— I have taken your advice. I meditate for about fifteen - twenty minutes at night before saying my final dedication prayers... I have found, over the last week, that I have been falling asleep easier... Just that is enough for me to keep meditating. —

Mathew Ritchie, High Desert State Prison, California


— Even if someone has only one day left to live, even only one hour left, they still have an incredible opportunity to make the human body-which they have received just this one time-most beneficial. —

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Teaching in prisons

Teaching in prisons is the main service Liberation Prison Project provides people in prison in Spain, Mexico and Mongolia. We also teach in prisons in LPP Mongoliathe US and Australia, where the majority of the prisoners studying with us are incarcerated.

In the US 35 Buddhists who volunteer for the project - our visiting teachers - teach in prisons in eight states; in Australia five teach in prisons in New South Wales, Western Australia and Tasmania. We also have one teacher visiting an LPP student in Scotland.

Because the LPP Mexicodemand for our services is highest in the US and Australia, we aren't able to organize for every prisoner who contacts us in those countries to have a teacher visit their prison. Helping prisoners through correspondence continues to be the main way we're able to support inmates' Buddhist studies, particularly those wanting to become serious practitioners.

However since the beginning in 1996, when inmates request, we've been visiting prisons and offering Buddhist classes both one-on-one and in groups.

Herb and Ben and groupHerb Cunningham and LPP volunteers from Kadampa Center, the FPMT center in Raleigh, North Carolina, have been teaching meditation and Buddhism in prisons in in North Carolina and Virgina for 13 years.

“The changes you get are astounding,” says Herb. “Inmates tell me, ‘You have changed my life forever.’ They are surprised at being able to find some inner peace in prison.”

Herb and Ben’s kindness and teaching helped us learn how to deal with our minds, how to transform our minds, and how to strive for the happiness we all wish for.

- Rob Snyder of Brunswick Correctional Center in Virginia.

Mark Griffin and Ven. DrolmaVen. Drolma has been an awesome tower of commitment and guidance in helping myself and others in the WA prison system access Dharma material and also her amazing zest to teach us the Mahayana Tradition.
Mark Griffin, Acacia Prison, Western Australia

For most of 2007 this centre has been blessed with regular visits from Venerable Aileen Barry of Liberation Prison Project. She has valiantly attempted to help us discover the huge potential of our minds through our own journey of research and discovery.
Edward Cox, Long Bay Correctional Centre, Sydney, Australia

His Holiness by Hannibal Pitman-BeyI have learned so muchbecause of her kindness and compassion and she has also shown me how to learn from my past actions. One of the things I am deeply grateful to Mary for is she has shown me the difference between guilt and regret. I begin to see how guilt has made me self-centred and full of self-hatred. Guilt made it impossible for me to help myself, let alone others. Developing deep regret holds real value for me and I am learning to use it to heal myself and turn outwards to help others.

Ian Sutherland, Dumfries Prison, Scotland