Testimonial letter from Ma Sanghamitra
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 Sanghamitra. It is "Exhibit A-393" 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.
 Ma Sanghamitra To Whom It May Concern I am writing to you in regard to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his application for permanent residency in the United States. In my quest for an innovative type of education and a religious teacher I joined the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California in 1967. In 1968 I travelled with them to India. There I took courses in Indian religion, and in 1969 joined the Indian Montessori teacher training program led by Dr. Montessori’s protege, Mr. A. M. Joosten. I was inspired by Dr. Montessori's vision of the child and her use of meditation in education. In 1971 I heard of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in a negative magazine report and remained sceptical of him until 1975. In the meantime I took another 6 month course in the Montessori method and six months of practical work in a Montessori school in Calcutta. I found this method to be of equal value for all children, no matter which nationality, language or religion. In 1975 I took sannyas initiation with Bhagwan. After 4 months I came back to the United States to work in a Montessori school. I found that Bhagwan’s teachings and meditation techniques enabled me to work with children in a much more centered way than before - understanding childhood as part of a continuum from babyhood to death and beyond - seeing each child as an individual who can give the adult leads as to how to help him develop best. I feel Bhagwan does that with me too - can look at me and assess my needs and through silent heart to heart communion and through the commune can provide situations in which I can look at myself and grow. Since I’ve been here I have been working as a purchase agent, buying all the necessary items for the farming division which has had up to 19 sub-divisions. On his daily drive I look into his eyes and find that afterward the work-worship goes so much more smoothly. I often work from 7.00 a.m. to 11 p.m. and have only been away from work sick for one day in the last year and a half. Compare this with any other employee's work record in America. Being in his presence helps me to be happy, healthy and whole. He communicates with me through his presence - just sitting with him in darshan (allowing his silence to penetrate me and dissolve my mindchatter) I feel my spirit lift, he communicates with me through his tapes, books and photographs, and in meditation. During the annual festival and celebrations the influx of Bhagwan's lovers brings fresh ideas and energy. With all of us sitting in his presence meditating and sharing love we are all refreshed. During the festival I worked through lunch at the lounge and after hours there too, till 12.30 a.m. on most days, and woke up by 6.30 a.m. full of energy. Rajneeshpuram is blessed in having Bhagwan live here. He is always coming up with ways to help each individual, both psychologically and physically. Psychologically our needs are looked after in the form of workworship we need to develop and which suit us, physically our medical center cares for us and programs like stopping smoking and weight control, the last-mentioned I participated in and lost weight, but more importantly gained insight into why I became overweight in the first place and how to break the mind patterns that lead me to eat more than necessary. Everything happens here out of love - for him and each other. Bhagwan brings all of us together, showers us with his love and asks that we share that love with the whole world. He does that particularly during the annual festival and sends his message back with his people to their respective countries. If his vision and love can be communicated we feel confident that world disaster can be averted. For all these reasons and more I feel that Bhagwan is of benefit to our children in particular and to America in general, and should be allowed to stay in our country and be regarded as a living national treasure. Yours, |
(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.)
