This letter is one of a remarkable series of over 2650 letters amassed in 1983 to support Osho's attempt to get permanent resident status in the US at the time of the Oregon ranch. The image is reproduced here with the kind permission of The Oregon Historical Society. Information about their collection of these letters and other supporting material -- the "Jeffrey Noles Rajneesh Collection", named for Osho's immigration lawyer Jeffrey Noles, who compiled them in 1983 and donated them to the OHS -- can be found at this page. The wiki is grateful to the OHS for making access available for these documents. For more information and links to all the letters, see Testimonial letters.
This letter is from Dr. Egidio Vecchio. It is "Exhibit A-740" in the Noles collection.
The text version below has been created by optical character recognition (OCR), from the images supplied by OHS. It has not been checked for errors but this process usually results in over 99% correct transcription. Most apparent "errors" are correct transcriptions of typos already in the original. The image on the right in the text box links to a pdf file of the original letter, it has 2 pages.
Rio de Janeiro 15/07/1983
Dear Sirs:
I am Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh disciple in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
My professional titles are as follows: Chairman of Brazilian Bioenergetics Association; Director of Transactional Analysis Institute of Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi. Postgraduation professor in Brasil and Argentina. My university tittles are: Doctor in Clinic Psychology, Ph.D.; Doctor in Psychology, Ph.D. and Doctor in Psychopedagogy.
I met Rajneesh first through one of his wonderful speeches which have been published in hundreds of books and later I went to India in order to know him personally. In 1982 I’ve been twice in Oregon with the only purpose of seeing him a gain. He is achieving in the U.S. something that no one religions leader did in the history of that country, apart from the first Mormons. He is converting a barren desert in a most valuable ecological experience much worthier than the one accomplished by the jews in the Israeli desert. The town of Rajneeshpuram will be the home of a new humanity, happy, peaceful and religious.
Besides my clinical and teaching activities, I am a writer. I am enclosing here one of my books with an introduction dedicated to Rajneesh. Some of my American friends have read that introduction and know how much good that man has brought into my life and the lives of many brazilians.
At present, I am about to finish a book which is divided into 3 parts; the first one deals with my meeting with Rajneesh; the second one explains the theories and teachings of the great master; finally, the third part which is the one that I am almost finishing writing, tells of my two meetings with Rajneesh in Oregon in 1982. The first took place in July during the First World Festival, when 15.000 people from every corner of the world shared in an utmost atmosphere of order and peace.
I wouldn’t like to finish my book being forced to convey to the world the sad news that the U.S. have not understood the blessing that God sent them with Rajneesh. I love America, its laws and its historical responsibilities.
It would be desgraceful indeed that those who write the Rajneesh’s history might be forced to declare that America failed to understand his message, by other words, that America did with him what Israel did with Jesus or India did with Buda, when the master was forced to leave to China because no one understood him neither.
In the name of the hundreds of thousands of Rajneesh’s disciples all over the world and in my own name I request to the U.S, authorities that I may be able to finish my book telling to all my readers that once more America open its arms to the Truth,
Finally, I would like to be able to being personally that new book of mine to the American authorities in the near future and, of course to Bhagwan in America.
Love
[signed]
Dr Egidio Vecchio, Ph.D.
[stamps of Vecchio's office]
(Please note: We assume that the above letter is still copyrighted, but we regard its historical interest to constitute a Fair Use exception for publication in this wiki.)