Testimonial letter from Ma Deva Dwabha
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 Deva Dwabha (Maggie Wynn). It is "Exhibit A-709" 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.
 P.O. Box 10, Rajneeshpuram To whom it may concern I have an M.A. in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University, my paraprofessional counselor’s certificate from U.C.L.A., completed a three year acting apprenticeship with the American Conservatory Theatre A.C.T. in San Francisco, acted in, directed or produced over 50 professional theatre productions throughout the United States and Europe. My credits also include 4 major film roles and numerous television appearances. At the time I became a disciple of the Enlightened Master Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh I was working with the Psychodrama Theatre for National Television. A producer recommended His books, saying "This man has a greater insight into what’s really going on in the Motion Picture industry than all the rest of us in the business put together". I couldn’t imagine how a man living in India his entire life could know anything about Hollywood. It was then, reading my first pages of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, that I realized what an exceptional and extraordinary human being this man is, with insights and understanding that reaches far beyond any of our great modern thinkers I'd ever read or heard of. As a psychologist I was overwhelmed by his clarity and perceptions of the workings of the human psyche. His meditations combined with his own therapeutic techniques bridged a gap between Freud and Buddha that I had been missing since my first day in University. I knew I wanted to work with this man. All the teachings of the great psychologists down the time suddenly took on a new life with his simple, loving, practical application to daily living. As an actress, director, producer, and above all lover of the Arts, I recognized this man as one of the greatest living artist of our century. I have been a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for five years, working first in his Buddhafield of creative energy in Poona India, and now I am fortunate enough to spend time working with hundreds of others to manifest his vision here in Oregon, transforming an arid, lifeless desert into an Oasis of creative productivity and abundant life. To say that Bhagwan is a man of exceptional ability is an understatement. Never before in the history of civilization has one man been able to gather this many people around him from every country and walk of life to achieve the miracle taking place here in an atmosphere of total non-violent loving joyful celebration. His teaching far surpasses anything being offered in any University curriculum anywhere in the world. To deny such a teacher the right to continue his work here in America is to discredit all the gifted artists, writers musicians, painters and dancers who have dedicated their lives to expanding and preserving the arts as a sacred form of inner expression. America is very fortunate that he is living here - to throw away such a magnificent opportunity because a man has chosen to remain in silence to create an even more effective energy field where his followers can work and commune with him in this silence is clearly religious discrimination. One of the greatest philosophers of this age, Ludwig Wittengenstein, said that that which cannot be said, should not be said, because to say it is to profane it, to say it is to do violence to it. Saying it is desctructive of it. The really significant things in life can never be said through words. Words are utilitarian. Lao Tzu said "Tao cannot be said. The moment you say it you have already falsified it." Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s abilities as an active spiritual leader are apparent to all who come here, regardless of their spiritual convictions when they see the amazing transformation taking place on the land as well as the people. The fact that he remains in public silence has no bearing on the religion that has developed here, nor the inspiration and guidance his disciples continue to receive. As one of his disciples working here with him in this period of silence, I can testify that sitting at his feet in silent communion so far surpasses anything I have ever experienced; it is impossible to describe in logical, rational terms. The closest I can come is to say it is an outpouring and transferance of energy that creates a feeling of total relaxation, acceptance of myself and all those around me. In my work as a therapist I have only seen people come close to such a state of inner tranquillity after extensive body and breath work techniques. To simply be able to sit in his presence and have this experience is a miracle in our stress-filled world. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s presence here in America is possibly the only hope for survival of an atomic or political holocause that we have. I urge you to support his permanent residence in the U.S.A. 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.)
