Bhagwan, The God That Failed

This insider's account of life within the cult of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is curiously unsatisfying. Filled with sex, scandal, and tragedy, it reads well, but one never gets a feeling for either the people running the movement or for those who participated in it. Milne, who spent years as an aide and bodyguard to Bhagwan, never addresses the question of motivation: Why did thousands of educated Westerners throw away years of their lives, endure privation and disease, and ultimately beggar themselves in the service (worship?) of an Indian guru? Nor does he satisfactorily explain why he sacrificed a promising career in osteopathy to become a disciple of a man who, if he had anything intelligent to say, has been badly served by this book.