Testimonial letter from Leonard J. Okonski
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 Leonard J. Okonski. It is "Exhibit A-506" 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.
 Leonard J Okonski TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I am writing this letter to testify that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a person of exceptional ability in science and art. This testimony is based on my experience in the world as a Major in the United States Army from 1947 to 1967; as a professor of graduate school in the field of business at Golden Gate University from 1969 to 1974, and as a top executive of a multi-billion dollar corporation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco, from 1967 to 1975. In addition I have travelled to many countries throughout the world and have studied their way of life and religion. While travelling the world from 1975 to 1978 I arrived in India to study several religious men. The first man I was supposed to visit for 3 days was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in Poona. I was so impressed with the teachings of Rajneesh that I extended my visit to three weeks, to three months, and then eventually to three years. During this time I participated in the activities of the commune and was personally acquainted with Bhagwan. I talked to him soon after my arrival and then several times in 1979. I attended daily discourses which he gave and on many occasions attended private sessions where he talked and worked with people on human and self-development. In addition I have studied his works from many of the books by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. In my opinion Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is the most unique and extraordinary person I have met in my lifetime. His knowledge of world situations, human development, religious insight, and total understanding of the nature of man, far exceed that of any other person I have known, read or heard of. In addition to having the knowledge he also has a unique and sincere way of expressing himself so that he has touched the hearts of millions all over the world. This can be attested to by the fact that over the world there are over 350,000 devotees of his. He has touched the lives of many people and is recognised as a world religious leader in many many countries of the world. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh left India and came to the United States in 1981. The first religious celebration here saw over 6000 people attending and this year, 1983, over 15,000 people came from all over the world. Rajneesh is now in a period of silence but his communication and rapport is greater than if he were speaking. Through his silence he has established a heart to heart communion with his followers, which emanates as a very strong and powerful means of communication. As a military man I can see the enormous possibilities of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's works being powerfully instrumental in the establishment of world peace. His insight, perspective and uncanny way of looking at world problems brings about solutions which could be realized as ways and means for a lasting peace. We are very fortunate to have a man of this calibre living in the USA. It is another example where the "Land of the Free" has opened its arms to an exceptional person who is devoted to love and peace for the entire world. I am quite positive that his presence will substantially increase our cordial relationships with other countries in the world. I strongly urge that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh be given residence in this country so he can continue his work toward world peace. 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.)
