Testimonial letter from Ma Anand Veetena
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 Veetena (Colleen Cavin). It is "Exhibit A-409" 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.
 Colleen Cavin TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I am writing concerning Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I feel he should be welcomed to the U.S.A., as he is a person of outstanding ability, a genius who has spoken on many subjects but the topic which has influenced me most is mental health. I received my Bachelor of Science degree at the University of California, San Jose and trained in three outstanding hospitals for accredidation as an Occupational therapist in 1973. Since then I have worked as a professional occupational therapist. I worked at a Center for emotionally and physically handicapped children for two years in Concord, California. In Hawaii I was in charge of the occupational therapy department in Kalihi-Palama Mental Health Center, Honolulu. I helped to develop a program for preschool children with emotional and learning disabilities involving the Department of Health and the University of Hawaii. I also had a private practice and was in charge of the occupational therapy department at Kona Hospital, Hawaii. During my professional career I have frequently attended workshops and seminars in mental health. I also attended the University of Hawaii doing graduate work in psychology. It was here I was first introduced to the writings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I continued to further acquaint myself with His religious teachings through videos and tapes of Bhagwan’s discourses. I also attended several workshops, therapy and meditation groups, led by His disciples. I worked with some outstanding doctors and professors but none could come close to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I have had ten years experience using various techniques with people who have problems and the techniques and philosophy of this incredible man totally surpass anything I have ever experienced. In all my years of study no teacher or curriculum can even touch Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's teachings. I am totally convinced that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a man of exceptional ability, an extraordinary teacher who is an asset to our country and has already added so much to the lives of thousands all over the world. 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.)
