Bhagwan Rajneesh Dies At 58 -- Former Oregon Guru Had Been Living In India

CUTLINE: HARLEY SOLTES / SEATTLE TIMES, 1985: ARMED GUARDS PROTECTED RAJNEESH AFTER CITIZENS IN OREGON BEGAN TO RESENT THE COMMUNE AT RAJNEESHPURAM.

CUTLINE: AP, 1985: FOLLOWERS LINED THE ROADS OF THE COMMUNE WHEN RAJNEESH DROVE HIS ROLLS-ROYCE ON DAILY TOUR.

The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the guru who drew thousands of followers to central Oregon by preaching a blend of Eastern religion, pop psychology and free love, died today of heart failure. He was 58.

Rajneesh, known as Osho Rajneesh in recent years, died at his commune in the southern city of Poona, where he had lived since being deported from the United States in 1985.

``Osho left his body at 5:30 p.m. The doctors say it's heart failure,'' Swami Kirti, a spokesman, said in a telephone interview.

``I'm totally upset,'' said one Seattle follower, Manda, when told today of Rajneesh's death. ``You always know it's going to happen, but you are never prepared.''

Manda said she and a friend had just finished their meditations early today at the Suravi Meditation Center on Capitol Hill, a center devoted to Rajneesh's teaching.

``I'm going to have to call someone in India and find out what really happened,'' she said.

Rajneesh was deported from the United States in 1985 after pleading guilty to violating federal immigration laws. His once-famous commune near the town of Antelope in central Oregon, the 64,000-acre Rajneeshpuram, was disbanded.

His followers in the United States had bestowed dozens of Rolls-Royces on their revered guide.

The Oregon commune, which was started in 1981, was controversial for several reasons, but especially because the guru fought local people for control of Antelope.

Rajneesh was expelled from the U.S. after it was determined he helped arrange sham marriages to protect foreign members of the sect from deportation.

Rancho Rajneesh was once home to more than 7,000 disciples before an internal power struggle fragmented the sect in 1986.

Several of the sect's top officials, including Ma Anand Sheela, the guru's pistol-packing personal secretary, were imprisoned after the virtual shutdown of the ranch, which was found to contain a large cache of weapons and contingency plans for a range war with people of other faiths.

Sheela served time for attempted murder and other charges, after she pleaded guilty to masterminding food poisonings that sickened more than 750 diners at restaurants in the town of The Dalles in northern Oregon, as part of a plot to gain political control of the county. She was later deported.