Testimonial letter from Sw Deva Panthi (sand screw operator)
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 Deva Panthi. It is "Exhibit A-323" 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.
 The author of this letter MAY also be the author of another letter, written under the same name. The wiki has found 23 definitive cases of people writing more than one letter, but we cannot be certain in this case, since the stories in this letter and the other neither confirm nor rule out the possibility. There is some resemblance between the two signatures but not enough to be conclusive. See also Testimonial letters#duplication for more on this. Swami Deva Panthi To whom it may concern, I am a resident of Rancho Rajneesh. I run a sand screw. This is a plant that seperates, or segregates, creek bed material. Bhagwan’s presence here has a dramatic effect on my work. First of all the attitude that I bring into my work, is a direct result of his influence. Though he is silent, His presence inspires me to approach my work, not as a dull task, but as a joy, a celebration of life, and an application of technology in a way that is harmonious with nature. The joy that I bring into my work, enables me to tap an energy source within myself that seems to go on and on. In addition the level of awareness that goes along with this energy, enables me to work in absolute safety, around a machine that has many potentially dangerous moving parts, as well as falling rocks of various sizes. The machine uses water to separate sand from silt. The silty runoff water is caught in settling ponds, where the silt settles down. The cleaner water is skimmed off the top of the last settling pond and used to irrigate a nearby field. Everything is used. Bhagwan has said that technology, with consciousness, is the answer to the ecological mess we have gotten ourselves into. My personal experience here in His presence, verifies this. Here, I create sand for concrete, and agregate rocks of various sizes for our roads. I run an industrial plant, in an arid wasteland and the waste-water from my plant, is turning the surrounding land into productive green farmland. Industry is in harmony with agriculture, which is in harmony with nature. Concrete gets poured. Roads get built, and at the same time the land gets greener, and more productive. Also, I might add, I have never done this kind of thing before. His presence inspires me to jump into a situation that is new to me. Rather than relying on previous experience, doing things as they have always been done, I need to see this as a new experience. I am open, and aware of what needs to happen. I have the energy to let the proper things happen through me, because I am open to enjoying the correctness, the harmony, and the productivity that is possible through creativity. From this experience I must conclude that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a man of exceptional ability in arts and sciences, who’s teachings and very presence can greatly benefit not only the field of religion, but also the fields of industry agriculture and ecology. [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.)
