Hang tight while we fetch the video data and transcripts. This only takes a moment.
Connecting to YouTube player…
Fetching transcript data…
We’ll display the transcript, summary, and all view options as soon as everything loads.
Next steps
Loading transcript tools…
Interview Matthew | Anil Sakya | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Interview Matthew
Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
Video Summary
Summary
Core Theme
A Westerner's profound personal transformation within a Thai prison, facilitated by a spiritual course, has shifted his perspective from suffering and self-focus to mindfulness, acceptance, and a desire to help others.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
So, can you share with us like um what
did you feel when you first arrived here
in this place?
>> Sure. Well, when I first arrived here,
it was a little bit of shock and awe
because having come from a first world
country prison where I was uh waiting to
be transferred here for this case, I saw
how it was in my country. So, I didn't
think it was going to be so such an
entirely different world when I got
here. But um I'm fortunate because Bang
Kuang is a very excellent prison and the
administration that I've been having to
stay here under has been very very kind
to me. Um
my building chief has been very very
very understanding and accommodating as
well as the DOC and before we had the
prison director um Tanutana
>> very very very kind man and uh really
cares about the prisoner. So he he was
actually very instrumental in bringing
um you know his holiness here to speak
with us. Um because before him this was
not a this is a pilot project right. So
>> long story short uh it was a culture
shock coming here for me um being a
westerner coming here. Um
>> but you know I was in the military
before and I served overseas many times
in different countries. So I think for
me personally, my experiences, I have a
little bit more capability with dealing
with sort of strange situations in
unfamiliar territory, right? So
>> I can't say how most people would would
find it, but it wasn't that bad.
>> It's not so terrible. You know what I
mean? It's still tai prison, so it's not
great, but it's not supposed to be fun
here. So, um, all said and done, it, you
know, could be worse, could be better,
but it's it's okay. better than most
places, right? Yeah.
>> So, then talk about the cause.
>> Sure. Why did you join the cause or you didn't
didn't >> Well,
>> Well,
>> want to go?
>> No, I wanted to. Well, okay. So, how it
came about was uh I was kind of having
some mental health struggles a little
bit because I have no family here and I
have a young daughter, a young, you
know, my wife's back, all my family's
back in my country in Canada. So, I have
no no real support here, you know, and
it's it's hard because the way that the
Thai prison system is now is there's no
telephones. So there's no the prisoners
can't just call their families whenever
they want, right? So I was very much
struggling with that part because my
wife and I are very close, right? She's
like my best friend. So it's very hard
to be a world apart from her and then
not to get to speak with her for back
then was two weeks at a time
>> and we have a young daughter together.
episodes. All of that was kind of adding
up and it was, you know, the language
barrier was hard before because I was
just trying to teach myself how to how
to speak Thai
>> because as I mentioned before, there's
not many people in my building that were
fluent in English, >> right?
>> right?
>> And nobody speaks French. So, I was
like, well, both my languages are sort
of useless. So what led me to come here
is I think um the old prison director uh
he was keeping tabs on me throughout my
time here. Um just making sure I was you
know how I was doing and I think he knew
I was not not doing so good you know
like I was just struggling a little bit
with with daily life. It was just
stressful. is hard, right? And uh he suggested
suggested
um you know that I come and partake in
this inspire course that will hopefully
help the prisoners change the way they
think, the way they see, the way they
perceive things, >> right?
>> right?
>> It's just um you know, cognitive
behavioral therapy pretty much.
>> It's like therapy in like a more
>> dharma way, you know, it's a little bit
of Buddha in there. So yeah, no, it was
at first I didn't know what to expect.
Um, I have a very open mind though and I
I I I like the Buddhist way of thinking
for a lot of things. Um, it's very
easygoing. It's it seems very simple as
well. You know, it's not uh not judging
like some other religions. It's not even
really a religion. It's just a
>> but anyway,
>> but after after a few lessons, how
>> Yeah. Well, okay. So like before it was
like I was focusing a lot on the
negatives like oh what do I not have?
