Testimonial letter from Sw Anand Rafia
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 Rafia (John Arthur Hancock). It is "Exhibit A-854" 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 Rafia To whom it may concern I am writing as a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh known as Swami Anand Rafia and as an American citizen named John Arthur Hancock. In this letter I hope to convey the profound effect Bhagwan’s religious teachings have had on me personally and to show how he has given me guidance and inspiration in my work as a therapist and counselor., I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971 with an honors degree in Economics. Most of the time since then has been spent studying and practicing various forms of therapy. I worked for 2 years as a Mental Health Advocate for the Alameda County Mental Health Association in Oakland, California, working with recently discharged mental patients as both a counselor and advocate in the courts, welfare agencies, etc. I taught courses at the Berkeley Center for Psychic Development for 2 years. I taught courses and led a counselor training program for 1 year at Holistic Life University in San Francisco. For the last 4 years I have been working as a therapist with Rajneesh International Meditation University. My training has been in Bio-energetics, Neo-Reichian type therapy, Postural Integration, co-counseling, Gestalt, as well as trainings and exposure to many other kinds of therapy. By far the most important ingredient in my work and personal life has been my exposure to, and involvement with, the teachings of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Firstly, his understanding of human psychology, the functioning of the mind, and the roots of our social conditioning is so profound, and so articulately stated, that on a very practical level he has helped me to see and understand myself to a depth and with a clarity I would have previously thought impossible. This great wealth of information is evidenced by the more than 360 books and thousands of hours of taped discourses. Of course, this self-understanding has a very direct and positive effect in my work with people - what I’ve come to understand in myself I can share with others. As well as speaking to us all in a general way He used to send us written responses to questions we would send Him - and this access is still available at Rajneeshpuram today. And, of course, He would answer our questions verbally in both discourse and darshan. It is my feeling that the real magnificence of Bhagwan’s work with us seems to be in a whole other dimension, a dimension almost impossible to describe, something beyond the rational, something sensed and felt, but beyond words - a language of silence. Herein lies the problem of all religion, all mystical experience - to bring to language that which refuses to be defined - just as moments of wonder and awe lose something the moment one tries to explain them - so it is with articulating what one feels when in Bhagwan's presence. Exactly that is the predicament of Bhagwan - for years He said it is almost impossible for Him to exactly relate what He has found in words but still He must try, try to indicate with words what is possible for all of us. And that He would do that until the time came when our understanding had gone deep enough that we could sit with Him in silence. That time has arrived. As for me, His presence simply provokes something in me which is so silent, so deep, so full of love and understanding, so prayerful, that I have glimpses of the potential that lies in all of us - for these moments I am eternally grateful. This communion with Him has become that which makes the therapy we do at Rajneeshpuram in a class by itself. That this is so, I am convinced. Those of us who have understood Bhagwan on this silent level have something extra to offer those who come here to participate in the therapy programs. In addition to being very well-trained in traditional, problem-oriented therapy, we also have the understanding and love which springs spontaneously from this silent rapport with Bhagwan. Many, many times I have been told by participants from our programs, most of whom have been exposed to psycho-therapy and personal growth methods before, that, "I don’t know what you are doing here but this work has gone deeper, been more loving and helped me more than anything I have ever experienced" - comments like this are common, and sometimes from people who have spent years seeing a traditional psychiatrist. That Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a man of exceptional ability is easily seen -first there is the great number of books and tapes available, a testament to the years of work he did in India, lecturing daily for seven years in Poona to thousands of people. Then there are the 250,000 disciples from countries all over the world. In another way I hope this personal testament helps to establish He is helping me professionally in my therapeutic work. Also, the exceptionality of His work can be seen in the eyes and smiles, and felt in the warmth and enthusiasm of His sannyasins. I would think that, especially in these times of such world-wide difficulty and strife, a man with such obvious abilities would be welcomed in a country dedicated to alleviating and solacing in a just way both our own domestic problems and the problems which currently confront the world. [signed] |
(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.)
