Testimonial letter from Jacob de Hoog
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 Jacob de Hoog. It is "Exhibit A-1139" 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.
 Sahajam Holdings Pty Ltd TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN My name is Jacob de Hoog. I am an Australian citizen of Dutch origin. Originally I was trained in Anthropology and Sociology. During the 1970's I taught at four Australian universities and colleges. I am also the author of two books, "Skid Row Dossier" (Sun Books 1973) and "Working With Aborigines in Remote Areas" (Mt Lawley College Press 1980). Some of my work was in applied areas and I have been much involved in setting up programmes involving inter-cultural communication. In 1977 I came into contact, with the writings, meditations and group work techniques of Bhagwan Shree Rajnessh. I was much impressed with the breadth of his scope and the integration of modern western thought with a spiritual vision. This integration, and the practical demonstration in meditation, led me to explore a whole new avenue of human potential. Over the next three years I trained in body work techniques, integrating these with previous experience in counselling and group work. In early 1980 I set up a private practice, and a few months later became a disciple of Bhagwan's. This was a decision that had been developing over three years, and was grounded in respect, gratefulness and love. Since that time I have joined Sahajam Rajneesh Ashram where I carry on my occupation as a body worker and counsellor. My personal life has taken on a new richness and depth and my professional life has also taken a new and most rewarding direction. In my estimation Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a man of extraordinary vision and insight and I strongly support his application for permanent residency in the United States. Yours 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.)
