Testimonial letter from Margaret M. Smith
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 Margaret M. Smith. It is "Exhibit A-1160" 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.
 W & A, INC. To Whom It May Concern: As a professional counselor, I lead wellness seminars, radio and TV work, work in a community mental health center, and conduct a private practice in Nashville, Tennessee, where I have lived for twenty years. I earned my Master of Science degree from Vanderbilt University and at present am earning my doctorate there also. Before I decided to pursue a career in helping people with problems in living, I was an active community volunteer in the Junior League of Nashville, the Metropolitan Nashville school system, the Nashville Symphony, and Cheekwood Fine Arts Center. I came to know of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his healing philosophy through his writings, in interactions with his sannyasins, and as a participant in activities at the Rajneesh Center in Nashville. For me, the value of Bhagwan's teachings are multiple, both in my own personal development and in my effectiveness as a therapist. His wisdom, depth of knowledge, and understanding of people from a cultural and historical perspective provide a brilliant framework for working toward peace and harmony. In terms of economic and scientific influence, it seems to me that we must look at Bhagwan's contributions to land reclamation and sound ecology. Even though I have had no personal contact with this master teacher, I am certain that his presence in our United States will enhance and speed up our progress toward a world united in peaceful purpose and intent. Sincerely yours, Here we note that two other letters have been written by apparent colleagues using this exact address, phone number and clinic logo. They are from Lawrence J. Weitz and Roger W. Abernathy. |
(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.)
