Testimonial letter from Sw Avinasho

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 Avinasho. It is "Exhibit A-2254" 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.

Rajneeshpuram, OR. 97741 To Whom It May Concern This letter is to express my feelings that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a being of exceptional ability, intelligence and splendour. When I first met Bhagwan 3 years ago I was amazed at his ability to articulate in words my innermost feelings, and answer questions I felt but could not really formulate. And to shed light on dichotomies which had existed in my life between science/religion, body/mind, spiritual/material, male/female; how he brings polarities together. He expresses himself through each movement, gesture, look, as well as his incredible eloquence with words. Being with him, since he entered silence, feels like he is communing with my spirit, rather than feeding my mind. This goes much deeper for me. I feel some of his vast silence pour into me. That even when I am not in his physical presence. The stillness helps me create a space inside where I am more centered, aware and present than before I met him. And his constant reminder to be in the moment. I work in the field of Electrical Engineering - often in situations which are dangerous. In the last 3 years I have had less shocks, accidents, and made less mistakes than before I met Bhagwan. I have worked, lived and travelled in all parts of the world for many years meeting many people of every race, class, background and religion. When I look into Bhagwan I see something I have never seen before in anyone. An openness, clarity, acceptance and love, unconditional. Yours in love, [signed] Swami Avinasho

(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.)