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Fall
2004
Keynote
Guest of Honor
Hon. Judge
TESP Research
Overview of
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An Alternative Sentencing Program
Dear Friends and Supporters of The Enlightened Sentencing Project:
New Graduates
Courtney B. I was locked up for two years. I have been shot in the thigh with the bullet coming out through my foot. I have shot at people – but I don’t know if I hit anybody. I have been doing and selling drugs. I was so stressed I took all kinds of drugs. I am 22 years old. It is very difficult to change this lifestyle which started from the age of 13. But TM has changed me completely. TSM has helped me to be drug-free and stay drug-free. I have no need for drugs now. I am no longer tempted by them. I do not want to have anything to do with drugs. I do not want to be around people who do drugs or sell them. I feel like a different person now and want to continue to remain that way. I will keep on meditating… I wish a program like Enlightened Sentencing had been around in the 80’s. One of my cousins was shot by a cop and another cousin is still in jail. With TSM and a little bit of guidance, they could have been saved. I want to thank Judge Mason and my probation officer for putting me in classes so I could find my inner self and change my life. ”
Marquis F. "TSM has had a major effect on my life. It is like I am a totally new person. Before TSM I smoked weed as an answer to all of my problems. TSM has helped me to stop smoking and it gives me a way to relieve stress. I used to be stressed out on a daily basis. Since TSM I am less likely to become stressed out. TSM makes me very calm. This state of calmness clears my mind and makes it easier for me to think. Since I started TSM I make decisions quicker and easier. My friends and family have noticed the difference in me. I don’t smoke anymore and I am less likely to get an attitude with them. I would argue with them over simple things. My mother asked me what happened to her son. I told her that he grew up. Since TSM, me and my mother are able to sit down and talk without me getting an attitude with her. Without TSM I do not know what my life would be like. ”
Kimberly H.
"At first I was
skeptical about TSM because it was forced on me as a requirement of my
probation sentencing. However, I gave it a real shot and I want to thank
God that I did. Little did I know that I was in for a big shock! TSM
opened my life to a whole new world. TSM is great! I wish I had TSM in my
life years ago. My self-esteem has risen, and I’ve learned to love myself
for me. I’m more focused without worry, my blood pressure has gone down.
I put forth more thought before making a decision or taking action, and my
mind is more at ease.
So not only is my eyesight brighter every time I come out of my
meditation, but each and every day is a bright day because my kids smile
at me, say how proud they are of me, and how much they love me. As
you can see, TM is a unique and important aspect in my life. ”
"I just want you to know that the courts really appreciate all of you for taking the time to do something to really help yourself. Because there is more going on than just you guys doing well. It’s the people around you that are going to do better. It’s going to be your sons, your daughters, your brothers and sisters, your mothers and your fathers. All are going to do better because of the example that you are going to set for them.
So you guys are actually going to go out and save people’s lives. By nothing more - not through great persuasive words that we lawyers try to do, not through powerful decrees of judgment like we judges like to do, not through huge amounts of money, or through armaments or armies. You are going to change and save people’s lives through something a whole lot more powerful – through the simple and persuasive power of your own example. So go on guys and just be you. Keep practicing your meditation and just be you.
"It just makes me realize that it’s all worth it. I don’t care how much people want to criticize; it’s worth it. And it will be something I will do so long as I wear the black robe because I know it’s going to make your lives better, make the lives of all those who have gone through this program better, and it’s making my job easier."
"How many of you guys have gone through the drug rehabilitation programs? You know that there are millions being spent on those programs and you know all the guys who have gone through those programs go right back to where they were! One day somebody is going to say: “Boy you know all this money that we are spending to recycle guys to the same judge, we can save some of that money by just adding to it the Transcendental Stress Management program.” I bet you guys found, if you are doing the drug rehab, that the drug rehab program became more effective with the TSM technique added. Didn’t it?
One day,
the light bulb is going to go on and somebody is going to figure that out.
When that happens, Farrokh, you’re going to have to do some serious teacher
recruitment. And we judges will have a lot less work to do. Thank God.
Reduce the police forces because we will have great success for all.
"You
know, one of my favorite moments is when those revocation docket sheets come
out. I know you’ve been there too, Judge Heagney. I see those lists with
the names of all those confined waiting for probation revocation hearings.
There are as many as 20 or 30 names assigned to each judge, whereas I have
only one or two offenders come up for probation revocation hearings! It
makes my job easier. You guys make my life easy. So I want to thank you
for that as well . You make the city better, you are making it safer, you
are giving me a better place to raise my boys.
"There isn’t a lot that
people can do in this world where they really get to say “we are willing to
make a difference.” Most of us at least are given a chance to make a
difference by being parents. I want to close with the words of this gospel
song which ends with the line: “Lord pray that my living be not in vain. If
I can just help somebody, along life’s way, then my living will not be in
vain.” world. You guys have made my living not in vain! Thank you.
