Testimonial letter from Margherita Guida
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 Prof. Margherita Guida. It is "Exhibit A-1261" 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 original letter, written in Italian, appears first, followed by its English translation. The image on the right in the text box links to a pdf file with the whole original letter, the translation and a notary statement attesting to the validity of the translation. It has 4 pages.
 Prof. A chi può essere interessato: Io sottoscritta Margherita Guida, Dotteressa in Pedagogia (Università di Trieste, Italia) ed insegnante di italiano e storia presso la S.M.U. di Cadenazzo dopo aver praticato l'Hata Yoga ed aver conosciuto, nella mia ricerca spirituale, le tecniche die meditazione di Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh e dopo aver letto i suoi libri, sono profondamente convinta dell'efficacia del suo insegnamento teso alla trasformazione della persona attraverso la graduale liberazione dalle nevrosi mentali. Lo reputo pure uno dei più grandi pedagogisti esistenti e apprezzo la chiarezza e la semplicità delle sue indicazioni concernenti i rapporti con- i bambini; lo considero anche un grande sociologo che ammiro per il grande rispetto che porta alla libertà individuale di ciascuno. Personalmente ho tratto grandi vantaggi, in un periodo difficile che incideva negativamente anche sul mio lavoro, da alcune terapie ricevute a Berlino da terapisti suoi discepoli. E' ora senz'altro più positivo e aperto, grazie alle meditazioni che pratico, il mio rapporto con i ragazzi ed i colleghi di lavoro; posso dire, in complesso, di sentirmi molto più serena. Perciò posso concludere solamente affermando che l'insegnamen esistenziale, le tecniche di meditazione e l'esistenza stessa di Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, sono uno dei più grandi doni che l'umanità ha ricevuto in questo secolo. In fede translationProf. Margherita Guida To whom it may concern I, undersigned, Margherita Guida, Doctor of Pedagogics (University of Trieste, Italy, and a teacher of Italian and history at the S.M.U. of Cadenazzo (CH) After having practised Hatha Yoga, known the meditations of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in the course of my spiritual search, and having read his books, I am profoundly convinced that his teachings are most efficaciously transforming the people by gradually liberating them from mental neurosis. I also consider him one of the greatest living pedagogues, and I appreciate the clarity and simplicity of his teachings concerning the relations to children. I also take him as a great sociologist whom I admire for his deep respect for everybody’s individual freedom. I have personally profited a lot from several therapy sessions with therapists in Berlin who are his disciples (during a difficult phase in my life which had very negative effects on my work as well). Because of the meditations I practise my relation to my pupils and fellow-teachers have become more positive and open; on the whole I can say that I feel much more serene. Thus I should like to state that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s existential teachings, his meditation techniques and his own presence itself are one of the most significant gifts mankind has received in this century. Yours truly |
(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.)
