Testimonial letter from Stephen H. Kaufman
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 Stephen H. Kaufman MD. It is "Exhibit A-459" 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.
 Stephen H. Kaufman, M.D. To whom it may concern: I am writing in support of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s visa application based on exceptional ability in the arts and sciences. My name is Stephen H. Kaufman, M.D. I am a medical doctor and a psychologist, licensed in Maryland, Colorado and Oregon. I received my A:B: degree from John Hopkins University in 1958. I received my M.D. from the University of Maryland Medical School, 1962. I did a 1 year internship at San Francisco General Hospital 1962-63. The next two years I spent in the U.S.A.F. as a general medical office and Capt. I was the base psychiatrist at Begstrom AFB, which is part of the strategic Air Force. From 1965 to 1968 I did a three year residency in psychiatry at the University of Maryland Psychiatric Institute and the Sheppard Pratt Hospital also in Maryaland. This was a complete and eclectic program involving treatment of in-patients and special emphasis on schizophrenics both acute and chronic; psychopharmacology; child psychotherapy; family therapy; group therapy; psycho-dynamic theory, forensic psychiatry, and extensive work with evaluation and treatment of neuroses and personality disorders on an out-patient basis. From 1968 - 1971, I had a private practice in psychotherapy in Baltimore MD. I specialized in forensic psychiatry, especially dealing with defective delinquents and the prison system. Tn 1971 I left my practice because I felt that new methods were needed to deal with schizophrenia and the personality disorders and for my own growth. I had been in a personal psychoanalysis for 3 years up to that time as well as in intensive psychotherapy for a year and a half. During the course of my travels around the world in search of a deeper understanding of myself, my patients and the universe in general, I discovered Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I have attended his lectures over a course of 9 years, read his books, listened to tape lectures, attended group therapies, sat with him in silent communion as well as worked in both his ashram in Poona, India, and Rajneeshpuram. My experience is that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is one of the most remarkable men of our time. His comprehension of psychological principles and how this applies to people is second to none. He has increased my depth of understanding of myself, my patients and the world around me. I returned to the practice of psychiatry in 1977-1978 at the Brook Lane Psychiatric Center, Hagerstown MD. In 1980 to 1981 I was staff psychiatrist at Centennial Mental Health out of Sterling Colorado. In the former position I worked intensively with in-patients while in the latter capacity I functioned primarily as a consultant, but also did group therapy and individual out-patient therapy. We had primary responsibility for the mental health of 80,000 people in rural N.E. Colorado. My experience with Bhagwan made my work with patients at Brook Lane and Centennial much easier and the results were far superior than in the past. Basically I feel Bhagwan to have the finest overview of psychology in the world. He is a world teacher of the highest qualifications. His insights into schizophrenia as well as bridging the gap between psychology and religion alone, should make him be sought out by all people interested in this field. However the practical therapies and meditations he has developed make his work totally unique and wholistic. I wholeheartedly endorse Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for acceptance of his visa application for exceptional status in the arts and sciences. He would be an asset to any country that received him. 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.)
