Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Sheela

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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 Sheela. It is "Exhibit A-114" 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 3 pages.

AFFIDAVIT OF MA ANAND SHEELA

I, Ma Anand Sheela, Acharya, being duly sworn, depose and say as follows:

I have known Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh since December 1967. I have been a sannyasin since February 11, 1973, when I took sannyas in Thana, India. Since January 1, 1981, I have served as personal secretary to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I am also President of Rajneesh Foundation International and President of the Academy of Rajneeshism.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's sole focus and interest in His life has been the spiritual transformation and growth of His sannyasins and shravakars. I have worked closely with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh since 1975, as assistant to His personal secretary and then as His personal secretary myself. I have attended His religious discourses and Darshans for the past 16 years, practiced His meditation techniques and, through the Chidvilas Rajneesh Meditation Center, which I founded with my late husband, Swami Prem Chinmaya, had the delight of introducing many other people to the joy I had found through my association with Bhagwan. Over the years, through His innovative meditation techniques and spiritual guidance, I have seen tens of thousands of people being transformed.

To me, Bhagwan is the embodiment of love and compassion. He deals with each and every question I bring Him with infinite patience and understanding. "I want to share with you," He once said, "the infinite joy the presence of God has created in me." Bhagwan has devoted His entire life to this effort - to helping man realize his true and innate potential and through that realization, to restore a loving mankind to the world.

I, and many sannyasins around the world, have dedicated our lives to His religious vision. We have witnessed the love and bliss of His enlightened state and want to make available the fountain from which everyone can come and drink.

I have worked daily with Bhagwan during the past year, unless I have not been at Rajneeshpuram. He reviews many spiritual matters, incuding requests for initiation into sannyas and for personal spiritual guidance. He provides direction for the publication of His discourses and Darshan talks, devises new meditation techniques and formats for celebrations and ceremonies to celebrate the major events of life, such as birth, death and marriage. He also provides spiritual guidelines for religious education programs, including those of Rajneesh International Meditation University, and ministers of Rajneeshism. He also gives me guidelines for Rajneesh meditation centers, Rajneesh sannyas ashrams and Rajneesh neo-sannyas communes located all over the world.

Over the past year Bhagwan has received and answered, with great love and compassion, thousands of letters and inquiries from sannyasins and shravakars everywhere.

During my meetings with Him, Bhagwan often gives me spontaneous religious discourses in response to a letter or a question I may bring to Him. I relay His words to disciples and other seekers.

In addition to these specific activities Bhagwan's silent presence is a continuous inspiration and the source of religious insight to myself and those individuals around Him.

The foregoing is within my personal knowledge and if called as a witness I could testify competently thereto.

Dated: 9/27/83
[signed]
Ma Anand Sheela, M.M. , D.Phil.M.,
D.Litt.M. (RIMU), Acharya
[notary stuff]


(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.)