Testimonial letter from Sw Svarupanand
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 Svarupanand (Winfried Schmidt). It is "Exhibit A-2309" 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.
 Swami Svarupanand TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I have been a disciple of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for about half a year. I am a painter, graphic designer and sculpturist and worked as a free artist after finishing my studies. Also, I have been working as a musician and later with young drug addicts. As an active Christian I wanted to bring forth religious interest in young people. I had a deep interest in religion, yoga and meditation. But only after learning to know about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh I found the key to open up the many doors of my inner self. Sannyas for me is the greatest adventure, to experience the truth and love of an enlightened Master. He gives me so much strength which I can put into my work and my life. He encourages my creativity, gives me inner peace and trust. As an artist I feel I have been reborn. I have participated in the Second Annual World Celebration at Rajneeshpuram in Oregon. Bhagwan has created a very strong energy field here in which many people from all over the world can develop their inner growth and can experiment with their potential. While this is happening, a city is being developed that is a model for the whole world. A city without violence or fear, a city where modern technique and a meditative way of life unite happily. Rajneeshpuram is the heart of a new world religion that draws daily more followers and has found international acceptance. I ask you to give this exceptional teacher and Master the permission to stay in your country. [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.)
