Testimonial letter from Ramsay Burt

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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 Mr Ramsay Burt. It is "Exhibit A-1135" 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 3 pages.

Yorkshire Mural Artists’ Group
BASED IN LEEDS AIDED BY THE YORKSHIRE ARTS ASSOCIATION
Tel.: Pontefract 73121 or Bradford 23021

18th July 1983
Mr Ramsay Burt
122 Harrogate Street
Bradford ,West Yorkshire
BD3 OLE
England

To whom it may concern

I am a painter, lecturer and a writer about dance. I am active in the cultural life of the North of England in my work as a mural painter and I write about dance for national publications. I am also active in groups which work towards better funding and organisation of the arts, such as the Yorkshire mural Artists Group and Dance Writers North. I enclose my curriculum vitae.

I am convince that Bhagwan Rajneesh will be judged as one of the more improtant and influential figures in the C2Oth. In my own field ,the dissemination of his teachings has perhaps been more influential than is generally recognisd. While British Society is degenerating with more and more unemployment and social problems of which in many ways the Northern Ireland situation is only an exagerated example, the importance of self-realisation through creative precesse: and the need for some way of meditating to combat stress is being widely recognised. Rajneesh has been a central figure in spreading these ideas in this country and inter nationally. He has also been innovative in the field of dance, and his ideas on the emotional source of movement and bodily alignment as it is used in his meditations and the therapy work as practised by his followers. In this he is in line with thinkers like Alexander, Reich and of course the American dance theorist Mabel Ellsworth Todd. Alot of western thought is now coming independantl to conclusions that are in line with Eastern thought. Rajneesh’s writings have been especially relevant and appropriate in spreading eastern philosophy in the west.

I am not one of his followers, but have been interested and influenced by his ideas, and been to mediataions and events by his followers. I think he is an almost disturbingly innovative figure, but the example of modern painting and modern dance alone would demonstrate that America is more receptive and encouraging of innovation than any other country.

yours sincerely
[signed]
Ramsay Burt


(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.)