Testimonial letter from Sw Satyam Puratana
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 Puratana (Peter Lustig). It is "Exhibit A-607" 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.
 PETER LUSTIG TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN; Here, in short, my opinion about BHAGWAN SHREE RAJNEESH, his personality and his influence on the world of today. Data concerning myself; 46 years old, married, book-author, scriptwriter and director for radio and television children programs. At the same time the well known host of my own television-series, which have been running very successfully now for over 8 years. (The currently running series was awarded one of the most famous TV-prizes.) In my work I make children acquainted with their surrounding, trying to make them open, curious and able to cope with the problems of today's world. For me Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh not only is an outstanding philosopher and spiritual reformer - above this he is a religious leader of the same importance, impact and influence as all other founders of the great world-religions. Not beeing opposed to Jesus Christ’s original message, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for me is the only living person who can bring back religious feelings and spiritual renewal into a world of materialism, aggression and destruction. Beyond all political and economical positions he has shown a way towards a world worth living—in, a world of happy individuals, who are able to combine a modern way of living and advanced western technology with spiritual growth and sanity. In short - I regard Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh as somebody, who by means of his religious power, can lead mankind towards individual consciousness, away from seif-destruction. Bhagwan has changed my attitude towards my surrounding and my way of living to a great extend. My improved spiritual situation and my growing awareness enable me to show more affection and energy while dealing with other people, with my own problems or while working on the job (which I enjoy more than ever before). To be effective and stay alive, a religious movement like this not only needs a leader, but also the possibility to grow in continuity and organize itself. I am glad, that in RAJNEESHPURAM, Oregon, a place was found where Bhagwans religious renewal has a geographical center, a place where people can prove to themselves and to others, that their new consciousness can — literally - move mountains. A place where people from all over the world can look upon and learn from - a place whith no political restrictions within a society that has always respected religious minorities. I hope, that this great american tradition will also be remembered in the case of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh - for the benefit of all people. [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.)
