Testimonial letter from Ma Dhyan Sahaja
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 Dhyan Sahaja (Linda J. Burk). It is "Exhibit A-1510" 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.
 P.O. Box 10 To whom it may concern I am writing in regard to how the enlightened spiritual master, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, has influenced my professional career as well as touched my personal life. I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University and worked professionally as a graphic designer in St. Louis, Missouri, for the next two years. Because I had a great desire to combine my creative talents with my interests in psychology and working with people who were also interested in personal growth and transformation, I chose to further my education. I attended the University of Louisville, Ky, and received my Masters degree in expressive therapies. I then worked for two more years at Napa State Hospital, Ca, and Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center, Ohio. During this time three things were happening simultaneously -first, I was working intimately with disturbed people who were in a great deal of emotional and psychological pain; second, I was becoming more interested in personal transformation as a way of being more competent in my field as well as happier in my personal life; and third, I began reading the words of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and meeting sannyasins — his disciples who had spent time with him in India. His insights into the human mind were magnificent - through my work I could see over and over again the need for what Bhagwan was speaking about - meditation. I began practising the meditations as well as experimenting with them with the patients in the hospitals. It was and continues to be incredible. His vision is far beyond western psychologists that I studied. And at the same time, he is not just another guru speaking about God. He is a synthesis of the highest in Western psychology and Eastern wisdom. He has developed specific methods that can transform madness into meditation, noise into silence, and misery into simple joys and acceptance of being alive. My life has become a delight. I see how others also feel my joy and love and are touched by it. Bhagwan has a tremendous gift to share with us - a positivity that can change the world. I now choose to live at Rajneeshpuram and help his vision become a reality. I only hope that others can look with an unprejudiced mind and a loving heart at the abilities and potential which Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh holds within him. Sincerely yours |
(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.)
