Testimonial letter from Sw Satyam Azad
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 Satyam Azad. It is "Exhibit A-321" 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 2 pages.
 July 24, 1983 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I am writing this letter as a concerned American human being. I spent six years at Ohio State University studying, teaching, and doing research on various aspects of conservation, fish and wildlife management. I received local, state and federal grants to assist in research projects relating to man and nature co-existing. I have assisted in graduate courses in ornithology, entimology, botany, linmology, psychology and vertebrate zoology and ictheology. All of these things were accomplished while acquiring my B.S. degree. So far as I know no other undergraduate student ever received as many grants or assisted in as many graduate courses. I have also been successful by American dream standards ... nice family, beautiful home, great job, a Porsche and a Jaguar in the driveway, fine stereo, designer suits, respected in the community .... and there has been a change, for the better, that has affected my life for the past few years. A simple insight that a six figure income is not a source of happiness ... that truth and love are not just convenient labels but can be experienced. I live in Rajneeshpuram now and have for a year and a half. "Plan for a Miracle" is what Bhagwan has said, and that is the only explanation for what has and is happening here. It can be described as miraculous, divine, or that it is simply what happens in what we call a Buddhafield ... the commune of our Master. When I look through the eyes of my "scientist" the changes here are unbelievable. The numbers and varieties of birds and small mammals that are here this year as compared to last ... the number of fish in the creeks ... the incredible riparian recovery in the creek beds ... the new grasses and other ground cover on the surrounding hills ... and how can it be that now there are hundreds of people living here, building a city, paving roads, building buildings, installing water and sewer systems and things keep getting better for the land ... nature? It is simply because of Bhagwan. His whole message is harmony ... man, nature, technology, science, environment and .... this is it. Every project here has a special ingredient ... people, who out of their love for Bhagwan and his love for them, are willing, able and anxious to put their total energy into creating this place ... with this love. They bring their skills and enthusiasm to a new intensity ... creativity ... to harmony. This place, His experiment, is the most American thing to happen in this country in modern times. It is being built by the spiritual-material pioneers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. What I know and understand best is about people ... living ... laughing ... loving ... dancing in harmony with each other, science, nature, and technology ... in the presence of their, my Beloved Master ... Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. In my heart I know it is not possible to see this place ... us ... him .... with open eyes and heart and not come to know the joy of this harmony ... His harmony. 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.)
