Testimonial letter from R. J. Sarkin

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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 R. J. Sarkin. It is "Exhibit A-1231" 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.

90 Road No. 3
Victory Park
Johannesburg
South Africa 2195
July 18th, 1983

TO WHOM THIS MAY CONCERN

The founder and leader of any organization is never expected to maintain an active role indefinitely. Yet after withdrawing from this active period, such a person may continue to interact on a passive basis and contribute much to the spiritual sustenance of the organization. Whilst Bhagwan has withdrawn from direct interaction with his supporters, the product of his presence is manifest in the remarkable development of an almost self sufficient community in an isolated and desolated part of Oregon. This economic evolution within a subsistence farming area has not only benefited Bhagwan and the people living with him, but has injected funds and new agricultural products into an economically depressed region. The whole region has and should continue to prosper under his aegis.

However, Bhagwan's true value lies not in his ability to create a socially responsible and economically active community within your midst, but in the values which he has imparted to his proponents. I personally conduct an active role in my society as a business and engineering consultant. My eclectic of norms, mores and objectives have been coloured by some of Bhagwan's philosophies and influence both my business and private life. Undoubtedly, his ability to penetrate to the core of life itself has given me a unique opportunity to develop these personal values in a manner which I would have been unable to do utilising classical Western thought and psychology.

I am no extremist adherent of either Bhagwan or any other person, belief, cult or religion and do not wish to be perceived as such. My sole wish in this message is that you consider my independent opinion regarding Bhagwan's contribution to his supporters' lives as being a meaningful one. And that this contribution is not restricted to his close followers, but that peripheral people such as myself have found wisdom in his teachings. Therefore, the benefit of being exposed to his philosophies extends beyond the ranch where he resides into societies all over the world. The United States is therefore extremely fortunate that he wishes to reside within its midst. I personally hope that the greater accessability to him by the peoples of America is appreciated and understood so that he may be invited to continue having his presence felt directly through the work of his followers, and indirectly through the support of people like myself who acknowledge his worth in enabling us to build a better society through an improved understanding of ourselves and hence our fellow man and woman.

Sincere1y,
[signed]
R.J.SARKIN M.S.(Eng),MBA


(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.)