Testimonial letter from Darrel Black Duke
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 Dr. Darrel Black Duke. It is "Exhibit A-214" 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.
 July 18, 1983 To Whom It May Concern: It has come to my attention that the U.S. government is considering denying Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh permission to remain in this country. Such a decision blatantly contradicts all the religious and moral principles which this country stands for, and as a concerned citizen of the United States, I am writing this letter in support of this exceptional religious leader and unique intellectual figure. I consider myself to be quite qualified to write regarding this issue, as I have earned both M.A. and Ph.D, degrees in the field of psychology and human sciences, and am exceptionally well-read in many areas, including psychology, Eastern and Western religion, philosophy, and literature. I have been a practicing therapist for several years, working in various community clinics, agencies, private schools, and hospitals, and have been a consultant to business and industry as well. Throughout this time, I have been deriving exceptional intellectual and spiritual stimulation from Bhagwan's numerous writings, as have many of my associates and colleagues. It is appalling to many of us that he is being treated in such a shocking and undemocratic manner by those who are seemingly unaware of his true stature and importance. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is an intellectual genius of the first order, without peer in his particular field of expertise. No one to my knowledge can begin to approach him in his profound knowledge of Western psychology and Eastern philosophy and religion. His numerous books clearly demonstrate his ability to synthesize and discuss such diverse fields of human knowledge as art, literature, quantum physics, religion, philosophy, and psychology, with unique wit, poetic vision, and intellectual brilliance. It is indeed a priviledge and an honor that he is residing on these shores, and all intelligent persons of good will should be deeply grateful for his presence here. It is only due to the prejudice of inferior minds that he is having any difficulties remaining in this country as either guest or permanent resident. Sensationalistic bias in the media is certainly another factor. However, at a time when the U.S. government is allowing Vietnamese, Cuban, and Mexican persons to reside here, and create further strain on this country’s precarious economy, it seems very short-sighted to deny Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh residence when he and the Rajneesh Foundation have already stimulated the Oregon economy by several million dollars, and potentially are a positive, beneficial source of future economic stimulation and prosperity to American businesses. I strongly urge the appropriate authorities to reconsider any rash decisions to have him leave this country; it would be an international embarrassment to the United States of America. 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.)
