Testimonial letter from Thomas D Cammack

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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 Rev Thomas D Cammack. It is "Exhibit A-51" 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.

UNIVERSAL LIFE CHURCH INC., CHARTER #21307
COMMUNITY CARING CENTER
July 19, 1983

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been a minister with Universal Life Church since 1977, doing mostly community service work and attempting to explain New Age concepts to interested students. I have learned many of the deeper meanings of the spiritual life from books and tapes of Mr. Rajneesh. He is an extremely knowledgeable man in so many diverse areas that his analogies may come from football to nuclear physics. Thus, he has the ability to communicate to practically every part of the human spectrum. He is a leading figure among that important group which I term the Bridge Builders: that is, those souls whose insight can bridge the gaps between Eastern and Western wisdom, between the iridustrial and space age spirituality, between the Piscean and Aquarian ages.

Some years ago, Margaret Mead, the anthropologist, noted that the 2uth Century is the Century of Change and "the ever increasing rate of change". This is why the work of a Bridge Builder like Rajneesh is so valuable to our coulture. These are crucial times when the healing influence of one who can see and describe (so that others may see) the synthesis of the polarities this brings togetherness;we need to have our generations brought together, our nations, our races brought together. We need this togetherness, this fusion, this synthesis to avoid the warfare that could lead to our self-extinction.

I cameto learn about Bhagwan Rajneesh from two fine teachers. One was an excellent clincial psychologist, marriage and family counsellor, and college instructor, Dudley Yasuda. Several intriguing selections he quoted from Bhagwan led me to explore further. I also studied Tantra from a former nun, Lana Clark, whose idol is Rajneesh. From her class I found that "Only One Sky" by Rajneesh is probably the best book to convey the Tantric view. This further led me to attend some of the Rajneesh Meditation Center activities where I was first exposed to the refreshing concept that meditation could re an active, or dynamic, process not just a passive, static posture. I have always learned best by actively doing. Although I have not yet become a sannyasin, I still return periodically to Rajneesh texts and exercises for inspiration and new insights.

I do hope and pray you will allow this man permanent status as a citizen, to add to our great cultural wealth. I believe there is a mystical and spiritual significance that our country, especially our West Coast is now attracting several religious seers ; guides. Peter Caddy of the magical, mystical Findhom Community has resettled from Scotland to our Mt. Shasta. The Tibetan lama, Tarthung Tulku, fled communist Chinese to build his shrine near Jenner, California. My belief is that our Western Coast has become the evolutionary spiritual focal point of our planet, of our species. Pleaese keep Bhagwan here to assist in the "delivery room of humanity", to help us make a smooth, loving transition into the New Age.

Thank you. God bless and guide you
[signed]
Rev. Thomas .D Cammack
COMMUNITY CARING CENTER
67-A Prospect
San Francisco, CA ^*+110


(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.)