tonight.
Ma Anand Sheela appeared
in federal court today to plead guilty.
[female reporter] Sheela arrived
this morning to plead guilty
to charges ranging
from mass poisonings to wiretappings.
Sheela will serve the
four-and-one-half-year prison sentence,
pay fines totaling $469,000
and agree to leave the U.S.
after she is released.
Ma Shanti Bhadra,
another former commune leader,
pleaded guilty
to attempted murder of the doctor.
She'll serve ten years in prison.
[Jane]
It was decided
that Sheela and I would serve
our sentences in a federal prison.
The authorities felt it was better
for my safety not to be in Oregon.
And so I, too, was sent
to the federal prison.
It didn't get any better, I'm afraid.
I truly believed
that I'd been locked into a mental asylum.
People were screaming,
banging on the tin doors.
It was pandemonium.
Through all of that, my son Peter
still lived in Rajneeshpuram.
And when I was in prison,
Peter came to visit me.
That changed me.
Because of all that had happened
around Rajneeshpuram,
because of Bhagwan's attacks,
Peter asked me what had happened.
The abandonment,
it was just awful for him
and very painful for me
to sit behind glass,
to see the confusion
and the pain in my son's eyes.
That was
when the first seed began to stir,
the seed
that would take me away from Bhagwan.
It was the beginning
of a very long journey
of breaking the spell.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
will get his day in court.
Richard Draper listened
as the lawyers argued over trial dates
in the Rajneesh case,
now before a federal judge.
And, Richard, was today's hearing
a preview of things to come?
Oh, very much so, Mark.
Legally, it promises to be
a tangled web made for lawyers.
[Niren]
After Osho got back to Portland
myself and the rest of the lawyers
involved with his immigration case
came out to talk to him.
And I said, "These other men
are experts in this area of the law.
Why don't we hear from them?"
And all of them
basically said the same things.
"You know this is
one of the weakest cases I've ever seen.
I don't think I've ever seen a case
with this is little evidence
that they've decided to prosecute."
And Osho looked at me and said,
"Niren, what do you think?"
And I said
[voice breaking]
"Number one, if you fight this,
you'll have to spend about six weeks in
a federal court room every day, all day.
And then you'll win.
But even after you win,
if the United States government
is prepared to do all of this
to get you and to get this community,
they're not going to stop.
They will keep coming after you
until they get you.
And so I recommend that you let us
negotiate a deal and that you leave."
And Osho sat back as he always does.
Sat for a few minutes and looked off.
And then he said,
"If they will fight this
If they would fight this fairly,
I would go to the Supreme Court.
[voice breaking]
But my body cannot sustain.
My body cannot take
the things that it has
The things that it has been subjected to.
Uh
Make a deal and I will leave."
[male reporter]
In a dramatic turnaround today,
Bhagwan came to Portland this afternoon
and went straight to the U.S. Courthouse.
He was accompanied
by his team of four lawyers.
[camera clicking]
[Weaver] In those days,
court artists drew pictures.
There was a very strong presence
in that room of a dark aura.
The Rajneeshees who had packed the court
room were sending that right up my spine.
That courtroom artist,
who when it was over,
had told me that the eeriness
that she felt in that courtroom
was only akin
to one other experience she had
where she was present
with the Ayatollah Khomeini.
[male reporter] A lot of surprises
in this local news day today.
The biggest one occurred
just a couple of hours ago
in federal court here in Portland.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh pleading guilty
to immigration fraud charges
and agreeing to leave the country.
[crowd shouting]
[male reporter] Well, Mike and Shirley,
a remarkable scene
here at the federal courthouse.
U.S. Attorney Charles Turner
still being interviewed by reporters here
following the plea agreement.
A hearing this afternoon
before Judge Edward Levy.
Bhagwan said, quote, "I never want
to return to the United States again."
Now we're trying to get closer
to the U.S. Attorney Charles Turner,
who is still making a statement
regarding the conclusion
of this hearing this afternoon.
We'll see if we can get closer.
[male reporter]
Can you tell us again? We missed this.
-You guys got to be kidding.
-[male reporter] Yeah. I'm serious.
I was very pleased
about the disposition of this case
because I felt it was clearly
within the public interest.
It vindicated the investigation
conducted by this office
and it is a public concession of guilt
by Rajneesh.
[female reporter] There are certainly
members of the public
who really wanted to see this
go to a full-blown trial.
Well, the defendant can't
We can't make a defendant go to trial
who wants to plead guilty.
[reporter chuckles]
All off these fellows
have been involved in this operation
for at least four years,
and this is a very satisfying
and successful conclusion to that process.
Kathy, I'd like to ask
Mr. Turner a question. Is he still there?
-Yes.
-Okay.
Mr. Turner, let me ask you this.
If you got what you wanted,
the Bhagwan's leaving the country,
why didn't you just let him leave
in the first place,
a couple of weeks ago that Sunday night?
Well, that's not the way our system works.
Somebody who had come here
and committed the nature of the crimes
that were committed
by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
To let him leave the country as a fugitive
and to abdicate our responsibilities
simply would be inconsistent
with our oath of office.
We simply could not do that.
Uh I would never have permitted that.
The laws on our books are enacted
in a democratic process
everyone participates in.
There's not an exception in those statutes
that says you don't have to do that
if you're smart enough to get away
before you get caught.
And the citizens of this state
needed to see
that the government
was going to hold him accountable
like we would everybody else.
[woman] That's far enough.
Give him some space, please.
[male reporter] Who are you?
-[woman] Please, give him some space.
-[male reporter] Who are you, lady?
And that night, he got on a jet
and left the United States.
None of his Sannyasins
will tell us where he's headed.
There are probably
about ten or 12 Sannyasins on the plane.
They've loaded the plane
with various pieces of luggage and boxes.
[female reporter]
Before he got on the plane, he waved,
put his hands together
in the traditional sign and smiled,
and then turned and got on the plane.
We don't know at this point
where the plane is headed.
All we suspect is that the Bhagwan
is reportedly leaving the country.
You got kicked out late last night ♪
On your throne, red-eye flight ♪
Bye-bye, Bhagwan ♪
Sold off every last Rolls Royce ♪
For your bail, had no choice ♪
Bhagwan, bye-bye ♪
I thought there was going to have to be
some acceptance from both sides
and that's where we were headed.
But then I got up one morning and it had
all blown up and it was leaving.
-A big relief finally to get rid of them.
-I guess it was just a relief.
-Just
-Yeah. That's over. [chuckles]
I'm elated about it. I really am.
I'm glad that he's gone.
I hope he never returns.
And I hope all these people
go right with him.
When I heard about it,
all I could do was heave a sigh of relief.
We're tired.
That's the best thing
that could have happened.
I think it's great.
I hope the whole camp or whatever,
town of Rajneeshpuram is, uh
Uh, just packs up and leaves
for all I care. I don't like them.
He was scaring a lot of people.
And he was being dishonest
and he finally admitted his dishonesty
and stuck his tail
between his legs and took off.
I think it's time and I think it's
happening at a very appropriate time,
Thanksgiving.
And we are very grateful.
I thoroughly believe that there was
a divine hand behind all this.
I don't think America
has a place for these people.
[male reporter] They are starting
to leave, a few at a time.
Cars packed with belongings,
destinations uncertain.
[male reporter]
How do you feel about leaving?
-Are you going to miss this place?
-Uh [chuckles]
I'm missing him already.
It was very abrupt. Quick.
Freaking out.
[male reporter]
So you think people panic at first, huh?
Yeah, I mean,
if your whole roots get cut off
[male reporter] It's tough.
Good luck to you.
[male reporter] His followers
were told the ranch will be shut down.
Huh-uh. Forget it.
I'm staying till the end, man.
I'm not going, no fucking way,
until this place is legally sold
and everybody is saying
"Okay, let's go, gang!"
That's it.
Otherwise I'm going nowhere. I'm staying.
I'm staying
until everybody is ready to go.
[male reporter]
On the bus was Spencer Williams,
who left the streets of Washington D.C.
for Rajneeshpuram about a year ago.
Man, I'm gonna miss this place.
I'm gonna miss the people here, too.
Mm, damn. Love it.
