Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Kumud
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 Kumud. It is "Exhibit A-2000" 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.
 P.O.Box 10, To whom it may concern, I find it difficult to put into words how it is that Bhagwan, not as a personality but simply as a being, forms the heart and meaning of my life. I simply know he exists in oneness with life, showing me that I also can find the same inner peace. My response is not something of the mind, it is a recognition of -truth from within the soul. The matrix of this truth is ’love’, it is His very essence, it is the very essence of existence. So many many people can come near to Him, of a thousand different nationalities and creeds and recognize that love. We who might otherwise have irreconcilable differences of belief, become friends together in recognition of the ’love’ He represents and personifies. Being around him, seeing him, knowing he exists - reminds me constantly -to seek this truth within myself. I know in the eight years I have been a Rajneeshee this awareness which I call meditation has grown. This is a finding of my own inner silence, a living life joyously as my own inner nature dictates - not as society has told me to be, or from any outer directives. He does not need to speak in words, his very existence is a blazing beacon of love. To be in Darshan is to be in communion with his essence, and to touch for a while that space within myself. My heart returns His love with whatever love I am able to give, I see my friends also in a constant state of discovering how to find and express this love in all aspects of out day-to-day lives, our work is our worship - this is the energy of the Buddhafield. Before I became a Rajneeshee I attended London University studying Sociology, Philosophy and Economics. I later worked in various areas of social concern, Public Interest Research Center, a consumerist organization, and the New Statesman magazine (a large circulation weekly publication). I increasingly felt a dissatisfaction with my life and a frustration with the ineffectiveness of most areas of social concern. Being with Bhagwan has shown me that meaning in life is not something to worry about. Life is to be lived. This community represents for me an experiment in social organisation that will be an example to the whole world - an alternative way of life, that is not a threat to anyone or anything, but demonstrates the posibility for people to live in peace and harmony together - without crime, without social strife, where personal responsiblity is the guiding critereon. This will be a gift to the world, and its inspiration will be through Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. He is undoubtedly a man of exceptional abilities. Yours very 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.)
