Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Divya (1)
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 Divya. It is "Exhibit A-99" 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.
 This is one of two letters written by Ma Prem Divya. The other is at Divya (2). The numbering is according to their appearance in Noles' collection, not chronological. In fact, the other was written more than two months earlier. This one was one of a focused group of letters written mostly in a short flurry in Sep 1983, from "important" members of the commune, in which all stated their religious titles or educational positions in "Rajneeshism", hoping to expedite Osho's residency application as a religious leader. Divya's earlier letter did not mention her position as "director of the Rajneesh Institute of Alchemy", hence a new letter likely was requested for that campaign. It is not known why both letters were kept, but likely only the "Institute of Alchemy" one was submitted to the INS. See also Testimonial letters#duplication for more on this. AFFIDAVIT OF MA PREM DIVYA I, Ma Prem Divya, being duly sworn, do depose and say as follows: I have a B.A., Romance Languages, M.A., Education, D.Litt. (RIMU). I have studied primal therapy with Arthur Janov, and trained in E.S.P., Gestalt and psychosynthesis. I studied for a year with the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain and worked with Rudolf Steiner's group in Kent, England, in theosophy and anthroposophy. I attended conferences for two years at Glastonbury Abbey, England, in mystical yoga. I became a neo-sannyasin nine years ago when I was initiated by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in Bombay, India, on January 8, 1974. Since then, I have studied Bhagwan’s books and meditated, using His techniques. I lived at the Shree Rajneesh Ashram in Poona, India, for several years. I have been an Arihanta, a minister of Rajneeshism, since June 14, 1983. I attended every one of Bhagwan’s morning discourses over this period. I also was present at Darshan weekly until 1978, when I began to attend every evening as a Darshan Diary commentator. I am director of the Rajneesh Institute of Alchemy. The purpose of this Institute is to aid students to transform their energy through Bhagwan's love and to cultivate awareness of their own energy in relation to the environment. In the past year I have received frequent guidance from Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, through His Personal Secretary, regarding the nature of dynamic energy work, personal responsibility and purity of motive. He has explained that the nature of my work is active as well as receptive. He has given instruction in meditation, particularly in the area of spiritual alchemy. From my years of studying the religious teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and from awareness developed through years of meditation and training, I know that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is the greatest religious figure in the world today, a modern Master of outstanding expertise and insight. For me, no other person compares with the exceptional nature of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s religious teachings and spiritual leadership. I know of no other religious teacher who has the ability to inspire, motivate, and awaken the spiritual consciousness of thousands of people as Bhagwan is doing with His 350,000 sannyasins throughout the world. Working with Bhagwan’s guidance has provided a major breakthrough in my work in psychology and meditation; bridging the gap between logic and illogic, intellect and intuition, matter and consciousness, humanity and religion. For the past year in Rajneeshpuram I have observed Bhagwan performing His religious work, blessing sannyasins, inspiring, healing and transforming. The change which occurs in the consciousness of those who attend Bhagwan's religious activities is not just a temporary one, it is a profound alchemical transmutation. Bhagwan provides the opportunity for attaining significant awareness through silent heart-to-heart communion with the Master. This, in my mind, is the greatest contribution that could ever be made to the United States. The foregoing is within my personal knowledge and if called as a witness I could competently testify thereto. Dated: September 26, 1983 |
(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.)
