Press Release

Sri Sri frees Mexico's dreaded prisons of violence

BENGALURU, DEC 8, 2016:
Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is on a 20-day peace mission to South and Ce
ntral America from 29th November to 19th December. "Peace is relevant only in ti
mes of strife," said Sri Sri on his tour. "Everyone can be peaceful during times
of peace."
Keeping up with this bold and determined approach, his tour includes countries w
ith a history of violence where Sri Sri's volunteers have been working for many
years to bring about a change and are succeeding pretty well.
While interacting with the Senators at the Mexican Senate, Gurudev urged the gov
ernment, media, NGOs and businesses to work together and free the society from v
iolence. Violence arises out of lack of belongingness and stress. It s important to att
end to stress so that human values of peace, sense of belongingness and commitme
nt can flourish in society, he said.
During the three-day Mexico tour, Sri Sri visited two of country's largest priso
ns, where incidences of violence have reduced drastically after the introduction
of Art of Living's prisoner rehabilitation program. He visited a drug rehabilit
ation home, where he addressed 200 Mexican youth undergoing the Art of Living de
addiction program to become free from the destructive dependency on drugs.
At the Santa Marta Acatitla prison, one of the largest prisons in Mexico, the of
ficials expressed their gratitude to Gurudev Sri Sri for introducing the Prison
Smart Program which has led to zero prison crimes in the last one year. During t
heir meeting, many prisoners shared how the Art of Living program changed their
life completely.
One of the inmates said, "My life after meditation has been a whole new world fo
r me. I have experienced true joy. Earlier I used to be so stressed but now even
though I am behind bars my mind is so free.
At the Reclusorio Varonil Norte, the second largest prison in Mexico, Secretary
of the Penitentiary System Hazael Ruiz Ortega said that the transformation in th
is prison had been very impressive since the Art of Living teachers started visi
ting and taking sessions for the inmates. He asked for similar program to be int
roduced in the Reclusorio Varonil Oriente, the largest jail of Mexico.
Over 16,000 prison inmates, many of whom have been involved in drug trade and ga
ng wars, have been introduced to the Art of Living workshops in Mexico. The prog
rams have given them extraordinary relief from the violent and traumatic past an
d a new perspective on life.
During his three-day visit to Mexico, Sri Sri interacted with people from all st
rata including political leaders, faith leaders, businessmen, prisoners, youth,
government officials, social workers and the general public and pushed for holis
tic ways for tackling the widespread violence in the country, arising from drug
wars and gang fights.
Taking his mission of violence-free society forward, Sri Sri presided over a lar
ge peace conference at the World Trade Centre. The conference saw enthusiastic p
articipation by over 4,000 people including academicians, youth and political le
aders. Karen Berg, the well-known spiritual director of the US-based Kabbalah Ce
ntre, also joined the peace conference.
Gurudev also addressed leaders from Sikh, Buddhist, Lutheran, Anglican, Mormon a
nd Catholic communities at an interfaith meet. The meet concluded with all the r
eligious leaders committing to work together with the common vision of unity and
peace and respecting the diversity of all faiths.
At Guerrera, one of the Mexico s most violent states, Gurudev was welcomed with a ma
ssive public reception by Governor Hector Antonio Astudillo Flores. The Governor
of Guerrera also conferred the Ambassador of Peace recognition on Gurudev, an h
onour given to only three people so far.
Gurudev s visit to Mexico culminated with an address at the World Forum for Ethics i
n Business where he emphasized on the need for businesses to give back to societ
y in which they are growing and flourishing.
He is now slated to visit Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Ecuador, Brazil, Pa
nama, Costa Rica and Venezuela