Kiran Bedi has many firsts to her credit—first woman IPS officer in India, first woman head of Tihar, the largest prison in Asia-Pacific, first person to introduce
vipassana meditation inside Tihar and turn the conventional attitude towards crime on its head.
VIPASSANA AT TIHAR
In the early hours of the day during one of the (
vipassana) courses, a sudden storm… resulted in the top and sides of the
shamiana collapsing…
All the rugs and the cushions were drenched. The stupendous efforts that went into 'setting the stage' were washed out…
Goenkaji and his wife surveyed
the scene, which looked as if a rampaging mob had ransacked the place. Both of them, however, maintained their equanimity and they advised to continue the program
saying that everything would be all right… The public address system transmitted the guru's instructions to the barracks, together with the soothing strains of
music (that) succeeded in restoring a modicum of order and normalcy. The inmates, under the guidance of their teachers, began to concentrate on their meditation.
After breakfast, the weather began to clear, and a massive salvage operation was launched. A large phalanx of inmates, including those not attending the
vipassana course, began the daunting task of restoring the devastated site. They carried
more than 1,000 cushions outside the tent into the sun and put them to dry; sewed together numerous sections of torn material; reinstalled electric wires as well
as the lights and the fans; mopped up areas with standing waters… By 7 p.m., the
shamiana was ready again. Goenkaji's discourse was the first item on the
agenda, and it was delivered as scheduled.
As each of the ten days of
the course passed by, the
transformation process was all-pervading. Within these
high walls, there was a sense of liberation. There was discipline without fear;
there was devotion without coercion…
After the final session of
meditation
on April 15, 1994, the congregation comprising around 1,100 persons including
the inmates, the jail staff and some guests witnessed the momentous inauguration
of the new center in Prison No. 4, which Goenkaji named Dhamma Tihar. On this
occasion, the erudite
Guruji chanted this hymn:
All the beings
of this ashram
May their misery be eradicated.
May pure Dharma arise
in the minds of all
Making them pure from deep within
Making them serene
from deep within. Excerpted with permission from
It's Always Possible