What what is it that why am I angry like
I don't have this I don't have that. I
was comparing a lot of my situation to
like oh well if I was here or if I was
in Canada or if I was in another
situation I wouldn't have to deal with
all this trying to blame other people
circumstances on
>> my own situation which is no one's
fault. It's my fault I'm here. Nobody
made me do what I did. Right. So I was
struggling with that. It was like
chasing my tail in a circle, right? So
it's like climbing up the wall. There's
50ft wall. You're not going to get to
the top. So it was it was it was pretty
much like suffering,
>> right? It was suffering there. It was it
was wanting something that's
unattainable. So after a few sessions
with his holiness, I definitely took in
what he was saying.
teach. He's not so much preaching as he
was just teaching. And
>> the more I learned about him and what he
does and what he's done and who he is
and who he helps, which is like everybody,
everybody,
>> I was really taken back by the fact that
out of his extremely busy schedule, he
still has the time to come here and
speak with us once a month. You know,
not for an hour, he's here the whole
day. So, and I mean
>> that's pretty incredible. So a lot of
things that he spoke about, you know,
touched true to me and helped me
realize, you know, I'm not uh I'm not
seeing things the way that I should be
because if I was, then I wouldn't, you
know, be chasing all these things that
don't really matter. It's not really
important. You know, I'm not why am I in
a rush to go here? Why am I worrying
about what's going to happen next year
when I'm not even I'm in a bath. I'm not
even feeling oh what the water feels
like right now because I'm stressed
about what I'm going to do next week.
It's like what's the point? I'm not
living mindfully. So
>> that's a big shift for me starting to
think like that as well as holiness gave
me a few books
>> on Buddhism and meditation. I started
actually meditating
>> every day and I do still now in the morning.
morning.
>> So that in itself has been quite the
journey. Um
>> and that that I think that'll be a
lifelong journey for sure. But
But
>> it's been very positive. I there's been
no negatives about about this course at
all. And
>> I can speak for some of the other guys
that feel the same way, but I know for
myself, I've I've changed in a very
short time. It's less than a year. I
think I've changed a lot
>> for the for the better. You know,
>> I'm not perfect, but I'm pretty close.
No, I'm just kidding.
>> Right. And okay I can say that nowadays
you become more mindful about your
feeling about how you thought
>> very very much more mindful I think I'm
living more in my moments you know I'm
not uh
>> I'm I'm present for where I am you know
my mind's not wandering um
>> cultivating my mind so to speak
>> it's hard work though because when you
live your life like a rat in a maze you
know you're always worrying about oh
what am I going to do next week you know
this meeting I have tomorrow or I have
this job interview and a month from now,
it's like, well, yeah, but what are you
doing right now? You're just on
autopilot, right? So, it's like, oh,
tomorrow will be better. Next year will
be better. When I have this, I have this
salary or buy this house or whatever.
It's like to live your life like that.
It's a waste, right? You don't enjoy
anything. So, it's I'm not going to say
I had to come to prison to learn that,
but I mean, while I'm here, I'm going to
try and keep expanding my mind and
trying to do some positive things for
myself. And it's going to help my family
as well because I'll be more present in
my wife's life and my kids' life and a parent,
parent, >> right?
>> right?
>> A better parent too, you know.
>> Okay. Can can you share with us like um
>> when the he teach you what what did you
remember the most? The one that um most
memorable for you. Okay. You remember
this very well.
>> What is it?
>> There's been a lot. What can I say? I I
enjoy his
his teachings that he brings in. The the
meditations are very nice. So, we do
some short meditations which great. He
also has a lot of very good
inspirational videos
that um
it's not nonsense, you know, a lot of it
is like with it's it's very deep. It's
very profound. Um I'm going to say it's
it's spiritual but not in like this is
the thing too that I thought before. I
thought, "Oh, okay. There's this big
monk he's teaching. It's going to be
about Buddha, Buddhism." I'm like, "I'm
not a Buddhist. I don't know what I'm
going to get out of this." I don't think
I've ever heard him talk about Buddhism
in like the classical sense where it's,
oh, you need to practice this, this, and
this. This is a sin. Don't do, you know,
these five things. You're going to get
karma. No, it's it's just about knowing
yourself, recognizing your emotions, how
to deal with them, try and extinguish
the suffering, and just how to be a
better person. really it's really he's
teaching a lot of these guys selfworth
as well. you know that it's like, hey,
you need to love yourself because you're
not worthless because yeah, okay, you're
here. You're in death sentence because I
was I was the only one that's not a
death sentence case. But he still
included me anyway, which was nice
because I I needed it. Like I was not
doing well mentally, right? So I think
my mental health for me personally has
gone 95%
better in a very short time. And that's
just with, you know, this course and
everything I've taken from it which I
try and apply to my daily life and the
outlook, you know. So it's it's
everything really. It's just it's not I
can't just say it's one thing because
it's like it's like a sandwich, you
know, an awesomeness sandwich. It's very
enlightening. I just feel peaceful, you
know, even though I'm here and I'm very
far from my home and all the people I
love. I'm not I'm not overly worried
every day, you know. I'm not sad. I'm
not angry. I'm just
>> choo choo.
