Testimonial letter from Sw Satyam Lalit

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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 Lalit (Dr Günther Mevec PhD). It is "Exhibit A-233" 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.

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
München
Dr.G.Mevec Ph.D.Philosophy
Geschaftszeichen im Antwortschreiben bitte angeben
Ludwig Maximilians-Universität, Geschwister-Scholl-PI. 1, 8000 München 22.
Office of Foreign Students
Academic Advisor
at the University of Munich
München, den July 19, 1983
Durchwahl 21 80
Zimmer:

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I write this letter on behalf of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and in my own name.

One of the Fahters of the American Nation - Benajmin Franklin - was of the opinion that a diversity of religion is to be allowed in order to support the spiriutual growth and life of the nation.

In our age and day with its immanent dangers to devastate humanity by an all out war religion can help making us aware of the respect for the deeper and essential qualities of man. In this sense Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is in my view the most prominent figure today.

On the soil of the United States there has since its founding always been enough freedom for people to pursue high ideals in almost every field relevant to the strivings of humanity.

Not only that the United States has become leading in the field of sciences such as physics, mathematics, modern philosophy but also in such disciplines as humanistic psychology.

To me, one of the main characteristics of the American way of life is the approach of life through experience.

In this attitude there lives the unbiased freedom of men that had the courage to turn away from overcome theories to openly try new way and new aspects in order to help people directly. It was through the ideas of men like Milton H. Erickson, Carl Rogers, E.Gendlin and many others that humanistic psychology has been made to find effective ways of helping in an unprecedented manner.

They could only work in this way because there is this real and practical freedom alive in the United States. This freedom is unrivaled anywhere in the world.

It is in this sense that many American citizens that I have come to know take pride in the freedom which in its essence is the very core of the United States.

And in my view it is for this very good reason that there is this kind of Freedom in the States that a religious position such as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh upholds it, lives it and has layed it down by his speeches and books can continue to infold and aid mankind in its direct way speaking to heart and soul of man and his world.

Already the Fathers of the American Nation have by their conception of this singualr freedom sent a great impulse over the world. Many people sensed this invitation to live in such freedom and many from all parts of the world sought to make a new life in America making it the Nation that it is today.

And the United States has always invited great seekers and thinkers to come and enrich life within its boudaries.

Many great discoveries originated in the U.S. stimulating the sense of man's unlimited creativity throughout the world.

The spiritual position of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh is a position of freedom, a position of the heart.

It is hard not to feel, not to sense the outstanding quality of his teachings, his works, of his life.

The uniqueness of his devotion is best summed up in his own words: LOVE IS MY MESSAGE. And this is not a mere statement by words. There is a quality in the words which can be felt in his life.

Allow me at this point to state how this message reached me and how it gave my life a new dimension, a new quality:

There was no promotion of any kind to win me as a follower. No articles are known to me on what people should or should not do.

It is the spark of what every person is and what he can do by simply allowing the awareness for the state of his or her life, for the state of being which is, here and now and every moment.

Unique abeout this attitude is that it makes life into one fully collected feeling of the YES for the present moment.

Many futile fears were stopped, speculation, expectations, qualms and doubts as to the universality of concepts which play such a great role in philosophy which I studied to its limits.

By the spirit of this inner YES coming to me through his quiet example my inner voice has been calmed, has enabled me to turn more fully into myself and thereby more fully into the needs of the fellow-man I have learnt to sense through Bhagwan. And this learning has enbbled me to impart the same sensing to many other persons, among them quite a few American students.

It is this yes that brings peace to me. I have seen in others the very same process and result. It opens us for a rich measure of empathy of which we are all in need. All these are qualities of love. And love is the essence of peace. And peace we need for this world.

All this is but a very short resume of things plainly stated in his books, by his life. He has lavishly poured his empathy and understanding on those who sought his help. His devotion of love-energy is again something unique.

It is in this sense that I feel Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to be anindividual as outstanding in his way that Einstein was, or Abraham Lincoln or any other great person who has so totally invested his energy to serve and support mankind in its strivings.

Summing up I would like to state that Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh deserves to live, to be present in the space of the unique American Freedom which he enriches in his very special way.

The work so far done in Oregon, the impulses sent into the local economy there by the commune of people who show that deeds can follow the teachings deserve their due respect.

Further the way and manner in which the people there in Oregon live together in the harmony growing from the inner yes and its peace may well be seen as a new vision of how humanity may possibly live and find calm both individually and internationally.

To me Bhagwan Shree Rajness is a God-given individual whose greatness is deservant of the unique American Freedom and its innate spirit.

It is my plea before the authorities responsible to allow him unrestricted residence in the United States of America.

Thank you - whoever may read this letter - for your kind consideration and effort.

Yours very sincerely
[signed]
Dr.G.Mevec
Ph.D.Philosophy
University of Munich


(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.)