We have been running the Peace Education Program here
with an absolutely wonderful success rate.
It's been received so well by our prisoners.
They are extremely eager to participate in it.
My role is the Violence Prevention Coordinator,
and realizing that violence is something that is a problem within correctional centers,
I wanted to try and tackle it head on.
Perpetrators of violence have got very very low self-esteem
and they don't have a feeling of self-worth.
The Peace Education Program fills that gap.
The men start to believe in themselves.
They start to remember that they're human beings.
They start to realize that they
that they've got that ability to change
and that the tools they need to make that change
are actually inside of them and they've been there the whole time.
They just need to explore, learn how to use them,
and make that change, and better, more positive choices.
When we first decided that we would
extend an invitation to Prem to come to Wolston,
I don't think any one of us ever thought for a second that he would come,
and probably one of the most exciting days we had in our class, was the day that I told the men
“Guess what, we're getting a visitor!”
Hello, everyone.
It's, believe it or not, a great pleasure to be here.
I received the invitation, and
I have been to quite a few prisons, and I'm here, not to judge you –
that's already been done, that's not my job.
I'm here to point out something to you,
and that something that I want to point out to you, is
You are more than you realize.
You are the gift.
You have been told “no, the gift will come from somewhere else”.
“Somebody else is going to come and save you.”
You heard that. You didn't question it.
You agreed with it. You memorized it.
And in your life you went along:
somebody's gonna come and save me, somebody's gonna come and save me.
And in that time, more confused, and more confused,
and more confused, a human being becomes.
Because this is a battlefield. Remember now, this is a battlefield.
And what you are battling with
is not only your ideas, but other people's ideas;
not only your expectations, but other people's expectations of you.
In this life,
to be truly victorious,
we need to know four things.
One: we need to know ourselves.
Why?
And what does it mean to know yourself?
Your name? No. Your likes, your dislikes? No.
What you need to know about yourself is your strength,
courage.
And the day you begin to focus on yourself and not everybody else.
See, this is the problem, isn't it.
You've been focused on everybody else.
Even when you were interested in how you looked,
you were focused not on you, but how other people would see you.
You have never had a life with yourself, you've always had a life with other people.
You know more of them than you know about yourself.
And that's why it's important to know yourself.
Secondly: in your life you need gratitude.
You need to be thankful.
Are you thankful?
One, that you're alive.
No, you always judged your life by the circumstances –
how you rich were, how poor you were.
You judged your being by other things, not you.
You were never the scale.
People say “life is tough”.
When did you come up with that? You never did.
You heard it from somebody
and it bounces between your ears.
“Ah, well, just, just, it's tough luck,
“but just, just, how life is.”
Did that come from you?
No!
You heard that from somebody,
and it became your mantra – “that's what life ...”
All you did is pass it on to other people.
“Well, that's just tough luck, that's the way life is.”
What did
Not here [other people].
Between these two [ears].
“It's over.”
Who said it's over?
Where did that come from?
From you?
You're still alive!
Not only are you alive, but hopefully, through Peace Education Program, you have learnt
that you still have a life and you still get to forge it.
Is it the fences? Is it the wall?
Or is it you?
You are the player, not these fences.
You are the player.
The biggest fence that you have to overcome is not this one.
This one is barbed,
but this fence, that is between here,
has killed many,
destroyed civilizations,
destroyed lives.
You know the way I see problems?
Problems don't ever go away,
they just find a new victim.
So when a problem bothers somebody,
when the problem is done with them, it finds somebody else, and bothers them.
Next victim, next victim, next victim.
And people allow themselves to fall victim to these problems.
You have the power to overcome the problem,
not the problem overcome you.
And that's the day when you understand yourself, understand the noise,
and start to accept the challenge of having gratitude in your life.
Because today the noise is telling you “you have nothing to be thankful for”, but you do.
You do. You have life. You still have life.
And you're gonna have it till that day when you don't anymore.
And till that day, you get to shape it, you get to change it,
and what goes through this head is up to you.
Who's ultimately responsible for making your life a pleasant experience?
‌
And you always were.
But who did you look for?
You looked for friends.
Friends were gonna make it ‌
Probably, for so many people,
that's where they pick up the wrong influence.
