Testimonial letter from Sw Anand Shantideva
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 Shantideva. It is "Exhibit A-1947" 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.
 Swami Anand Shantideva TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN This letter is written to express support for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s application to stay in the United States. I was born in Berlin in 1953, and was brought up there. My family life was content and yet over the years something grew inside me until I felt ready to explode; it was the search for a deeper sense to my life, as yet not found. I got involved in Dance, Theatre, Tai Chi, Yoga and Psychology and seemed to be getting closer. But there was still a gap, a question mark. Why wars? Why so little love? Why so many unnecessary problems in the world? I became deeply religious and studied all the great religious leaders. But I couldn’t go to them and ask questions, nor just be with them and meditate. I realised only a living Jesus or Buddha could help me. At that time, seven years ago, I didn’t know Bhagwan; but I was ready to find him and love him. By chance I read an article on the dynamic meditation at a dance seminar with Katja Delakova from New York. Nine months later I was a disciple of Bhagwan. I live in an ashram in Berlin and come regularly to Oregon for the festivals. Whatever Bhagwan has given me through his daily discourses in Poona, or in answer to my questions in darshan, or here in Oregon in silent communion, has been so great, so impressive and full of love, that I can only hope humanity doesn’t miss the opportunity to recognize a living religious teacher. Bhagwan has spoken many million words, translated into many languages. Videos and tapes reproduce authentically what happens through Bhagwan, and how his love bears fruit in and through his disciples all over the world. It makes no difference if a master speaks or is silent. Bhagwan has already said all that can be expressed in words. His presence alone changes the atmosphere and can greatly benefit all mankind! I hope to convey all the wonderful love and gladness that I experience through Bhagwan to my friends, parents, and all who wish to know about him. In love, |
(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.)
