Testimonial letter from Claudia Harper
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 Claudia Harper. It is "Exhibit A-1935" 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.
 Claudia Harper TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I have been intereted in Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for quite a while, reading his books, listening to his tapes and visiting Rajneeshpuram from time to time. Each time I am dazzled with amazement because so much has changed, imporved. Even the faces of his disciples seem to change: they get clearer, they radiate a kind of happiness and fulfillment that has become so rare in our world. Although Rajneesh has gone silent, he is continuously working, in touch with what’s happening and in touch with all of his disciples and their inner development. He is the source of energy and inspiration for all of them. Something absolutely extraordinary is happening in Rajneeshpuram, in the radiance and love of this extraordinary spiritual leader. And it will go on happening wherever he is living - it will go on happening here, enriching life in America if he is granted to reside in the U.S. I would like to add that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh has not only an unusual influence on the life of the people around him, he has proved through his books (based on his lectures) an extraordinary kind of knowledge. He shows a universality that is not only rare but for which - I am audacious to say - the earth has been waiting for centuries. I mean the great synthesis that he creates of science, religion and art - being outstanding in each one of them. Yes, I also call him an artist, because his words, the way he transmits his teachings, are poetry and he is - there cannot be any doubt - a great mystic poet. Years ago I dropped my original profession of clinical psychologist and therapist and became a free artist; but since I’ve got to know Rajneesh my artwork has fundamentally changed. The outer form of things has lost its importance, it is their inner essence that I seek to express. My art itself has become meditation. I see meditatively, I draw and paint meditatively and everything else I am doing is somehow included. Rajneesh has once said to an artist: "Music has to be in your heart, your very being has to be musical, it has to become a harmony... museums you can bypass, art galleries you can bypass. But you have to become an artist of life itself." What he was talking about to his disciples in India is becoming reality now in Rajneeshpuram and Bhagwan goes into silence. Why? Words are outer, silence is inner. And it is out of that silence which his disciples share with their master that things are happening: love and building, awareness and vegetables, flowers and compassion. Everything is divine. Let me repeat it: something extraordinary is happening in Rajneeshpuram, the city of this mystic teacher Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I wish he coulf continue his work, spreading from that cell in Oregon his inspiration and teaching into the world. Most 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.)