>> You can feel the peace of mind.
>> Yes. But I need to work at it because
it's not it doesn't come so easily, you
know. But that's where the daily
meditations come in and the breathing
and the trying to be hey whether I have
expectations for this or this to happen.
I don't know what's going to happen, but
either way it's going to happen one way
or the other. So just learn to like not
react to everything and just take it all
in and be like, "Okay, well either way
it's going to be okay." So,
So,
>> so then the last question, what came to
your mind when you
>> when you just thought that, oh, I wanted
to teach English to my um fellow
>> in Well, okay. So, here's the thing.
I've traveled a lot in my in my in my
job, right? So, I know how much language
is important, especially in second,
third world countries where, you know,
people don't have a lot of job
opportunities. So like I'm not saying
Thailand is almost a first world country but
but
>> only now are they starting to teach
English properly from a young age and I
know a lot of the good jobs you having
English as a as a second language that
you're actually strong in is very
beneficial to get you know a good a good
job and
>> that's how people can stay away from
selling drugs and life of crime. So I
feel like language is a way to help them
rise up out of poverty. So and not a lot
of the these guys have not had that
opportunity. They can't read. can't
write even in Thai. So I just thought,
what can I do to help them? I can't do
much. I can't help them with their case.
I can't do anything for them. You know,
I can try and share a little bit of food
I have with them, but I, you know, 700
people in my building, right? So I
thought, well, the only thing that I can
give them is I can help them try and
learn some English. So the first, like I
said, it was a pilot project we did was
about a month long. It was very
successful. And I'm just waiting now for
um the administration to approve the
second pilot project. And I'm looking to
hopefully integrate that into an ongoing
thing where it can be maybe, you know,
do rotations of buildings, a three-month
course here for beginners, you know,
then an intermediate level two, advanced
level three, you know, because I think a
lot of these people would love the
opportunity to learn. They just they
don't have it. There's nobody here
that's willing to do it for them, right?
To teach them. So
>> I feel like that's the one thing I can
do to try and give back a little bit.
>> So it keeps you yourself busy.
>> Yeah, it does. It feels good, too. I'd
rather help someone to just sit here and
be like, "Oh, my life is so terrible.
What a waste." You know what I mean?
Really? So yeah.
>> So nowadays, you stop uh blaming others. >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Ah
>> Ah
>> yes. Not that I ever blamed other
people, but it was very easy for me to
be like, "Oh, it's not fair." You know,
like blah blah blah, the same old. Now
it's like no it's it's fine. It's I've
accepted it is what it is and just try
and find something positive every day to
focus on whether it's you know healthy
eating, my exercise, trying to help
someone with whatever problems they have
you know and just try and make other
people's lives a little bit easier and
my own also
>> because at the beginning when you first
arrived here you you didn't think about
helping other people, right?
>> Not so much. No, I mean I've always been
a little helpful, but it a lot of it had
to do with my perspective, you know? It
was just like it's a bad situation. How
can I try and like get my way out of
this, you know, or how can I try and
gain some kind of advantage here and get
some preferential treatment somewhere?
But then after I was like, you know
what, like it's just I'm going about
this the wrong way. It's kind of a
waste. So now it's kind of shifting a
little bit towards more
>> just what can I do to help and keep
myself, you know, on an even keel while
I'm here and just help the prison, you
know, use me in a in a productive way so
that I can also get some benefit and
help some other people and win-win. Right.
Right.
>> All right. Okay. Excellent. >> Excellent.
>> Excellent.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Thank you. Thank you for your time. Miss you.
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
