Testimonial letter from Kaya Burden

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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 Kaya Burden. It is "Exhibit A-1196" 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.

CENTERPOINT, inc.
ALAN BURDEN, M.Ed.
KAYA BURDEN, M.Ed.
COUNSELING & EVALUATIONS FOR
INDIVIDUALS
COUPLES
FAMILIES
ALCOHOL & DRUG PROBLEMS
July 20, 1983

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I have been a Mental Health Counselor for 12 years, having earned the Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa. My years of work experience have been with the chronically and acutely mentally ill, with a specialty in alcoholism and drug addiction treatment.

As a group and individual therapist, I have worked in public and private settings in Pennsylvania and Oregon. My depth of understanding of the dynamics of mental illness and particularly of addiction were enhanced immeasurably when I began to study the work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I have visited the ashram in Poona, India, listened to His taped lectures, and read many of His religious books. I have personally experienced His meditations and became His disciple on Feb. 9, 1976.

His emphasis, firstly, on the need for emotional catharsis (rather than repression or sublimation of emotions through drugs and alcohol) is of utmost importance in recovery from an addiction. He also eloquently addresses the subtle, but very important element of surrender. which in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) is regarded as the only basis for a successful recovery from addiction. The spiritual aspect to recovery from mental illness and addiction is being increasingly scientifically documented, and Bhagwan’s influence on my ability to articulate these concepts with my clients has been incalculable .

As part of His religious teachings He has spoked frequently about mental illness, therapy, addictions and the nature of Man. These words continue to be an influence on my own work and that of my colleagues with whom I have shared the books, tapes and meditations.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for considering the influence Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh has had on my life, work and clients’ lives.

Sincerely,
[signed]
Kaya Burden, M.Ed.
2721 N.W. 9TH ST. • CORVALLIS, OREGON 97330 • (503) 745-7221


(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.)