Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Vedana

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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 Vedana. It is "Exhibit A-518" 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 2 pages.

Ma Anand Vedana
P.O. Box 10
Rajneeshpuram, OR 97741
July 23, 1983

To whom it may concern:

For twelve years I have been working with people, assisting and leading groups and meditation programs, and giving a kind of intuitive massage -that's been developing over the years. Having recently passed the Oregon exams, I'm in the process of getting a State liscence for massage.

After meeting Bhagwan six years ago my work changed dramatically.

There had always been a sense of somewhere else to go, but it seemed, rightly so, that I needed to go ahead 1st before leading anyone else further. There was always this limiting element overhead.

My own search and inquiries into growth and human potential led me to Bhagwan. As soon as I heard Him - saw Him I knew I had finally met someone with no limitations. For six years I have been stretched and moved -farther - faster - than I ever guessed was possible. I have never seen an end to him.

I see people all over the world arousing from their sleepy comforts and coming to Him to feel 'what else' is possible. This happy awakening makes all the difference in therapy.

Bhagwan is our constant inspiration. He is so clear and His light so bright - it makes it much easier to try out new spaces that come up when we drop an old pattern or conditioning. The individual still has to take the steps himself. No one can do that for him, but the path is clearly lit. The therapist walks beside, calling out the obstacles he sees - helping the person see where he is - describing it - laughing, crying with him. It is a process of love.

For me, when I consider it this way, I see a kind of fearlessness to go anywhere a person needs to go that wasn't possible before. Its constantly an unstructured step into the unknown. The step never fails. Bhagwan has made them all and is present here - an indication that its possible.

When we left Poona a little over two years ago I began assisting Swami Anand Teertha in his workshops. We travelled around the world for about 6 months doing workshops that people invited us to do in the U.S., Australia, and South America. Its been a wonderful experience for me to see such different people all respond so openly and enthusiastically. I have never seen people move in growth as easily and as completely as people do with Bhagwan.

Its the same with the body work. In this relaxed atmosphere - the personality out of the way - just being with the body energy and gently encouraging it towards opening. We have taught our bodies 'no' from the earliest ages on. It is in our cells. It was our survival. The person comes here - gradually comes to realize, or has already realized that he needn't respond to life now in an old way, but its so ingrained, he feels the need for assistance to help him try another way. Not to react in old patterns. The bodywork helps in this way - thru trust and a loving environment he is able to let go more and more. Gradually more and more cells change their mind (so to speak), they say 'yes'. With this 'yes' is a release of energy. Here is the blissful feelings. Then gratitude, thankfulness. The yes is not to anything particular. At most we can say it is a yes to himself. Now the possibilities open. He is more able to respond freely. Life is brighter.

We thank Bhagwan for this all to be possible. Because we are happy...

Now, the process gets easier and easier. I have watched the changes and it seems that the further some of us go, the easier it is for new people to catch on. I see it is so, and can only liken it to - say - Einstein finally getting his theory then finding others getting it all over the world practically simultaneously. Its in the air.

We're very fortunate to have a man of Bhagwan's caliber here. Very fortunate. It's an experiment and it's working. I for one am glad about that.

It was wonderful to hear him daily and be guided that way by Him. And now, in His silence it is a new beauty. He is such a flame of vision and truth. He need not continually describe it. One need only be still to see it and feel its warmth.

There are many books and tapes if we want to hear again what was said.

It is good He is in America now -

Sincerely,
[signed]
Ma Anand Vedana


(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.)