‌
And that's your courage.
So, third thing is, reduction of noise.
And the fourth thing:
Fail, but do not accept failure.
Have you done that, ever?
Have you ever failed and never accepted failure?
All of you have done that,
when you were just learning how to walk.
You got up, your legs were all wobbly,
could barely get up, but you got up,
and you fell, you failed.
But did you accept failure?
No. You got up again.
And you failed again.
Not once, hundreds of times.
But each one of the times, you never accepted failure.
What happened?
What happened to that courageous child?
That failed but never accepted failure.
Because each one of you
Now what happens?
You fail just a little bit,
and the first thing – “ah, I'm out, I'm done”.
Failure has come before you have successfully failed.
So these four things: Know yourself. Have gratitude in your life.
Work on noise reduction – it's not your noise, get rid of it,
it's just a lot of noise.
And fail, but never accept failure.
Don't let that [the prison wall] make you think you're unfortunate. No.
So far this breath is coming into you, you are fortunate, you are blessed,
regardless of the circumstances.
So, that's what I wanted to say,
and I think we're gonna have some chance for questions and answers.
Thank you.
— Hi Prem. — Hello. — Thanks for coming today.
Since doing the course, I've realized
a lot of the energy I've used, to be where I am today, has been negative energy,
and since doing the program, I've seen that change is within myself.
I'd just like to thank you on a personal level
and maybe I'll speak for the others here, that
it's quite emotionally rewarding to finally realize, after
twenty, twenty-five-odd years in prison that there is change, change is possible.
So thank you for that mate.
I would just like to add one thing about negative and positive.
Forget about the negative, work on the positive.
Make the presence happen.
Bring knowledge, and ignorance will automatically go away.
If you try to remove ignorance, you will not be successful.
Because how do you remove darkness? You can't take a bucket and fill it with darkness
and try to chuck it out the window.
You can't do that.
Bring in the light...
And what is the relationship between the darkness and light?
Okay, here it is –
How long does it take,
how long does it take,
for the darkness to be removed, when the light comes?
A hundred and eighty-six million miles per second?
They must be really close to each other.
Right?
I mean, just like this.
Almost like the other side of a very thin coin.
Next time you find yourself
in darkness,
know one thing: light is very close.
When you find yourself
confused,
know one thing:
clarity is right around the corner.
Don't go for removing the confusion,
go for bringing the clarity, and confusion will be gone.
When you are angry,
know one thing: calmness is very very close.
Very very very very close.
You can feel the anger, the other side is calm.
Go for the calm.
That's when you begin
to take control of yourself, not other people controlling you.
You say that we get good at what we practice.
The Peace Education Program has helped me practice different behavior and a different outlook on life.
One thing that really hit home for me is,
the average life expectancy of 70 years is 25,550 days.
When you really look at that, that's not much time at all,
especially when I'm half-way through it, and I'm here still.
I want to make every day that I've got left of that average expectancy count.
And I thank you very much for the words you have taught us all.
Do you know how long does it take for a human being to change?
It does not take a lifetime.
It's quicker than that, and you can change.
And that possibility of change you have always carried in you.
Wherever you go in this facility,
do you know you've got people accompanying you?
It's not the guards, and it's not your fellow inmates.
Your anger goes wherever you go. Your fear goes wherever you go.
But, peace goes wherever you go.
Joy goes wherever you go.
Your strength goes wherever you go.
Six months ago, “peace” was a word we occasionally heard on TV.
Most of us would have struggled to give an accurate definition of the word.
The idea of peace in our lives was a nonexistent thought.
Now, for most of us here, peace is no longer a dream,
it is becoming our reality, a thirst we have to quench.
Most of us here have commenced a journey
of having peace and contentment and freedom in our lives.
This has only been possible through your Peace Education Program.
I know for myself, listening to your words has become my new drug of choice.
Once again, I'd like to thank you for the Peace Education Program, and being here today.
And, finally, to the skeptics who believe peace and contentment isn't possible,
believe me when I say “This shit's real.”
Well,
I tell you what, I'm so ...
I'm so touched by the expressions that you have put forth.
It is so good to see those people who just want to rise above it.
Because you can, it's possible.
You're taking the challenge to make it happen, and more power to you.