Why Do So Many Buddhists Work With Prisoners?

There are many many thousand Buddhist practitioners and hundreds of organizations sourced by Buddhists... all around the world... who choose to volunteer and work in prisons...what do you think it is that attracts so many to doing this?

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Permalink Reply by Beth burton-Krahn on April 22, 2010 at 12:24pm
Hi, Kate,

I can only speak for myself and my attraction to supporting prisoners which I will try to articulate as best as I can.

I find myself still able to manipulate my external world so much, in order to increase my happiness and decrease my suffering...don't like the job? Move on. Don't like who you're living with? Move out. Don't like where you live? Move. Always manipulating external things. It seems to be the nature of living a "free and purely post-modern existence".

On the one hand, I am trying to deal with "life on life's terms" but subtley, I'm still manipulating things. For me, prison life exemplifies the purity of the Buddha's teachings: change the inside world to change the outside world. I love being reminded of this as I read books on prisoners who are practicing Buddhists: they are my teachers, my guides in remembering what this practice is really, truly, honestly about. Even when I go on retreat there are notices about "not using scented products" and "listing the ingredients that are in your pot-luck offering" and I have a reaction to this. I am a practicing therapist so I am under no illusions about the importance of being empowered and changing circumstances that involve abuse/violence. But, where does this end? How honestly am I practicing if I'm still "trying to get my own way" in the real world...? Anyway, these are the types of things I think about and reflect upon when I read your great question. And when I realize what prisoners are up against I am inspired to practice letting go of my continual manipulation of my external world and truly practice "life on lifes terms". Which by the way, is a precious bit of wisdom from the 12-step community I have been involved in. With Metta, Beth
Permalink Reply by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on May 12, 2010 at 7:33am
Thanks for your insights Beth!
Permalink Reply by Susan Thames on February 21, 2011 at 4:53pm
What wonderful insight and clarity.  Thank you so much for writing about this basic contrast.
Permalink Reply by Juanita Rice on February 23, 2011 at 11:38am

I just read this and I don't know the date of the post.  But you speak deeply for me, except I am in the unique position of having a son who is in prison, long-term.  His miraculous transformation of himself based on what he was learning about meditation, first, and now Buddhism, went hand in hand with my own self-transformation.  I was a professor at a university, relatively wealthy, secure, socially high on the hierarchies, etc.  I come from poor working people, however, and Ii am extremely reactive to what seems to me delusional middle-class ''niceties" in Buddhist gatherings.  "Getting my own way."  Yes.  I have also always been an activist.  And sharing my advantages has always seemed not just morally obligatory, but second nature.  (Not that I'm not riddled with all my own faults)

What a wonderful honest deep response to this question.

Permalink Reply by Jason Ray Parrish on May 22, 2010 at 1:19am
Great Question!

I believe if you want to alleviate suffering then go where the suffering is. Of course we all have suffering but the opportunity to help someone to deepen their Dharma practice, or even just find some ease and comfort is a tremendous gift. Prisoners are in immense pain and suffering, often, and giving them some knowledge of the Dharma can help them, if they are ready.

We are all in a prison of different types, either incarcerated, a slave to possetions , having no satisfaction in life. Freedom isn't real if we spend our whole lives grasping and wanting and hoping for something different. That's why I can relate to the suffering of prisoners and njoy working with them, in the limited capacity that I have done.

Bill W. taught that selfishness and self-centeredness is the nature of our problem. Service work like this gives me a chance to get out of that trap.
Permalink Reply by Susan Thames on February 21, 2011 at 4:55pm
I cannot think of a clearer statement than your first one: If you want to relieve suffering then go where the suffering is.  I'm filling out an application for a place in a program on contemplative caregiving.  Recently my Zen teacher asked me why I want to participate in this rigorous 10 month course.  I'm sure I replied meaningfully, but your words are pitch perfect.  Thank you.
Permalink Reply by Jane Tara Cicchetti on June 7, 2010 at 10:31am
Hi Kate-
This is a great question and I agree with others who have said that Dharma practice does bring one to the realization that we are all prisoners of our own minds.

