By Shabtai Gold for monstersandcritics.com, Feb 11, 2012

Nairobi - Outside Nairobi's bustling centre and traffic jams, a group of women in striped white and black prison uniforms shuffle into a courtyard, where Margret the yoga teacher awaits them,…

By Anneke Lucas for elephantjournal.com, Feb. 9, 2012

Goal of Life: Part 1

(reggae style)

Verse 1:

Updog, downdog, locust, cobra

I am doing Hatha Yoga

Move over

Ignorance…

This is my answer to a question in my CIIS Krishnamurti class:

Re: “What does Krishnamurti say about stopping anger and violence?”

Krishnamurti has addressed violence in passages throughout this book. The background provided is vital in understanding Krishnamurti’s take on the origins of violence:

“… For the very simple reason that pleasure must bring pain, frustration, sorrow and fear, and, out of fear, violence … if you want to be free…

By Tony Williams for The New York Times, January 26, 2012

The number of Americans in prison older than 55 is growing at a faster rate than the group’s share of the population at large, and many prisons are unprepared to provide them with health care, which can cost as much as nine…

A charismatic ex-con lures at-risk kids away from violence.

By Alix Sharkey for DailyGood, Feb 2, 2012

One bitter night, in the rough end of New Haven, Connecticut, fifteen-year-old Vinny Ferraro and his friends were hanging out as usual by the projects, near the…

Gangaji's free CD for inmates ($15 for the rest of us): "Questions from the Inside" has just been released. Inmates worldwide wrote Gangaji questions from county jails, Federal facilities, even death row. Chris Mohr reads the letters and Gangaji responds. Sometimes Chris asks a followup question. This is Gangaji's opportunity to speak directly to those who are least able to see her in person. Their questions are much like the questions all of us ask, except that they often…

Hello PDN friends...

I live in NYC and have time to volunteer. Does anyone know of any Buddhist - related projects that might need help?

Thanks for sharing, listening

Kelly

I could have been with monks in the Himalayas, surrounded by majestic mountain peaks

by Anneke Lucas, January 11, 2012 for ElephantJournal.com

When we entered the linoleum-tiled,…

Re: “What is the value of self-observation and how can it be attained with sincerity?”

“…  As long as I am looking at life from a particular point of view or from a particular experience I have cherished, or from some particular knowledge I have gathered, which is my background, which is the 'me', I cannot totally. I have discovered intellectually, verbally, through analysis, the cause of my dependence, but whatever thought investigates must inevitably be fragmentary, so I…

In m Krishnamurti class, I was asked::

“ What is the difference between awareness and concentration according to K?”

“… Attention is not the same thing as concentration. Concentration is exclusion; attention, which is total awareness, excludes nothing…” (Krishnamurti, p31, emphasis mine).

It all comes down to what Milarepa said about demons – befriend them, take them to tea.

Whatever your demons are, you are free to work…

My take on fear has evolved over time.

After an assault, I carried a pistol with me for a time. I thought I would be less fearful with this.

At Naropa University, a school rooted in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, we discussed Abhaya - Fearlessness. It is complex. Essentially, for a long time I understood it as fearlessness without hubris.

Discussing warriorship, I came to understand that being a Shambhala Warrior means adopting enough abhaya to be open and gentle. I…

By Eric W. Dolan for The Raw Story - Monday, January 9, 2012

Richard Van Wickler, the Superintendent of the Department of Corrections in Cheshire Country, NH and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, said in an interview that drug addicts should be shown compassion rather than jailed.

He…

Arizona’s legislature recently passed a law charging prison visitors a onetime $25 fee as a way to help close the state’s $1.6 billion budget deficit. Middle Ground Prison Reform, a prison advocacy group, challenged the law in court as a discriminatory tax, but a county judge upheld its constitutionality.

Fees like that, slapped on prisoners and their families, couldn’t be more…