Testimonial letter from Lawrence J. Weitz

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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 Lawrence J. Weitz PhD. It is "Exhibit A-628" 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 2 pages.

W & A, INC.
July 21, 1983

To Whom It May Concern:

As a professional psychologist, it is my pleasure to encourage the Immigration and Naturalization Service to approve the continued presence of Shree Bhagwan Rajneesh in this country. I do so with the opinion that Rajneesh’s teachings contribute enormously to the development of valuable techniques for resolving the problems people experience in conducting sucessful lives; these problems being the focus of my professional career.

For the past twenty years, I have been a psychologist working as a practicing clinician and as a professor at Peabody College and Vanderbilt University. My credentials in the field of psychology include numerous scientific articles in referred journals; hundreds of presentations, such as speeches, workshops, and symposiums; and membership in the most prestigious psychological associations (Psi Chi, Who's Who in Psychology, local and regional boards of directors, national associations, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Big Brothers, etc.). I have recently published an important book on the synergy of diet, exercise, and psychological health. In the near future, I shall be publishing two other books which present the most updated methodology available for treating obesity problems.

I am presently a radio host on a daily 2 hour talk radio show dealing with health promotion. In addition to the professional background outlined above, I have attended literally hundreds of workshops whose aims were to enrich my personal awareness and to enhance my skills as a practicing clinician. Such experiences and research have afforded me the background to recognize the effectiveness of Rajneesh’s techniques I observed at a workshop conducted by qualified "sannyasin". Subsequent investigations of Rajneesh’s writings and teachings have revealed an awareness and perspective upon the human conditions which rival that of Jung, Freud, and Einstein in their total scope. In my practice, the insights I have gained from Bhagwan’s discourses, videos, meditation styles, etc., have assisted many of my patients in breaking through acute psychological barriers that years of individual and group psychotherapy had not touched.

Though I am most qualified to comment on Rajneesh’s influence on my own area of expertise, I think it is also worth noting that his teachings encompass every major discipline, including, among others, science, art, music, economics, history, and religion. I strongly feel that our free country should allow a man possessing such brilliance, talent, love, and generosity the freedom to choose to remain here. I certainly support Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s staying with us.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Lawrence J. Weitz, Ph. D., M.A., M.Ed., C.A.S., A.B.
Parkview Towers • 210 25th Avenue North, Suite 517 • Nashville, Tennessee 37202 • 615-329-9292


Here we note that two other letters have been written by apparent colleagues using this exact address, phone number and clinic logo. They are from Margaret M. Smith and Roger W. Abernathy.


(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.)