[Niren] I was still the mayor,
and I was basically left in charge
to unwind the legal as best that I could.
We sort of reached a critical mass.
There was so much stress
because I was trying to fight
all of these battles
without the resources we had had.
Simply that it's over here
that Bhagwan's leaving.
Um The impact
of the legal attacks on this community
by the state and federal government
have produced a situation
where it is no longer viable
economically or emotionally
or spiritually or sensible to continue.
And Isabel and I went up
to a cabin in the mountains.
Isabel told me that she needed to go.
I, myself, since Bhagwan left,
I didn't think that we were going
to continue this place, you know?
People, we're not fighters.
We're staying in a piece of land
where we're unwelcome.
So I said, "Okay! I'll go with you."
And we left. And that's how it went.
At the ranch, I had an experience
of being loved and accepted totally.
Totally.
[voice breaking]
For the first time in my life.
I'll tell you that's worth having.
[Sunshine]
I had deep grief.
I felt misunderstood.
I felt
I felt like, "What just happened?"
You know, I mean, we were
so busy fighting it
that, you know, it was only then
that I actually had a moment to reflect.
And because we were so raw, you know,
it was just like such an explosion.
You know, to walk away from the garden
and the houses
and to walk away
from the lakes that we built
I remember
everyone was in a good mood always
and a lot of laughing.
And to recognize what an incredible gift
it was to be alive on this earth
You know, it was a town.
We actually did, in the end, build this
incredible city that was truly joyous.
It was real people living real lives.
And literally,
in the middle of the winter,
to drive away and know that this, too,
was going to become a ghost town
It was just an amazingly surreal moment
with profound implications
for really the whole course of my life.
[man] Come on.
Everybody, look at the camera.
[overlapping chatter]
-Yeah.
-[laughing]
All right.
[female reporter]
Meanwhile, in the small town of Antelope,
old-time residents are watching
their departures
with a mixture of relief and elation.
For the past few years,
Antelope has been the city of Rajneesh.
And now many of the Rajneesh
welcoming signs are painted over.
The town is Antelope again.
[man] Probably 'cause they just figured
people would rip them off.
[male reporter] In Antelope,
this was a day of tearing down
and a day of building up.
Well, I think everybody was pretty elated,
you know, when it all fell apart.
People felt like they'd finally gotten
their town back
which they did.
-[laughing] Son of a gun.
-[man] Okay, you're live in two.
-Phil, get over here.
-[woman] Come on, Phil.
[woman]
Get in here.
-[chuckles]
-We were all ready to celebrate.
-My gosh, you know, he was
-Yeah.
-Get rid of him.
-We were gonna have a big party.
It's even hard when you live here
to realize it is really true.
It just is going to take a while for us
to realize how fantastic all this is.
[male reporter]
More than 40 supporters from The Dalles
made the pilgrimage to observe
the new government take office.
[all] And I will support the constitution
of the United States of America.
[man] Several years ago,
we would never have dreamed
that anything could happen
to a little community such as this.
But we can't live in the past.
[Bowerman] Well, this whole thing
that we endured with the Rajneeshees,
it's It's similar
to a football or basketball game.
Somebody's going to lose,
somebody is going to win.
When it's all over and done with,
uh, the season's over
[clears throat]
the champion is crowned.
Of course we won.
Just outside the post office
is a flag pole
and a little statue of an antelope.
It was donated to the community
for standing up
under this pressure that we endured.
[male reporter]
The quotation from Edmund Burke,
"The only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is for good men to do nothing."
[Kelly]
It will serve as a constant reminder
that now that we have Antelope back,
we should remember that we almost lost it.
And I look forward to the day
that I don't remember the Rajneesh at all
until I come in and see that flagpole.
[Bowerman] For me,
you miss some of the excitement.
For some reason, I don't know why,
but I sure love the fight! [chuckles]
[Silvertooth]
Antelope, it was never the same.
Well, you know so many people had left
that you weren't going back
to what you were before.
It's just not together anymore.
Not a little community like it was.
[Silvertooth]
Cafe and the store are closed.
You know, there was a school here
until all that brouhaha.
You know, time marches on.
It was an extremely unpleasant
part of my life.
And I just would like it to be over with
and not to have to talk about it anymore.
And I don't want for people to meet me
and say, "Oh, yes, I remember your name,"
or "Oh, were you involved with them?"
I don't think
that they're worth that, either.
No.
[male reporter]
This is your first interview.
Your chance
to say something to Oregonians.
Now are you daring me?
[male reporter]
I'm daring you to look at the camera
Are you daring me to do this?
I'm just asking, you know,
after a year down here,
looking back on all of what happened,
looking back on all of that.
-Today, looking back on that experience.
-Okay. I say to all Oregonians
that you did not understand Bhagwan,
nor did you understand his teaching,
nor did you understand Sheela.
You have missed out on Rajneeshee,
their business, their intelligence
and their very special ability
of celebration and laughter.
I laugh more at you
than Oregonians who say that we are happy
that Sheela is in prison.
No.
Are you sorry about anything
that happened in Oregon,
the people that did get sick,
the people that did get hurt
by all of this? Do you have any remorse?
People get sick
all over the world on daily basis.
Why should I feel remorse?
I feel bad that Oregonian
made the same mistake.
They made it in treating blacks,
American Indians, Mormons, Catholics
and any other minorities
they have treated up till now.
That I felt bad for.
But, hey,
I never claimed to change humanity.
I still don't.
[Sheela] I don't have
much to say about my time in prison.
Bear in mind, I have paid full penalty
what was charged
to me under American legal system.
In Switzerland, in Europe,
people are not considered criminal
once they have paid
their dues and are crime-free.
[chanting]
[female reporter] Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
announced he planned to live in India.
[male reporter] Reception yesterday
at the New Delhi airport
indicates Bhagwan
still has followers in India.
Bhagwan told his followers, "If they
can harass me, they can harass you."
Bhagwan called Rajneeshpuram
a beautiful experiment that failed.
He ended up back in India.
And after he got back to Poona, then
people started going back to India again.
So I went to India
because I still wanted to be around him
and it was still a great place to be.
At some point he said, "I'm not him.
I'm not this Bhagwan person.
I'm not anybody."
And then people wrote to him and said,
"We got to call you something!"
[chuckles]
You know, "Prince?"
And one of the suggestions
was the name "Osho."
Osho is from the Japanese.
It's an honorarium.
You would speak to your teacher,
your master as Osho.
He'd always been frail,
but he was like almost transparent,
his skin, you know?
Almost like he wasn't there.
He stopped speaking again.
So he was no longer giving discourses.
He would come out
greet people
and he would move across the podium
while staying facing forward
to the people there, blessing them.
And that time
I was sitting about three rows back
and he was wavering a little bit.
And at one time I could actually see
his toe was over the edge of the podium.
And I was just willing him to stay alive,
trying to give my life energy to him.
[crowd shouts]
Osho!
And the next day
everybody was called together
into the Buddha Hall.
[Deva Raj] Yesterday morning, I noticed
that Osho was obviously leaving his body.
We sat on the bed
and he gave us his final words.
He said, "I leave you my dream."
He then lay back quietly and we sat
with him while I held his pulse.
Slowly it faded.
When I could hardly feel it,
I said to him, "Osho, I think this is it."
He just nodded gently
and closed his eyes for the last time.
His body was brought
into the Buddha Hall
and placed up on the podium.
[all shout]
Osho!
There are many other things
that he said that we'll let you know,
but for now let me just say to you
that, in death, he was just as you
would have expected, incredible.
[cheering and applause]
And then it was taken from there
to the burning ghats.
Huge procession
with people carrying his body.
[rhythmic clapping and chanting]
And I was standing there,
uh watching his body burn.
Such a gift [voice breaks] he was.
Such a gift.
[cheering]
[chanting]
[Jane] When I heard that Bhagwan,
now known as Osho, had died
I was strangely indifferent.
That was something behind me.
I'd been in prison
and now I was coming home.
I was 43 years old, but I was a child.
My parents opened their arms to me
just held me
and took me home with them.
Not very long after,
I started running a juice bar
in Germany called the Saftladen.
I met my husband George in this juice bar.
And slowly, slowly I began
to get back to planet Earth.
