Testimonial letter from Sw Anand Marshar
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 Marshar. It is "Exhibit A-1544" 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.
 July 23, 1983 To Whom it May Concern: I am writing this letter to state my support for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and why I believe he should be allowed to stay in America. He has been a profound influence in my life and I have witnessed many people changing the direction of their lives as a direct result of his teachings and love. You would only have to look at what has happened here in Rajneeshpuram, to see his vision unfolding through the love of his disciples in such a short time, to know that this man is truly exceptional and unique. Any one thing taken alone is remarkable enough, but for so many to happen is a miracle. The' peaceful gatherings of thousands of people for the World Celebrations without any ugliness and so much love. The rejuvenation of the desert rangeland in such a short time. The spending of sixty million dollars within Oregon. The quadrupling of the farm income over two years. The harmony with which thousands of sannyasins live and work together. The innovative techniques combined with sound farming principles are daily turning a desert wasteland into an oasis. The building techniques and innovations are unique to Rajneeshpuram and to see what has been accomplished in only two years is a constant source of wonder. One only has to visit here to see the energy and love as shown by his disciples to know that here is a human being so unique that to ask him to leave the country is to make that country poorer in spirit and heart. Kind regards, |
(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.)
