Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Ivanna
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 Anand Ivanna. It is "Exhibit A-2581" 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.
 Ma Anand Ivanna To whom it may concern. Meeting Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh meant a total change in my life. I felt my life was lacking meaning: I was searching for meaning in all ways. I was first involved in political activity, then in the feminist movement. Sven in these involvements I kept experiencing the same feeling of emptiness, of unfulfillment. One day, in a book by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, I ran into a statement which proved very consequential for all later developements of my life: "Don’t look outside for meaning, look inside yourself." It was the beginning of a different search, which brought me to meet Bhagwan in India, five years ago. My life acquired then a different quality, a different essence. Through the loving guidance of a Master I managed to get rid of old habits and of city life patterns and to move into a sannyasin country community. The feeling of boredom and emptiness has dissolved into a life which is constant adventure and discovering joy anew every moment. Although it started through a book, my relationship to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is not a mental, intellectual one; it is rather an emotional connection. What I receive from Him is not bound to words: even and particularly through silence the love communication takes place. This is my daily experience. It has become even more intense during this year Festival in Rajneeshpuram. (Ma Anand Ivanna) |
(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.)