At the same time, outside Germany,
there was still an international
arrest warrant hanging over my head.
The case to murder
Mr. Turner remained open.
[female reporter]
The prosecution alleged that the women
plotted to kill Oregon's
former U.S. Attorney, Charles Turner.
If found guilty, the women could be given
a life sentence in a U.S. jail.
[Jane]
But also at that time,
I had a stability I had never had before.
I was free from prosecution in America
as long as I could stay in Germany.
And one day
in the middle of the night,
the phone rang.
It was my daughter-in-law.
"Jane," she said. "Peter is in hospital."
I was hearing for the first time
that my son had a brain tumor
and that he might die.
I was in absolute shock.
But the arrest warrant meant I could not
travel to Australia to go to my dying son.
I had to travel to America.
I had to throw myself
at the mercy of the court
without any guarantees whatsoever.
I wanted to be free to be able to go
to my children at a time like this.
George and I went
to the airport in Frankfurt
and boarded a plane for Portland.
We walked together
to the federal courthouse.
It was raining that morning.
I was very, very focused.
The court had the discretion
of sentencing me to life imprisonment,
but I knew that this was
what had to be done.
As proceedings began,
first the prosecutor spoke
and asked that the judge
sentence me appropriately.
Then it was my turn to speak.
I felt compelled to stand
to what I had done.
I read my statement.
And then the moment
had come for sentencing.
Judge Marsh said that sometimes justice
is stronger than mercy
and that's okay.
But sometimes mercy overrules justice.
And we have such a case before us today.
And therefore,
he was sentencing me to time served.
I was free.
I was free.
And through my tears,
I could see that everybody
in the courtroom was happy for me.
FBI agents came up to me, shook my hand,
and said "Congratulations, Mrs. Stork.
You deserve it."
I wasn't a criminal in that moment.
I was a free woman
with a son who was dying
and that brought everybody together
in a very human way.
Even today when I think about it
Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes.
It was the most incredible experience
to become aware that they were
a lot of people around me that day
who were glad that I could go to my son
and be with him when he died.
[Sheela] After prison,
I had to get back on my feet.
I had to find way to survive.
When I left Bhagwan,
I left the Sannyasin community also.
I left hypocrisy.
It is time that Bhagwan's Sannyasins
open their eyes
and look at the reality
of what had happened to Bhagwan.
Bhagwan didn't have a natural death.
This doctor,
who had written death certificate
felt it was with overdose.
[Deva Raj] About nine months ago,
Osho formed the inner circle
a group of Sannyasins
now numbering 20.
The inner circle would be his successor.
[Sheela] These are the same people
who were drugging him
and the same people
who are looting him for his riches.
It was your responsibility
to take care of Bhagwan.
At least in my time, he was safe.
But Sannyasin community is my past.
In spite of what world thinks,
I have come out with upper hand.
I work with schizophrenia to dements,
from Parkinson's to Alzheimer,
and young and old dements.
I didn't want old people rejected.
What have I learned from Bhagwan?
How can I implement
his teachings in my daily life?
This commune
This is what I have learned from Bhagwan.
We eat together.
We sing, dance
sleep in this house in comfort together.
They can become old in my house
and remain till the last moment.
It is a wonderful way
of saying thank you to existence.
[Jayananda]
We, as Sannyasins,
should light the consciousness
of people around the world.
You could see
Osho's vision come to fruition.
[screams]
There are still communities
devoted to him and his teachings.
South America
Europe
and Asia.
His publishing
is growing dramatically now.
It's published in like 50 languages.
Like 1,000 new book contracts
in the last year.
[Sunshine] There are young people
flocking to Poona today
to go and learn about his meditations
and dance in Buddha Hall.
[woman] There is a full day program
of meditations available here,
all day, every day,
from morning till night.
So, his work, his teachings will live on.
[Silvertooth]
It all smells like a gimmick to me.
You know, I just think
it's a fleece from day one.
I thought he was an old con man.
They were sitting there in India
and they saw
all these rich young Europeans
tripping around, looking for God.
And they figured out these people
have got a lot of money,
so they set up shop and created Bhagwan
and found out
that it was pretty easy to fleece them.
People want to believe.
They want to belong.
They want to think, you know,
me having sex all day long is going
to really send me to heaven.
[laughs]
Anyway, that's my opinion.
After the Rajneeshees left,
this guy Dennis Washington
He's a billionaire developer from Montana.
He bought the ranch and he ended up
gifting the thing to Young Life.
It's a Christian youth organization.
They call them camps.
It's more like a resort to me.
We went from free sex, the Rajneeshees,
to no sex, Young Life.
They're very much abstinence-oriented
for their young people.
It's kind of like a cult too.
They're not perfect.
But they're much better neighbors
than the Rajneeshees.
[laughs]
They're not waving AK-47's in your face.
[Niren]
They trade on people's fear.
And they do that by defining a group
that they can fear and hate.
And then they totally misrepresent
who you are.
I think the United States has failed.
The United States has failed to recognize
the most beautiful man I've ever seen.
I think the United States has failed
to recognize the contribution
that he had to offer
to this country and to the world.
I think it's a tragedy.
[Niren]
From the legal political side of it,
I am the only one who really knows it in
the depth that it can be shared, you know?
It is somewhat difficult and painful
to talk about what happened to Osho
in the United States.
Obviously I loved him very much
and I was committed to the community.
And we were committed
to working really hard
to manifest his vision
of the transformation of the planet.
Before he died
I was told,
"Osho wants to talk to you."
So I went in
and he said, "Clear my name
in America by writing a book
and telling the truth
about what happened."
And
it's taken a long time
and it's had some twists and turns,
but that's what I'm doing,
is finishing that book now.
[Damien Jurado's "Cloudy Shoes" playing]
I wish that
I wish that ♪
I could float
I could float ♪
Float up from the ground ♪
So what I would say to people
is try to go on the journey.
The truth lies within.
What that's like ♪
He remains the master of masters.
About you
About you ♪
I wish ♪
Start the journey.
It'll change your life.
I thought it was
I thought it was ♪
Impossible
Impossible ♪
To live and love like you ♪
Bhagwan used to tell
stories of the Zen master
who, seeing that his disciple
was ready for enlightenment,
struck him with a stick and killed him.
But in the moment before his death,
he became enlightened.
And I ask myself again and again,
"Did I miss the blow from the master?
Did I run away
and not wait for that blow
that would bring me enlightenment?"
It took me many, many years
before I was free of this suspicion
that I had somehow failed.
As I'm saying this, I have
the picture of a grub in a cocoon.
If you've ever watched
a butterfly come out of its cocoon,
it's a long difficult process,
squeezing and moving
and the cocoon
is clinging to the moth's body
until it manages that last wriggle,
that last push and it's out.
Just what's it like now?
Do you look at it differently?
One thing I'm really conscious of today
is how important family is.
My parents stuck by me.
They loved me no matter what.
My husband stood by me,
and my children showed remarkable courage
and strength to come through all of that
to be the very wonderful adults
that they turned out to be.
To help pull me through ♪
Someday ♪
[Sheela] I have to live with myself.
And this living with myself,
I must look inside me.
Who am I?
What am I?
Why am I?
It is not good and bad,
right and wrong, black and white.
Of course, I don't know
when I die I come in Hell or Heaven.
But it doesn't matter.
Wherever I come,
I will create my own paradise.
Still trying to fix my mind ♪
I'm still trying to fix my mind ♪
My mind
My mind ♪
[Sheela]
I love my power.
Why not?
Bhagwan has taught me strength.
And you think I'm going
to waste my strength away?
[Sheela]
I would like to say
Sannyasin community,
you are negating
the whole experiment of Oregon
by cutting it out
from Bhagwan's biography.
His lifetime dream was a new commune.
And we created this beautiful community
that we lived in for years.
Don't kill him by concentrating
and feeling ashamed of this scandal.
Don't forget every one of us
was part of that scandal.
Finished?
Ah! [chuckles]
I thought
it would never come to an end in my life!
[laughs]
We definitely all need a drink.
Okay.
[man] Both of them are carrying
some of these Rajneesh people from Oregon.
[man 2] He is transporting bad guys.
Hardened criminals.
