Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Nirmala

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 Nirmala (Patricia J. Fishman). It is "Exhibit A-2103" 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 Rajneeshpuram OR 97741 July 22 1983 To whom it may concern: I completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1970. From 1965 - 1973 I was an Instructor in English at the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin. In 1970 I received the Standard Oil Teacher of the Year award at the University of Iowa. In 1973 I received a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for participation in an American literature seminar conducted by Benjamin De Mott, Professor of English at Amherst College. From 1973 to 1980 I worked in Boston and New York as a freelance medical writer and editor, marketing consultant and account executive. During that time I completed a variety of award-winning medical education texts and medical advertising projects, including the textbook series on the use of medications in the treatment of depressive illness and schizophrenia. In 1980 I first became acquainted with the religious teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Through participation in Rajneesh Neo-Therapy and Meditation groups, my own life was radically transformed, as well as the lives of many of my friends. His teachings, as recorded both in books and on videotape, plus my direct experience with his meditation techniques, have profoundly affected my own view of so-called "mental illness" and treatment potentialities. The Rajneesh International Meditation University is one of the most significant experiments in our time - offering a radical new approach in the healing arts. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh has now received international recognition as a religious thinker of exceptional genius. His concept of human potential has transformed our view of ourselves. His discourses are a unique contribution to the English language, conveying a breadth of vision and a faith in human possibility unprecedented in the 20th century. His silent communion with hundreds of thousands of religious seekers worldwide is an even more profound continuation of his earlier teachings. [signed] Patricia J. Fishman (Ma Anand Nirmala)

(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.)