Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Dheeresha
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 Dheeresha (Mrs. L. Vaisey). It is "Exhibit A-1514" 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.
 Ma Prem Dheeresha To Whom It May Concern, Dancing, Music, and creative expression through the body are my hobby, my life, and my love. I have been in a continuum of learning and teaching these all of my life since the age of five years. I feel that I must have read every book ever published and must have tried to grasp every aspect of movement ever taught, from the grace of Anna Pavlova, to the mystery of oriental arts, to the flair and magic of Gene Kelly. Not until 1977 when I met Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh did something "click". It was like an explosion and a relaxation - a comfort. It was the end of a search and the beginning of becoming part of what was previously outside my reach. Everything that I had been trying to grasp about dance, everything that the so-called professionals were not able to relate through words nor examples suddenly, from Bhagwan Shree, I heard it. My feeling is this - that just as a great doctor knows the exact cause of a problem in the body, due to his training, insight, and love for healing, Bhagwan has the gift of clear insight on the Arts and man's relationship in it. He understands the miracle of a human being's ability to use the mind, body, and heart together, and, he has the precious gift of being able to relate to us the unrelatable, and to guide us to something directly which needs our own discovery. This he does, through words and through silence. I have experienced this myself over and over and over again. It is more like a transfer than a concrete material giving. It is his physical presence that is the important thing. Let me try to explain. It is like trying to teach a child to talk. He has to do it on his own, but, the parents are there to pronounce the words and be an example. The child simply stays around them day to day and eventually gets it. Something has been transferred. The parents are available to correct and help him. He trusts them because he feels (he doesn't know, he feels) that they are doing him good, and, he is right. Or, it is like when a child learns to do ballet. The mother herself may not know how to do it. She may not even have the physical qualifications for it. However, her love for the child brings out his talent. She supports him when he is confused or dismayed. He needs her around - she provides the love and guidance, and tools. The dance instructor provides the methods. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is like both together - the mother and the teacher. And for me, dancing was only the small beginning. His guidance covers every possible subject of life. He leaves no stone unturned. And what is life but the Arts and Sciences lived! Enjoyed! This is his whole message - to live life. Delight in Art. Delight in Science - in each mystery and in each discovery. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is the most valuable and unique person on the earth today. I have never heard of anyone writing as many valuable books on such a variety of subjects as Rajneesh. And, above all, it is his physical presence, it is his silence. Just as the mother often doesn't need to ask the child or husband what he needs or what is wrong - she just knows. Haven’t you yourself had this experience, that you tried to hide something from your mother but still somehow she knew? It is a connection. It is a harmony. It is deep love. Bhagwan has the talent that mankind needs. The importance of being near him is immeasurable. I solidly know that if we can keep his work alive it will be the greatest contribution to life in all of history. It is a grave mistake to deny him anything that he needs for this work to continue. I wish that you could feel my experience because then there would be no need for me to talk to you either. Thank you for your time. 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.)
