RAJNEESHPURAM, Ore. -- The chief financial officer for the Rajneesh commune says if authorities let Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh leave the country, they are ready to sell the Rancho Rajneesh and its assets.
Swami Dhyan John, president of Rajneesh Investment Corp., made the comment Thursday as a federal magistrate in Charlotte, N.C., was deciding whether to release the Indian guru on bail on immigration fraud charges against him.
'If Bhagwan were to leave the country, if he were granted voluntary departure, this commune would proceed with business as usual,' John said in a news conference. 'Unless Bhagwan were to invite us to come and be with him.'
In a statement provided UPI, John added, 'Then we would sell the ranch, sell the assets and we would go and be with him in ones, in twos, in tens, in hundreds and even thousands.'
The president of the corporation that owns the 64,000-acre Rancho Rajneesh, many of the commune's buildings and many of its assets, said that his statement was not an attempt to bargain with federal officials.
'The federal officials have their plans,' he said. 'Whatever I say will not affect them.'
John said that Rajneeshpuram would continue without the guru if Bhagwan 'decided he wants to go away and be silent and mediate alone.'
John said the commune would survive 'as a model community and as an irritant to American culture.'
John estimated the value of Rajneesh assets at $300 million, including property in the city of Rajneesh, formerly Antelope, and Portland.
John said the Rajneeshees 'have plenty of money' to pay for lawyers representing Rajneesh and other commune members charged by authorities in the investigation into alleged sham marriages.
Swami Ashumali, a commune spokesman, said any thought that the people at the commune would leave 'en masse' if Rajneesh left was 'just wishful thinking' by some of the commune's critics.
He said there would be some people leaving because the guru was the 'main attraction' for them, but he added that an earlier commune in Poona, India, is still operating even though Rajneesh left.
