Testimonial letter from Palden Gareth Jenkins
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 Palden Gareth Jenkins. It is "Exhibit A-496" 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.
 2 PARK COTTAGES To whom it may concern re:- Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh My name is Palden Jenkins. I work as an astrological and psychological counsellor and teacher, and as an archaeologist specialising in British prehistory. I hold a degree from the London School of Economics, and am currently doing further training at the Institute for the Development of Human Potential at the University of Bath, England. My main field of work in counselling is crisis management, and I am responsible for helping many people who are undergoing profound change in their lives, especially in pointing them to directions which they can follow in order to resolve personal dilemmas and inner changes. I first came into contact with Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh in 1977 while I was living and working in Sweden. His message and style of teaching impressed me greatly, and I soon realised that what he was teaching represented a fundamental and modern reinterpretation of a surprisingly eclectic range of religious teachings and psychological therapies. I am not one of his followers, although I practice meditation of Tibetan Buddhist origins. Yet, when appropriate, I recommend clients of mine to visit Bhagwhan's centres, without reservation, since I feel that what he and his followers offer is of immense benefit to many people. That he is currently practising silence is not unusual for spiritual teachers. To me it is an indication of his sincerity. During the seventies he delivered discourses which give a lifetime of food for thought. It should be noted that a true religious teacher makes his contribution in two main ways: 1. through the teachings which he offers, and 2. through the plain fact and influence of his presence and the consciousness transmission purveyed through being near or in contact with him. Bhagwhan's teachings are already well recorded in books and audiovisuals: it is in some ways an index of his maturity that he deems it unnecessary to speak any longer. If true Christian teachers did the same, they would demonstrate in their way of being the nature of the life which the Christ sought to convey: indeed, in the ancient Celtic church, it was not uncommon for teachers and saints to commit themselves to silence. One of the largest religious gatherings ever in India was led by a man who also held silence: Meher Baba attracted ten million people in one weekend, who simply sought to be in his presence. For reasons such as this I find no moral or intellectual reservation in judging, from the viewpoint of my own person, that Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh is a genuine religious teacher of quite great import to modern people. He takes his place among several enlightened beings who take the responsibility to help the basic inner development of large numbers of people. Though unconventional, he is not unusual amongst spiritually developed leaders, for each of them comes from his or her own heart, setting the pace and new norms for us humans to live by. I believe that America, with its tradition for religious freedom, and its atmosphere of forward-moving progress, is the best land in which he can live. Yours sincerely |
(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.)
