— I used to have an anger problem and now I am less prone to anger. It is not that I do not experience anger, it is that it is not as intense and I am often able to let it go. Also, I reflect on things moreÉ All in all I am changing for the better. —

Jeffrey Nichols, Huttonsville Correctional Center, West Virginia


— If one uses this time and experience of being in prison to practice meditation, to practice dharma, then being in prison, even though it is believed you are in prison by outside people, in reality it becomes a retreat for you. —

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Receiving phone calls

Buddha by David Lightsey

Liberation Prison Project's offices in the San Francisco and the Australian Blue Mountains happily accept phone calls from our prisoners in need of spiritual advice and support.

We always encourage prisoners to write: our main program is helping people through correspondence. But because people in prison have so little support and often no one to talk to, we are happy to be a friendly ear and voice whenever possible.

Our San Francisco office spends an average of $110 every month on collect calls - prisoners in the US aren't able to make outside calls unless the recipient pays for the call.

In the US we also accept collect phone calls as a service to our students wanting to take the Buddhist vows and from our ex-prisoners, most of whom no longer have contact with friends or family and need our help trying to find work and a place to live.