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The Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation presents
PEACE
PEACE On the Outside
The Peace Class Story Continues
This past week here I've had the opportunity to have dinner with a few of the former
students that attended the Peace Program
they brought their families, and they are looking good and looking healthy
and they got a positive outlook on life
You doing alright?
When I got out, I was nervous.
You got all these obstacles you gotta go through.
You no longer have food, water and shelter, clothing...
There's a lot of things you gotta when you get out. It was kinda, like, scary.
Every day you've got to keep positive and think positive
I'm not going to let this person get to me today
Ex-offender Sigee and ex-offender Chase
Were very vocal about what had gone on their lives
and it was good to connect with them again
to see actually what was going on
This message has affected me so much
that I would do anything I can, to help further the message
We can hear about it
but you know, to actually see it was a real good experience.
and showed that, the effectiveness of the program.
I like dealing with people, I like talking with people, I like
seeing progress in people, you know, I still believe in that it's not too late.
Now I can say that, no matter what, it's going to be better
and I have people around me, encouraging me: "Just be patient"
So, my hope is today, is not to lose my peace.
and my hope is today, is to know that every day is a new day, don't hold on to my past.
Move forward. I am very happy today.
Yes I am!
The Next Day
Peace Class students at Dominguez Jail who returned to society were invited
to speak at a State-wide meeting of the Texas Community Service Association (TCSA)
TCSA members are parole and probation officers who focus on promoting education
and better use of community services for adult and juvenile offenders.
I wanted to come here today because I believe that the work that they do in
putting human contact into our criminal justice system,
and helping folks to earn a second chance in life
is very important work
Welcome to San Antonio...
I want to welcome everyone here to San Antonio. Now, who's from the city, who's from San Antonio?
Alright!
This is the final presentation of our conference. This is Inner Peace Education Program
which was sponsored by The Prem Rawat Foundation
and it's being implemented at the Dominguez State Jail.
It's a great program, we got a lot of support in the community for it
I do want to introduce you to our facilitator: Hope Calvillo.
She is an analyst with the City of San Antonio,
but has extensive history in Criminal Justice,
so she has a lot of good people with her.
Please welcome her.
Thank you, thank you!
As Pete said, my name is Hope Calvillo
I have a little over 25 years experience in criminal justice
20 years as a parole officer
In the last five years working with at-risk youth.
One of the things that we look at is, how do we find the resources that we need
so we can do a better job?
With that said, I want to introduce the program that we're involved in
and we're very honored that you have us here.
These men have all been students of
the Inner Peace Program at the Dominguez State Jail.
All of you have done at least 6 months or more, in a classroom setting?
If you have any question, that you'd like to direct to the panel?
Yes, sir?
In the program where I'm at, a lot of times I have a chance to talk to the residents.
What I ask them is, "who is the most important person in your life?"
and they always say 'their wives' or 'their kids'
and what I tell them is, the most important person in your life should be you
If I'm not saying it correctly, then I need to know what I should say to them
Yes, that's very true. You gotta start with you, yourself, on the inside
If you can't fix yourself, then you can't fix anything else.
And I used to do that, always was my kids first.
But if I wasn't in the right state of mind
or at peace with myself, then I couldn't help them. I allways failed
Ended up back in prison, not succeeding and pitying myself
So yes, you're right. They do have to start with themselves. It's always within.
There is nothing wrong at all
with using family, friends, or anything as inspiration
to be, what makes you right. But you're absolutely right, if you don't start with yourself,
you're no good to anybody else.
Another question.
Would that program have helped you as juveniles?
Is this something that you had to go the gauntlet?
and become adults before you opened your minds and listened?
I think hearing the message when I was younger,
if I could sit still long enough to watch the videos,
I believe it would have saved me from 'pursuing the gauntlet', as you say
I believe that it doesn't matter at what age, if you reach a crossroads,
you got to look for a solution
and it depends on what degree of trouble that you're in,
that will force you to look at the other direction
You have juveniles out that's living hard lives
that's been in a lot of trouble, they have nowhere to turn,
and when they run against that brick wall, then they're going to accept it,
they're going to look for something that's going to work,
or they're going to look for some kind of solution.
It just depends on how many times you bump your head on the wall and
the degree of trouble and that you're in.
But I believe it will work anyway you put it
any way you place the healing message, it's going to work
This message is for every human being,
regardless of age, to be honest.
It helps you reconnect with that humanity.
Doesn't matter what age, because
I tried everything. People forced me to do many things when I was a teenager.
None of it made sense to me.
He helps reconnect with that feeling
Regardless...
He looks at you as a human being. That's it.
Baby, middle age, older person, it does not matter.
This message has given me the ability to break
the cycle of poor choices
that take me down the road, back to jail.
I don't have to like what's going on around me, what's happening to me,
what's being said to me; but I don't have to react to it negatively.
I don't have to let it take away
any calm, or peace or happiness,
that just that day brings me.
I can isolate that negative experience
for what it is, understand it,
deal with it appropriately, and go about my day.
We still deal with everyday problems in society, like
being a convict and not being hired.
We still struggle with drugs in the neighborhood,
kids not listening because you haven't been there for them
We still get mistreated, denied, unapproved,
These videos here, they helped me accept that, and just
be okay with it. Do you know what I mean?
