Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Our Prisoners
Rob Cummins, Karnet Prison Farm, Western Australia:
I have often been told that prison is a state of mind. This had not been so real to me as when I discovered Dharma and realized how much my own mind had incarcerated me more than any prison time I had or will ever do.
This is the third time I have been in prison and I so looked forward to getting out the last two times. Since coming to prison this time I have come to realize that there is no point to me looking forward to a physical release when I am still bound within my own mind.
Since being introduced to Buddhist teachings through Liberation Prison Project and visiting nun Ven. Drolma, the extent of my own "mind-jail" has been revealed to me. The good news is that I also discovered that there is a way to get "mind-paroled" and it can be a lot simpler than the worldly way and a lot more of a sure thing.
This was no more apparent to me than just recently when I applied for regular parole. I had done all the required things, completed programs and education courses. I had kept out of trouble and prepared for life on the outside, but still "the powers that be" recommended I wait another year. So after I gave myself a pity party I looked at my paintings of the Buddha in my cell and thought to myself:
"As long as I am still locked up in my mind, I will never be truly free anyway.”
I have been studying and practicing Buddhism now for over six months and I have felt a freeing of my mind and a calming of my thoughts, but then realized I was still chained up. However for me to realize this I had obviously learnt some truths and developed some wisdom. I will try and recount some examples of how I have developed these, as well as kindness, in this confined environment.
I have been fortunate in that there are another three guys here who practice Dharma and we often discuss things that we have learned and discovered. For me, personally, though, the biggest benefit I have gained so far is the calming and greater awareness of my everyday thoughts. Previously my mind was a busy freeway with a multitude of different thoughts racing through it at any given time. This did not allow me to rationally and calmly consider any one thing that I wanted to deal with. I was also not able to help anyone else because my head was too busy creating its own version of a peak-hour traffic jam. As part of my prison sentence I am doing a sex offenders program for the second time, which to my surprise, is based on a lot of the same principles as Buddhism. So the combination of the two have harmonized completely.
Since beginning meditation and Dharma study I have been able to concentrate better on what I am being taught as well as exactly where my own mind is. Since this is my second program I have tried to assist others on this program with my wisdom, as little as it is. Since starting to meditate I find I am able to explain my own issues and insights to others much more clearly and calmly. I have also found that I have developed more patience and kindness in dealing with others. I don’t say I am a saint by any stretch of the imagination, but I have come along way from where I was.
I have found that through regular meditation and study and through support from LPP, I have developed a greater wisdom about the truth of my own mind, the world around me and the path I need to take in order to change my circumstances and find true freedom from within. I have also learned the value of compassion and kindness and begun to develop those qualities, as opposed to the very self absorbed nature that I had before. The peace, clear insight and happiness that has come from this has been amazing and although I know I am but at the beginning of the journey, it is a journey I have always searched for. Thank you friends from the Liberation Prison Project and my Dharma teacher Ven. Drolma.
SUCCESS STORIES »
The Struggles
- Lorin Dowdy, Soledad, CA: "In my heart I didn’t want to hurt others, get hurt myself, or cause any more grief and suffering to people, friends, and family.Yet I was doing this on a regular basis! Why is all of this happening? "
- Timothy White, North Carolina USA: "I am a prisoner on death row in North Carolina and have been visiting regularly with Herb Cunningham for almost a year. ..."
- Robert McClelland, Pecos Texas: "to focus, above the loud noise of 47 other men in my ‘pod’ I use my walkman to block out the many distractions."
- Raymond, Australia: “Since I have been with LPP they have given me support and have always been there when I have a question.
- Doyle Putman, Carson City, NV: "I can’t tell you how happy your letter has made us...."
- Bruce Platt, Cannon City, Colorado: "I spent most all my life doing drugs and doing time. I want out of this self made prison I put myself in!"
- Joseph Chiles: "So I want to be kind hearted and always happy too. That’s why I want to study and learn."
- TeAnn Bingham: "However, my single cell status is almost like being in my own apartment in the city. I’ve started calling it my condo and just that change of thinking lifts me from the prison walls I’ve erected in my mind."
- John Connor, Ft. Stockton Texas: "I have been only studying Buddhism for a few weeks, and I feel I need expert guidance in the form of a live human being who has knowledge of this and a history of devotion to this way so that I can be sure of correctly understanding and practicing the right things.
- Joshua Jones: "I am an inmate at the state of California correctional system. I don’t know why they call it corrections when they do nothing to correct the inmates."