Testimonial letter from Sw Shantiprem
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 Shantiprem. It is "Exhibit A-874" 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.
 P.O. Box 33 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN There are many exceptional people America has benefitted from. America’s strength has come from producing and allowing progressive thinkers to live here. The I.N.S. is now involved in making a decision about such a man: Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Bhagwan is a very rare individual. He offers a vision of how to be religious while participating in society. In the midst of the chaos, violence, ignorance and fear that exists in cities all over America is a city where this doesn't exist, Rajneeshpuram. This is because of the presence of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. He is a man who is alive now who knows another healthier way to live. When I see him everyday I feel the grace and beauty that’s possible for people to have. Bhagwan is a reminder to me of what is possible and in his presence at Rajneeshpuram we are creating a city where people can learn to live with each other and themselves. The religiousness of living near Bhagwan is in enjoying the day to day activities of building a new city. I'm not involved in strange esoteric practices, I'm a sheetmetal worker, installing air conditioning ductwork and its my worship. The same thing hundreds of people all over America are doing and doing without learning anything. Here at Rajneeshpuram through Bhagwan's teachings we are transforming our ordinary activities into joyous ones. I'm fulfilled here doing what hundreds of people are doing and feeling empty and bored. If you don't see the potential Bhagwan offers this country just open your eyes and read a book or come visit the ranch. See for yourself. With the help of Bhagwan enough people can become religious to change our present state of chaos. 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.)
