Customer Reviews

Golden Guru: The Strange Journey of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

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While this book is better than many of the other books written by ex-Rajneeshees, it is still a highly personalized account of the author's interactions with the Rajneesh movement. The author clearly has some sympathy for the Rajneeshees, but also sees their mistakes and criticizes their antagonistic attitudes towards the people of Oregon. Still, there are few details about how Rajneeshpuram was established or what happened to some of the major players after Rajneeshpuram collapsed.

I found this book to be endlessly fascinating.
Written by a research psychiatrist,it's an amazing document of the lengths people will go to in order to avoid taking responsibility for their own lives.
One has to admire the author James S. Gordon, for his integrity as a writer, as he seems to have at times totally lost himself in his subject matter, and yet retained his critical faculties until the end. He witnessed many others, however, who seemed to
lose all capacity for independent thought when in the presence of the man they referred to simply as "Bhagwan".
It is also interesting to be reading this book today, in light of the events that have been set in motion by the tragedy of
September 11th. While some of the Bhagwan's religious practices, bizzare though they were,might still have been tolerated
in a relatively open society such as ours, the actions he and his converts undertook in fighting governmental authority would
undoubtedly have been suppressed with lightning speed.
All in all,this is a fascinating and chilling testimonial to the frailty of the human psyche. Any reader who assumes that highly educated professionals ,including those in the psychiatric and medical fields, would be the least likely of us to succumb to mind control in the guise of spiritual growth might feel differently after reading this book.
One caveat, however: if you start this book, you yourself may fall victim to a kind of mind control. You may have a very hard time putting it down.

Dr. Gordon strives to present both sides of the story fairly. He manages to retain a healthy skepticism and ample dose of critical thinking, while at the same time expresses his fascination and even a strange love for Rajneesh. I am not connected to Rajneesh; I've never met him, never took sannyas, and did not participate in his organization. I have no direct experience or knowledge of Bhagwan or his organizations, beyond reading his books. However in studying the accounts of his followers, and critics alike, regardless what actually happened, Rajneesh was a rare presence in the spiritual world. Although dead, he is still influencing thousands of people; his original books command a high price, sometimes selling for hundreds of dollars. His words still ring fresh and true. Obviously Rajneesh was far from perfect, but after a lifetime of studying and traveling all around the world, I've never met a perfect human being. I don't know why one expects a master to be flawless? It seems a master is one who brings spiritual change, one who wakes us up, breaks patterns of unawareness, in short a catalyst.
The Golden Guru is good source of information for those interested in the Rajneesh movement. Dr. Gordon presents the facts in a very compelling manner and leaves the rest to the reader.

Not that I was there or know anyone that was. But having friends who were part of another cult type group and hearing their stories and reading this I am amazed at the similarites in these guru/cult like organizations.
It is like there is a guru acadamy somewhere and they have all had the exact same courses.
Be prepared to be dismayed and alarmed at the numbers highly intelligent, learned professionals who are ready to succumb to infantilization, sucking their thumbs and giving their power to the omnipotent Daddy.
I recommend this one along with Enlightenment Blues and Mother of God. The only others I have read so far on the fallen guru track.