Testimonial letter from Ma Anama
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 Anama (Marlies Frühling). It is "Exhibit A-1516" 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.
 MARLIES FRÜLING, I am teacher at a German College and have been teaching children aged between 12 and 18 after having been qualified in linguistics, literature, philosophy and educational sciences at the University of Hamburg in 1983. I first came into contact with Bhagwan by one of his books given to me by a colleague and friend teaching religious matters at our school and . considering BHAGWAN - although she is not one of His disciples - as one of the greatest mystics and religious leaders that ever lived, comparable to a Jesus, a Mohammed, a Buddha. She uses Bhagwan’s writings which are closer to our modern language and feelings than those of any of His predecessors, to try to make the children understand religious experience such as "Enlightenment", the "Unio Mystica" felt by Christian mystics. Meanwhile I know a growing number of teachers in that area as well as Clergymen who are very impressed by BHAGWAN’s teachings and who have asked me to speak to them and their pupils about my experiences as His disciple. While reading the book given to me I was struck at once by the beauty and outstanding lyrical quality of His language and I was profoundly touched by the truth conveyed by it making me understand my own religious experiences. I felt attracted and somehow called by Him and became His disciple in 1980. Although He does not speak in public any longer He has never ceased to speak to me personally not only by His books and taped discourses but also by a kind of spiritual communion that is established between a Master and His disciple and that needs no words. All my family members, friends and other people who have known me for a longer period of time have been surprised by my personal development since I became His disciple. They all acknowledge my having become more loving, more joyous, more balanced and opener in my private as well as my professional social contacts. I myself feel richer as to my spiritual and metaphysical background and richer as well as to my physical energies which enable me to do more and better work, to enjoy myself, my work and life in general more than ever before. 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.)
