Testimonial letter from Sw Anand Nityam
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 Nityam. It is "Exhibit A-1553" 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.
 Swami Anand Nityam TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN This letter I write in support of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s application for permanent residence status in the U.S.A. I finished high school in the science direction with honors. During my college years I was intensively involved in youth work. In the Catholic student organisation I was leader of the local division and took responsibilities on regional and national committees. During weekends and in the summer I worked as staff member of the national committee for the formation of our local staff. I was very much interested in working out a more democratic way of leadership. We were studying Dr. Rogers and other behavioristic theories and setting up trainings to change the traditional authoritarian behaviour of most of our staff into a more understanding, feeling-in, democratic behavour. At the same time I was constantly working on my own transformation. I attended many seminaries on alternative educational methods and on insights in human psychology. I studied Rudolf Steiners’ antroposofic approach and visited some of the Steiner-schools. Several workshops in Gestalt and psychodrama gave me deeper insight in my own behaviour. My involvement with adolescents made me decide to get a teachers degree, which I obtained with honors in 1974 from the "Rijksnormaalschool" in Hasselt, Belgium. I graduated in geography, science (biology - chemistry) and morality (comparative religions, psychology, sociology). The reality in the educational system disappointed me totally and I kept looking for alternatives. When I heard one day an interview on the radio with Jan Foudraine about his new book "Original face" where he describes his experiences with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in his ashram in Poona, it went straight to my heart. Jan Foudraine is a well-known Dutch psychiatrist who shocked the whole psychiatric world with his book "Wie is van bout". I was very enthusiastic with his approach towards his patients. And now he has become a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I started reading books of Rajneesh. His insight in human nature and in the psyche of man just stunned me. More so, the simplicity, the clearness, the straightness in which he is able to express the complexity of our inner processes. None of the well-known thinkers or psychologists could make things so clear to me as he does. This way of expression is more like poetry than poetry to me. I visited some of his Centers in Belgium and participated in meditation and growth programs. One year later I decided to go to Poona to experience this man in real, not only through his books. Six weeks later I became a sannyasin (disciple) as well. I ended up staying for 15 months. I attended every morning his lecture. So many things cleared up in my mind and I became more and more at ease with myself. Something I never before experienced in such intensity. I was in Poona when Bhagwan stopped giving lectures and we instead sat silently with him for one hour, which is called Satsang. This experience was so much stronger than when he was talking to us. It amazed me, but I felt his presence, being with him so much more intensively in Satsang than in a lecture. It gives me a deep feeling of happiness, of oneness, of being in communion. For one year I couldn’t be in his presence. Then came the news of the world festival. I went to Rajneeshpuram to attend the gathering of his lovers from all over the world. It was a tremendous happening, the difference was absolutely clear, after one year living without his presence. I don’t favor the desert, but this place is unique. His being here with us inspires us to transform any place into a paradise. America is a country which has become great by its immigrants. And I know that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s presence in the U.S.A, will contribute tremendously to the beauty and richness of this country. I hope the people concerned will act according to their own policies and grant this outstanding man the status of permanent residence. Yours 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.)
