Talk:Testimonial letters

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Regularly testimonial letters published in The Rajneesh Times (USA) as "Testimonial for Bhagwan". We have most of scans of the newspaper. Is it required scans from them for this project?--DhyanAntar 13:24, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Are these testimonials published in TRT(USA) different (extra) from the ones we have in the OHS collection? Easiest to find this out after we have done the pages, I guess. --Sugit (talk) 13:31, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Yes, it is. I will check them when we add the pages.--DhyanAntar 15:34, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Making pages

For the individual testimonial pages, templates are used; there are six Types:
{{testimonial-Type1 = template for typed English. Leave field "language" empty.
{{testimonial-Type2a = template for Handwritten English, no transcript. Note that for this type and Type2-nopdf below image will be larger and left-aligned
{{testimonial-Type2b = template for Handwritten English, with transcript
{{testimonial-Type3 = template for typed other languages, always with a translation
{{testimonial-Type4a = template for Handwritten other languages, no transcript
{{testimonial-Type4b = template for Handwritten other languages, with transcript
Four nopdf types were added to enable page creation in absence of pdfs. They are not likely needed any more but are here just in case:
{{testimonial-Type1-nopdf = template for typed English as above, used when pdf is unavailable, but transcript IS available.
{{testimonial-Type2-nopdf = template for Handwritten English, as above, used when pdf is unavailable.
{{testimonial-Type3-nopdf = template for typed other languages as above, used when pdf is unavailable, but transcripts ARE available.
{{testimonial-Type4-nopdf = template for Handwritten other languages as above, used when pdf is unavailable, but transcript of translation IS available.
On these pages, the input-fields for all Types are the same: that makes changing the Type easy. So e.g. Type2a also has the field "transcript =". This is superfluous there, but handy for later changes, as for Type 2b it will be needed again.
Same for field "translation =" and "language =": superfluous in most Types, just leave it empty, except where appropriate.
Same logic for new nopdf-subtypes, ie leave unnecessary fields blank, and can be converted easily to regular Types when pdf available.
And note for sannyasins with both legal and sannyas names: both names will appear in the table as "Sannyas Name (Legal Name)", likewise in the "This letter is from X" bolded sentence, but the page title will only have "Testimonial letter from Sannyas Name".
-- Sugit and Sarlo

It was claimed in the intro ("lede") of the article that searchable/editable text transcriptions of all the letters (except the handwritten ones) would be done by Feb 2024, and so it came to pass, if barely, because a) it is a leap year and b) the editor doing it lives in North America, where Feb 2024 ended a little later than elsewhere. We celebrate everything! -- doofus-9 06:55, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


:-) Hail doofus, heaps of merit on you! --Sugit (talk) 08:57, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


yesterday i wanted to show a long time sannyasin friend the wiki's amazing testimonial letters and she actually said "What is the sannyas wiki?"
and this girl is net savy and even runs an Osho library. so this proves that we live in a self made bubble ;) --Rudra (talk) 16:47, 2 March 2024 (UTC)


Well, I don't know. For sure the Wiki is little known. But it's advertized on Osho News every day, also Punya mentions it on her Facebook channel. And e.g. I have written articles in Viha, in Osho News, and also on the Dutch VVO website it is mentioned 1 , 2 , 3. And I did I seminar in a meditation weekend, it's on YouTube. I'm pretty sure you and Sarlo also mention the Wiki here and there.
So "self made" is not altogether correct, we are doing our best.
Question: would it be more correct to say that not many sannyasins are interested? I don't know, but it seems likely to me.
Why? I can think of many reasons. Partly from the content of the master's teachings itself. Partly because there never was any kind of "civil sannyas". The real existierender commune has been changed into a resort, which says a lot about the pervasiveness of neo-liberalism, maybe even for my master. And imho that is the most destructive philosophy of all. It tells you that everything is useless, except money. And that everything that you do, your creativity, your experiences with an enlightened master, whatever, only has meaning insofar it has meaning in a financial market.
But I am working myself into a frenzy, sorry, I will desist.
Maybe all the others have become enlightened now, and we are the last mindfuckers.