Testimonial letter from Ma Prem Vasanto
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 Vasanto. It is "Exhibit A-1500" 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.
 July 21, 1983 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN : I am a 33 year old sannyasin living in Rajneeshpuram, Oregon. I have a B.A. in Anthropology from N.Y.U., 1971. I have been a special education teacher, a U.S. Postal Services employee, en employment department worker for the State of California, a community health service worker and a self-employed textile artist. I lived in Poona when Bhagwan was talking and when he went into silence. He often said that someday he would stop talking " when we were ready" because through silence there is a stronger communion between master and disciple. Bhagwan's presence here is very strong. His love is reflected in His sannyasins. Where else in the world can you walk through the streets of a city and see as many laughing, smiling faces. And these are people who are working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week! This city is a living expression of Bhagwan's ideas. It is a place where people can work together in harmony and joy. He has created an atmosphere of positivity in which people can use their energy creatively. This community is an experiment made possible only by Bhagwan's presence. When he drives by every day I drop everything in my mind and become aware of the love and laughter surrounding me. And this awareness stays with me as that, as I go about the rest of the community. As I sit in his presence during satsang a transformation also occurs. Consciously I am aware of sitting on the floor - watching this little bearded man silently sitting in front of me - sometimes swaying to the music, sometimes still -I can hear birds and airplanes and there are a few hunger pangs because I didn't eat breakfast. All of this seems completely ordinary - nothing special - and yet somehow there is something else - joy, love, bliss, inner contentment. Call it what you like. I feel it all overflowing inside of me and again I must share it. This is what is happening here. This is what silence can create. This is what a man of exceptional ability can do. I couldn’t find it in the university, the peace movement, the feminist movement, in my job and my weavings. This is what Bhagwan is offering. If you say no to him you are saying no to life. You are denying freedom of choice for all Americans and therefore denying me of the principles on which this country was founded. Love |
(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.)
