1992/01/01 by Susan J. Palmer, Frederick Bird · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Indian and Buddhist Studies #Anthropological Studies and Insights #Religion and Society Interactions #Individualism #Charisma #Style (visual arts) #Humanism #Veneration #Sociology #Humanistic psychology #Focus (optics) #Psychotherapist #Social psychology #Psychology #Environmental ethics #Political science #Gender studies #Law #History #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.2307/3711252
openalex publication_date 1992/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Throughout the history of an NRM remarkable for its social experiments and its ritual, sexual, and economic innovations, therapy has played a prominent role. On the basis of data collected through interviews and participation in Rajneesh therapy groups, it is postulated that, during the Rajneeshpuram phase, the function of therapy was to forge new identities through the ritual breaking of taboos, to educate new members in the alternative sexual ethics of the commune, and to initiate these members into the charismatic community. Also, this study will address the apparently irreconcilable conflict between an Esalen-style humanism and an oriental-style veneration for the guru found in this NRM, and will argue that therapy groups provided a forum in which the ongoing struggle between an individualistic-therapeutic focus and a collective-devotional focus could be resolved.