Testimonial letter from Lawrence J. Fitzpatrick
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 Lawrence J. Fitzpatrick PhD. It is "Exhibit A-185" 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.
 Lawrence J. Fitzpatrick, PhD To whom it may concern: As a behavioral scientist and a student in the fields of Child Development and Psychology, I wish to affirm the pre-eminent status that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh holds in establishing new epistemological foundations and organizational discipline underlying my field of endeavor. I have extensively studied audio recordings and transcripts of his lectures over a four year period beginning in 1979, and I find the constructs presented to be a valuable addition to my profession. His insights into the dynamics underlying human action, generated via an eastern mystical perspective, present the student of western psychological disciplines with a unique approach toward understanding human activity. Specifically, my interpretation of his work generates the following constructs: (1) that higher human consciousness is possible and indeed desirable; (2) that this consciousness can be effected through awareness and professional detachment; (3) that man is not an ego-bound being; (4) that ego is a barrier to awareness and consciousness; and (5) that mind in the service of ego is an important mechanism through which that barrier is maintained. As one may recognize, this is not conventional academic thought underlying analysis of human activity. In fact, the approach toward ego and mind runs counter to much traditional lore in western psychological disciplines. Yet one can see in those persons living his message a vitality and dynamism that essentially validates this approach. His mode of presentation is, to speak mildly, unique in conventional western context: communities of individuals that live his principles. Thus Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh embodies a set of principles that profoundly challenge ongoing tradition in the psychological disciplines. However, the extent to which he challenges western psychological thought is an important measure of the extent of his contribution to the process of evolution of western systems. At this critical juncture in the development of western societies, when earlier modes of action are being questioned more and more vigorously and when many analysts forsee a very difficult period of growth at hand, it would appear valuable to reach toward the east for an infusion of constructs to help effect dynamic new syntheses. It is from this perspective that I see the value of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s contribution to my professional discipline. 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.)
