Meditation is all about letting the light in. In this episode, we speak with Joh Jarvis, Vedic Meditation teacher and founder of the Light Inside, who is on a mission to let the light find its way into prisons and jails. Joh talks about what it was like teaching men in maximum security at Rikers Island Correctional Center in New York as well as women prisoners in Philidephia who were recently released.

 

Beyond her story, we go into how prison is a metaphor for the binding effect of karma we all experience and how healing those behind bars can go a long way towards healing the collective at large. 

 

We hope you are as inspired as we were to hear Joh so humbly describe her work of going straight into the heart of darkness to bring the light where it is most needed.  

 

If you are interested in Joh’s work, you can email her here:  joh@the-lightinside.com

Or go sign up for her mailing list on her website: www.the-lightinside.com  (live but under construction)

 
Show Notes:

 

.40 Intro to Joh Jarvis

2.40 making a mistake you have to pay for all your life with no rehabilitation

8.00 Hiding our putting away our own mistakes is similar to what society does with people in prisons. Out of sight out of mind. Healing within, healing outside. 

8.43 the prison system as a reflection of the consciousness of society

9.06 The Light Inside Organization

9.50 Correction officers are also affected by the system

12.40 Teaching in Riker´s island 

13.00 Prisons vs Jails

14.40 Future plans to measure results

17.30 Seeing prisoners beyond being just prisoners 

19.30 Hold both states with prisoners –Gyana Kanda and also Karma Kanda 

20.28 Not feeling in danger in a prison while teaching

26.30 Closing eyes in meditation for prisoners

30.40 Desire is where there is the need to teach

 31.15 Prisons are metaphors of what we all experience – karma – binding effect.

32.00 Outside bounds are nothing compared to the inside ones

32.20 Prisons can fast-track you to evolution – not as many distractions 

32.55 Nelson Mandela´s self-realization in prison

33.00 “Let´s make as many of us available as possible to be available to those people who, once it’s explained to them, experience what we teach.” Joh Jarvis

33.30 Covid- opportunity to go inward 

40.00 Trying to teach correction officers

41.20 Raising the collective consciousness – finding victims, finding the ones helping the victims and then the ones causing the suffering (who are also victims). 

42.30 Uplifting the farthest from society and from there uplift the whole thing

43.36 The keys to the kingdom – the best meditation that you could learn

44.20 “We are giving you the best, and in a way, I think they deserve it. I think anybody who gets in front of a meditation teacher and takes that opportunity inherently deserves it.” Joh Jarvis 

44.46 “They very fact that I´ve got the desire, you got the desire, says “oh this should be done”. It’s coming from the divine, this idea that people do this and therefore there is a reason for that and it’s for the collective evolution. So yes, I think prisons for that reason are going to be a powerful impact on the wider collective, the teaching in prisons.” Joh Jarvis

45.20 The point of enough

47.00 Jarvis Jay Masters – inmate who does mindfulness in San Quentin State Prison

48.59 The Dhamma Brothers in Alabama State Prison (there is a film about this)