Testimonial letter from Sw Ananda Teertha
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 Ananda Teertha. It is "Exhibit A-108" 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 4 pages.
 AFFIDAVIT I, Swami Ananda Teertha, being duly sworn do depose and say as follows: I have been an Acharya of the Rajneesh religion since March 1978. As a minister from whom many thousands of individuals have sought counsel over the years, and from my personal experiences as a lifelong seeker of spiritual truth and understanding, I am qualified professionally and personally to attest to the exceptional nature of the abilities of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh as a religious leader and teacher My duties as an Acharya and as Director of the Rajneesh Institute for Meditation and Self-Transformation include performing religious ceremonies—initiation, marriage, death, celebrations, international events and Darshan. In Darshan many sannyasins come together in a group and I respond individually to those who bring questions concerning their spiritual lives. I also provide counseling in groups and individually through Rajneesh International Meditation University; I am available for consultation to other program instructors, and I coordinate and participate in the training of other professionals in the meditation and inner growth programs. As part of my duties, I have traveled around the world visiting major Rajneesh communities and meditation centers to lead religious ceremonies in Germany, England, Australia, South America and Canada. In the United States I have consulted in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and New York, and I was invited to address Meeting of the Ways, a religious conference of several thousand people at Stanford University, California. In 1970, prior to my involvement with Rajneeshism, I founded Quaesitor, a growth center at the forefront of western experiential psychology based in London. I had traveled widely and worked with the leaders of humanistic psychology in gestalt, bioenergetics, encounter, Rolfing, etc. I was asked to start an Esalen group in London. This quickly became the largest growth center in Europe, and the first such institute outside the United States. Despite the success of the project, I felt I had reached the limits of what was possible in traditional western psychology with respect to my own personal evolution and in my professional capacity as a psychotherapist. I became a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in October 1972, and have since undertaken extensive studies of meditation, religion and spiritual counseling, and have received a Doctorate of Literature in Meditation from Rajneesh International Meditation University. In 1974 I joined the religious community at the Shree Rajneesh Ashram in Poona, India, and under the guidance of Bhagwan, began leading growth programs, giving spiritual counsel, teaching meditation and editing His religious texts. My own religious education and training as a counselor was directly supervised by Bhagwan, and involved meditation, apprenticeship and specific instructions from Him concerning my own meditation and in regard to my work with others. The training I received from Bhagwan is incomparable; the basis of this training was being with Him, in His presence, watching Him work. I have had countless opportunities to witness the profound, transforming impact of Bhagwan’s teachings and example in the lives of many disciples and fellow seekers. Since directing my energies to the furtherance of His ministry, I find that not only is the quality of my spiritual life enhanced, but also that my effectiveness as a guide for those who seek my counsel is continually increasing, and, with His tutelage, has long since exceeded the discovered limits of my own capacity and understanding. During my eleven years with Bhagwan and in particular over the last two years, I have constantly observed radical personal transformations in those who come to Him. These changes have been on all levels - spiritual, emotional and physical. Those who feel they have problems find their lives no longer focused on them; chronic physical difficulties suddenly vanished, many find their creativity dramatically increased, and people who are simply averagely neurotic become blissful. As one who continually counsels and instructs, I am particularly aware that these changes are not attributable to any methods or techniques. The changes are directly attributable to the essence of Bhagwan which radiates and is transferred to others. I have observed that wherever He is experienced, a beautiful community starts to form and in these loving and meditative environments it can be easily observed that the distorting effects of chronic stress and tension rapidly diminish and disappear. In my considered opinion this nation can only benefit from His presence here. My observation of Bhagwan's followers is that they are invariably intelligent individualists and frequently people of exceptional ability themselves. This very fact seems to me sound prima facie evidence of the excellence of His religious leadership. His teachings do not proceed from a new set of dogmas or a formulaic approach to religion; rather, His work is entirely focused on helping the individual free his or her own potential for spiritual fulfillment. The humor and compassion He draws upon in His work and His creativity in the range of methods and devices He has invented is unparalleled anywhere in my experience. It is not surprising that those who are drawn to Him are those actively engaged in their own inner evolution. Bhagwan's rare giftedness as a religious leader and teacher stems from the uniqueness of His own spiritual attainment; I experience His very being as His teaching. His presence alone has a catalytic effect on the unfolding of the innate awareness of those who come to Him. Though there is no ready explanation of this powerful phenomenon, it is a fact of my everyday experience. In my travels I have encountered many emminent people in diverse fields - psychology, religion, politics, the arts and sciences - and have found that even the most gifted people seem to operate from a limited vision; in the case of Bhagwan, I have found His understanding and insight unencumbered by such limitations. Over the last two years the beauty of His silent presence for the few moments of His daily greeting floods me with simple joy and rekindles a loving awareness in my heart. The foregoing is within my personal knowledge and if called as a witness I could testify competently thereto. Dated: September 13, 1983 |
(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.)
