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''Byron v. Rajneesh Foundation International'' was a 1985 lawsuit filed by Helen Byron in Portland, Oregon against Rajneesh Foundation International, the organization of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (now known as Osho). Byron had been recruited to join the Rajneesh movement by her daughter, Barbara. She traveled to India to join her daughter and the organization. Byron provided over US$300,000 to the organization, and some of the money was used to buy an armored Rolls Royce for Rajneesh. Byron spoke to the legal leader of the organization, Ma Anand Sheela (Sheela Silverman), and requested that her money be returned, asserting that it was a loan. Sheela reportedly told her that the money would be returned to her once the group moved to Oregon. Byron followed the organization to its location in Oregon, known as Rajneeshpuram, and requested through an attorney that her money be returned. In 1985, she filed a lawsuit against the organization in federal court, in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. Both Byron and Sheela testified in the case: Byron testified that her money was a loan to the organization to purchase land in India, and Sheela that the money was a donation to the organization. A survey submitted by the Rajneesh organization in the case was deemed unreliable by the judge because the survey had been conducted by volunteers who were also members of the organization. The jury decided in favor of Byron, and awarded her her money plus punitive damages. Subsequent to the jury decision, Ma Anand Sheela and an inner circle of followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh at Rajneeshpuram compiled a hit list of people they planned to murder, including both Helen and Barbara Byron, as well as United States Attorney Charles Turner and Oregon Attorney General David Frohnmayer. Sheela and other followers obtained handguns in Texas and false identification in New York, but the plot was never carried out. ==Byron requests return of money from Rajneesh== Helen C. Byron, originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, was recruited into the Rajneesh movement by her daughter Barbara J. Byron, who had previously joined the group in India. She traveled to India and joined her daughter as a follower of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in 1978.〔〔 Within the Osho movement Helen Byron was known as Ma Idam Shunyo, and Barbara J. Byron was referred to as Makima.〔 Byron gave considerable sums of money to Rajneesh, and lent or contributed more than US$300,000 to his group which was used to purchase an armored Rolls Royce for him.〔 Byron requested the money be returned to her and said it was a loan, and stated that the legal leader and president of the Rajneesh organization, Ma Anand Sheela, had only asked for the money on a temporary basis.〔〔 Byron stated Sheela was aware that Byron needed the money returned for treatment and special needs related to her multiple sclerosis.〔〔 James T. Richardson writes in the 2004 book ''Regulating Religion'' that "Ma Sheela is alleged to have stalled Mrs. Byron, using the reasoning that the group was soon to relocate in Oregon, and that the money would be returned after that."〔 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh moved to Oregon and Byron moved as well, and communicated through a lawyer to Rajneesh that she still requested the return of her money.〔 According to the Associated Press, Byron left the organization in 1984 after Ma Anand Sheela requested followers commit themselves to a lifestyle that Byron did not agree with.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Byron v. Rajneesh Foundation International」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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