— Worldly people, common people, believe that prison has a beginning and an end. But the real prison is being under the control of delusion and its action, karma. —

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

 

Sarah Brown - Bookkeeper

Sarah BrownSarah comes to Liberation Prison Project from the snowy peaks of Montana's Rocky Mountains where she lived and practiced the Dharma for the past eight years with Friends of the Western Buddhist Order.

When living in Missoula she taught meditation at the local county correctional facility, which housed state inmates at the time, and heard about Liberation Prison Project from one of the prisoners.

Auspiciously, while spending time in San Francisco after a recent meditation retreat she noticed a bookkeeping job on Craigslist for Liberation Prison Project and Tse Chen Ling. The rest they say is history.

“I loved teaching meditation in the jails in Montana; it was always so inspiring to hear the stories of how helpful the simple technique of watching breath and encouraging positivity was for those guys.

"I remember one particular night I had a fight with the person I was dating at the time and I walked through the door of the facility pretty worked up mentally. As I walked down the hallway with the guard I watched as my emotions melted away and as I entered the room where we would set up our shrine and take our seats, I felt very focused and calm.

"Later that night, one of the guys spoke about how much he appreciated coming once a week and the quiet he was able to experience. He said that there was always noise on his cell block and that it was hard to just sit and be still.

"I am so happy to be supporting the work that we do here at Liberation Prison Project; it supports my own desire to wake up, let go, open up. The Dharma teaches us that no one, no matter how lowly, can be liberated. That is a wonderful thing because we have all been caught in our own negativity and have acted unskillfully. It is never too late to make it right for ourselves and the world.”