Comments on: Jayananda, Sheela’s ex-husband gives more detail of his experience

By: swamishanti

swamishanti — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 12:27:52 +0000

Indeed, there were other testimonies from members of Sheela’s gang given to the same court (in 1995 ) as Ava’s, but as Max Brecher pointed out in his book on the Ranch, ‘A Passage to America‘, two of the other witnesses of the tape, KD and Yogini, came out and gave different versions, on the same day, of what Osho said on the tape. While KD’s said “it may be necessary to kill people to stay in Oregon”, (Ava had stated the gist of the tape was “It would be necessary to kill people to stay in Oregon” – yet she claimed not to have listened to the tape but had been given a transcript to read). Meanwhile, Yogini came out later and told the court , “Bhagwan told Sheela if one person – if just one person had killed Hitler, then six million people would be alive now.”

By: alokjohn

alokjohn — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:46:47 +0000

Perhaps they were promised light (or no) sentences if they told all, in the hope of getting something incriminating on Osho.

By: Arpana

Arpana — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 07:40:35 +0000

Brighter the light. Deeper the shadows.

By: Parmartha

Parmartha — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 06:48:50 +0000

I know that people as far apart as Lokesh and Shantam feel that the Sheela story is just so much old hat and should be buried in the Sahara of history.
I disagree, I don’t feel lessons have been learned about it by many, and don’t feel that the story has ever really been told except here on SN, and also more alarmingly, many are in denial that somehow or other a set of circumstances arose that we shared a commune with such a gang and sometimes the bedrooms of the conspirators.
I mean, as SD says, when one looks at the crimes that Ava admitted to under oath, we were being taken along a road in 1984/5 which was perilously close to National Guard intervention and then, who knows, we might not even be here, had the old man not just suddenly up and left.

By: paganidiot

paganidiot — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:37:00 +0000

Parmartha,

Oh it’s her in fact…

check it out:

http://www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/where_are_they_now.html

frank…look through all her photos on FB and then tell me she’s still

cheers all

By: paganidiot

paganidiot — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:30:19 +0000

ha ha…

By: Teertha

Teertha — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:26:48 +0000

I remember Ava from the Ranch. Oddly, my memory of her is from a time when I was having a heated argument with Patipada. This was July of ’84, just after the summer festival. (I had done something rebellious, and Patipada wanted me to leave the Ranch. I refused, and eventually they relented). That was a very intense time, I was told, because these 21 people had just been declared ‘enlightened’ by Osho (which later turned out to be a joke), and there was some renewed effort to get rid of troublemakers — or something like that.

As for the light sentences, I think that connects up with Charles Turner’s declaration that the main intent from the beginning was to destroy the commune and get Osho out of the country. Once done, they were inclined to be lenient with female henchmen that they saw, doubtless coloured by their Christian filters, as mere pawns of the Devil. I don’t think for a moment that the authorities believed Osho’s position that he was unaware of Sheela’s crimes.

By: Parmartha

Parmartha — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:26:58 +0000

I agree Satyadeva. These people were very lucky and could have gone to prison for much longer periods.
I am sure Ava was “clever”, as many said at the end of the Ranch, by turning state’s evidence.
She ensured she would have a “life” – and Pagan seems to think he has found this Ava on facebook, and indicates she has a good life. Meanwhile, she ratted on all her old cronies, some of whom served light prison sentences, but she herself never saw the inside of a prison cell, even for a single night!
I never really understood why Sheela, Sue, Savita etc. and the like got what in the USA were really quite light sentences…Maybe the conventional view held sway in the Courts that they were actually taking the rap for their Master…a view which I feel is completely nuts, given the evidence now available through these transcripts.

By: frank

frank — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:42:19 +0000

she`s not bad looking,mind,and she`s got a good job with the world health organisation,plenty of lucre,and she likes dancing….mm…i might just ask her out next time i`m in botswana…..
i can just imagine getting back to her place after a good night of salsa at a local club….. she pours me a drink,passes it to me and whispers “why dont you slip into something more comfortable “…..like ….a coma….

By: paganidiot

paganidiot — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:45:19 +0000

and can you imagine that person now has a facebook.. with family pics and all that….?

go figure