30 July 2007. 10:49 am.
Found some interesting information about an African tribal ceremony here in this web page. Apparently, the info appears in the book, “The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace” by Jack Kornfield… I have not read the book myself though.
In the Babemba tribe of South Africa, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, he is placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered. All work ceases, and every man, woman and child in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused individual. Then each person in the tribe speaks to the accused, one at a time, each recalling the good things the person in the center of the circle has done in his lifetime. Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy, is recounted. All his positive attributes, good deeds, strengths and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length. This tribal ceremony often lasts for several days. At the end, the tribal circle is broken, a joyous celebration takes place, and the person is symbolically and literally welcomed back into the tribe.
The ‘civilized’ world can learn a lot of things from this tribal community. Let’s face it, we all make mistakes. We make mistakes not because we gain something by committing the mistake, but because we lack something internally in ourselves. All those people we call criminals and terrorists lack something internally. We all influence each other continually, and a single individual or a group cannot be held responsible for a crime. We imagine the person committing crime as some kind of a villain, but really, he is the unfortunate victim. The collective mass of negativity created by all of us in the society expresses itself through certain unfortunate individuals. By punishing these individuals and hanging them, we don’t eliminate any negativity, but in reality, we add some more negativity to the world, thereby increasing the chances of terrorism and the number of these unfortunate individuals we call terrorists. The only way to wipe crime and terrorism from the world is to wipe out imbalance in the society and negativities inside each of us.
Christian Larson puts it perfectly in his book “The ideal made real”.
The man who is habitually doing wrong is mentally or morally sick. Punishment is a waste of time; besides, it is absolutely wrong, and one wrong cannot remove another. Such a person should be taken where he can be healed and kept there until he is well. We should not hate him or condemn him any more than those who are physically sick. Sickness is sickness whether it appears in the body, the mind or the character, and he who is sick does not need a prison; he needs a physician.
Infact, Gurus like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Swami Ramdev and their followers reach out to these unfortunate individuals in prisons and transform their lives through their yoga programs. I myself practice one such yoga and I know that yoga can heal anything. As you practice yoga everyday, your inner bliss and your Love for all life grows continually. When there is Love, where is the space for crime? I mean, when Love can conquer wild animals, how can it not conquer human beings?
Let there be peace. Let there be Love. Cheers 
