April 2010 Blog Posts (27)

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Jail's Racism Worse: But Who Really Cares?

It was one of those rare afternoons in my jailhouse classroom. Twelve or so teen-aged boys dotted around the room, their heads, some shaved bald, others wild and woolly with neglect, bend over their desks doing something. Reading a book; writing an essay—or a love letter to a shorty. Whatever they were doing, they were quiet. It didn’t happen often over the ten years I taught high school at a New York County jail, years that I chronicle in my book I Don’t Wish… Continue

Added by David Chura on April 29, 2010 at 10:29am — No Comments

Prisoner poetry: “The Breathless Flame Doesn’t Burn”

Like a flame,

Anger burns

Only when nourished

By the breath of our thoughts

And fanned by the winds of action.

So, too,

Burn the fires

Of our other delusions:

Pride, selfishness, deceit,

Ignorance, hatred, and fear,

Among limitless others.

By feeding the flames

These fires will grow,

Threatening ever to consume as

And leaving us to reap

The karmic seeds we’ve down,

Which blossom and grow

In the ashes of our… Continue

Added by Carter (PDN Admin) on April 28, 2010 at 6:37pm — No Comments

Prison and Religion Panel Saturday in NYC





Panel: The Prison-Spirituality Complex



Saturday, May 1, 2010

7:00 – 9:00 PM

(Cocktail hour begins at 6:00)

The

Tank Space for Performing and Visual Arts

354 W. 45th Street (between…

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Added by Carter (PDN Admin) on April 28, 2010 at 4:54pm — No Comments

Video interview of Zen Master Bernie Glassman

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is partnering with theZen Peacemakers to promote Socially Engaged Buddhism by filming interviews with presenters of the The First Symposium for Western Socially Engaged Buddhismhttp://www.prisondharmanetwork.net/profiles/blog/new, which ZP will host this summer, and posting them on… Continue

Added by Ari Pliskin on April 28, 2010 at 8:21am — No Comments

Can a murderous gangster’s heart be rehabilitated? (local press)

From the Vancouver Sun:



Walking down Rio de Janeiro’s famous Ipanema Beach last year, Anton Hooites-Meursing had an epiphany.



He had already helped police in the notorious Surrey Six murder investigation. But he had not made the final decision to be a cooperating Crown witness until that moment, enjoying the breathtaking view of Sugar Loaf Mountain, the pristine sand and the gorgeous women.



“I was overcome with what had been in my mind for some time, and that… Continue

Added by Ekō (Joshua) Goldberg on April 25, 2010 at 8:07pm — 2 Comments

"Jail's meditation course is not a hard cell" By Robert Faturechi, L.A. Times

Buddhist priest Daniel Buckley counsels an inmate who is restricted to his cell at downtown Los Angeles' Men's Central Jail, where a meditation class draws eager participants.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / April 9, 2010)…

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Added by Carter (PDN Admin) on April 22, 2010 at 5:05pm — 1 Comment

Prison Economics: Paying for Punishment



It costs a lot to lock people up (by some estimates $32 billion annually.) You have to house them, feed them, give them basic medical care.



It costs a lot, even if you cut corners. Overpack a dorm or double-bunk (as dangerous as that practice is.) Serve cheap food—unrecognizable, processed meats; overripe, almost rotted fruit;

white bread that wads up to the touch. Save on health care by not giving

any. In the county jail where I…

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Added by David Chura on April 21, 2010 at 10:00am — 7 Comments

Reintegrating Rwanda's Killers

February 15, 2007 | permalink | Yahoo! Buzz



Rwanda faces a huge challenge nearly 13 years after the genocide. Huge numbers of people were killed but huge numbers of people have also been implicated in the killings. The Rwandan government wants justice for the victims but it also wants to promote reconciliation. So it's created a program of community service. It's designed to help confessed killers ease back into society. The World's Jeb… Continue

Added by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on April 20, 2010 at 10:29am — 1 Comment

Rwanda:: Visit to Prison Camp

By Fleet Maull



Rwanda Bearing Witness Retreat – Day 5

After hour morning council circles, we boarded our bus for the 30 minute ride to the TIG work… Continue

Added by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on April 20, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Two More Groups Start Online Dharma Study

Adding to the shift towards online teaching events and learning communities already taken by Buddhist magazines Tricycle and Shambhala Sun as well as groups like the Peacemaker Institute and Prison Dharma Network, two other purely online Dharma media groups are…

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Added by Ari Pliskin on April 19, 2010 at 9:30pm — No Comments

"Apple" Excerpted from "Razor-Wire Dharma" by Calvin Malone



Author Calvin Malone began his study and practice of the Dharma while in prison and is now nearing the end of his 20-year sentence.



