Testimonial letter from Maria van Orshoven
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 Maria van Orshoven. It is "Exhibit A-1827" 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.
 Belgium, Oud-Heverlee, july 19, 1983. Dear Sir, The news that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was refused by the U.S.A. authorities to immigrate roused my indignation. As a Belgian citizen, The United States of America is always given to us as an example of democracy. Tolerance and freedom of religion are magnificent pillars of U.S. Democracy. That is why i don't understand this refusal. The U.S. should be very pleased that Bhagwan would like the U.S.A. as His residence. I am sure that this refusal is not definite and that a revieuw of the U.S. attitude is still possible. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a unique Master. Through His knowledge of human nature and His deep religious experience, He is not only a psychologist, a philosopher, a religious teacher — He is also an ecologist. He restores human beings once more to their place as living and integrated parts of nature. Bhagwan brings man back to himself. He bridges the gap between the mind and his true identity. By reading His books you can feel the joy of rediscovering what makes man a unique being. Through His clear insight into the psychology of modern man, especially Westerners, He has developed many techniques to reintegrate man into the ecological state that prevails in nature. His simple and touching way of making His message known to the world strikes a chord in our hearts and brings much of what we have repressed in ourselves back into our awareness. Through this process we come into contact with the mistery of our existence as part of the cosmos. We become able to break the impasse and, as new men, to restore the innate harmony of our nature. We feel again at one with the vital elements: air, water, earth and fire. The fundamental joy of living that wells up is an elexir that can change the face of the world, if many people get the opportunity to drink it. Bhagwan is a living Master, who shows a way to the Eden that lives within us, awaiting rediscovery. The community which He and His disciples have created in Oregon is a remarkable attempt not only to create the inner Eden but to mach it with an outer one too. Their plans for afforestation, agriculture and land use respect the original ecosystem of the region, as much as Bhagwan's philosophy teaches us to respect our original nature. I became Bhagwan's disciple in february 1982. By chance I received one of His books, The Mustard Seed (talks on the sayings of Jesus) and read it in one day. I am educated in a Catholic famiiy. By reading this book I realised that my Catholic edudation had no inner content and consisted only in empty gestures and social behaviour. Bhagwan's message is alive and existential to me and through His silence He reaches directly into my heart,awakening a love-state of being. I feel reborn in awareness. Last year I visited Rajneeshpuram and I enjoyed so much being in presence of Bhagwan and His disciples. I also enjoyed the country and American people. I hope that the U.S. authorities will accept Bhagwan as an immigrant of the U.S. and that He can remain as a religious teacher among His disciple in the United States of America. Best regards, |
(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.)
