Les Zaitz was a reporter for the Oregonian in the early 1980s, when he began covering a group of people, known as the Sinyasins who were followers of the enigmatic Indian guru, Baghwan Shree Rajneesh.
They arrived in the Northwest with visions of creating a whole new city in the middle of the Oregon desert. They called themselves a religion. Many others have called them a cult.
The story Zaitz was covering soon transformed from a curiosity to an epic drama, complete with massive fraud, betrayal and plots to commit murder. Even Zaitz himself was told he was a marked man.
Behind it all was a figure that loomed even larger than the guru himself: Ma Anand Sheela. She acted as Chief of Staff for the whole operation, running the multimillion dollar international enterprise.
Hear Les Zaitz recall his sometimes-troubling interactions with Sheela and the Rajneeshees by clicking the "Listen" link above.
