Ma Anand Sheela
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ma Anand Sheela (Sheela Silverman, later Sheela Birnstiel) was the personal secretary of the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, from 1981 to 1985, and the main manager and spokesperson of the controversial Rajneeshpuram, Oregon, commune.
Set up under false pretences (the true size of the envisioned development was initially downplayed[1]), the growing commune soon found itself embattled. Faced with intense hostility from Oregonians and a growing array of legal, legislative and personal challenges, Sheela's defense tactics became increasingly desperate, gradually morphing into actual criminal behaviour.[2]
Following her acrimonious split from Rajneesh and the collapse of the Rajneeshpuram commune, Sheela served three years in prison for the attempted murder of Rajneesh's personal physician, first and second degree assault (poisoning) of public officials, immigration fraud, wiretapping within Rajneeshpuram, and causing a salmonella food poisoning epidemic in The Dalles, Oregon[3]. In 1988, she was released early, because of good behaviour[3], and deported.[1]
She now lives in Switzerland, being a widow of a Swiss citizen.
In Australia and New Zealand, she is remembered for popularizing the phrase "Tough Titties", having used the expression to great effect in a television interview.[2][3]
[edit] References
- ^ Lewis F. Carter: Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram (1990: 124)
- ^ Lewis F. Carter: Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram (1990: 195)
- ^ a b Lewis F. Carter: Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram (1990: 237)
