Part of the difference between a religion and a cult is that 'normal' religions are a part of people's lives, but coexist with the other things they have going on. Cults, like the Rashneesh group, are all-consuming. Those people lived out there in the middle of the desert, and "Rashneesh" was their entire life. They weren't just lining up at the Apple store for fun, or going to see the pope come to town or something.
Those where mere students waiting to get close to someone they considered to be a rock-star. They're just going the distance.