Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Irmtraut

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 Irmtraut (Irmtraut Carouba). It is "Exhibit A-2266" 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.

Irmtraut Carouba Richard Wagnerstr 33 D - 5000 Köln 1 WEST GERMANY 23 July 1983 To whom it may concern, I’m writing this letter to share with you my view that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is an exceptional person, whose presence in your country can only serve as an inspiration to many people in all professions. I have studied Psychology/Education in Germany for 6 years and graduated with a diploma at the University of Freiburg in 1979. While writing my thesis I came in touch with the meditations and teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and a total new approach of psychology has been opened up for me. After my graduation I travelled to Poona, India and became one of His disciples. Coming back to Europe I have held several responsible positions in social work. During this work I have felt a tremendous difference in my approach to people’s personal problems and needs. Having come to experience my own personal process far deeper through the guidance of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, his words, silence, meditations, and therapy programs than I ever did through my studies. I am far more able to present myself as a caring and understanding person in whom my clients can entrust their confidence. During my visits to Rajneeshpuram I can witness the growth and the development of a city whose community has based ita relationship to work, creativity and to each other on this same principle of caring and sensitivity. This must indeed be the new psychology for a healthy man in this troubled world. Yours sincerly, [signed] Ma Prem Irmtraut

(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.)