Testimonial letter from Claudio Chiarini
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 Claudio Chiarini. It is "Exhibit A-884" 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 one page.
 Claudio Chiarini TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.... As soon as I met Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh I realized that I was in contact with a person of exceptional abilities. I had met, during the course of my studies and during my work, many talented and extremely intelligent persons. I worked in the Architectural offices of Mariotti & Campani, both of them Dean of the Florence University and designers of public buildings. I also worked in the fashion world, designing and preparing shows for bags and suitcases; I have been scenographer for the "Opera" (Theater) of Marseilles, France (1975-76) and for some Italian theaters. Many times I have come into contact with persons of rare creativity, but never like Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. He is so much more - his knowledge encompasses many sciences and arts; his theological teachings have brought light to many so far obscure points. Never have I come into contact with someone who could combine oriental and occidental arts in such a clarifying capacity; never have I heard someone talking about Vincent Van Gogh with such depthness. I believe that the United States of America should feel grateful to give hospitality to a man with such talents; I am sure that his cultural contributions are extremely precious to the growth of humanity. Personally, I consider my meeting with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to be the most meaningful thing in my life. I feel lucky to have met him. Sincerely, |
(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.)
