Meet the Rajneesh, the Cult at the Center of Netflix’s ‘Wild Wild Country’

If you aren’t already raving to your friends about Netflix’s new docuseries Wild Wild Country, then you need to get caught up and start spreading the word! The series–directed by Maclain and Chapman Way and executive produced by Jay and Mark Duplass–details a cult’s passive-aggressive (but emphasis on the aggressive) takeover of a small retirement town in rural Oregon. But the drama doesn’t stop there, otherwise the docu-drama would be over in just an episode. Instead, the six-part series exposes an intricate web of intrigue, one involving mass poisonings, numerous assassination attempts, massive immigration fraud, elaborate election rigging, and so much more!

But what about the Rajneesh movement, the religious cult at the center of Wild Wild Country? What’s their deal, besides all the terror they brought to an entire county in Oregon? And are they still a thing? Unlike other cult documentaries, Wild Wild Country is more concerned about the crimes the Rajneeshee cult committed than their religious practices. And those crimes are definitely more shocking than the Indian mysticism practiced by the movement’s members, so that’s a wise call. But if you want a primer on what this group’s whole deal was, whether you’ve watched the captivating doc or not, then here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about the Rajneeshee cult.

Who started the Rajneesh movement?

The Rajneesh movement was started by a spiritual guru named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, although that is merely one of his many, many names. Bhagwan Rajneesh, also known simply as “Bhagwan” or “Rajneesh,” was born Chandra Mohan Jain in India in 1931. By the 1960s, the 30-year-old Rajneesh had acquired a few degrees in philosophy and attained spiritual enlightenment. His remarkable charisma led him to became a popular lecturer, speaking out against socialism and even Mahatma Gandhi and promoting his ideas about sexual freedom. This is when Rajneesh accumulated a reputation as a sex guru, and his teachings definitely leaned into his rep.

In the ’70s, Rajneesh and his followers established a massive ashram (a religious community) in the city of Pune in India. There, followers meditated and took in daily, epic lectures from Rajneesh. Followers could even relocate to the ashram permanently after months of meditation, taking on labor jobs and getting paid with continued access to the magnetic Rajneesh.

Rajneesh didn’t stop changing his name, either. Towards the end of his life (so, towards the end of the time period covered in Wild Wild Country), Bhagwhan Rajneesh did some personal rebranding and changed his name to Osho, the Japanese word for a Buddhist priest. So if you’re looking for even more true facts about Rajneesh’s rollercoaster ride of a life, don’t forget to search for the name “Osho.”

What do the Rajneesh believe?

If you’ve got an hour to kill, the first episode of Wild Wild Country is the one that really dives into the origin and beliefs of the Rajneeshee movement. Overall, the religion prioritizes meditation, love, and living in the moment. Also one of Rajneesh’s “ten commandments” is “do not swim–float,” so, there’s that.

Really, the Rajneesh movement is a religion that is not a religion. Instead of adhering to strict beliefs, those involved followed strict rituals in order to bring out what they believed to be the playful and joyful side of life. Those rituals included communal living, wearing nothing but the colors orange or maroon (and later pink), and taking part in massive meditation exercises. That meditation also has a structure, broken down into five parts: chaotic breathing followed by a physical explosion of screaming and kicking, chanting a mantra (“Hoo!”) while jumping up and down, standing totally still, and then concluding with, well, a dance party.

That meditation could also get kinda dark, as a documentary shot within the Pune ashram in the late ’70s caught. That “physical explosion” stage could get physically violent, and the final “dance party” stage could also devolve into a big ol’ orgy. Obviously this information did not sit well with the inhabitants of the tiny, conservative Oregon town when they learned of the Rajneesh movement’s reputation as a sex cult.

It’s also worth pointing out that Rajneesh’s anti-socialist stance led to this religion having capitalistic tendencies. The Rajneesh himself loved the finer things in life, and his followers were proud of how many diamond-covered watches and Rolls Royces their mentor owned. The commune also acted as a tiny corporation, selling a ton of Rajneesh’s books.

What do followers call themselves?

This is actually a point of confusion! At the time of the Oregon Incident, the citizens of Oregon and newscasters across the country referred to them as Rajneeshees. Members of the movement, however, called themselves neo-sannyasins or just sannyasins. You’ll hear both of those names used in Wild Wild Country.

What did they do in Oregon?

What didn’t they do in Oregon?! Answer: abide by zoning laws!

By the end of the ’70s, the Rajneesh movement had hit a brick wall in India. The movement was too big, the Indian government did not like them, and an attempt was made on Rajneesh’s life. All that led to the once talkative Rajneesh taking a vow of silence (which lasted 3.5 years!) and the group undertaking a massive relocation to a 64,000 acre lot in the wilds of Oregon. And when they got there, they totally ignored the whole “ranch land” part of the sale and proceeded to build one of the most ambitious and complex planned communities ever seen. They built an airport, y’all.

As if the influx of thousands of maroon-clad religious members wasn’t unsettling enough to the rural area’s sleepy way of life, the news that new hotels and shopping centers were being built on land intended for ranching was too much for Oregon. They slapped the Rajneesh movement with all sorts of fines and halted their city’s progress–so the Rajneeshees fought back by buying a town. And more. And worse. Way worse. Again, election rigging, assassination plots, mass poisoning–you name it, it probably happened in Wasco County in the early-to-mid-’80s.

What’s up with the Rajneesh movement today?

The Rajneeshees, where are they now? Following the Oregon Incident, the Rasjneesh movement returned to the Pune ashram in India, and the guru formerly known as Rajneesh died of heart failure in 1990 at the age of 58. The movement, however, did not die–even though Rajneesh disbanded the religion upon changing his name to Osho. His followers kept the religion and Osho’s memory alive in Pune–check out the 21st century ashram via the website–and across the globe as new members journey to spiritual centers. And if you want to stay a month at the Pune site, you’ll drop somewhere between $1000-2000 on meditation, lodging, and food costs.

Where to stream Wild Wild Country