Rikers Island, New York, is the second largest jail in the United States, and has struggled for years with staff shortages and poor facilities. The Art of Living Prison Program has worked there on and off for over the last 10 years, but it’s very challenging to get anything done because of all their restrictions and severe staffing shortage.
Two weeks ago, I went in, thanks to a dedicated staff member who is doing her best to get programs to the detainees. That said, the situation was far from ideal. Instead of having a private room where we could take people to, and they could close their eyes and do the meditation and breathing program properly, we had to use common dorm areas, where the elderly male population are housed – a large room with peeling paint filled with a sea of cot-like beds. The men basically sleep or lay around all day. The temperature is consistently HOT, since the furnace becomes non-functional if it’s turned up or down. An officer sits at the front of the room behind a small desk – doing their best to stay alert for their 16-hour shift.
Then there’s a back room with a clear plastic wall that serves as the TV room. The room is furnished with stainless steel round tables that have chairs welded to them – they had old games and random food on them. The TV is constantly on.
When I walked in, the officer announced what I was there for, and I heard grumbles of “we don’t want to do anything like meditation,” and “if you get me two strippers and some weed, I’ll do it.”
I went to the TV area and said if anybody was interested – come back and join me. Just one man with a cane- (Mr G) joined and sat at a table with me. We went ahead through day one of the program.
I subsequently went to another unit (Unit B) at the staff’s request, and it looked almost the same as the first area. There I had 3 volunteers- a white male who claimed he to be a yoga teacher, an Arab man, and a man who looked homeless and somewhat disoriented (Mr. T). We sat upfront on the floor and managed to get through most of the day one program.
When I returned the next day to Unit A, a man with a durag and crutches joined Mr G as we started the program. In the background, the loud TV sounds from a horror movie blended into the sounds of Gurudev’s guided recording Sudarshan Kriya. Durag man had tears of relief flowing during the process, but they both kept their eyes closed and did it well. Afterwards, they both already looked different – very calm. I asked how they felt, and they both said “peaceful.” I gave them a copy of a booklet of excerpts from some of Gurudev’s talks “You Are The Blue Sky.” I asked them to read it critically for what they liked/did not like, and underline or write in it if they wanted to. We agreed to meet the following day at 9:15 AM.
Unit B that day was a little bit of a struggle, but I managed to round up all three men again, and repeated the routine that I had conducted in Unit A. We again sat on the floor as people stomped back-and-forth. They kept their eyes closed and did the process 100 per cent. When they open their eyes, Mr. T said that he felt so lucky and was very smiley and had a way of repeating all the Sanskrit words – I started to wonder if he was already enlightened.
I returned at 9:15 AM the next day to Unit A, as agreed. The guys weren’t there! The officer said they went to another meeting. What the heck?
I left and visited Unit B early. The white male was unhappy that I had shown up early. The Arab man was asleep in his bed, and Mr T came up smiley. The white man said he didn’t read his homework, and he wasn’t going to be able to attend class that day. The Arab guy got up and he said, “OK I’ll come to the class, but I haven’t slept all night.”
He and I sat with Mr. T in the TV room, and he said that he got bad news from his wife the previous night about his son, which is why he couldn’t sleep. He looked sad and tired. I asked if either of them read their homework- but the Arab man had not. But Mr. T gestured wildly towards his heart and elaborated that he loved it because the message was about how not to judge people and just be with your own spirituality. I’m not sure I ever read that directly in that pamphlet, but it was such a great summary!
They did their second Sudarshan Kriya. At the end of it, the Arab man opened his eyes and smiled this huge smile and said, “I’m back, I’m peaceful.” He looked bright and happy. He kept thanking me for coming there and having him do it. Mr. T followed his lead and said the same.
At that point, I decided to return to check back on Unit A. To my surprise, Mr. G and Mr. D were waiting. We went to our table, which was full of spoons and crackers. I asked if they had read their homework, fully expecting a “no.” Mr D opened his booklet, and I could see literally everything was underlined.
He looked at me and said, “When I started to read even the first page, I looked at Mr G and almost yelled,’ Did you read this!? I loved everything in it. It is what I have believed my whole life…. I’ve never felt like I am what I own or who I know or what I have… It’s my spiritual self that matters. Just like He says here… Look at this line here (he pointed into the booklet) ‘consciousness has qualities that can’t be described in words’…I can read this book every single day. It is AMAZING.”
Then we did the whole Art of Living Prison breathing program and went through the second lesson of Sudarshan Kriya. They sat still and silent, eyes closed, in a background with noises of a football game blaring from TV with eight guys watching it on the other side of the room.
When they were done and opened their eyes, Mr. D said, “I want to say something. I know some of these guys don’t appreciate you coming in here. You have to go through a lot to come in here and do this, but I really, really want to thank you. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
I was in absolute awe of how Gurudev can find people in the darkest places like this and reach them with the Truth.
The Art of Living Prison Program kindles genuine rehabilitation. It’s like a candle in darkness. For the past 33 years Gurudev has been sending his teachers into all types of prisons, jails, and juvenile detention centers in 65 countries around the world. The results have consistently been transformative and give people a new lease on life. I’d like to encourage you all to get involved. If you haven’t taken Art of Living Prison Program, you may want to start there. If you want to sponsor a program, that would be extremely helpful also.
“Inside every culprit, there is a victim crying for help. That person is also a victim of ignorance, small-mindedness and lack of awareness. It’s the stress, lack of broad vision about life, lack of understanding, and bad communication that leads to violence in society.”
~ Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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