From a more personal perspective, the story of Milarepa has shown me that whatever I may have done in this life, it is possible, through diligent practice of the Dharma to change that karma - and to change the way we interact with others in the world. It is this possibility, the possibility that anyone can train their mind that makes the idea of sharing the Dharma with prisoners so meaningful for me. Jane Tara
Permalink Reply by Charles Gillard on June 18, 2010 at 7:20pm
That life is a prison...that all societies places bars between people and groups of people.... that some people go to bars to see through the bars... that concepts can be bars...
Permalink Reply by Juanita Rice on February 23, 2011 at 11:40am

Thank you for the story.  It reminds me that every time I get a little "burned" in work of compassion that it's a natural concomitant.  Yes, I am trying to put out the fire.  And one gets burned...but one can get burned anywhere so what better way?  Spirit of gratitude, yes.   Self-sacrifice, not so much, actually.  Self-escape, maybe?

 

Permalink Reply by John C. Kimbrough on January 19, 2011 at 8:39am

I think it is for different reasons and that these reasons overlap with each other and are similar to each other. . ...I think people wish to assist others through teaching the Dharma. Others wish to grow from teaching in a manner that may be wise or self - serving. Some know that people in prison can change through their knowledge and ability to practice the Dharma because they themselves have experienced the change. Others understand that there is a Buddha nature within us all. When we share with others in a sincere manner and from our heart we grow and we can help others grow. All of one's students may not see this, but one or more may. In some respects a teacher of the Dhamma may be able to do nothing else then to plant a seed which will sprout and grow at a later time in one's life. Others may understand, seek and be able to immediately make the change upon hearing the Dhamma. Sometimes a student of the Dhamma, whether he or she is in prison or not, may have had to have experienced a lot in life and seen the changes in their life and what they have or have not brought them before they can accept and make a change according to the Dharma......

Permalink Reply by Moreland Nicholson on February 10, 2011 at 10:34pm
I replied to this once already. Maybe i hit the wrong botton at the end-- which would suk because it was long and i usually type on my phone
But to answer your question based on my prison experience:  they don't. Buddhists are open minded etc but dont tend to show up. No bodies in the paint if i migjt alude to b-ball. But a lot of cheering fans
Anyone who has taken the bodhisattva vow in their heart should questiom why they are not physically helping aspiring buddhodts and othets who may just be the teacher in diguise-- as in entertaining angels, unawares
Permalink Reply by Juanita Rice on February 23, 2011 at 11:47am

Although I recognize in myself this same disappointment which tends to bitterness, I have to compare Buddhists to any other religion and say there are many in the cheering section and fewer who have been blessed to feel the motivation to compassion through action.

I went to New Orleans after Katrina with a bunch of Methodists!!! Yuck, I feared, but I was assured we would not be on a proselytizing mission, but a mission to relieve suffering.  What I discovered was thousands and thousands of people of "the faith community" doing all the on-the-ground repair, removal, cleaning, rebuilding.  What a thrilling and heart-warming affirmation of the goodness of good people.  John Wesley's creed is the basis for Methodists:  "Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to everyone you can,  wherever you can, in every way you can."  A tiny portion of Methodists actually hear and act on that.  But it's the same impulse as the Boddhisattva, as the Buddha who gives his body to the starving mother tiger, as the parrot quenching the fire in the story in a previous reply.

Maybe you and I have to remind ourselves that we are fortunate to feel compassion so thoroughly it moves us.  The real gift of Life is the gift of Love, and that's probably what every lame ritualist is seeking.  I'm glad you have the courage to tell it like you see it.  But don't see it so bitterly that you hurt yourself and close your heart.

With love,  Juanita  (mother of a prisoner)

  

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