I don't get angry any more because the guy didn't want to hire me,
or because he didn't approve of the way I looked
I just accept it and you know what? That's his problem. He has to live with that.
Within himself.
I've already accepted the peace in me and I'm OK with it.
But, nothing has changed as far as society,
we just know how to deal with it in a better way.
These gentlemen are graduates of the program?
Yes
So they've gone on with their lives?
What are they doing in the outside world to be citizens like all of us?
Great question. Lisandro?
What put me in prison was my addiction, my alcoholism.
I was really screwed up in the head
and Prem Rawat helped me in a lot of ways.
And it wasn't just - because I overheard you saying 'graduates' -
For me, it's not graduating - it's a lifetime term thing for me.
It's an every day - I want to feel good every day.
Something happened inside, within me
when I started listening. It helped me get in contact with that feeling within myself
What it is like on the outside? Every day has its challenges
It is easy to fall back into the same mind set of
what you're used to, and
to become a productive citizen, to get back into paying taxes, and
to be a family member, is all a challenge.
and to prove yourself
is proving to your own self, that you can do it and being patient
and all the things that are required to be a citizen
is a struggle, but the human instinct is like,
you have to constantly remind yourself of what's important.
And you have to constantly remind yourself every day, or you will fall back
into old habits, or a negative way of thinking.
So, it is a challenge, but it has rewards. It's bittersweet.
But it is not impossible. And as time passes, the wound heals and
you are able to see and feel and function and be a part of the world
without the consequences of being locked up
or just being another number, or being dehumanized.
It is... life! And it's good!
I remind myself that it's good to be alive and breathing
and to feel the sun and to be able to just be free.
Think what I want to think, eat what I want to eat,
watch what I want to watch
It is good and I'm looking forward to a new life.
I'm looking forward to just being a part of society.
And getting on with my life and making my parents proud.
I was locked up with all these guys
We saw each other there, and to see them - they all got out before I did -
but when I saw them when I got out, it gave me hope
that I can do it. We all can do it.
With the right message, with the right classes
with the right understanding, and with the right support.
We can change this thing around, we don't have to be convicts and be doomed
That we can make it. And it works.
What do you value most?
My peace.
Yes, life. I now enjoy life. I don't
worry about tomorrow. I focus on today
What's important is how I feel on the inside, regardless of what goes on the outside.
Nobody can take what I feel on the inside.
You can take my freedom, you can incarcerate me but
you're still not going to change how I feel inside.
I love that you grasp this concept, to keep sharing it and take it on to others.
To address that a little bit, that's one thing that caught me first about this message
as it does not matter what your beliefs are, or what your religion may be
there's nothing in this message that would conflict with any of that
As far as the gentleman's question...
there is no time frame on this program.
It affects everybody differently.
It lasts forever.
No two people are going to take Prem Rawat's message
and apply it the same way.
But I was able to apply this message in that controlled environment
and make that controlled environment better for myself
When I got out, the variables in life
Attack you from so many different directions.
and it's so easy to get back into the same patterns
When I first got out, I had to think about
specific things that were said within this message
and consciously apply them.
I've reached the point now where I don't necessarily have to
consciously think about it.
It just happens. It's just ingrained in me
to a point
where, I don't have to think about it.
I wanted to say that, one of the things I value as very fundamental -
if I was in a hospital bed right now
and they came to me with a suitcase of money or a brand new car,
or a house, and they said,
"What were you going to take with you, what do you want to hold?"
I think I would trade all that stuff, just to get that breath,
just to breathe, because that's
that's very basic, it's very fundamental,
and at the end of the day, in a hospital bed,
I bet not being able to breathe and taking breath for granted is...
we overlook that every day.
We don't take it serious about breathing. Breath is very important.
And we just have to remind ourselves of that - hey, I'm breathing,
I'm alive, I can enjoy, just because I am alive.
then you can take on the rest of the problems that arise every day
and can deal with things, because you're happy.
you're showing gratitude that you're alive.
And that's something we all have in common, and we need to look at that more often.
Reminding ourselves every day
just, hey, I'm OK! And that's how you do it.
And you learn that from watching the DVDs
Everyone wants to be a part of something.
Being a part of this, is good, it has value.
It's not a mirage, it's not something fake, it's real.
He helps you to realize that you are a miracle, a walking miracle
I think we've run out of time. We'd like to close simply by thanking you
for allowing us to be here today.
There's a flame...
and it's burning here inside...
This is an important part of my life. An experience that
I probably won't get all the time, or ever again
It's like an achievement, and it's my way of being able to
give back to what was given to me.
I've been able to receive such positivity from this message for myself
that I can be an example for others. To have the chance to say something
that might be taken away from here today
and offered to someone else
for them to have the opportunity.
I can feel my life within me...
I shed some tears
just to realize 'they're listening to me'
Wow! What a concept. I used to be under their rules.
And now they're asking me for advice and want to hear what I have to say...
There's a change...
There's a fresh wind from the sea...
It felt really good to come here today and talk from the heart,
what I deep down inside, think about myself on a personal level,
what I want to share with people, to let them know that we're alike