Testimonial letter from Reuho Yamada

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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 Reuho Yamada. It is "Exhibit A-16" 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.

CHOSHOJI TEMPLE
Asami 1-2-4
Beppu, Oita-ken 874
JAPAN
July 15, 1983

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
I, REUHO YAMADA, HEADPRIEST of CHOSHOJI TEMPLE, a Zen Temple established 500 years ago and located in Beppu, Japan, am writing this affidavit in support of BAGWAN SHREE RAJNEESH's application for a green card allowing him permission to reside and work in the United States.

I became familiar with the work of Mr. Rajneesh through his many published works, as well as through meetings with many of his followers. It became apparent to me some time ago that Mr. Rajneesh as been making a valuable contribution to many people as a spiritual teacher and I believe this contribution is important for American people and for the progress of world peace in general., Although the Zen Buddhist tradition which I represent and teach has very little resemblence to the organization of Mr. Rajneesh, I feel that in the substance of his teachings there is a common ground with the spirit of Buddhism. Particularly important has been the remarkable work he has already done to introduce the spirit of meditation to many young people who were unable to benefit from similar teachings in already established institutions and schools of religious experience in America.

Among many of the remarkable achievements of Mr. Rajneesh is his ability to successfully synthesize a wide range of traditional experience and knowledge, the effect of which in his students nurtures the American spiritual character which lays in tolerance and harmony with people, independent thinking, and community work.

For these reasons I believe Americans will be able to benefit very much from this unique person. On behalf of many people in the Buddhist community which I represent, I humbly submit this petition that he be granted permission to live in America.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED
[signed]
Reverend REUHO YAMADA
HEADPRIEST, CHOSHOJI
Beppu, Oita 874
JAPAN


(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.)