If he deviates
any from his route of flight,
you got to let the president know
he's got an open line to security.
[woman]
Okay.
The search is on
throughout the Northwest tonight
for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
It became
fairly common knowledge out there
that the immigration service was about
to execute, uh, warrants for their arrest.
[male reporter]
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh,
easily the most controversial figure
in Oregon,
is in the middle of a controversy tonight
that he's not controlling.
Once we heard he was in the air
and was running,
your adrenaline takes over.
And it was just a matter of getting him
finding and getting him
and putting him in handcuffs.
[indistinct chatter over radio]
[Bill Callahan's "Drover"playing]
I'll find a better way ♪
Someday ♪
[male reporter] The Coast Guard and FAA
have been tracking the two jets
since they left Rajneeshpuram
about 5:30 this evening.
We got on phones
and started trying to get hold
of the plane to tell them to turn around.
Somehow, federal agencies were blocking
communication to the airplane.
We attempted for over four hours
to communicate with the plane,
but no call was coming back.
I spent the evening listening to the news
and getting periodic updates
from the U.S. attorney on his progress.
[male reporter] Frohnmayer said he wanted
to brief these high level officials
from the White House
and Justice Department.
This is a fortunate break, uh
but one that was,
in some ways, predictable.
At least it was not unexpected
that he might try to fly.
[Weaver]
We contacted the FAA to be informed.
We were able to establish the fact
that they were heading to Bermuda,
and Bermuda was selected
for one reason only, maybe two.
It's nice and sunny.
And secondly,
he was un-extraditable from Bermuda.
He would have
successfully escaped, uh, prosecution.
It was an interesting evening.
Uh, I don't think any of us knew
how that would end.
[Weaver] One plane was going
to refuel in Pueblo, Colorado,
and the other
was going to refuel in Salt Lake.
We found out that there was a significant
chance they were going to Charlotte.
Yeah, one thing
About this wild, wild country ♪
[female reporter]
Rumors of a pending arrest intensified
at the central Oregon ranch
after a Chicago Tribune reporter
saw Bhagwan and some disciples
leave the ranch on Learjets.
This was shortly before 5:30 p.m.
It was a little bit
like the low speed chase for OJ Simpson.
It just didn't seem like there was
a plausible ending to that episode.
[Weaver] So I got down on the floor
and looked at a map
to find out how many airports
were in the vicinity of Charlotte.
Special Agent LaDage
was able to contact another agent
and they took up positions
at the Charlotte airport.
Wasting my time ♪
I was at home on a telephone
talking to agents who were on the ground.
They were expecting that these people
in the plane might be heavily armed
and by the time the customs agents
and the Charlotte police arrived,
they had every bit
as much firepower as the Rajneeshees.
They staked out a position
and secured themselves
and instructed the tower
to tell the planes when they landed
to come down to the place
that they had staked out.
[man]
Not for long.
But the planes didn't do that.
[male reporter] Two Learjets carrying
Rajneesh and ten of his followers
landed at the Charlotte airport
at 2:00 a.m.
The U.S. Marshal Ray Abrams,
U.S. Customs agents,
local and airport police
were waiting for the guru.
The planes proceeded to, one
then another, to Butler aviation,
and so the agents
had to race down the tarmac.
And they got the jump on the planes.
They surrounded them,
pulled out their weapons,
told the pilots
to put their hands on the glass.
[pilot] We were approached
by many vehicles
and these people started
piling out of these vehicles
with high-powered weapons and started
pointing these weapons at us.
Cops everywhere, people with shotguns,
sawed-off shotguns, handguns
telling the people to get out of planes
and put their hands up on their head.
I just put my hands up
in the cockpit, you know?
And at that time I figured,
"I think we're in some kind of trouble."
The agents were able to bring everybody
off the plane without a shot being fired.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
was hiding behind the seat,
and I think Ron Taylor
found him behind the seat
uh
and was able to encourage him to deplane.
I rose like a drover ♪
[indistinct chatter]
For I am in the end the drover ♪
[male reporter]
Rajneesh is presently in custody
of the United States Marshals Service
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
[Jane]
We were sitting watching TV
in the holiday apartment
that we had in the Black Forest.
We were watching footage
of Bhagwan walking across the tarmac
in North Carolina in chains.
We couldn't believe it.
[male reporter] With $55,000 in cash,
guns, boxes of jewelry, and his throne,
the Bhagwan and a handful of his followers
fled the ranch commune.
They got as far
as Charlotte, North Carolina,
where U.S. Marshals arrested Rajneesh
and 12 of his friends.
At the same time, the doorbell rang
in the holiday apartment where we were.
Suddenly, our pension got raided
by FBI and German secret police.
The police officers informed us
that they had arrest warrants
for Ma Anand Sheela,
Ma Shanti Bhadra, and Ma Prem Puja.
The charge was attempted murder
of Bhagwan's physician.
My knees went out from under me.
[male reporter] Two FBI agents began going
through Sheela's personal effects,
gathering evidence as they waited
for her extradition to the United States.
Wild, wild country ♪
Charges against Sheela
and two of her compatriots
for attempted murder, conspiracy
to commit a murder, and assault.
[male reporter] The American authorities
have indicated they'll move rapidly
to get both the Bhagwan and Sheela
back to Oregon to face charges
a reunion neither of them wants.
Okay, I just have this one thing to say.
All I can say at this time is that
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is in custody
on a federal indictment
in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Uh, the United States Attorney
for this district, Charles Turner,
seeks to have him removed to this district
uh, to prosecute him
pursuant to that indictment.
The indictment is sealed.
It will remain sealed
until further order of the court.
-That's all I have.
-[man] Can you tell us the charges?
No, I can't.
[man] How many other people
are named on the indictment?
[woman]
Had he been informed of the indictment?
Is he arrested because of the charges
on the indictment or for illegal flight?
He's arrested for the charges
on the indictment. I'm sorry that's all.
[woman] Was he informed of those charges?
Was he aware
Sorry that's all I have.
[man]
Watch your mic. Watch your mic.
[male reporter]
What's the next step?
We'll proceed.
We'll consider our available options
and take what legal steps are available.
[male reporter]
When will you start working on it?
[Niren]
Now.
[Weaver]
I went to Charlotte.
There was a little bit
of a circus atmosphere there.
There were songs on the radio about
the Bhagwan was captured in Charlotte.
There were T-shirts
being sold outside the courthouse.
[man] Big seller, the hot pink there.
Everybody likes that one.
[male reporter] Rajneesh will spend
the next couple of days
in a jail in Charlotte,
where people suddenly find
his name at the top of the news.
I think his wealth
is really something else.
It just blows my mind
that somebody can have 90 Rolls Royces.
Isn't that how many he has?
And two Learjets.
That's really impressive.
It's a free country. I don't know.
If he's breaking the law,
I guess they should do something.
If he's not,
I suppose they should leave him alone.
[male reporter]
Inside the Mecklenburg County Jail,
one of the offices looks
like a flower shop.
These flowers have been streaming in here
since the Bhagwan arrived.
Some have even been sent to the sheriff
by Bhagwan followers who appreciate
the kind of care he's been getting here.
[male reporter] Bhagwan is held
in a third floor medical unit
with half a dozen others behind this door.
Jailers say he moves about very little
and, to deal with the noise of jail,
is using a set of earplugs.
He gets vegetarian food and medical care
from 24-hour nurses in his cellblock.
[warden]
Bhagwan's a very good prisoner.
He's been very patient with us
and he's been very cordial
to all our treatment and everything.
[male reporter]
He's a somewhat unusual prisoner for you?
Very unusual.
He's one of the, I guess,
biggest we ever had.
[Niren]
I actually was the only one
who could go in
and talk to him who was a Sannyasin,
because I was his lawyer.
So I went in
and spent hours with him every day.
I mean here's this man who is
the most amazing presence on the planet.
And he's in jail.
He's in jail.
And I need to get him out.
It's my job.
[male reporter] This is not normally
the way we see you dressed.
Is it awkward or embarrassing for you?
It is absolutely awkward and embarrassing
because I'm absolutely innocent.
I have not done any crime.
I will first fight and finish the case
because I still see
that the American Constitution
is one of the most valuable constitutions
in the world.
