Testimonial letter from Mano Lincoln
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 Mano Lincoln. It is "Exhibit A-1443" 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 3 pages.
 1759 South Coast Highway TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN : As a professional in two fields: psychology/social work and art/art history, I am writing about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Enclosed is my resume which spotlights my qualifications and experience. As indicated, I have worked for twenty years since my graduate degree in a variety of governmental and private agencies. Since 1965 I have been studying and attending classes of many spiritual teachers both Eastern and Western. These have included personal contact with Alan Watts, Swami Satchidananda, Fritz Perls and others. In 1976 I began studying the religious books of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and as I continued to attend his lectures and do his meditations, it became clear to me that here was a man of truly superior stature. This led me to visit the ashram in India in 1978, and make subsequent visits to Rajneeshpuram in Oregon last year and this year. In Laguna Beach He appears on public access television (Storer Cable) and I know personally that he has a wide following among community people who are not sannyasins (in addition, of course, to the hundreds who have been initiated). I have seen his books in local libraries and know personally many people whose lives have been positively changed by His ideas. Bhagwan is a world-wide figure ... And one who is influencing those He touches in a positive way. It seems to me that He should be welcomed anywhere for any length of time. In my own work as a psychotherapist, His ideas have been invaluable to me in helping others towards a more relaxed state of mind, a life free from drugs and other addictions, centered on awareness, one-pointedness, and freedom. In the field of art, which was my original university field, Bhagwan has had a profound effect. Many sannyasins are producing beautiful works in sculpture, painting, pottery, and allied areas. Bhagwan’s ideas spread into all areas of creativity. My feeling is very strong that the presence of a person of such high status and quality would benefit any country in which He resides. As an American, I prefer that He remain here. Thank you for your attention. |
(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.)
