Talk:Rajneeshpuram

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article covers subjects of relevance to WikiProject Urban studies and planning, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Urban studies and planning on Wikipedia.
Start	This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale.
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the assessment scale.

	Oregon Portal This page is part of WikiProject Oregon, a WikiProject dedicated to articles related to the U.S. state of Oregon. To participate: join (or just read up) at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.
PSU stuff & Applegate Trail are the current Collaborations of the week.
Start	This page is rated as Start-Class on the quality scale.
Low	This article is rated as Low-importance on the importance scale.

It is requested that a photograph or photographs be included in this article to improve its quality, if possible. Wikipedians in Oregon may be able to help!

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Rajneeshpuram article.
Please sign and date your posts by typing four tildes (~~~~). Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic. New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Ask questions, get answers. This is not a forum for general discussion about the article's subject.	Be polite Assume good faith No personal attacks Be welcoming	Article policies No original research Neutral point of view Verifiability

[edit] merge notice

Hi, if you are here to discuss about the merger, I'd like to inform you that the relevant place to discuss it is Talk:Antelope, Oregon. Thanks, --Gurubrahma 13:07, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] references for further development

Here are a few useful references for expanding and balancing the article. If no one beats me to it, I'll get round to it.

• http://www.rickross.com/reference/rajneesh/rajneesh5.html summary and history
• http://www.wasco-history.r9esd.k12.or.us/comm/bigmuddy/gate.html photos of road gates
• http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0030-8684(199002)59%3A1%3C77%3AUABTFO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U book for sale about it: visible first page
• http://www.rickross.com/reference/rajneesh/rajneesh21.html younglife dispute buying the land
• http://www.a2zgorge.info/community/towns/antelope.htm nice summary detail about effect on Antelope
• http://gesswhoto.com/sheriff-wasco2.html a law enforcement perspective
• http://www.croc.org/events/rogaine2007/bigmuddy2007.php Recent event at the ranch: 2007 US Rogaine championships (the sport of long distance cross-country navigation)
• http://www.wasco-history.r9esd.k12.or.us/map.html location of big muddy range (in lower right corner)
• I think it is located here
• http://home.att.net/~meditation/Weaver.html Jim Weaver reminisces
• http://www.clui.org/clui_4_1/lotl/lotlv10/rajneesh.html fact or gossip?

—EncMstr 01:39, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

I just updated the Antelope, Oregon article (copy and paste city). Note that the a2zgorge.info site is a verbatim copy of Oregon Geographic Names (pages 27 and 797) and cite accordingly. The second half of that page has good info on Antelope, but isn't from ghosttowns.com as cited. Not sure where it's from but is likely also copied from something... Katr67 02:22, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Looking at the above sources, Jim Weaver's reminiscences are definitely not reliable! His article has Bhagwan and Sheela leaving Rajneeshpuram on the same day. Everyone knows that Sheela left first, and Bhagwan held press conference after press conference in Rajneeshpuram denouncing her, accusing her of having stolen money, etc. If he can get such basic things wrong, then I don't think we should be relying on the rest of what he's saying, unless it can be verified independently. 172.188.239.74 09:24, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, I fear some of the other sources are not much better, just yellow press full of factual errors. For more reputable sources, see

• Lewis F. Carter, Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram: A Community without Shared Values (Cambridge University Press) 1990 ISBN 0-521-38554-7
• Frances FitzGerald, Cities on a Hill: A Journey Through Contemporary American Cultures (Simon & Schuster) 1986 ISBN 0-671-55209-0 (includes a section on Rajneeshpuram previously published in two parts in The New Yorker magazine, Sept. 22 and Sept. 29 1986 editions)
• Judith M. Fox, Osho Rajneesh. Studies in Contemporary Religion Series, No. 4 (Signature Books) 2002 ISBN 1-56085-156-2
• University of Oregon video on Rajneeshpuram
• Guide to the Rajneesh collection at the University of Oregon

172.188.239.74 09:37, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Good points. I was attracted to Weaver's bit more for the alternate perspective involving the BLM land swap and how it affected Bill Bowerman, not for timeline. Also the NO2 spigots and electronic eavesdropping setup aren't mentioned in much depth anywhere else. Incorporating all this will probably involve a lot of "some sources say.... others suggest..." to keep it balanced. —EncMstr 15:36, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Weaver's article are reminiscences written 20 years after the event; I have a feeling like a fisherman's tale, the fish gets bigger each time the tale gets told. If something's not mentioned by observers like Carter and FitzGerald who spent months on site at the time, doing very thorough research, then I don't think Weaver alone cuts the mustard as an encyclopaedic source. 172.188.239.74 17:20, 22 September 2007 (UTC)