The Narrative of Ma Anand Sheela: Charisma and Institutionalization in the Rajneesh/Osho Movement

This article will discuss charisma and institutionalization in the Rajneesh/Osho movement between 1981 and 1985, during its Rajneeshpuram, Oregon phase, based on an interview with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s former secretary, known as Ma Anand Sheela. A model by sociologist Roy Wallis with different possibilities for the charismatic leader to respond to institutionalization will be applied, and a previous application by sociologist Susan J. Palmer will be discussed. I argue that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later known as Osho, was more active in the institutionalization of the movement than is depicted by the group, and that legal reasons may have been the motivation for both his vow of silence from 1981 to 1984 and the creation of the religion Rajneeshism in 1983.