The Golden Guru: The Strange Journey of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Gordon speculates that Indian guru Rajneesh owned 93 Rolls Royces as a clever reminder to his disciples that the whole of existence is just a play, a game. That woolly thought is fairly typical of the twaddle that weighs down this firsthand report by an NIMH psychiatrist who tracked the laconic holy man for 13 years, from Poona, India to his communal ranch in Antelope, Ore. In India, Gordon found the movement ""in many ways sensible and attractive'' while recognizing the physical violence and coercion that were common occurrences. His sojourn to Rajneeshpuram in Oregon yields a grisly tale of paranoia among disciples, attempted poisonings and ruthless manipulation by the swami's assistant, Ma Anand Sheela. Gordon's conflicted stance, a mixture of admiration and disillusion, reverence and dismay, is immoderate in light of the episodes he describes. (August 25)