stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

THE MANGO KID 129
And thereby was the table set for the fortunate few to “eat,
drink and be merry,” for
shortly before [Rajneesh] came out of his three and a half
year silence, he prophesied with great drama and precision
that two-thirds of humanity would die of the disease AIDS
by the year 2000 (Palmer and Sharma, 1993).
That off-base prediction was based on Bhagwan’s understanding
of a Nostradamus verse. (For a debunking of the latter purported
seer, see Randi’s [1993] The Mask of Nostradamus.)
Fears that insiders at the Oregon ashram may have been plotting
to murder Rajneesh soon took root, however. Thus, in late
1984, Bhagwan and his “right-hand woman,” Sheela, allegedly
commenced with spending $100,000 per month on the installation
of wiretapping and bugging equipment throughout Rajneeshpuram
(Milne, 1986).
Directing their attention as well to concerns outside of the
ashram, followers in the same year
spiked salad bars at ten restaurants in [nearby The Dalles,
Oregon] with salmonella and sickened about 750 people
(Flaccus, 2001).
The goal there was apparently to incapacitate large numbers
of voters, allowing the Rajneesh-sponsored candidates to prevail in
county elections. A contamination of the local water supply was
reportedly planned for after the “test” restaurant poisoning.
Investigations into that salmonella outbreak ultimately revealed
an alleged plot to kill the former U.S. Attorney for Oregon,
Charles Turner. Though the attack was never actually carried out,
in the hope of derailing the investigation into their other activities
some of Rajneesh’s loyal followers nevertheless reportedly
assembled a hit team in 1985. They bought guns, watched
Turner’s home, office and car, and discussed ways to assassinate
him (Larabee, 2000).
Following all that, and with the continuing failure of his
apocalyptic predictions for the near-end of the world to materialize
—as they had previously dissipated in 1978 and 1980—Rajneesh
was deported from the U.S. for immigration violations in 1985. He
was refused entry by at least twenty countries before finally re-