Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Salila
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 Salila. It is "Exhibit A-2403" 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 Salila Beloved Friend, I am a Sannyasin, that is a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I first came in contact with Bhagwan through Sannyasins about 18 months ago. At that time I was in South Germany and I frequently went to the Meditation Centre in the town I was living in. About 3 weeks after my initial contact with the Centre and the Sannyasins there, I participated in a weekend growth workshop and it was during this workshop that I was totally overwhelmed by a strong feeling of having found in Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh the man I could love and trust so completely that I could accept Him as my spiritual teacher, as my Master. Eventhough I had never seen him , I felt Him so close in that moment and many moments since, as if He was physically present. I felt myself to be immersed in His love and compassion. Since then I have been twice to Rajneeshpuram in Oregon where Bhagwan is at present living. Both times was on the occasion of the Annual World Celebration, where Bhagwan is present every morning during Satsang. Satsang is a silent Heart to Heart communion between the disciple and the Master. Both years it was an indescribable experience for me to be sitting at the feet of my Master, sharing in the silent outpouring of His love, His joy , His Being, and I have come back from these Celebrations with so much loving energy to do whatever needs to be done , and to pass onto the people I come in contact with. Bhagwan no longer speaks publicly as he did for many years in Poona when He was laying down the foundations of His teachings, and I personally have never heard Him speak, but during these Satsangs and many other times when I am physically far removed from Him, I have felt His guidance and His love helping me and strenghening me when I have been in need. Just His silent presence has given my life so much joy as I would never have thought possible before I came in contact with this most beautiful of men. He is my Beloved Master and His silence only serves to connect me more closely with the fragrance of His love and compassion, rather than with words. I am overwhelmed with gratefullness and gratitude that I have been fortunate enough to sit in silence at the feet of my Master, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Yours 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.)
