Testimonial letter from Sw Satyananda
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 Satyananda (Gorg Andreas Elten). It is "Exhibit A-1746" 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.
 Satyananda's typos of his own name (two) and of his city of residence have been left as he wrote them Gorg Andreas Elten To whom it may concern: I was on an assignment of the German magazine "Stern” when - in 1977 -I travelled to Poona/India to write a story on Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Twenty five years of reporting had taught me to look at so-called VIP's with critical eyes, to distinguish between phonies and people of substance. After two weeks in Poona I was sure that I had made a sensational discovery: I had come across a genuine mystic! This man knew! He talked about God with the authority of one who’s ego had disappeared, who had merged with the whole, who was not seperated from existence. This calmness, this peace, this non-judgemental acceptance, this aura of love, this wittiness and - last but not least - this overwhelming intelligence! Through Bhagwan I experienced religion as an adventure - dancing, lively, juicy. He said that the world can only be changed for the better if we dare to try the only "real revolution" - the religious revolution. This revolution does not aim at changing society; it transforms the consciousness of the individual. We have to accept responsibility for ourself. In 1977 I had come to the point of total disillusionment: Journalism -as liberal, intelligent and objective it may be - could not prevent mankind from disaster. A world wide transformation of consciousness was needed. Bhagwan, I felt, had the potential, and was using it to the fullest, to transform the consciousness of millions of people. I became a disciple of this religious teacher and moved into his ashram in Poona. For more than three years I had the pleasure to listen to his daily discourses. He is a brilliant orator with an amazingly wide range of knowledge. His teachings, published in more than 300 books, establish him as a man with outstanding abilities in the field of philosophy, psychology and education. But I was even more impressed by the way this spiritual Master transforms people. A university professor informs people - a mystic transforms people. Bhagwan does both. I wrote a book about him ("Ganz entspannt im Hier und Jetzt" - Rowohlt, Hamburg) which became a best seller. And during the last two years, while the new city of Rajneeshpuram started flourishing in the desert of Central Oregon, I explained Bhagwan’s work in several TV programms. I also lectured in many German universities and other public institutions talking to more than 10,000 people about Bhagwan’s gigantic effort to shift the energy-situation on this planet from negative to positive: In a world dominated by fear, greed, competition and violence he teaches the individual to be more loving, to be life-affirmative, to celebrate, to be ecstatic. The audiences were particularly interested in Rajneeshpuram - not only a new city, but a human experiment of planetary importance: The application of modern science and technology is guided by meditative awarness. Religion and science meet. This city knows no drugs, no violence, nor cutthroat competition. Within two years a -tremendous amount of work has been done, but there is no pressure, no haste, no pushing. Work has become worship. Somehow this Master knows how to stimulate his disciples to be total -in their love, their work, their joy, their sorrow. Bhagwan teaches not to worry about the future and not to be in the past. When a thousand people try this, most of their energy is available here and now -and miracles can be achieved. Bhagwan does not need to give pep-talks to his disciples. His silent presence is a beautiful space in which to communicate: we feel his love and we try to respond by living his teachings. He is a silent, but powerful reminder. Rajneeshpuram will go on to grow and flourish in Bhagwan’s presence. It will become a model-city which can give mankind, troubled by fear and violence, new hope. Yes, it is possible to create a world in which man’s needs are fulfilled - his spiritual needs as well as his material needs. Paradise needs not to be in heaven only. Sincerely yours, |
(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.)
