Testimonial letter from P. Ann Keaton

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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 P. Ann Keaton MSW. It is "Exhibit A-413" 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.

P. Ann Keaton
3617 N. Glenrose
Altadena, CA 91001
July 20, 1983

To Whom It May Concern:

I am a social worker with experience in agencies serving handicapped people, parents with a history of child abuse, and in public schools.

I am also a former teacher, with experience in elementary, high school and university settings. I have a B.A. degree in literature from the University of Utah, an M.S. in curriculum and instruction and a M.S.W. degree from University of Wisconsin.

During the past several years I have found the books and audiotapes of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to be a source of continued help to me in my personal life and in my profession as a social worker. His emphasis on accepting oneself and celebrating our opportunity for life at every moment has been an inspiration to me and, through me, to my clients. His spiritual guidance has brought increased joy into my life. The use of his unique meditation techniques has decreased tension. This has been especially helpful, since I live in a metropolitan area where simply driving the freeways can be a tremendous strain.

In reading his works I am amazed at the breadth and depth of Bhagwan’s knowledge in all fields of the sciences and humanities. He is able to integrate ideas and concepts from the world’s great philosophers, scientists, poets and spiritual masters into his own unique and brilliant world religion. It was this genius, combined with his great love for humanity, that first attracted me to Bhagwan’s work.

I have visited Rajneeshpuram, as recently as the 1983 World Celebration, and have benefitted from being in the loving atmosphere created by Bhagwan. Because of my experience with children and parents, I noticed the children and the way they relate with each other and with adults in the community. They seem to be spontaneous, energetic young people who have many adult friends. The striking thing to me is that the "kids" and adults treat each other as people, without the "child" and "adult" roles that I see as a restriction to all of us. The adults, both parents and others, treat the children with genuine loving concern. In the children I see none of the fear of adults as authority figures so common elsewhere. They seem to feel free to be themselves while taking responsibility as commune members.

Even though he is in silence, Bhagwan’s presence is clearly the source of this loving interaction I observed between people of all ages. Just from seeing him during his daily drive and in Satsangs and Dharshan I felt such love showering upon everyone.

There is no doubt in my mind that as a spiritual leader, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh exercises world-wide influence. In my opinion his presence in this country is a great asset to us in these times of conflict between men and nations.

Sincerely,
[signed]


(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.)