Do Residential Dharma Centers have an ongoing responsibility to prisoners served?

So I have a question... (which I hope might stir up some discussion)

 

It seems a very 'nice' thing to do to go in & be with prisoners, or to write to them & help them to deal with a life of (for many of us thankfully) unimaginable stresses.  ...seems humane, compassionate and all that.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it (& personally derive great satisfaction & personal benefit).

 

But I'm concerned.  What happens when people get out, or get ready to get out.  I know that at least in my area, the residential dharma centers require folks to be 'out' and 'readjusted' (for a period of at least 1 year) prior to applying to be residents in a practice environment.  I'd hazard that most of the folks I know currently or recently um 'released' from residential dharma facilities entered from very unstable places [recent divorces, depression, job transition etc.].

 

While I don't imagine that dharma centers could HOLD all of the folks who are making the transition from the 'inside' to um, the 'inside', I believe we have a responsibility to the folks with whom we have cultivated relationships.  If you have been working with a serious practitioner over the course of YEARS, isn't there a commitment that could extend beyond the confines of the institution?

 

Folks need our support even more as they make the transition to the so-called 'free world'.  (And honestly, I imagine that making the transition from prison life to monastery life might just be EASIER than making the leap from the corporate world to monastery life.  I'd like to see more openness to welcoming a well grounded member of our prison sanghas into our outside institutions with the same rigor and questioning that we might have for other residents (rather than the flat policies I've seen).  Is having a prison record enough for you to want to exclude someone from YOUR local sangha?  Do you know?

 

Are there practice environments out there in the rest of the US that have less strict policies than the ones I've run into?

 

What responsibility do we as a community have to the people we as individuals and 'vassals' of institutions support?

 

Does YOUR community have a 'policy' on parolees and/or recently released?  Are you in alignment with this policy?

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Permalink Reply by Aaron Quinley on February 23, 2011 at 3:39pm

Wonderful insight on that last paragraph! I like that idea!  And agree with it if that's what an abbot or whomever decided.  The term "adjustment" period in this topics beginning makes me think that one particular center sees it differently than that, but certainly your idea here has a lot of merit to it. 

 

And I like the idea of a probationary period.  I believe they do that in Plum Village, as well as the Theravada one I checked out. Interestingly the Theravada wouldn't let you do long term residential unless your main focus was Theravada. 

 

I couldn't imagine taking in anyone without a probationary period, really.  Never know.  And before that period surely there'd be some past familiarity necessary between all. 

Permalink Reply by Tamon Mark Uttech on February 24, 2011 at 7:05am

Onegaishimasu, a good thing to keep in mind is that while some individuals can't fit in some communites, some communities can't fit into an individual's life. Plum Village didn't or wouldn't work for Claude Anshin Thomas, but he kept going and found a way for himself to share himself with others. A teaching that worked for me and still works is Koyo Kubose's admonition to: "Keep Going."

In gassho,

tamonmark

Permalink Reply by john simons on February 24, 2011 at 4:49am
How does one become a Buddhist when Buddha is not around to guide you on how to do it? The same way a Christian priest becomes a priest, the same way a Rabbi becomes a Rabbi etc, ad infintum through all the religions? Rights and rituals that are performed towards a dead master who cannot speak about the things perpetrated in his name, madness. What would Jesus, Buddha, moses, Krishna,  say about all these daft things people do to praise them, the great edifices built to revere them, what do you think they would say about the way folk who have never met them lavishing praise upon them in the most lurid way. People locking themselves away in monasteries, using names for things in certain language, all this is easy when the ACTUAL master is not around to keep an eye on things and to set us back on course when we drift off but when the living master IS here will people so willingly follow him? When he is here and showing us the way will we be so willing to do his bidding? I have tried to educate you lot but I can't but here goes again, wopg.org
Permalink Reply by Tamon Mark Uttech on February 24, 2011 at 6:44am

Onegaishimasu, I met a former catholic monk who now runs a print shop. One day he said to me: "If Jesus was here now on this earth, would you follow him? I wouldn't." I had to agree that I probably wouldn't follow him either. Each person finds their own way. What was difficult then is difficult now. I think this is the best way to understand the world situation.

In gassho,

Tamonmark

Permalink Reply by Chris de Ocejo on February 24, 2011 at 7:44am

John,

 

Thank you for telling me about Prem Rawat. At this time, I do not feel that I would benefit from following his path.

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