Hon. Judge Henry E. Autrey
"The experiences that I have had with recidivism from my probationers, when I was in a position to send people to the TESP program, were the same as Judge Heagney’s and Judge Mason’s. My success rate with TSM probationers was far greater than the success rate of those probationers who do what I call the “regular” program. Because the approach with the TSM program to the problem is different and it is holistic – something I said three to four years ago; that the key to the treatment of offenders is to have a holistic approach." Judge Autrey's full address can be read by clicking here.
Certificates of Completion and Awards Presented to Probationers Our Guest of Honor presented the beautiful framed Certificates of
Completion to the probationers who had successfully completed the course
of instruction in the last few months. Each probationer also
received a gift and a few outstanding students were recognized for Best
Essays, Best Attendance and Punctuality, Most Helpful Student and Most
Enthusiastic Student for Yoga Exercises.
Hon. Judge Philip Heagney
"Every Friday I have a group of, almost always, men, and occasionally,
a woman, standing in front of me and we are examining this question: “Can
people change themselves or is it our problems and our shortcomings that
define us?” And at the probation revocation docket what I am hearing
usually from at least some body is: “Judge, face it - this person is not
going to change. This person, he or she, is on the road to a penitentiary
and when you give probation and then you give another chance at probation
and yet another chance at probation all we are doing is delaying the
inevitable. Let the person go to the penitentiary and start doing time.” And sometimes that’s what ends up happening. But I don’t believe that as human beings we are incapable of change. I don’t believe that we get put on one road and that’s the road we have to stick to. But I do believe that we all have problems and we need tools to tackle those problems, deal with them and figure out how to get ourselves on a different road. That’s what you all have done and this Friday when I am sitting in that court room I am going be able to look at those folks and say: “You know what, I know a whole group of people who turned things around, who are on a different road, they are doing it, and I know you can do it. Get down to The Enlightened Sentencing Project and start meditating!” Judge Heagney's full address can be
read by clicking
"This gift of transcendental meditation is really more precious than any amount of money. The whole universe is created by consciousness. It is that grounded consciousness from which everything else appears, visible and invisible. It’s a tremendous power that you have. And it’s gift that you need to use wisely and cherish it for the rest of your lives. I am pleased to announce tonight that after two years of working with Farrokh and Ruffina, we are going to begin The Enlightened Sentencing Project program in our county in Illinois. It will be the first of its kind"
"...the participants in the TESP program complete a battery of
psychological tests and they cover impulsivity and aggression and feelings
of control. That is how much control you feel like that you have
over your life and your environment. And we administer this battery
twice - prior to initiation of the program and then again following
completion of the program. Then we compare the results of this
pre-test to see if we found an improvement. And we actually had done
some research previously on an initial 45 participants in a completed
program and, as expected, we found a significant improvement amongst the
participants on all the tests that we used. Everything we looked at,
except one measure, was significant. So it was pretty dramatic in
terms of the impact. And then for this group we have some additional
ones.
"About 200 have gone through the program now and almost all who have started have also finished. What makes it work? How do we know it will keep working? I'll let you in on a little secret. Promise not to tell? It's so simple which is why it so hard to believe. The nature of the mind is to seek greater happiness, more fulfillment. Greater happiness, more fulfillment, it turns out, can be infused in the mind by the simple technique of TM where the mind settles down, enjoying more and more charming experience. Through that simple experience, simplest form of awareness we say, the body also settles down to a state of deep rest, very relaxed. That deep rest and simplest form of awareness allows the release of the accumulated strain and tensions that you've accumulated over so many years of frustration and hard living. That stress and strain made it more likely for you to fly off the handle at what seemed the slightest provocation. When that stress is gone, or shall we say, some good part of it is gone, you naturally gain a wide angle vision. More opportunities are seen when previously you would have just felt hopeless and thought this was a good excuse for a drink or some drugs.”
Dave Jennings, Probation and Parole Officer,
"Before Farrokh hands out the certificates I wish to congratulate all the graduates on behalf of the State of Missouri Department of Corrections and Probation and Parole. The very first time I usually get to see the graduates is at the TESP Orientation meeting. On that day I see them very, very skeptical with a lot of questions: “How am I going to get through the program? How am I going to get through the classes? Is my probation officer going to work with me on this program?” At that time, I try to reassure them, not as much as meditation, but as much as I possibly can. But it’s so nice to actually see after the TESP sessions these graduates today sitting proudly, refreshed and confident in what they have just got accomplished on probation."
Website re-designed and content updated
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The Enlightened Sentencing Project is a 501 (c) 3 organization and is not affiliated with the national Transcendental Meditation organization. Transcendental Stress Management® is the registered trademark of Farrokh and Ruffina F. Anklesaria. Copyright 2004, The Enlightened Sentencing Project. Revised 11/07
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