Testimonial letter from Ma Deva Kranto
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 Kranto. It is "Exhibit A-1532" 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 Deva Kranto TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: My name is Ma Deva Kranto. I am a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and have been since 1978. I am also a farmer who has farmed in the United States and Mexico for more than twenty years. For the last 2 years I’ve lived here at Rajneeshpuram and worked to develop this fine farming community. I am aware that there is a question about Bhagwan being a Religious Leader and a man of exceptional abilities. I can only speak from my own personal experience and feelings, and those are very strong. Being in the community is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before; both in my spiritual/personal growth and in my professional growth. How he affects my personal spiritual growth is very hard to put into words. It has to do with a growing love .for all people with whom I have contact. Being able to see Bhagwan daily, see the love in his eyes, somehow flows into me and I return to my worship, which is co-ordinator of our truck farm, and am able to be more loving to all the people who work there. To sit in silence with him during Satsang and Darshans deepens the silence within me. Once one becomes aware of this silence within, it becomes an unquenchable thirst. When I was sixteen I was asked what I wanted--I answered, ”A quiet mind and a huge farm.” That person who asked didn’t understand the "quiet mind"---but I somehow knew and so meditation began. Today the farm is there and the mind grows quieter, and it’s because this man, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I, as I have said, have been a farmer for more than 20 years. To farm this land is a totally new experience. Through his guidance of respect of the land, of all living creatures, we have and are developing a farming program unique in all the world. What we have done in the last two years is extraordinary. The truck farm, which I know best, is producing most of what this community eats. Its variety of vegetable is more than sixty, we are doing it totally organically, encouraging the balance in the land much the same way as he encourages the balance of his disciples. The inner workings of his disciples are reflected in the work that is being done .here. It’s through his inspiration and only through his inspiration that this place can exist. This is an extraordinary community, and an extraordinary experience, experiment, and could only happen in the presence of an enlightened master as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Please let him stay and let this flower blossom in the desert. Love, |
(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.)