And it will support me and my commune.
So I'm certain that I will win it.
So there I am
in the lawyer's interview room
with him sitting on a chair
and me sitting on the floor.
He was
He was unchained.
He was just the same as when he was
sitting in front of 10,000 people
when he was sitting there
in prison dungarees.
And I would just sit there
and feel his presence and be renewed
uh
and then go out and get back at it.
[female reporter] Last week, the Bhagwan
was indicted for immigration fraud.
Authorities say he lied about
his intention to remain here permanently
and arranged sham marriages
so followers could stay too.
[Niren] He was charged with a technical
immigration violation, marriage fraud.
In the indictment,
almost everything was about Sheela,
almost nothing about Osho.
But that's all they had.
That's all they had.
[camera clicking]
[Niren] If he had not been a guru
and he was just some guy,
they would have put up
a decent bail and let him go.
If the religious leader is guilty
of all of the charges against him,
he faces a 175 years in prison
and up to $350,000 in fines.
The fact of it is the charges
that were brought against him
are almost never criminally prosecuted.
To seek to hold him in jail
pending these charges
is statistically almost unprecedented.
Um
What we are dealing
with is a political situation.
[Weaver] We have a man who has now
been charged with multiple crimes,
fled the United States, abandoning
all his followers by the way,
he was aware of the charge
and was getting out the United States
before he got caught.
The best precaution was to detain him,
return him to Oregon,
and begin to deal with
the prosecution there.
That's what we're preparing for.
[male reporter] What do you think
was the strength of your case?
Well, the strength of our case
clearly was the fact
that three days after a sealed indictment
was returned by the grand jury,
he leaves the ranch
for the first time in four years
and flies across country
in the middle of the night.
[cameras clicking]
[Weaver] We were anticipating
a vigorous trial,
and we had more evidence than we needed.
[Sheela] I was arrested,
and we were brought to the nearest prison.
All three were housed in the same room.
Me,
Puja,
and Shanti Bhadra.
There were so many journalists
around this prison.
[chatter in German]
These German police guys
were pulling out photos of me
and I had to autograph them.
It was bizarre.
The moment the German authorities
had left the room, the handcuffs went on.
The leg chains went on.
The German police handed us over
to American authorities
to take us to America.
[male reporter] Shanti Bhadra arrived on
a commercial airlines flight from Chicago,
and she'll spend the night
at the Downtown Justice Center.
Also due in tonight, Anand Sheela,
Bhagwan's former personal secretary.
[male reporter] By the time she arrived
at a dark and foggy Portland airport,
she was handcuffed,
but still managed to smile for the crowd
of photographers clustered above.
[man]
All right.
-I'll see you back in just a little bit.
-Okay. Take care.
-Okay.
-Bye-bye.
This is the best lawyer in Portland.
[female reporter] Jon, she seemed to be
smiling a lot today.
Do you really think she's enjoying
being back in the public eye?
Well, you saw the smile on her face
as she went into the courthouse today.
[cameras clicking]
[Tuttle] Nobody could be happy
being in Sheela's situation.
Prosecutors have brought
her back to Oregon
because they think they'll have her
staying here in prison for years to come.
[female reporter] Heavy security
surrounded the arrival in The Dalles
of 38-year-old Ma Anand Puja
and 40-year-old Shanti Bhadra.
They were arraigned in Wasco County
Circuit Court on attempted murder charges.
[woman]
Good morning.
-Thanks.
-[man] Very pretty.
Did I tell you
I was going to be wearing tennies?
[Gary] By the time I sat down with Sheela,
she was in federal custody
and agents brought her
and we spent an afternoon together.
I was struck
by how small and unimposing she was
because she'd been a pretty big figure
in Oregon at the time
and frankly in my life.
Um
And she was completely forthcoming,
answered all of my questions.
I believe she answered them
with complete honesty
and with not the slightest trace
of shame or regret
or, uh, anything reflecting remorse.
Um
I left thinking this is a, um
This is a person with no empathy.
[Frohnmayer] Frankly, I'm convinced
the leadership of this group
really believed they were above the law,
that they could move faster than our law
and that they could run circles around us
using our laws or breaking our laws.
Uh There was an arrogance about it
that's almost breathtaking.
[cameras clicking]
Much of what happened is monstrous,
and if Sheela had spent
the rest of her life in jail,
that wouldn't have seemed
like an excessive sentence.
[indistinct chatter]
[man]
No back-up?
[man 2]
Okay, man, back-up.
[Niren]
So, he's in jail in Charlotte.
We were told he's going to go from
Charlotte on the next plane to Portland.
[male reporter] Rajneesh's zigzag trip
back to Oregon began here Monday night
at the same airport
where he and six of his followers
were arrested October 28th.
Bhagwan was put aboard
a U.S. Marshal's jet.
[male reporter] Rajneesh left Charlotte,
North Carolina yesterday afternoon
stopping in Missouri
before flying off to Oklahoma City.
[female reporter] Apparently officials
now say he is spending another night
in Oklahoma City
at an undisclosed location.
[male reporter]
He spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights
at the El Reno Correction Institution.
[female reporter]
His third jail in just nine days.
[female reporter]
Where next for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh?
[male reporter]
As you said all week long,
It's been something
of a cat and mouse game
between federal marshals and reporters
as the U.S. Marshals
have been deliberately vague
about the exact time
and place of his arrival.
They take as long as legally possible
taking him from facility to facility,
bussing him around.
What it gave them the opportunity to do is
drag him around the country for two weeks.
I think it's a tragedy for this country
that this innocent and beautiful man
is being held in this country's prisons.
You know, this country is not
that far from the Wild West, right?
So they use every tool they have
to try and coerce accused to give up.
[camera clicking]
They often refuse voluntary surrender
so they can get their perp walk.
They like to arrest
and then put the person in the cuffs
and make them walk through this barrage
of lights to make them look guilty.
[man] Well, to see a man
who's never hurt anyone
shackled like a psychopathic killer
shows me that the United States government
is terrified of this man.
[male reporter]
They persist in their belief that Bhagwan
is being wrongly treated
and is becoming physically ill.
Spokeswoman Prem Isabel called the case,
"government sponsored kidnapping."
All I'm concerned
is with Bhagwan's health.
I don't want the man to die in jail.
That anyone could treat a man with
such grace and such beauty in that way,
I just don't understand it.
Uh He is by no means being given
any special consideration
or any red carpet treatment so to speak.
I think our assumption was he probably
wouldn't like that bus ride.
He probably wouldn't like his roommates.
[Niren] He was subsequently put
in a cell with an individual
who was diagnosed
as having contagious herpes.
Herpes.
I think this is outrageous.
[male reporter]
Charges of mistreatment.
Three strip searches allegedly performed
by local corrections officers.
[male reporter]
At 6:30 this morning,
Bhagwan was put back
on the Marshal's plane.
[male reporter] From Tucson,
it was onto Vandenberg Air Force Base.
From there,
it was a mid-afternoon stop in Sacramento.
Each time that they told him
that he was going to go somewhere,
they told him
that he was going to Portland.
And each time,
it turned out not to be true.
Richard, I understand
the U.S. Marshal is telling us
that the plane has now landed
at Boeing Field in Seattle.
That happened just a few minutes ago.
Our information is
that Bhagwan will be transferred
from that bigger airplane to a smaller one
which will in fact bring him here
to the Portland air base.
[Weaver] Between the time
that he was arrested in Charlotte
and he got back to Portland,
I think it was almost three weeks.
And as a result of that environment
he was ready to surrender.
[male reporter] Sheela,
Bhagwan's former personal secretary,
back in Oregon
to face charges of attempted murder,
first degree assault
and conspiracy to commit murder.
[male reporter] This time there was
no entourage of Rajneeshee supporters.
Sheela came to the U.S. Courthouse
in Portland under heavy guard,
virtually surrounded by federal marshals.
[male reporter]
State authorities say
she tried to poison
two Wasco County commissioners
and tried to burn
down the Wasco County Planning Office.
I thought if Sheela did all of this,
it would be possible
for her to testify against Osho
avoid prosecution herself
and that Osho could be subject
to criminal prosecution.
