Yoga, Buddhism and The Experience of Teaching them in a Cambodian Prison. Over the last six months this writer has, during monthly visits to Cambodia, initiated Yoga – Buddhist education classes done on a daily basis during the week at a provincial prison in the northwest province of Cambodia that borders on Thailand. The name of this province is Banteay Meanchey and the provincial prison is located in the large town of Sereisophan, the provincial seat. The prison holds about 500 inmates at any particular time, some in for only a few days, some awaiting trial and some in for longer periods of time, up to thirty years and life. It is quite different then prisons in America as far as facilities, educational opportunities, recreational opportunities, health care and food. In fact, it offers little or none of these things though outside NGO’s do provide the men, women and children who stay there with small animities from time to time. The only educational program going on there is our Yoga - Buddhist educational classes held in the morning in addition to a small English language class held there in the afternoon. Having taught there for some time now, I have found that my thoughts and feelings about the place and men there have undergone a transition, as experiences with things always brings about such a change. I have started to understand and look at the men there as individuals with greater insight and wisdom and grown in a number of ways from my work there, though measuring and pinpointing what this growth consists of can sometimes be difficult. The men there in each class are varied in their age, educational background, intelligence, mental and physical health, conditioning and reaction to their present circumstances. As a result of these various factors, they understand and react to the Yoga and Buddhist teachings shared with them in different ways. The teachings consist of Yoga postures, the basics of meditation practice, the basic philosophy and practices of Yoga and Buddhism and those Yoga and Buddhist disciplines that we learn and apply in order to uplift ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually. This is one of those teaching/learning situations where one can only do the best that one can do, because new people come to each class, while others stop coming, different groups of men come on different days and who will come and when they will come is not able to be controlled, administered or determined in any way by the teacher or prison authorities. As a result, it is somewhat difficult to have a class where the teachings and disciplines of Yoga and Buddhism are gradually instilled in the men or built upon as classes proceed. In order to deal with this, we distribute material that covers the basics of Yoga and Buddhism to all men who attend in the form of a four - page photocopied handout written in Khmer. We supplement this with lectures that are for the most part repetitions of previous lectures on the major points that we wish to share, and once in a while are able to bring into the prison and class a monk or other knowledgeable person on Buddhism who is able to share their experience and knowledge about Buddhism with the men. Of the 500 men in the prison, about 80 to 100 make some effort to attend our sessions. The sessions are not held inside with a fan or on a wooden or tiled floor, but are held outside in the middle of a dirt yard in the hot sun. We have provided mats for the men to practice on, these being mats made from a kind of weed that grows in the local lakes, marshes and rivers in Cambodia. These mats are durable, quite adequate and inexpensive (about 80 cents each) and have performed well. The men apply themselves to the classes with great enthusiasm and effort and considering their situation, can only be admired for what they do. We try to keep lectures to a minimum because we think that the benefits of the Yoga postures are what are most important for them to experience at this time in their life and practice. Those who come on a regular basis to learn and practice are more likely to start to absorb those other teachings regarding Yoga and Buddhism that we expose them to. A few of the ongoing themes and concepts that we expose them to are: 1. That regardless of their present circumstances, they can uplift themselves to a new plain of existence 2. That Yoga and Buddhism can be practiced in a prison 3. That Yoga and Buddhist teachings and disciplines can improve their mental and physical health, and that of their family and friends 4. That they need to make an effort to work with each other to the best of their ability at this time and situation in their life within the framework and guidance of the Yoga and Buddhist teachings. It is because of this last point that disciplines, teachings, concepts and practices such as Right Speech, non – violence, loving kindness and compassion are themes and concepts that we refer to frequently or on a daily basis. We also try to provide the men with books written in English or Khmer on Yoga and Buddhism though sometimes the books are hard to come by and a large majority of the men have little or no ability at all in reading English. Our work at this time is supported by Yoga students, colleagues and friends of this writer in Thailand, The U.S., Australia, and Europe. As we continue to proceed with our teachings and work, we are also in the at times long and tedious process of setting up an local NGO (Non – Governmental Organization) in Cambodia that will have as its main objective the teaching of Yoga and Buddhism to prisoners, the disabled, drug abusers and users in rehabilitation, orphans, abused and abandoned women and the general public. Our short and long – term objective is to provide quality and dependable teaching and material to all of those people in Cambodia regardless of their educational, social and economic situation and background who wish to learn about and practice Yoga or Buddhism. We continue to feel that the money, time and effort put forth in this endeavor is a worthwhile one. We also feel that the work and service that we are providing to these men in the prison is a needed one, and falls very much within the teachings of Yoga and Buddhism. We focus only on those things that we teach and any interest in or investigation of human rights abuses, corruption or the living conditions and circumstances of the men in the prison is outside the parameters or our work. Our objective, as Yoga and Buddhist teachers and teachings tell us is to look at the corrupt, the murderers, the lazy, the lost, the confused, the disenfranchised, the victimized and those in power with wisdom and compassion, and “with an equal eye”. 2004 John C. Kimbrough (Bangkok, Thailand)
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 22:40:46 +0000
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