Andrew is "hooded" by Judge Mason, a ceremony by which a student is recognized
when he receives his Master's degree.

Dear Friends and Supporters of The Enlightened Sentencing Project:

From probationer to Adjunct Professor
We have a heart-warming story to share with you - a real success story of one of our TESP graduates, Andrew N., going from probationer to  Adjunct Professor, after completing the TSM course.

Andrew's story, in his own words
Read Andrew's story, in his own words:

"My name is Andrew N.  I am 41 years old.  I completed The Enlightened Sentencing Project in June of 2007.  I wanted to relate my experiences with this program.  Before I started the program, I had a fairly extensive criminal history.  Drug possession, theft, and resisting arrest were only some of the charges that I incurred due primarily to anger and fear.  I went to prison for four months and started The Enlightened Sentencing Project when I was released.

"I started noticing benefits from the stress-relieving technique taught by Farrokh Anklesaria almost immediately.  I used to take four or five prilosecs a day for acid reflux and I found that my heartburn went away.  I was less stressed.  My relationships with family members have been wonderful, and my academic achievements are all a direct result of the technique that I learned in The Enlightened Sentencing Project.

"My thoughts were always unfocused, and my emotional state was extremely unhealthy.  The technique that I learned in The Enlightened Sentencing Project has addressed both my intellectual and emotional well being.  My thoughts are now focused.  I have been able to graduate from the University of Missouri-St Louis with a Bachelor of Literature Studies.  I then continued on in my academic career, and obtained a Master of Arts in English, also from the University of Missouri-St Louis.  I would not have been able to succeed in the demanding environment of graduate school at the university level if it were not for the technique that I learned at The Enlightened Sentencing Project.  The technique helped me relax and deal with the intellectual and emotional demands that graduate school placed upon me.

"I am grateful for everything that The Enlightened Sentencing Project has given me, and I continue to volunteer my time to make sure that this program continues to flourish."

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Invitation to Andrew's graduation
Andrew invited Judge Mason and Farrokh Anklesaria (TESP's Executive Director) to attend his graduation ceremony at the University of Missouri-St Louis.  Here are excerpts from Andrew's letter of invitation:

"TESP has transformed my life for the better.  I want to personally thank you [Judge Mason] from the bottom of my heart for the wisdom that you practiced by giving me this gift.  Since I graduated from TESP, I completed my Bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), and will walk in the ceremony on August 8 at 10.00 a.m. for my Master’s degree in the field of English. These academic achievements would not have been possible without you making TESP a condition of my probation.

"I am writing this letter to extend an invitation to you and Farrokh to attend my graduation ceremony for my Master’s degree at UMSL on Saturday August 8^th at 10.00 a.m. at the Mark Twain Center.  It would mean a lot to me if you could come to my graduation as you have played a very positive and important role in my rehabilitation and my current success.   Again, thank you for introducing me to the TESP program.  I hope more judges follow your example and use TESP as an option for sentencing in their courtrooms.  It would change the life of many probationers as it did mine."

Judge proud of Andrew's accomplishments
Judge Mason expressed his deep satisfaction that Andrew had not only changed the course of his life through the TESP program, but had worked hard and achieved both academic success and a job as an English instructor at two colleges in St Louis.  In both cases, he made a full disclosure of his past to his employers. 

Andrew volunteers with TESP
Andrew is proud of his achievements.  He has given TESP permission to circulate his story widely to inspire many others and to ensure that theTESP program is made available to as many people as possible.  Andrew volunteers his time with the TESP to speak to new probationers and parolees at Orientation.

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Help make the TESP program widely available
Those of you who have the influence and capability, should do all that you can to make the TESP program widely available.  The Transcendental Stress Management program has proved itself time and time again, with each and every offender coming through our doors.  We do maximum with a small staff and a cadre of volunteers.  We deliver outstanding results with minimal resources. 

Help us bring light to prisons everywhere
 World consciousness is rising and humanity is waking up to better ways of living - now everyone thinks "green", re-cycles, and knows about our carbon footprint.  This week's TIME magazine speaks of awakening consciousness to the foods that we eat, particularly the inhumane way animals are treated before they reach our dining table.  Isn't it time that this sea of awakening consciousness carries the boat of prison reform to new shores?  The Enlightened Sentencing Project is ready to multiply itself to make our tried and true program available nationally.  Can you help make this possible?  And yes, we'd like to meet with Governor Schwarzenegger about it!  And any other high-ranking official who can make a decision on what we have to offer.  If you have the capability, help us move the boulders blocking the light from entering prisons everywhere.  We have hundreds of letters from prisoners begging for our help.  If you can help, we ask you to come forward and  help open the doors for us to do the job.

Unleashing angry offenders on society due to lack of resources to incarcerate them
In the news, we see that California is about to free 27,000 offenders due to a lack of resources to keep them incarcerated.  Wouldn't it be great if the TESP program could be offered to these offenders?  Think about the effect on society when offenders are not rehabilitated and go back into the familiar circle from which they came.  Prison should be about healing, rehabilitating and educating a man so that his criminal tendencies are dissolved.  We are as far away from that ideal as we can possibly be.  Prison seems to be the place for  "doing time before the next crime."  Can we really afford to free offenders everywhere before we have given them the key to change themselves? 


Donate to TESP
Those of you who would like to support our work in a concrete way are invited to donate to TESP.  Click on the link to donate today.


Thank you to our donors and volunteers
And those of you who are already donating to TESP or volunteering your services, or supporting us silently, we warmly thank you.  Results like Andrew N.'s case make it all worthwhile.

With best wishes for the rest of summer,

 

Farrokh & Ruffina F. Anklesaria

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