Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Isabel
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 Isabel. It is "Exhibit A-100" 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.
 AFFIDAVIT I, Ma Prem Isabel, Acharya, being duly sworn, do depose and say as follows: I first began to read Bhagwan’s books in India after a long spiritual quest. I was immediately struck by the depth of His wisdom and His insight into religion. Bhagwan's love emanated through His clear intelligent words; I felt His blessings and grace even while reading His books. I immediately decided that if such a man were alive, I had to meet Him. I went to Poona and became Bhagwan’s disciple in March 1979. Since then I have dedicated my life to spreading His religious teachings. While at the Shree Rajneesh Ashram, I attended His discourses and darshans and worked in the Ashram. I have practiced His meditation techniques and continue to meditate daily. I was appointed an Acharya in 1981. Since Bhagwan has entered His ultimate stage of silence, I experience Him on a new level. His spoken words are gone; in their place flows His silent love, opening people to their divine uniqueness and personal beauty. Sitting with Bhagwan during the religious celebrations of the past year, I have been deeply touched by the profoundness of His silence and how He can communicate it. It was a truly extraordinary experience to sit in a hall with 15,000 people in pin-drop silence. As a public relations representative for the Shree Rajneesh Ashram in Poona, I have met several famous people, all of whom expressed respect for Bhagwan. In my opinion, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is the most unique and outstanding religious figure alive today. His ability to teach others without words is a revolution in communication. In silence He inspires others to find new spiritual realms of love where words do not exist. Bhagwan provides crystal clear scientific methods for developing consciousness; at the same time His invisible presence inspires a new religiousness. The obvious spiritual evolution of those in Bhagwan's presence offers hope for the creation of a peaceful, loving climate in society generally. Bhagwan has already changed the consciousness of numerous individuals I know personally. Each person inspired and blessed by Bhagwan adds to the potential for creating a more beautiful, spiritually rich America. The United States is fortunate to have Him present. The foregoing is within my personal knowledge and if called as a witness I could testify competently 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.)