[camera clicking]
[Sheela] It was never a thought
in my mind to barter against Bhagwan
or barter with anybody
so that I can avoid my misery.
You cannot betray people
for their own freedom.
[male reporter]
And some major developments tonight.
Ma Anand Sheela appeared
in federal court today to plead guilty.
[female reporter] Sheela arrived
this morning to plead guilty
to charges ranging
from mass poisonings to wiretappings.
Sheela will serve the
four-and-one-half-year prison sentence,
pay fines totaling $469,000
and agree to leave the U.S.
after she is released.
Ma Shanti Bhadra,
another former commune leader,
pleaded guilty
to attempted murder of the doctor.
She'll serve ten years in prison.
[Jane]
It was decided
that Sheela and I would serve
our sentences in a federal prison.
The authorities felt it was better
for my safety not to be in Oregon.
And so I, too, was sent
to the federal prison.
It didn't get any better, I'm afraid.
I truly believed
that I'd been locked into a mental asylum.
People were screaming,
banging on the tin doors.
It was pandemonium.
Through all of that, my son Peter
still lived in Rajneeshpuram.
And when I was in prison,
Peter came to visit me.
That changed me.
Because of all that had happened
around Rajneeshpuram,
because of Bhagwan's attacks,
Peter asked me what had happened.
The abandonment,
it was just awful for him
and very painful for me
to sit behind glass,
to see the confusion
and the pain in my son's eyes.
That was
when the first seed began to stir,
the seed
that would take me away from Bhagwan.
It was the beginning
of a very long journey
of breaking the spell.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
will get his day in court.
Richard Draper listened
as the lawyers argued over trial dates
in the Rajneesh case,
now before a federal judge.
And, Richard, was today's hearing
a preview of things to come?
Oh, very much so, Mark.
Legally, it promises to be
a tangled web made for lawyers.
[Niren]
After Osho got back to Portland
myself and the rest of the lawyers
involved with his immigration case
came out to talk to him.
And I said, "These other men
are experts in this area of the law.
Why don't we hear from them?"
And all of them
basically said the same things.
"You know this is
one of the weakest cases I've ever seen.
I don't think I've ever seen a case
with this is little evidence
that they've decided to prosecute."
And Osho looked at me and said,
"Niren, what do you think?"
And I said
[voice breaking]
"Number one, if you fight this,
you'll have to spend about six weeks in
a federal court room every day, all day.
And then you'll win.
But even after you win,
if the United States government
is prepared to do all of this
to get you and to get this community,
they're not going to stop.
They will keep coming after you
until they get you.
And so I recommend that you let us
negotiate a deal and that you leave."
And Osho sat back as he always does.
Sat for a few minutes and looked off.
And then he said,
"If they will fight this
If they would fight this fairly,
I would go to the Supreme Court.
[voice breaking]
But my body cannot sustain.
My body cannot take
the things that it has
The things that it has been subjected to.
Uh
Make a deal and I will leave."
[male reporter]
In a dramatic turnaround today,
Bhagwan came to Portland this afternoon
and went straight to the U.S. Courthouse.
He was accompanied
by his team of four lawyers.
[camera clicking]
[Weaver] In those days,
court artists drew pictures.
There was a very strong presence
in that room of a dark aura.
The Rajneeshees who had packed the court
room were sending that right up my spine.
That courtroom artist,
who when it was over,
had told me that the eeriness
that she felt in that courtroom
was only akin
to one other experience she had
where she was present
with the Ayatollah Khomeini.
[male reporter] A lot of surprises
in this local news day today.
The biggest one occurred
just a couple of hours ago
in federal court here in Portland.
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh pleading guilty
to immigration fraud charges
and agreeing to leave the country.
[crowd shouting]
[male reporter] Well, Mike and Shirley,
a remarkable scene
here at the federal courthouse.
U.S. Attorney Charles Turner
still being interviewed by reporters here
following the plea agreement.
A hearing this afternoon
before Judge Edward Levy.
Bhagwan said, quote, "I never want
to return to the United States again."
Now we're trying to get closer
to the U.S. Attorney Charles Turner,
who is still making a statement
regarding the conclusion
of this hearing this afternoon.
We'll see if we can get closer.
[male reporter]
Can you tell us again? We missed this.
-You guys got to be kidding.
-[male reporter] Yeah. I'm serious.
I was very pleased
about the disposition of this case
because I felt it was clearly
within the public interest.
It vindicated the investigation
conducted by this office
and it is a public concession of guilt
by Rajneesh.
[female reporter] There are certainly
members of the public
who really wanted to see this
go to a full-blown trial.
Well, the defendant can't
We can't make a defendant go to trial
who wants to plead guilty.
[reporter chuckles]
All off these fellows
have been involved in this operation
for at least four years,
and this is a very satisfying
and successful conclusion to that process.
Kathy, I'd like to ask
Mr. Turner a question. Is he still there?
-Yes.
-Okay.
Mr. Turner, let me ask you this.
If you got what you wanted,
the Bhagwan's leaving the country,
why didn't you just let him leave
in the first place,
a couple of weeks ago that Sunday night?
Well, that's not the way our system works.
Somebody who had come here
and committed the nature of the crimes
that were committed
by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
To let him leave the country as a fugitive
and to abdicate our responsibilities
simply would be inconsistent
with our oath of office.
We simply could not do that.
Uh I would never have permitted that.
The laws on our books are enacted
in a democratic process
everyone participates in.
There's not an exception in those statutes
that says you don't have to do that
if you're smart enough to get away
before you get caught.
And the citizens of this state
needed to see
that the government
was going to hold him accountable
like we would everybody else.
[woman] That's far enough.
Give him some space, please.
[male reporter] Who are you?
-[woman] Please, give him some space.
-[male reporter] Who are you, lady?
And that night, he got on a jet
and left the United States.
None of his Sannyasins
will tell us where he's headed.
There are probably
about ten or 12 Sannyasins on the plane.
They've loaded the plane
with various pieces of luggage and boxes.
[female reporter]
Before he got on the plane, he waved,
put his hands together
in the traditional sign and smiled,
and then turned and got on the plane.
We don't know at this point
where the plane is headed.
All we suspect is that the Bhagwan
is reportedly leaving the country.
You got kicked out late last night ♪
On your throne, red-eye flight ♪
Bye-bye, Bhagwan ♪
Sold off every last Rolls Royce ♪
For your bail, had no choice ♪
Bhagwan, bye-bye ♪
I thought there was going to have to be
some acceptance from both sides
and that's where we were headed.
But then I got up one morning and it had
all blown up and it was leaving.
-A big relief finally to get rid of them.
-I guess it was just a relief.
-Just
-Yeah. That's over. [chuckles]
I'm elated about it. I really am.
I'm glad that he's gone.
I hope he never returns.
And I hope all these people
go right with him.
When I heard about it,
all I could do was heave a sigh of relief.
We're tired.
That's the best thing
that could have happened.
I think it's great.
I hope the whole camp or whatever,
town of Rajneeshpuram is, uh
Uh, just packs up and leaves
for all I care. I don't like them.
He was scaring a lot of people.
And he was being dishonest
and he finally admitted his dishonesty
and stuck his tail
between his legs and took off.
I think it's time and I think it's
happening at a very appropriate time,
Thanksgiving.
And we are very grateful.
I thoroughly believe that there was
a divine hand behind all this.
I don't think America
has a place for these people.
[male reporter] They are starting
to leave, a few at a time.
Cars packed with belongings,
destinations uncertain.
[male reporter]
How do you feel about leaving?
-Are you going to miss this place?
-Uh [chuckles]
I'm missing him already.
It was very abrupt. Quick.
Freaking out.
[male reporter]
So you think people panic at first, huh?
Yeah, I mean,
if your whole roots get cut off
[male reporter] It's tough.
Good luck to you.
[male reporter] His followers
were told the ranch will be shut down.
Huh-uh. Forget it.
I'm staying till the end, man.
I'm not going, no fucking way,
until this place is legally sold
and everybody is saying
"Okay, let's go, gang!"
That's it.
Otherwise I'm going nowhere. I'm staying.
I'm staying
until everybody is ready to go.
[male reporter]
On the bus was Spencer Williams,
who left the streets of Washington D.C.
for Rajneeshpuram about a year ago.
