Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Tushita
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 Tushita (F. C. Strider). It is "Exhibit A-818" 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 studied graphic design at the Geneva Art School from 1973 to 1975. Since then, I have designed hardback books and magazines for Rajneesh Foundation in Poona, India, and elsewhere. I have also been involved in batik art and photography. Since June of this year I have been working in Rajneeshpuram, doing graphic design. I consider myself to be highly skilled in my main field of creativity. I have been a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for about seven years, and of course I have studied closely all that He has said about art and creativity. I can say without hesitation that Bhagwan's contribution to my work is fundamental. Most art teachers can only show their pupils how to become technically proficient --how to draw a line or make a good layout for a design--but Bhagwan teaches people how to move deeply inside themselves and connect with the source of all creative inspiration and expression. This is a significant and profound difference. Any computer can be taught to produce straight lines, but only a human being is capable of artistic expression. That is man's dignity, and that is what Bhagwan teaches His disciples—how to bring more and more artistic beauty into the world. Bhagwan is not simply teaching people how to meditate and be religious; He is teaching them how to fulfill their creative potential, and I have witnessed how many, many people have been transformed through His vision, discovering talents and avenues of creative expression which they never knew they possessed. His presence in this country can help America flower into the most artistic, creative culture that has ever existed on the earth, far surpassing the Greek, Egyptian or Italian eras. America is ready to move beyond material affluence into artistic, aesthetic abundance. Bhagwan can point the way. 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.)
