When I was a university student, the Indian religious figure who is now simply called OSHO was then known as Rajneesh or Roshi. Although OSHO was still alive at that time, I didn't have any direct contact with him, but I simply read his books and participated in offline meetings of a mailing list (ML), where I listened to talks about Roshi's ashram.

I didn't know the details until recently, but around that time, Roshi Rajneesh was causing problems in the United States. There is a documentary series called "Wild Wild Country" on Netflix, which I recently watched with great interest. Now that I think about it, I was hearing about the events that occurred there from participants at the offline meetings. Some participants were actually there and had interacted with Seela, a key figure, and were expressing their opinions about her. Others were talking about staying at the ashram in India and how the energy there was amazing.

I didn't personally go to the ashram, but I simply listened to talks and read Roshi Rajneesh's books. The other participants were talking about becoming sanyasins, which is a kind of initiation, and receiving a new name called "sanyas." I remember that in the past, names were given, but now people can choose their own names. Some participants said that there was meaning in receiving a name that you couldn't choose yourself. It seems that now that Roshi Rajneesh is no longer alive, people can choose their own names.

I was not a disciple of Roshi, but I was simply interested in his books and read them at that time. However, on the mailing list, I heard fragmented stories about the events that occurred at the ashram in the United States. Although it was difficult to grasp the entire picture, I felt that I was hearing the honest opinions of people who were involved in what was essentially a cult group in the United States at that time.

I remember that the argument was something like, "We didn't know that Seela was doing such things. The ashram itself was full of energy, and it's Seela's fault." However, it's been over 20 years, so my memory may be inaccurate. Some participants at the offline meetings said that "Seela's angry face was traumatizing," and everyone seemed to be saying that Seela was the one at fault.

According to the Netflix documentation, it seems that the cult group was engaging in activities where they were naked, freely interacting with each other, having intense physical contact, taking drugs, and getting high. However, based on what I heard at a Japanese offline meeting at the time, they certainly didn't openly talk about doing those things. However, looking back, there seemed to be a sense that they were using coded language, implying that they were doing those things, but couldn't openly talk about it in Japan.

I heard a story from a woman who went to the ashram, and she said that when she was there, she was casually approached by foreigners who would say things like, "Hey, let's have S..X." When another person was surprised and asked, "Did you really have S..X?" the girl hesitated and, after a moment of silence, replied, "No, I didn't." However, I felt like she was definitely doing it. Originally, she seemed to have a "spiritual" image, but also a "pure" and "bitchy" vibe, so I thought she probably did it.

Even so, the book was still sufficient for learning the basics of New Age and spirituality, and I think it served as a foundation for my first foray into spirituality during my sensitive years until I was twenty.