Testimonial letter from Sw Prem Purohita
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 Prem Purohita. It is "Exhibit A-2297" 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.
 July 24, 1983 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I am age forty, and was brought up in the belief of the old testament which left me feeling unresolved with the teachings. An emptiness surrounded me and a longing to understand more. The old testament as it was taught me left me with a feeling of segregation. And I could say made me feel irreligious for many years. It was not until I read a book by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh called the "Mustard Seed", which is on the teachings of Jesus, that I, you could say, saw the light. Bhagwan is a teacher, a master who intergrates the whole. I learn and experience through his teachings, oneness, oneness between peoples of many ages colours and different backgrounds and beliefs. He has spoken on masters and prophets throughout the ages, with a clarity I have never experienced with rabbis or priests that I have met. The oneness I talk of is not just an idea. At Rajneeshpuram this vision is being lived. I can’t see how something as vast as this could be possible unless a being of brilliance and vision was involved. My feeling is that the U.S.A, with her expression of freedom and truth cannot afford to see such a brilliant man leave the country. I ask you to grant Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh status to reside in the United States as a platform of truth and freedom that the world can see. In his silence and grace I find an expression of the ultimate truth. I am grateful. Yours sincerely, |
(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.)
