Testimonial letter from David K. Wheaton

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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 David K. Wheaton PhD. It is "Exhibit A-176" 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.

Criminal Justice
Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN 37203
July 18, 1983

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is written in support of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

I support him as a scholar, teacher, and Religious leader. We are fortunate to have such a man of his caliber wishing to live in the United States. His teachings are a contribution to the Social and Behavioral Sciences. His religious perspective lends a broadening view to the Judeo-Christian tradition of our Western culture.

Currently I am a Full Professor of Criminal Justice and coordinate a graduate program. Before my academic appointment which is now in it’s fourteenth year, I was a Chaplain at the Texas Department of Corrections. I have a B.A. in Social Science, a M. Min. in Pastoral Care, a M.A. in Contemporary Corrections and a Ph.D. in Sociology-Criminology. I am also a certified correctional therapist.

My knowledge of Mr. Rajneesh are from three different sources.

I visted his Ranch in Oregon on a fact finding tour with my brother who is an Administrator for the Welfare Department in Portland, Oregon. We were curious about the Ranch and the man. We both came away impressed and our initial impression of him was changed to a favorable response. I have read some of his books and find his breadth of knowing to be of genius quality. I also know some of his followers.

In my opinion we have allowed a great many persons to remain in this great country of ours who have neither the monitary resources nor the spiritual and intellectual qualities of this man and yet they have little problem in staying. I know I sponsor a Buddhist monk from Nepal. He lives in Nashville and has a resident status.

Thank You.
[signed]
David K. Wheaton, Ph.D.
Professor and Graduate Coordinator


(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.)