Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Nihariha
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 Nihariha. It is "Exhibit A-1901" 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.
 P.O. Box 10 To whom it may concern It is almost 5 years ago that I had my first contact with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I’m trained as a draftsman and as a Dipl.Ing. architect, and at that time I was working in an architect’s office. As an architect you are always confronted with the human situation - searching for a better way. My partner decided to go to India to see Bhagwan hoping that he could find something that would help him to live and to work with other people. The following year I watched his changes. After his meeting with Bhagwan a new clarity and strength was there. One year later I decided to go to Poona seeing that I reached a limit in my life, but looking for a new way of finding myself. My work and my relating to other people was one of the main factors in my life and I felt Bhagwan could give me new ideas to improve my being and to manifest my work. I experienced more than I could have imagined. Now my husband and I worship here at Rajneeshpuram, and our life has been transformed. Its becoming richer and more intense within myself, in my love and relating towards my husband and to all the people around me. With the energy that is here, the city is exploding out of nothing - a desert where nobody wanted to be is turning into a place with a high standard of living; opportunities to put into practice a wide range of ecological, architectural and design concepts, all in harmony with the environment and nature. Wherever in American history could human beings build a city with such a quality in only 2 years! Specially as an architect always looking for a better way of living - and the situation in the world shows it by itself that nobody ever could find a direction - can I say out of my own experience that this place with the presence of Bhagwan, makes you free and relaxed. The work happening here is not only for the people here; it is a gift for everybody who can see and is open for new ways. Just talking doesn't change anything - Bhagwan's presence and his work is the answer. What more could America wish to have? This city is open for everybody to come and see - come and visit us and your own intelligence will confirm my letter, and whatever I couldn't express through words - that the presence of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is changing this land into a garden of Eden. [signed] |
(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.)
