Testimonial letter from Bent von Linstow
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 Bent von Linstow. It is "Exhibit A-245" 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.
 Bent von Linstow To Whom It May Concern. The intention of this letter is to support the efforts of people from all over the world to convince the immigration Authorities of the United States of the necessity to let Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh continue his work in the U.S.A. I am 45 years old. I have a law degree from the University of Copenhagen and have been working for about 15 years at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (especially questions of radio and television, copyright, UNESCO, cultural cooperation with foreign countries). My occupation with the teaching of Bhagwan has grown out of a general interest in psychology and philosophy; his teaching has been to me an evident continuation and fulfilment of the ideas of other teachers of world importance. I have read a considerable number of books and lectures by Bhagwan; I have taken part in different courses, and have had inspiring contacts with ”disciples” of Bhagwan. I find it most important to emphasize that the ideas of Bhagwan may serve as a safeguard against the widespread political tendencies to suppress individual evolution and freedom. Any country, the system of which is built upon ideas of individual freedom, must take an interest in the continuation and development of Bhagwan’s work. Even if I am not myself a "disciple” of Bhagwan, his teaching has been a constant inspiration in all aspects of my life. Even indirectly, and from a very great distance, the effects of his work can be felt. [signed] |
(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.)
