Testimonial letter from Sw Anand Bodhi

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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 Sw Anand Bodhi. It is "Exhibit A-678" 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.

PO Box 10
Rajneeshpuram
Oregon 97741

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I am writing this letter in support of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to be granted permanent residency in the United States, on the basis of his exceptional abilities in the Arts and Sciences.

I am a graduate of Cornell University in Theater Arts and of the graduate school of Theater of Hunter University For several years I worked with small theater groups in the New York area as an actor and playwright. Later I became an English instructor in the Veteran's program of the Community College of the City of New York.

Part of the attraction of theater for me was the ability of the great playwrights, of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Shaw etc., to deeply perceive the workings of the human mind and heart, and to display them before us in a way that touches us deeply.

Yet until I met Bhagwan, first by hearing his lectures on tape and then by journeying to India to see and hear him in person, I had never met anyone who knew man in his totality; mind, heart and the very depths of his soul. Here was a man from the core of India whose English was a poetry sweeter than the sonnets of Shakespeare. Here was a man who could sing the frustrations and exaltations of the human condition much more tellingly than Chekhov, who perceived the workings of political man more deeply than Brecht. In short, I came to know this man as the greatest poetic and literary genius of our times.

It is sad that few people know a communion that goes beyond words. Since Bhagwan has entered into silence, he offers to those who are open to it, a heart to heart communication that is more meaningful than words. The beauty of this silence has affected me in that I am more peaceful both inwardly and outwardly than I have ever been in my life. My ability to concentrate in writing and other forms of work has increased dramatically. Bhagwan's presence in this country in a setting that is healthful and safe has been a blessing for me and I am sure for the entire country. He has much to teach and much to give. He will be a priceless asset for the United States.

Sincerely,
[signed]
Sw Anand Bodhi


(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.)