Man, I'm gonna miss this place.
I'm gonna miss the people here, too.
Mm, damn. Love it.
[Niren] I was still the mayor,
and I was basically left in charge
to unwind the legal as best that I could.
We sort of reached a critical mass.
There was so much stress
because I was trying to fight
all of these battles
without the resources we had had.
Simply that it's over here
that Bhagwan's leaving.
Um The impact
of the legal attacks on this community
by the state and federal government
have produced a situation
where it is no longer viable
economically or emotionally
or spiritually or sensible to continue.
And Isabel and I went up
to a cabin in the mountains.
Isabel told me that she needed to go.
I, myself, since Bhagwan left,
I didn't think that we were going
to continue this place, you know?
People, we're not fighters.
We're staying in a piece of land
where we're unwelcome.
So I said, "Okay! I'll go with you."
And we left. And that's how it went.
At the ranch, I had an experience
of being loved and accepted totally.
Totally.
[voice breaking]
For the first time in my life.
I'll tell you that's worth having.
[Sunshine]
I had deep grief.
I felt misunderstood.
I felt
I felt like, "What just happened?"
You know, I mean, we were
so busy fighting it
that, you know, it was only then
that I actually had a moment to reflect.
And because we were so raw, you know,
it was just like such an explosion.
You know, to walk away from the garden
and the houses
and to walk away
from the lakes that we built
I remember
everyone was in a good mood always
and a lot of laughing.
And to recognize what an incredible gift
it was to be alive on this earth
You know, it was a town.
We actually did, in the end, build this
incredible city that was truly joyous.
It was real people living real lives.
And literally,
in the middle of the winter,
to drive away and know that this, too,
was going to become a ghost town
It was just an amazingly surreal moment
with profound implications
for really the whole course of my life.
[man] Come on.
Everybody, look at the camera.
[overlapping chatter]
-Yeah.
-[laughing]
All right.
[female reporter]
Meanwhile, in the small town of Antelope,
old-time residents are watching
their departures
with a mixture of relief and elation.
For the past few years,
Antelope has been the city of Rajneesh.
And now many of the Rajneesh
welcoming signs are painted over.
The town is Antelope again.
[man] Probably 'cause they just figured
people would rip them off.
[male reporter] In Antelope,
this was a day of tearing down
and a day of building up.
Well, I think everybody was pretty elated,
you know, when it all fell apart.
People felt like they'd finally gotten
their town back
which they did.
-[laughing] Son of a gun.
-[man] Okay, you're live in two.
-Phil, get over here.
-[woman] Come on, Phil.
[woman]
Get in here.
-[chuckles]
-We were all ready to celebrate.
-My gosh, you know, he was
-Yeah.
-Get rid of him.
-We were gonna have a big party.
It's even hard when you live here
to realize it is really true.
It just is going to take a while for us
to realize how fantastic all this is.
[male reporter]
More than 40 supporters from The Dalles
made the pilgrimage to observe
the new government take office.
[all] And I will support the constitution
of the United States of America.
[man] Several years ago,
we would never have dreamed
that anything could happen
to a little community such as this.
But we can't live in the past.
[Bowerman] Well, this whole thing
that we endured with the Rajneeshees,
it's It's similar
to a football or basketball game.
Somebody's going to lose,
somebody is going to win.
When it's all over and done with,
uh, the season's over
[clears throat]
the champion is crowned.
Of course we won.
Just outside the post office
is a flag pole
and a little statue of an antelope.
It was donated to the community
for standing up
under this pressure that we endured.
[male reporter]
The quotation from Edmund Burke,
"The only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is for good men to do nothing."
[Kelly]
It will serve as a constant reminder
that now that we have Antelope back,
we should remember that we almost lost it.
And I look forward to the day
that I don't remember the Rajneesh at all
until I come in and see that flagpole.
[Bowerman] For me,
you miss some of the excitement.
For some reason, I don't know why,
but I sure love the fight! [chuckles]
[Silvertooth]
Antelope, it was never the same.
Well, you know so many people had left
that you weren't going back
to what you were before.
It's just not together anymore.
Not a little community like it was.
[Silvertooth]
Cafe and the store are closed.
You know, there was a school here
until all that brouhaha.
You know, time marches on.
It was an extremely unpleasant
part of my life.
And I just would like it to be over with
and not to have to talk about it anymore.
And I don't want for people to meet me
and say, "Oh, yes, I remember your name,"
or "Oh, were you involved with them?"
I don't think
that they're worth that, either.
No.
[male reporter]
This is your first interview.
Your chance
to say something to Oregonians.
Now are you daring me?
[male reporter]
I'm daring you to look at the camera
Are you daring me to do this?
I'm just asking, you know,
after a year down here,
looking back on all of what happened,
looking back on all of that.
-Today, looking back on that experience.
-Okay. I say to all Oregonians
that you did not understand Bhagwan,
nor did you understand his teaching,
nor did you understand Sheela.
You have missed out on Rajneeshee,
their business, their intelligence
and their very special ability
of celebration and laughter.
I laugh more at you
than Oregonians who say that we are happy
that Sheela is in prison.
No.
Are you sorry about anything
that happened in Oregon,
the people that did get sick,
the people that did get hurt
by all of this? Do you have any remorse?
People get sick
all over the world on daily basis.
Why should I feel remorse?
I feel bad that Oregonian
made the same mistake.
They made it in treating blacks,
American Indians, Mormons, Catholics
and any other minorities
they have treated up till now.
That I felt bad for.
But, hey,
I never claimed to change humanity.
I still don't.
[Sheela] I don't have
much to say about my time in prison.
Bear in mind, I have paid full penalty
what was charged
to me under American legal system.
In Switzerland, in Europe,
people are not considered criminal
once they have paid
their dues and are crime-free.
[chanting]
[female reporter] Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
announced he planned to live in India.
[male reporter] Reception yesterday
at the New Delhi airport
indicates Bhagwan
still has followers in India.
Bhagwan told his followers, "If they
can harass me, they can harass you."
Bhagwan called Rajneeshpuram
a beautiful experiment that failed.
He ended up back in India.
And after he got back to Poona, then
people started going back to India again.
So I went to India
because I still wanted to be around him
and it was still a great place to be.
At some point he said, "I'm not him.
I'm not this Bhagwan person.
I'm not anybody."
And then people wrote to him and said,
"We got to call you something!"
[chuckles]
You know, "Prince?"
And one of the suggestions
was the name "Osho."
Osho is from the Japanese.
It's an honorarium.
You would speak to your teacher,
your master as Osho.
He'd always been frail,
but he was like almost transparent,
his skin, you know?
Almost like he wasn't there.
He stopped speaking again.
So he was no longer giving discourses.
He would come out
greet people
and he would move across the podium
while staying facing forward
to the people there, blessing them.
And that time
I was sitting about three rows back
and he was wavering a little bit.
And at one time I could actually see
his toe was over the edge of the podium.
And I was just willing him to stay alive,
trying to give my life energy to him.
[crowd shouts]
Osho!
And the next day
everybody was called together
into the Buddha Hall.
[Deva Raj] Yesterday morning, I noticed
that Osho was obviously leaving his body.
We sat on the bed
and he gave us his final words.
He said, "I leave you my dream."
He then lay back quietly and we sat
with him while I held his pulse.
Slowly it faded.
When I could hardly feel it,
I said to him, "Osho, I think this is it."
He just nodded gently
and closed his eyes for the last time.
His body was brought
into the Buddha Hall
and placed up on the podium.
[all shout]
Osho!
There are many other things
that he said that we'll let you know,
but for now let me just say to you
that, in death, he was just as you
would have expected, incredible.
[cheering and applause]
And then it was taken from there
to the burning ghats.
Huge procession
with people carrying his body.
[rhythmic clapping and chanting]
And I was standing there,
uh watching his body burn.
Such a gift [voice breaks] he was.
Such a gift.
[cheering]
[chanting]
[Jane] When I heard that Bhagwan,
now known as Osho, had died
I was strangely indifferent.
That was something behind me.
I'd been in prison
and now I was coming home.
I was 43 years old, but I was a child.
My parents opened their arms to me
just held me
and took me home with them.
