Testimonial letter from Ma Deva Padma

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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 Deva Padma (Susan Morgan). It is "Exhibit A-372" 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
Oregon, 97741
August 10, 1983

To whom it may concern

I have been a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh since 1975. In all these years the effect his message has had on my life has become increasingly more profound. The most amazing part of his message has happened here in America - and with this Master no longer speaking to us - but the communication happening on a very deep level. A gentle understanding and simplification of life that I really never thought possible.

I have functioned for several years as a clothing designer and also have been an illustrator of children’s fantasies for Xerox Ginn and Co. The work that I did previous to Bhagwan's entering my life was pale in comparison to now. There is a great joy in the creativity now - when once I lived in a highly competitive way in a field where you always had to be clever and ahead of your time - eternally searching for gimmicks to create new looks, new trends... This is now no longer the case. It is a much more simple thing - no more searching - no more fight and tension and defending "my art”. I have understood something very profound - in these last two years with Bhagwan it is as if all that he ever said is now bearing its true meaning. The art of the painting -drawing - sewing, is the joy not the final goal and the applause. The simple delight in the creativity is the end in itself and miraculously over and over again I’ve seen that an action to create something if it can happen in a relaxed and loving mode always brings joy to others and inevitable success. All that struggle of years past produced mediocre work compared to that which is born out of a relaxed frame of mind, a silent inner being.

We have had two World Festivals at Rajneeshpuram, one last summer and one this year. The most wonderful part of these gatherings of Bhagwan’s disciples - "lovers" - is when he comes to sit silently and Be with us. Its a kind of spiritual nourishment which transpires then and the light from his inner flame burns brighter inside each and every one of us after sitting in his blessed presence. The music, the dancing, the readings, are all beautiful, but they are a small part of what really happens. They help to create an atmosphere for the real miracle to happen. In entering into a deep and still silence where all is possible and a relaxation deeper than anything you can ever imagine happens - its like relaxing into your deepest inner self and from that place all things are born. For an artist this is such a great blessing to be able to taste that empty place, to not be "threatened by the empty canvas" as it were ... To be silent and awaiting and feel the blessing of one who lives, breathes in that space. What a Miracle!!

His presence is the greatest thing that has happened in my life. To be able to live in his "energyfield", is to live a life more rich and full than anything I ever dreamt of. And as a child I was a great fantasizer ...

Rajneeshpuram is a dream come true - literally a place where people live and work in peace and harmony with the land around the total environment and each other. Young and old people from all over the world come here to taste this lifestyle and that taste is very sweet for many, it becomes something to work toward helping it to flower.

We are surely blessed to have Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in America. If you can look with unclouded vision at what is happening here you could not possibly see this as anything other than a religious phenomenon in action, alive, thriving and giving much to our world in so many ways. Bhagwan is a gift.

Thank you for your time.
[signed]
Ma Deva Padma
(Susan Morgan)


(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.)