Doing Time, Doing Vipassana (NR)

synopsis

A chronicle of Kiran Bedi, the dedicated inspector general of prisons in India who, in the mid-1990's introduced the ancient technique of Vipassana meditation -- quite literally the oldest form of Buddhist meditation -- into the violently corrupt Tihar Prison, India's worst and most dangerously overcrowded prison at the time. Her work proved invaluable. The results at Tihar Prison were almost unimaginably miraculous. After the ten-day course in Vipassana, which requires total silence and the willingness to go deep inside oneself, violent criminals were transformed -- emerging with tears of joy and opened hearts. Now Tihar has its own meditation center and penal institutions around the world are following its model. U.S. prisons are now beginning to realize the significant advances in rehabilitation brought about by this simple and purest form of spiritual introspection. From Seattle to Alabama to Northern California -- the groundwork laid by Kiran Bedi in India is likely to have worldwide ramifications, which could ultimately lead to the type of social progress only previously dreamed of in America.