Not very long after,
I started running a juice bar
in Germany called the Saftladen.
I met my husband George in this juice bar.
And slowly, slowly I began
to get back to planet Earth.
At the same time, outside Germany,
there was still an international
arrest warrant hanging over my head.
The case to murder
Mr. Turner remained open.
[female reporter]
The prosecution alleged that the women
plotted to kill Oregon's
former U.S. Attorney, Charles Turner.
If found guilty, the women could be given
a life sentence in a U.S. jail.
[Jane]
But also at that time,
I had a stability I had never had before.
I was free from prosecution in America
as long as I could stay in Germany.
And one day
in the middle of the night,
the phone rang.
It was my daughter-in-law.
"Jane," she said. "Peter is in hospital."
I was hearing for the first time
that my son had a brain tumor
and that he might die.
I was in absolute shock.
But the arrest warrant meant I could not
travel to Australia to go to my dying son.
I had to travel to America.
I had to throw myself
at the mercy of the court
without any guarantees whatsoever.
I wanted to be free to be able to go
to my children at a time like this.
George and I went
to the airport in Frankfurt
and boarded a plane for Portland.
We walked together
to the federal courthouse.
It was raining that morning.
I was very, very focused.
The court had the discretion
of sentencing me to life imprisonment,
but I knew that this was
what had to be done.
As proceedings began,
first the prosecutor spoke
and asked that the judge
sentence me appropriately.
Then it was my turn to speak.
I felt compelled to stand
to what I had done.
I read my statement.
And then the moment
had come for sentencing.
Judge Marsh said that sometimes justice
is stronger than mercy
and that's okay.
But sometimes mercy overrules justice.
And we have such a case before us today.
And therefore,
he was sentencing me to time served.
I was free.
I was free.
And through my tears,
I could see that everybody
in the courtroom was happy for me.
FBI agents came up to me, shook my hand,
and said "Congratulations, Mrs. Stork.
You deserve it."
I wasn't a criminal in that moment.
I was a free woman
with a son who was dying
and that brought everybody together
in a very human way.
Even today when I think about it
Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes.
It was the most incredible experience
to become aware that they were
a lot of people around me that day
who were glad that I could go to my son
and be with him when he died.
[Sheela] After prison,
I had to get back on my feet.
I had to find way to survive.
When I left Bhagwan,
I left the Sannyasin community also.
I left hypocrisy.
It is time that Bhagwan's Sannyasins
open their eyes
and look at the reality
of what had happened to Bhagwan.
Bhagwan didn't have a natural death.
This doctor,
who had written death certificate
felt it was with overdose.
[Deva Raj] About nine months ago,
Osho formed the inner circle
a group of Sannyasins
now numbering 20.
The inner circle would be his successor.
[Sheela] These are the same people
who were drugging him
and the same people
who are looting him for his riches.
It was your responsibility
to take care of Bhagwan.
At least in my time, he was safe.
But Sannyasin community is my past.
In spite of what world thinks,
I have come out with upper hand.
I work with schizophrenia to dements,
from Parkinson's to Alzheimer,
and young and old dements.
I didn't want old people rejected.
What have I learned from Bhagwan?
How can I implement
his teachings in my daily life?
This commune
This is what I have learned from Bhagwan.
We eat together.
We sing, dance
sleep in this house in comfort together.
They can become old in my house
and remain till the last moment.
It is a wonderful way
of saying thank you to existence.
[Jayananda]
We, as Sannyasins,
should light the consciousness
of people around the world.
You could see
Osho's vision come to fruition.
[screams]
There are still communities
devoted to him and his teachings.
South America
Europe
and Asia.
His publishing
is growing dramatically now.
It's published in like 50 languages.
Like 1,000 new book contracts
in the last year.
[Sunshine] There are young people
flocking to Poona today
to go and learn about his meditations
and dance in Buddha Hall.
[woman] There is a full day program
of meditations available here,
all day, every day,
from morning till night.
So, his work, his teachings will live on.
[Silvertooth]
It all smells like a gimmick to me.
You know, I just think
it's a fleece from day one.
I thought he was an old con man.
They were sitting there in India
and they saw
all these rich young Europeans
tripping around, looking for God.
And they figured out these people
have got a lot of money,
so they set up shop and created Bhagwan
and found out
that it was pretty easy to fleece them.
People want to believe.
They want to belong.
They want to think, you know,
me having sex all day long is going
to really send me to heaven.
[laughs]
Anyway, that's my opinion.
After the Rajneeshees left,
this guy Dennis Washington
He's a billionaire developer from Montana.
He bought the ranch and he ended up
gifting the thing to Young Life.
It's a Christian youth organization.
They call them camps.
It's more like a resort to me.
We went from free sex, the Rajneeshees,
to no sex, Young Life.
They're very much abstinence-oriented
for their young people.
It's kind of like a cult too.
They're not perfect.
But they're much better neighbors
than the Rajneeshees.
[laughs]
They're not waving AK-47's in your face.
[Niren]
They trade on people's fear.
And they do that by defining a group
that they can fear and hate.
And then they totally misrepresent
who you are.
I think the United States has failed.
The United States has failed to recognize
the most beautiful man I've ever seen.
I think the United States has failed
to recognize the contribution
that he had to offer
to this country and to the world.
I think it's a tragedy.
[Niren]
From the legal political side of it,
I am the only one who really knows it in
the depth that it can be shared, you know?
It is somewhat difficult and painful
to talk about what happened to Osho
in the United States.
Obviously I loved him very much
and I was committed to the community.
And we were committed
to working really hard
to manifest his vision
of the transformation of the planet.
Before he died
I was told,
"Osho wants to talk to you."
So I went in
and he said, "Clear my name
in America by writing a book
and telling the truth
about what happened."
And
it's taken a long time
and it's had some twists and turns,
but that's what I'm doing,
is finishing that book now.
[Damien Jurado's "Cloudy Shoes" playing]
I wish that
I wish that ♪
I could float
I could float ♪
Float up from the ground ♪
So what I would say to people
is try to go on the journey.
The truth lies within.
What that's like ♪
He remains the master of masters.
About you
About you ♪
I wish ♪
Start the journey.
It'll change your life.
I thought it was
I thought it was ♪
Impossible
Impossible ♪
To live and love like you ♪
Bhagwan used to tell
stories of the Zen master
who, seeing that his disciple
was ready for enlightenment,
struck him with a stick and killed him.
But in the moment before his death,
he became enlightened.
And I ask myself again and again,
"Did I miss the blow from the master?
Did I run away
and not wait for that blow
that would bring me enlightenment?"
It took me many, many years
before I was free of this suspicion
that I had somehow failed.
As I'm saying this, I have
the picture of a grub in a cocoon.
If you've ever watched
a butterfly come out of its cocoon,
it's a long difficult process,
squeezing and moving
and the cocoon
is clinging to the moth's body
until it manages that last wriggle,
that last push and it's out.
Just what's it like now?
Do you look at it differently?
One thing I'm really conscious of today
is how important family is.
My parents stuck by me.
They loved me no matter what.
My husband stood by me,
and my children showed remarkable courage
and strength to come through all of that
to be the very wonderful adults
that they turned out to be.
To help pull me through ♪
Someday ♪
[Sheela] I have to live with myself.
And this living with myself,
I must look inside me.
Who am I?
What am I?
Why am I?
It is not good and bad,
right and wrong, black and white.
Of course, I don't know
when I die I come in Hell or Heaven.
But it doesn't matter.
Wherever I come,
I will create my own paradise.
Still trying to fix my mind ♪
I'm still trying to fix my mind ♪
My mind
My mind ♪
[Sheela]
I love my power.
Why not?
Bhagwan has taught me strength.
And you think I'm going
to waste my strength away?
[Sheela]
I would like to say
Sannyasin community,
you are negating
the whole experiment of Oregon
by cutting it out
from Bhagwan's biography.
His lifetime dream was a new commune.
And we created this beautiful community
that we lived in for years.
Don't kill him by concentrating
and feeling ashamed of this scandal.
Don't forget every one of us
was part of that scandal.
Finished?
Ah! [chuckles]
I thought
it would never come to an end in my life!
[laughs]
We definitely all need a drink.
Okay.