Testimonial letter from Ma Shunyam Manohara

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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 Shunyam Manohara. It is "Exhibit A-364" 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.

Karolinerstr. 2A/H4
2000 Hamburg 6
W-Germany
24 July 1983

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Through the being, the teachings, and the love of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, my heart has opened.

Since becoming a sannyasin I have felt increasingly more alive, more joyful and more in touch with myself. This increased sensitivity and positivity has deeply affected my work as a painter.

Over the last twelve years I have worked as a restorer of old paintings, produced and sold many cavases of my own and run an art gallery. At the present time I am both painting and teaching courses in art.

In 1982, I read my first book by Bhagwan and right after that began to experience a very strong spiritual connection with him. Something that is impossible to explain in words. Enough to say that it began to change my life and brought honesty and real love to a very shaky marriage. Through this inner contact with Bhagwan, I gained a new freedom to be more spontaneous, more flexible, and more open in all my dealings with other people and with myself. I questioned constantly and gradually changed my old comfortable way of life into something new. This new way of life is something that Bhagwan has shown me through his teachings and through the inner spiritual contact to come in touch with the treasure inside us that has been buried and forgotten. It is bringing me to a stillness and a peace which I could formerly only dream about. My paintings are now alive and vibrant, and very popular, and there is no more competitiveness for me in painting.

Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is the spiritual teacher and master of this age. In the years of his spoken discourses he covered every topic imaginable and presented a comprehensive teaching. At the present time, through his silence, he is teaching people to become more aware, more awake, and more in touch with their hearts. This is available for everyone to experience in the commune of Rajneeshpuram, the only place in the world where work is worship and where everyone has fun with it, and where a commune is growing based on love and in trust.

Friendly greetings
[signed]
Ma Shunyam Manohara


(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.)