Testimonial letter from Richard S. Brumm
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 Richard S. Brumm. It is "Exhibit A-563" 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 2 pages.
 July 23, 1983 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I am a licenced Mechanical Engineer, having graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1953. I have practiced this profession continuously since that time. I am the author or co-author of 13 U.S. patents for inventions in the fields of gas and liquid flow including environmental controls. About two years ago I came across a book by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, ’’The Mustard Seed". I had read many books by many authors dealing with Eastern philosophies in my search for an alternative to conventional religion. Rajneesh stood out in stark contrast to the others in one respect that became immediately apparent to me. All others that I had been exposed to up to that point had rejected or at least ignored science and technology as viable forces for the betterment of mankind. Rajneesh sees the world in crisis, man having for the first time in history become powerful enough to destroy himself as a species. He fully acknowledges that man’s misapplication of his technical skills has contributed to bringing the world to this perilous point. Here he seems to break with the others in calling for the full use of modern technology in correcting damage done to the environment and reversing the present course toward the destruction of the planet. Rajneesh is truly unique, an Eastern mystic fully embracing the modern world of science and technology. Indeed the commune that His followers have established in Central Oregon stands alone among religious agricultural communities in its application of modern methods and machines to make a semi-arid land productive. I have visited this land and find myself truly impressed at the forward looking methods being applied. Indeed professionals from around the world have come to observe waste recycling, sewage treatment, experimental farming techniques and other projects. It is clear that these efforts are the product of Rajneesh’s vision and unique perspective as an enlightened master. Likewise it is obvious that the rapid progress being made is the result of the devotion of his followers. For these reasons I believe that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh will be a valuable asset to the United States where His religious teachings have found wide acceptance. Truly He has a unique grasp on the condition of modern man, and the vision to propose remedies to current problems. Respectfully yours, |
(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.)
