Testimonial letter from Connie Ellis
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 Connie Ellis M Ed. It is "Exhibit A-1113" 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.
 LUTON COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER, INC. To Whom it May Concern, As a member of the professional community in Nashville, TN, and as a personal witness to the effectiveness of Bhagwan’s teachings, I feel qualified to write a letter in support of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s application to the I.N.S. At the present time I am employed at the Luton Community Mental Health Cetner as the agency’s marketing coordinator. I develop workshops for industry, create and implement fundraising projects, speak to various community groups and develop and maintain contact with the media. I am also enrolled at Vanderbilt University as a doctoral student in developmental psychology. As a community volunteer, I donate time to the Parents Anonymous chapter which is a support group for parents who have abused their children. Before moving to Nashville, I was employed by the University of Arkansas as Assistant Director of the Career Planning and Placement office. My responsibilities included career counseling, recruiting students for the University and general public relations work. In the community, I volunteered my time as a counselor for women who lived at the Shelter for Battered Womena as well as assisting the Shelter with fund raising activities. Also I taught job readiness skills to women in the Displaced Homemaker program and assisted with a local Parents Anonymous group. My background is quite traditional and my parents emphasized the need to contribute to society and become a responsible citizen. I had felt I was contributing and yet there was something missing. I had a longing to meet a living Master and through him/her, feel more peaceful and use that positive energy to help others find some peace. Professionally, I excelled, and materially, I was comfortable and yet there was still a part of me that accomplishment could not fulfil. My first contact with Bhagwan was four years ago when I began to read his books. At that time, I was a single parent, 39 years old, with one son in college and twin daughters attending high school. The next year we moved to Nashville where I met two sannyansins who made a significant impact on my life. I became their client and began to experience Bhagwan’s life changing therapy. The first step in my therapy process was to release some of the pressure that had been building up for 40 years. This was accomplished by utilizing techniques that Bhagwan has developed such as Rajneesh Dynamic Meditation, Rajneesh Dynamic Bodywork and Rajneesh Breath Therapy - all of which allow catharsis for me. The second step was identifying some of the sources of my frustration, anger and sadness such as childhood traumas and early experiences of rejection. During this process, I learned to let go of some of the deep resentment and anger I felt toward my parents and other family members. This process was greatly accelerated when I attended the First World Celebration in 1983 and sat in Bhagwan’s presence. The experience had a deep and lasting impact. I had come to the Celebration with a skeptical mind, and I left in total awe of the incredible love and acceptance I felt from Bhagwan. Being with Bhagwan in silence was a direct and very personal communion. The experience is beyond descriptive words, and I continue to feel this connection. This country is fortunate indeed to have a man of the caliber of Bhagwan. He embodies the highest level of human development and maturity. Bhagwan has much wisdom to give, and I feel this country will only benefit from his presence. He has definitely influenced me professionally and I understand myself more deeply and feel more clear when I interact with friends or assist clients in therapy sessions. Bhagwan’s presence in the United States can only mean the opportunity for all Americans to discover the joy of celebrating life. 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.)
