Testimonial letter from William D. Shattls
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 William D. Shattls. It is "Exhibit A-1111" 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.
 75 Bank Street (4B) To Whom It May Concerns I am writing to support the application of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh for permanent residence in the United States. Although not a sannyasin myself, I have many friends and acquaintances who are. I have read several of Bhagwan’s books and listened to a number of his taped recordings. To anyone acquainted with the teachings of this man there can be no doubt of the value and wisdom of his spiritual leadership. As a psychiatric social worker and member of the faculty of the City University of New York I am acutely aware of the need in our society for teachers who can inspire as Bhagwan does strivings toward increased self-reflection and knowledge, greater social consciousness and fundamental brotherhood. I have found Bhagwan’s teachings to have great relevance to my own life, my work, and my personal and professional relations. It is my hope that the American authorities will be supportive of Bhagwan’s petition for permanent residence, keeping alive and vital the tradition of religious and intellectual freedom in the United States. 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.)