30 March 2010



A light drizzle was falling one early summer weekend, and I did not want to allow myself to think about better places to be. The air smelled fresh and clean as I stepped out of my unit to walk the long stretch of sidewalk to the main chow hall. The wet atmosphere provoked nostalgic… Continue

Added by Carter (PDN Admin) on April 15, 2010 at 1:49pm — No Comments

Local Sangha Bedrock of ZP Mother House, Residence Training

Myoki Shuso

On Sunday, March 28, 2010, Sensei Eve Myonen Marko inducted Judith Myoki Brier as the third senior to the Montague Farm Zendo, the practice center of the Zen Peacemakers Mother House. . The ceremony finished a 4-day…

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Added by Ari Pliskin on April 15, 2010 at 4:30am — No Comments

"Orange Is the New Black": What's a nice girl like you doing in prison?

from Salon.com

Piper Kerman talks about her year behind bars on drug charges, and what we get wrong about female inmates

By Mary Elizabeth Williams




When I first met Piper Kerman in the mid-'90s, I knew her as the vivacious,… Continue

Added by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on April 13, 2010 at 11:52am — No Comments

Freedom to Choose



The compelling journey into the hearts and minds of the remarkable female inmates who participated in the University of Santa Monica's Freedom to Choose workshop at the Valley State Prison for Women.



Click here to watch video and learn more about this… Continue

Added by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on April 13, 2010 at 11:07am — No Comments

If It's Thursday It Must Be The County Jail

By Gary Janka

from the Zen Peacemakers newsletter



Several years ago – I can’t really remember how many, maybe six or seven ¬– a fellow priest asked if I would like to go with him to meet with the Buddhist inmates at the Federal Detention… Continue

Added by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on April 13, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

Prison Dharma worker Bio: Pat Coffey

Pat Coffey, MEd, Senior Teacher, began his meditation practice over 30

years ago and has taught meditation since 1996. He studied with

numerous Asian and Western teachers in the Theravada, Tibetan and Zen

traditions. Pat is founder of IMCC and the co-founder of the Blue Ridge

Prison Project...read… Continue

Added by Ari Pliskin on April 13, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

Mindfulness practice vs. Buddhist Services

Well, it all worked out perfectly~! Of course.

The first three visits no one showed up. On the third visit the volunteer coordinator was kind enough to bring me to the women's floor and called all the women out to listen to me talk about what this "Buddhist Service" was all about.

I kept it simple: sitting meditation, a reading, and discussion. Immediately the women asked if they'd be chanting or bowing to "some statue or something or other." They strongly said…

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Added by diana m conley on April 12, 2010 at 2:45pm — 1 Comment

New Buddhist Geeks Podcast Interview with Bernie Glassman

Episode Description: We’re joined this week by one of the pioneers of the socially engaged Buddhist movement, Zen Master Bernie Glassman. Although he grew up in a family that valued social action, after some years of Zen practice he had an experience that amplified his calling to serve those in need. At that point he made a vow to feed all hungers. We speak about the interconnection—and accordingly to Bernie, the inseparability—between contemplative practice and… Continue

Added by Ari Pliskin on April 12, 2010 at 1:59pm — No Comments

Charles Dickens on Solitary Confinement: “Immense Torture and Agony”

Charles Dickens on Solitary Confinement: “Immense Torture and Agony”

from Solitary Watch by Jean Casella



Interior of Eastern State Penitentiary, which is now empty but open for tours.



The history of solitary confinement shows it to be largely an American… Continue

Added by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on April 11, 2010 at 9:51am — No Comments

'Terrible Tommy' spends 27 years in solitary confinement

(CNN) -- Tommy Silverstein has been held in solitary confinement for the past 27 years, longer than anyone else in the federal prison system, his lawyers say.



He is locked up at the high-security prison in Florence, Colorado, known as Supermax. The lights are always on. Guards who slip him food through a slot in his cell door usually ignore him. A few times a week, he is permitted to exercise in the recreation room -- alone.… Continue

Added by Kate Crisp (PDN Director) on April 11, 2010 at 9:30am — No Comments

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