NOT LONG AGO, in the dusty deserts of Central Oregon, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh—an Indian philosophy professor turned entrepreneurial spiritual leader—bought all 64,000 acres of the Big Muddy Ranch. From 1981 to 1985, Rajneesh turned it into his vision of a utopia, calling it Rajneeshpuram.
Rajneesh called his followers the sannyasins—and at their peak, there were thousands of them, many of them young professionals. These devotees dressed entirely in orange while they helped turn the land into a functioning community complete with a mall and a transit system. While Rajneesh promised his followers spiritual enlightenment, some of his motivations and the corruption of Rajneeshpuram’s leaders contrasted sharply with the group’s supposed ideals. (Rajneesh was known to drive around in one of his 93 Rolls-Royces, purchased for him by wealthy sannyasins.) Leaders attempted to gain city status for the commune, and came close to success—for a while, Rajneeshpuram even had its own zip code.
Land-use disputes with nearby ranchers and the local government eventually led to Rajneeshpuram’s downfall—but only after sannyasin leaders tapped wires, attempted murder, poisoned more than 700 people at salad bars in the Dalles in an attempt to affect voter turnout, and created the controversial “Share-a-Home” program that bussed in thousands of homeless Americans, another attempt to impact voting numbers. Less than five years after it began, Rajneeshpuram was abandoned, and its followers had no choice but to disperse.