Testimonial letter from Ma Alima

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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 Ma Alima. It is "Exhibit A-712" 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 3 pages.

Ma Alima
Rajneeshpuram
PO Box 10
Oregon 97741
20 July 1983

"The difference between a person and an angel is easy. Most of an angel is in the inside and most of a person is on the outside."

from "Mister God This is Anna" by Fynn

Truth can only be known from the inside. Somewhere, all religions agree on this point. God is everywhere; within and without. Somehow, man separated himself. Me and God; me and the rest of them; me and the world outside. His search is always ultimately to merge, to lose the separation that causes such pain. In moments he does it - through love, through work, through art, sport etc., and calls it losing himself. Our economic and social structures soon bring him back to his sense of separation. Both at work and at home the sense of competition and gain are prevalent .

Many agree; but what to do? Change cannot be forced from the outside, as our history of war and revolution prove. However excellent the plan or sincere the motive, corruption is inevitable in the execution. Now and again a rare individual emerges who brings about an inner revolution; who provides a bridge from the outside to the inside. Such a man is usually the subject of derision and fear because he cuts through the social mores and the outside structures we imagine to be our reality and security. Such a man usually has a following who are considered to be outcasts. Such a man usually dies before his greatness is recognised.

Such a man is Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh; except that he is ALIVE! He is living in Oregon, USA.

The City of Rajneeshpuram growing around him is a unique experiment in this inner revolution. On the outside, what is happening is obvious and impressive. On the inside, it is still delicate and indefinable, like the perfume of a rose; but our roots grow stronger every day through his exceptional love and guidance. He is absolutely the source and inspiration for the marvel that is happening here in each individual disciple.

I have been a disciple for five years. Prior to that I was a successful actress in television and theatre in London. My intention was to write from the point of view of his invaluable contribution to the arts and to my personal development as an actress. The feedback from a recent Shakespearean production in Hollywod showed that this was not just an inner richness. No doubt you will receive many examples of this from highly qualified disciples in all professional fields. My letter has taken a different course.

I trust you will consider this letter with the tolerance and openness I have come to love in the American people. America is still a new country, and we come with the new. Not to prosletyse; not to force any change. Simply to experiment and celebrate with the new, and keep our new city and Bhagwan available for anyone who wishes to be with us for a while.

Thank you
[signed]
Ma Alima


(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.)