Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Apa
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 Prem Apa. It is "Exhibit A-1570" 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 3 pages.
 July 23, 1983 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN : I am writing to let you know that I feel strongly that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is exceptionally qualified in the sciences, humanities, and arts. It is my deepest conviction that He is a man of outstanding capability and exceptional achievement. In fact, I can easily say that He is the most outstanding individual that I have ever come into contact with. It is six and a half years now since I first became aware of Him. My first taste was through His words in the form of His books. As an American citizen living in Houston, Texas, someone who had long been searching for a spiritual guide, it was quite a shock to me to pick up one of Bhagwan’s books. I had read many, many "spiritual" books, experienced many different religions and "consciousness raising" groups. By the age of twenty-eight, I had given up hope. Having been raised in an academic family, by parents both University professors in the field of psychology, I was long accustomed to looking within and questioning. Bhagwan shed a whole new perspective on my life. Exactly what that was, I still cannot say. I can only say that His words spoke to me on the deepest level of my being. It was as though I suddenly found all my deepest, most fundamental, most secret beliefs and convictions poetically expressed in beautiful, clear, simple language. It seemed as though His words spoke straight to my heart, ringing the note of Truth. It is now clear that Bhagwan’s effect on my life then and my life now is more profound than any other outside influence. It took me eight months of intensive meditating, self-searching and reading of Bhagwan’s books before I finally succumbed to my own inner longing and took sannyas. That was three months before I ever saw Bhagwan. My first sight of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was astounding! He was lecturing in Hindi that day and I couldn’t understand a word He spoke. The thing that got me then and still gets me every day was His presence, his being, the fragrance and taste of utter honesty, compassion, love that flows out through every fiber and pore of His being. I still cannot understand how anyone who sees Him can fail to recognize what a person of extraordinary, outstanding and exceptional achievement He is. It is completely clear to me that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is the most incredible man I have ever come into contact with. I have never met anyone like Him before or since. I sat at His feet every morning for three and a half years while He lectured one month in Hindi and the next in English. The thing was to be with Him (and still is), to soak in His presence, to feel the utter emptiness, the incredible love that flows through this man. In those days, He spoke to thousands of lovers and disciples every day. People came from all over the world to hear Him. But for me, I can honestly say, that whether I could understand His words or not made absolutely no difference to me. The thing was just to soak in His presence and still is. Yet now in His silence, when we see Him less often, this presence seems even stronger. Somehow the effort of speaking must have been a drain on His energy, because ever since He stopped talking, His presence seems to reach farther and deeper. His silence speaks more clearly than His words. I have never experienced another place like His buddhafield. His clarity permeates every aspect of what goes on here. Work is no longer work. It has long since become worship in His temple. He is a man of such exceptional insight and clarity that He has foreseen the necessity to establish His religion before His death. This is in itself an outstanding achievement. No other religious teacher has ever had the foresight to do it. In this way, no corruption of His teaching is possible. In the past thirteen months, during the First and Second Annual World Celebrations here at Rajneeshpuram, over twenty thousand disciples, lovers and seekers have come to sit with Him in His silence. It is already clear that His presence in Oregon is contributing substantially to the financial well-being of the State. And this is only the most gross, most obvious level of benefit to the area. Working in the publications office here at Rajneeshpuram, I have occasion to come into contact with many small business people in Central Oregon. So many of them have expressed to me repeatedly how happy they are to be doing business with sannyasins. Time after time, I have been told by them, how much they enjoy doing business with us, how Bhagwan’s people seem to carry a lightness and joy into their business relations. How much easier it is to do business with us than their usual customers. Bhagwan has said that His people, His sannyasins will be His messengers, His spokesmen, that they will carry His message into the world by the way they live their lives. And now that Bhagwan’s vision has begun to happen here in Rajneeshpuram, His sannyasins carry His silent message wherever they go the world over. He is an inspiration to every human being on the earth. In His years of speaking in Poona, Bhagwan often told us that He would one day be going into silence, that He was only waiting for the day when enough of us were ready to receive His message in silent heart to heart communion. And then one day in the spring of 1981, there were enough of us ready and the ultimate phase, the silent stage, of Bhagwan’s work began. As one who has experienced both, the verbal and non-verbal teachings of this extraordinary man called Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, I can only say that in the silent stage of His work His message is clearer and more powerful than ever. His message is His being. His message is His love. His message is His compassion. And it is expressed through the vision of Rajneeshpuram, the city that is being created around Him, in His energyfield. Come and see this extraordinary man and experience His message and the beauty of His vision. And you will know without a doubt that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is an exceptional man of the highest calibre, that He is of great benefit to whatever country He resides in. 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.)
