Testimonial letter from John Leckie
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 John Leckie. It is "Exhibit A-599" 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.
 John Leckie Productions TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN For the past twelve years I have worked as a record producer in many countries around the world with considerable success. I have produced records for large and small companies and have worked and recorded all types of music including classical music, rock music and music for films. In Norway I received the Spellmann Award for Service to the Arts in combining modern pop music with traditional folk songs; I have also been awarded several gold and silver discs from different countries in recognition of high record sales. Four years ago I made my first contact with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh when I was working in Germany with some highly professional musicians who were also his followers. I have since worked with other musicians who are also Rajneeshees and have never failed to be impressed by their light relaxed spirit and the ease, enjoyment and efficiency with which they work. When I asked them about the remarkable difference between their open attitude towards the work and the usual stormy and hectic traumas of other musicians in the studio they attributed it to the vision of their Master, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. This generated my interest in his teachings. I have since read several of his books and have visited many of his centres around the world. At every centre I have found the same atmosphere of positivity, creativity and zest for life that I first came across in Germany. I have met people who seem to have been transformed through their visits to see Bhagwan at the City of Rajneeshpuram. For my part I have come to understand and integrate long-standing personal conflicts with the help of Bhagwan’s meditations and have found tremendous insight and truth in his books. Through my contact with Rajneeshism I have been able to eliminate the attitudes which were creating stress in my work and have discovered much richer and more open relationships. For these reasons I have no hestiation in stating that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is an exceptional spiritual leader in the world today, able to transmit the message of all religions in a practical, down-to-earth form that relates directly to the modern age. The eclectic nature of his vision makes it applicable to all. Through his teachings, I have somehow managed to find a 'religious' dimension in my work as a record producer and this has improved its quality and given me a greater job fulfilment. In this day and age the teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh are a positive and much-needed contribution to the health of mankind. [signed] |
(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.)
