| Reflections on Teaching Yoga and Buddhism in Cambodia – Why Prisoners?
Why prisoners?
I was recently asked this question by a young Cambodian man who assisted me in translating my Yoga and Buddhist lessons for prisoners in a local provincial prison in Cambodia some months back.
It was a fair question, as many people in all countries and cultures of the world tend to fear prisoners, or to think that if they are in prison, they must have done something wrong that got them there.
This assumption is not always a correct one and many times there are circumstances in a person’s life that we are not aware of that lead to them to prison.
In many instances they may be victims of an unjust criminal or justice system or just the prejudices and biases of those who have power over them.
They may have also been individuals who were routinely treated with little or no loving kindness, compassion, understanding or respect.
It is a well – researched and accepted point that men and women who are abused or neglected in some manner tend to be individuals who will be more likely to commit a crime or get into trouble with the criminal justice system.
There are a number of reasons for teaching Yoga and Buddhism to prisoners and assisting them in other ways possible and permissible in any country or culture of the world.
One is that men and women can change.
Sometimes this change is one that comes from within while at other times the ability to change has to be awakened.
There are many people who have never been to prison but live a life each day that is abusive to themselves and others or experienced in the midst of chronic mental and emotional confusion and suffering.
People in such dire straits, be they in or out of prison, can be awakened to a wiser way to live, but it requires the availability of a teacher or resources for learning and change.
Another reason for assisting prisoners is that many times men and women in prison may come from a more troubled background or set of circumstances that make them more confused or lost then the average person on the street.
Many men and women in and out of prison are in need of learning about a way of living and thinking that can enhance their mental and physical health.
Regardless of whether they are in prison or not, they may come from abusive or disturbing backgrounds and experienced a great deal of unwholesome and negative conditioning themselves.
Recent studies show us that there are now three million men and women incarcerated in the United States or one out of every thirty two people.
What has led so many people to become lost and confused about how to live in the richest and supposedly greatest country in the history of mankind?
Is it one’s own isolation or alienation from others and the world, or just an inability to know how to live in a wise and compassionate manner?
Conditions for prisoners incarcerated in the Cambodian prison are quite harsh and no way near as good as they are in western and American prisons where men and women are provided with the opportunity to work and get an education or learn a skill, in addition to having three meals a day, clean clothing and an opportunity to shower or bathe each day.
Prisoners, regardless of the crime they have committed, the place in which they did the crime, or where they were incarcerated can learn how to live with greater wisdom.
An individual, be he or she a teacher of Yoga, Buddhism or English, or a teacher of any other subject or skill, or a provider of health and spiritual care and resources, can, through his or her words and actions lead an individual to a new path, not by force or coercion, but through gentleness in spirit and an understanding of the human condition.
As human beings living in the fearful, anger - prone, troubled and turbulent times of the early twenty - first century, we are fortunate to have good teachers, from both the past and present, to learn from and assist us in seeing a better way to think, speak and live.
Sometimes we have to seek them out, sometimes they are right at our doorstep, and others times all we need to know is how to access the one within.
By being wise and compassionate to prisoners, we can assist them in accessing the one within.
© 2007 by John C. Kimbrough
John is a volunteer teaching Yoga and Buddhism and providing other health and educational resources for men and women in a local provincial prison in Cambodia. He has lived in Asia for twenty years.
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