Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Shudhir
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 Shudhir. It is "Exhibit A-1498" 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 Shudhir TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN After completing my studies in ’Asian Studies’ at the University of Western Ontario (1979) I took to travelling around the world. Upon arriving in India I immediately heard tales of an Enlightened Master, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. However dubious I was at this time, a long standing interest in Eastern Religions led me to one of his lectures in Poona. The man’s outstanding literary and public speaking ability was immediately obvious. However, what particularly struck me was the presence of the man and the atmosphere of the ashram. I had never before experienced such a deep sense of balance of love and awareness. That is to say, I have known many loving people in my life, but the disciples of Bhagwan Shree Rajneeesh were not only loving but courageously honest and aware. They were also living life so totally and with such vitality and sensitivity I was immediately inspired. Upon visiting Rajneeshpuram this summer I was more deeply impressed by this same quality. Where once his words echoed through the ashram in Poona, here his silence penetrates everything. With Bhagwan in their midst the citizens of Rajneeshpuram are in total celebration all the day long. There is no doubt that he is the inspiration behind every activity in the community. The influence he’s had on my own life is indescribable. His vision of man living freely and harmoniously inspires me in whatever activities I am engaged in. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh has something of immense value to offer mankind. His synthesis alone, of the fundamentals of Eastern Religions and the latest developments of Western Psychology proves him a man of exceptional ability in the Arts and Sciences. Through his voluminous literary works, his presence in the community at Rajneeshpuram and yes, even through his silence, he is shedding light on an area of human consciousness for the first time in the history of man. 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.)
