Testimonial letters

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This page is the central ("master") page for an amazing collection of letters from people all over the world attesting to Osho's superlative qualities as a religious teacher. Most were from sannyasins but an impressive subset were from non-sannyasins, writing in their professional capacities as academics or even some officials of nominally "competing" religions, from Catholic priests to Zen teachers. The letters were used to help with Osho's attempt to get permanent resident status in the US at the time of the Oregon ranch.

the story

Osho arrived in the US Jun 1 1981 and stayed in "Kip's Castle", part of Chidvilas Rajneesh Meditation Center, Montclair, in New Jersey. The Ranch was purchased in early Jul but Osho did not move there until Aug 31. (Source for dates in this account is Roshani's Chronology of Events Relating to Rajneeshpuram, Oregon (source document), unless otherwise noted.)

He first arrived on a visitor's visa. On Oct 23 1981, he applied for an extension of that until Mar 1 1982, based on the need for medical treatment. On Nov 24 1981 he applied for permanent US resident status as a religious leader and teacher.

After Osho's visitor visa expired in Jun 1982, he was allowed to stay in the country while his religious leader status was being considered. The decision came on Dec 21 1982; the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) denied Osho's application for permanent resident status. He was given one month to launch an appeal, or else be deported.

Two days later, Osho's lawyers announced they would appeal the INS' decision within 15 days, contesting every aspect. They said that the INS was looking for reasons to reject Osho's applications, noting especially the rudeness and hostility of INS officials at their Dec 22 press conference.

On Jan 5 1983, sannyasins filed their appeal in the INS' regional office in Minneapolis, mentioning five specific grounds:
1. Osho met all requirements as a religious leader
2. the INS misinterpreted and misapplied relevant statutes
3. the INS overstepped their authority in defining a religious worker, eg in saying that Osho could not teach or lead if he was in public silence
4. the INS failed to provide Osho's attorneys with various findings, so they were unable to respond
5. the INS acted arbitrarily and out of prejudice, discriminating on the basis of their own religious beliefs and limited understanding.

the letters

That filing was followed by months of legal wrangling, jostling and jockeying for position. It is not clear when in this process the idea arose and was implemented to collect the testimonial letters but, judging from the letters' dates, it was likely in early Jul of 1983.

And they came thick and fast. Over 2700 letters were sent or forwarded to the INS from all over the world. The letters were kept by Osho's immigration lawyer, Jeffrey Noles of Portland, who eventually [when?] donated them to the Oregon Historical Society, based in Portland.

The letters are only a small part of Noles' collection, comprising one box plus most of a second box of documents out of seven boxes in all. A correspondent contacted the OHS and, as of Mar 2022, has obtained and shared pdfs of images of all of the letters with the wiki. We will index them here, and link them eventually to individual pages with the image and an editable text version. Later we will try to get the same for the other files in Noles' collection

Information on the whole Noles collection can be found at this page. The wiki is grateful to the OHS for making access available for these documents.

Testimonial letters listed in the tables below will be in two categories, non-sannyasins and sannyasins, each sortable by any criterion by clicking on the column headers. Uploading the letter images and creating editable text versions will take some time ....

non-sannyasins

Non-sannyasins who wrote letters in support of Osho as a religious leader or teacher were mostly professionals in various academic fields and religious officials. Their offerings were solicited mainly by people who knew them, as sannyasins come from a multitude of professional backgrounds.

name position date item #
Steers, Douglas V professor philosophy, Haverford College 07-16-83 A-1
Kuntz, Peter M scholar law & theology, Princeton University 07-21-83 A-2
Matt, Daniel professor Judaic studies, Graduate Theological Union 07-20-83 A-3
Huneke, Douglas K pastor, Westminster United Presbyterian Church,
Tiburon CA
07-13-83 A-4
Aoki, Mitsuo Dept of Religion, University of Hawaii 07-12-83 A-5

sannyasins

The letters from sannyasins often cited their prior religious history in order to illustrate Osho's teaching and how it has profoundly improved their lives. Links will lead to their letters, not their personal pages, which may not exist. The sorting criterion for the name columns is the name they are most likely to have been known or be recognized by, usually their last name. In such cases, and when of the "normal" Ma or Sw X Y form, they will be presented as Y, X. Note that the first few are not real letter-writers but placeholders to design this page. Please be patient!

name, mas date item # name, swamis date item #
Papaya Pineapple 07-20-83 A-31 Coconut, Deva 07-20-83 A-33
Ingrid, Prem 07-20-83 A-31 Dhyan Billy Bob 07-20-83 A-33
Alpha, Yoga 07-20-83 A-31 Paritosh, Deva 07-14-83 A-12