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— Therefore being in prison is a great, extremely positive, great advantage and joy. You can see that you have an incredible opportunity: to have happiness now, a happy death, happy future lives, happy liberation from samsara and happy great liberation, full enlightenment. —

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Our Ex-Prisoners

Aaron Chaney

I was in prison since November 1997, for theft. I had been in before. I was in depression, severe depression. I didn’t want to associate with anyone. There was nothing to live for, nothing to look forward to. I felt pretty hopeless.
Then I started to read. I’d found a couple of books by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. And then I read Lama Yeshe’s The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism – the guy in our library found it in a trash can! He knew I wanted this type of book and left it in my room for me.

Lama Yeshe snapped me out of it! I wrote to Nick Ribush at Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, who sent me some books and gave me Liberation Prison Project’s address. Everything came from there.

I remember when I saw Lama Yeshe’s picture, something almost physical happened: it was like the weight of the world had come of my shoulders. And when I saw the first book of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, I sat there and cried. I felt strongly that I’d known these beings before.

Earlier, I had written to His Holiness expressing my wish to become a monk. Then in 2002 I was communicating with Ven. Kathie at LPP. Soon after that she handed me over to Ven. Wongmo.

She helped me set up a daily practice. In the morning I’d do prostrations and some meditation, and during the day I’d do more prostrations and Vajrasattva practice. And I’d make sure that I read at least thirty or forty pages of Dharma every day.
Buddhism has given me a way to understand the mind and how you can work with it, mold it. We can change our minds, that’s what I understand. It’s very simple: the tools are all there inside us; we just have to take the little ball of clay and mold it.

I’m staying with John Scorsine, whom Ven. Wongmo asked to help me. I work for him now, running his ranch. He came to my parole hearing with me. His presence, and his willingness to have me live with him, must have influenced the parole board, because I received parole.

It’s so difficult usually. In no place could you feel lower than in prison. It’s the bottom of the ladder. It’s hard to try to get out, to be given parole: you need a place to live, a job, and if you’ve been in prison for eight years, chances are you’re not going to be able to find any of that, nor to find people willing to help. I have no family in Colorado. John really stepped up to the plate
I plan to become ordained as a monk, hopefully by Choden Rinpoche next October. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has advised me to go to his retreat land in Washington and help there.