Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Parigit

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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 Parigit (Victoria A. Thomas). It is "Exhibit A-211" 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.

Pine Tor
20 Leicester Road
Poole, Dorset
England
21st July, 1983

To Whom It May Concern:

In 1978, I was appointed by the British Council as a lecturer of English at the University of Odessa, U.S.S.R. During my stay there, I read a copy of "I Am The Gate" by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh which had been sent to a friend from the United States and which had already partly been translated into Russian. This had a completely dramatic effect on my whole life and on my experiences in education, not to mention the incredible repercussions this book had on the many, many people who came to know Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in the U.S.S.R.

I graduated from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, with an honours degree in History and Russian and later received a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Sheffield. Prior to teaching in England, I spent almost a year at Radio Liberty, the American radio station in Munich which broadcasts to the U.S.S.R. Here I taught English and was an assistant or the News Desk. Cn my return to England I taught Russian and French for three years at Firth Park Comprehensive School, Sheffield (13 to 18 year olds). I then received my teaching post in the Soviet Union. Although I did not see or physically experience Bhagwan until 1980 in Poona, my 'inner meeting' took place with Him in Odessa. Suddenly I had a wider vision of what had taken place, both in my own world and in the outer one, since I had been a child. Now, having 'experienced' Bhagwan I saw that the children I had taught in England were frustrated and often difficult, not just because they were in school, but because they were not given the freedom to develop their own inventiveness. They were learning only to repeat what they were told, not listening to their own intrinsic intelligence. Happily, modern educators are developing a more enlightened approach - perhaps in the U.S.A. in particular - and there can be no doubt whatsoever that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh can inspire people in this field with His deep insight and the vision of a truly Enlightened Master.

Already, many of His disciples are bringing their experience with Bhagwan into their work as teachers, lecturers, professors etc. In the U.S.S.R., for example, having experienced through Bhagwan 'that' which I had been searching for all my life, I could teach my students in a relaxed way and in a loving way. My students were Russian undergraduates and teachers, on refresher courses. The tensions and possible East-West barriers melted away and we were able to share our ideas, our cultures and our language difficulties In a new and more open way. Through Bhagwan, I saw and could pass on to others, the richness and beauty in each of our different nationalities and I saw that wars are only caused by fear and misunderstanding and that if we come to know the love in ourselves, we can feel and experience the love in everyone, no matter which country they are from.

Even now, when I teach foreign students in England, I bring a new awareness into my teaching. Through being with Bhagwan, I experience that people learn and respond well when they are relaxed and feel good, both with themselves and with the teacher. When students feel free to laugh and trust themselves and others, learning can happen more easily.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is now a guest at Rajneeshpuram, Oregon, where His disciples and friends have built a beautiful city - a city built with love and out of love. I came here for last year’s festival and this year I have been visiting for a month or so. I literally cannot believe what a miracle has happened here. A desert has become an oasis. Even with 15,000 people here for the festival this year, everyone is cared for and looked after with so much love. As if it were a family celebrating. Never in my life have I seen so many people together living and enjoying themselves in complete harmony. To describe this is one thing: to experience it for yourself is quite another.

Some people find it difficult to believe that Bhagwan can be a religious leader if he no longer speaks publicly. First of all, He has already spoken volumes during His time in India and now there is so much that can be felt and experienced without any words. Jesus spoke to His disciples but the love they felt for Him and from Him did not need to be expressed. It is something you feel inside and we human beings are blessed in this way - we can feel love. Everyone knows it. So how can an issue be made out of this?

Bhagwan is a religious leader - of this there can be no doubt. The potential is now there - through Bhagwan and the work that is happening through His love - that this world can be transformed into a beautiful and loving place. These words may sound glib but as I write them, they are an actual experience inside. It is a possibility.

The United States is a young, vigorous and beautiful country. This is the place for the new man to grow and blossom and the right place for this rarest of beings - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh - to live.

Yours sincerely,
[signed]
Ma Prem Parigit
(Victoria A. Thomas, B.A. (Hons.))


(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.)