Prison Dharma Network

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Prison Dharma Network

This is the community site for Prison Dharma Network (PDN), an international network of organizations, prison volunteers, corrections professionals, former prisoners, family members and prisoners involved in a transformative approach to criminal justice, rehabilitation and prison reform.
Visit our website: www.PrisonDharmaNetwork.org

Events

PDN Autumn Harvest Celebration & Fundraiser
September 14, 2008 at 4pm – Boulder, CO

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Videos

What About Me? Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Heart of a Killer: Transforming Power Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Meditation and the Reptilian Brain Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Finding Humanity Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Doing Time, Doing Vipassana 1/5 Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Dhamma Brothers Trailer Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 3 Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 2 Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Stanford Prison Experiment, Pt 1 Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Virtual Guantanamo Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Interview with Fleet Maull Added by Kate Casavecchia Crisp
Poem by a Prisoner Added by Steve Booth

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RSS

Who Judges the Judges?

The Texas Innocence Project has been instrumental in doing much of the legal footwork to identify and verify innocents in the prison system. Last week, a man who died in prison in Lubbock was revealed to have been completely innocent ...

practice and social action: freedom from fear, freedom to act

Sensei Fleet Maull, founder of the National Prison Hospice Association and Prison Dharma Network, senior meditation teacher in both the Shambhala Buddhist and Zen Peacemaker communities, a social activist, and director of the Peacemaker ...

MAIA in Helderstroom Prison

On Monday the 30th of June, we presented the third one-day module of the MAIA Program - Mindful Awareness in Action at Helderstroom Maximum Prison. The workshop was attended by 39 participants, all incarcerated for serious/violent crime ...

KCUR: Kansas Man Discovers Buddhism In Prison (2008-06-17)

The Prison Dharma Network, which is one of several organizations that brings Buddhism to prisons, has over 1200 members worldwide. Alex Smith has this story of a former Kansas prisoner who says Buddhism saved his li 3 Vote(s)

Kansas Man Discovers Buddhism In Prison

The word penitentiary originally comes from penance and the religious idea of redemption through punishment. Many inmates find religion to be one of the few sources of comfort and, for some, if can be life-changing. ...

Prison Dharma Network

Prison Dharma Network (PDN) was founded in 1989 by Fleet Maull, a federal prisoner then serving a 14-year sentence for drug trafficking. Since its founding, PDN's Books Behind Bars program has provided books on meditation and ...

Collage from our Prison Retreat

I regret that I am unable to support my ageing mother whilst in prison. That when I had a perfect partner I didn’t realize it until it was to late. That I ever started to use drugs. That I am such an attention seeker! ...

Prison Ready

Those nominally in charge can then arbitrarily draw the line between “college ready” and “prison ready” kids. If it just so happens that more black kids fall below that line, they can just shrug and babble about parental involvement. ...

more on prison dharma

in my recent reading about prison contemplative programs and the movie The Dhamma Brothers, i came across this video introduction to the Prison Dharma Network interviewing its founder Fleet Maull. Prison Dharma Network coordinates ...

Prison Dharma

When I volunteered to work with Wiccan inmates at a Washington state prison in the past, almost all of the inmates had chosen their path after they were incarcerated. I expect that this is true for most followers of non-mainstream ...

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Forum

Conversation Cafe #5: Pen Pal Scenerio: How Would You Respond? 16 Replies

You have a prison pen pal, who has basically no resources or family on the outside. He/she continues to request that you send money or goods (clothing, food, magazines, etc.) to them. After all ..a...

Started by Kate Casavecchia Crisp in Conversation Cafe. Last reply by Ike Lichtenstein 1 day ago.

Buddhist Prisoner who started Folsom Sangha, being relased on parole in Berkeley 10 Replies

One of the members of our Folsom Prison Sangha will be paroled soon. He is from Berkeley and he said he will return there. He is the reason we have a Sangha at California State Prison, Sacramento. ...

Tagged: release, folsom, resources, inmate

Started by Diane Wilde in General Discussion. Last reply by L.J. Davis Jun 20.

Blog Posts

Here I Am

I just joined the other day and am finding my way around the site. I'm not entirely sure what to do here to be honest, but I figure I would hang out and see what is going on. I'd like to get involved in the Prison Dharma Network, but don't want to rush into anything. I'm looking to understand the level of commitment involved. I truly believe that we're all the same - seeking happiness. We all choose incorrect paths or have mis-steps along the path. Some experience more hardship than others. I… Continue

Posted by Jason on June 18th, 2008 at 11:44am — 5 Comments (Add)

Letters to Mama from Prison

A blog you might be interested in checking out: "Some mothers are proud of their children for graduating, or becoming a doctor or a lawyer or countless other successes. However, I am proud of my son for quite a different reason than most. He has become one of the wisest and most positive people I know. My son is a survivor. My son is an inmate in prison." (from the blog) Click here to read more.

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on June 25th, 2008 at 5:57am — No Comments (Add)

Free Live Training & PDN Conference Call Forum

Hello! We are excited to announce we are offering a new FREE live web training which will give you instructions on how to best use our PDN community site.Following is a class schedule and brief description of each class. This training will be live via group conference call (with up to… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on June 21st, 2008 at 6:30am — 7 Comments (Add)

Kansas Man Discovers Buddhism in Prison

from KCRU.org "The word penitentiary originally comes from penance and the religious idea of redemption through punishment. Many inmates find religion to be one of the few sources of comfort and, for some, if can be life-changing. In US prisons, the Christian chaplain has been a… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on June 19th, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments (Add)

ABC News: San Quentin Looks to Close Revolving Door

Prison Nonprofit Promotes Alternative Therapies for Inmates San Quentin is one of the nation's most notorious prisons, and is home to some of California's most dangerous criminals — 80 percent of whom are going to get out one day.… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on June 17th, 2008 at 9:00am — No Comments (Add)

Practice

Practice really is a lifelong thing. Not because it's hard work, but because it's beautiful and because we love it. And because seeing and experiencing and feeling what it's really like to be human, what this world and our connection to it is really like, . . . is a beautifu… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on June 17th, 2008 at 6:30am — No Comments (Add)

Back to School: A Guide to Continuing Your Education after Prison

FROM: Prisoner Reentry Institute We are pleased to announce the updated design of Back to School: A Guide to Continuing Your Education after Prison, drafted with support from the United States Department of Education. Many thanks to Nicole Lindahl and Anna Crayton, our new Deputy Director of Research, for their leadership in developing the guide. Back to School is intended to serve as a national resource guide for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals planning to pursue or continue th… Continue

Posted by Melinda Kadinger on June 10th, 2008 at 1:30pm — No Comments (Add)

From KC Walpole

Greetings: Hope everyone is doing well. We have been doing MBSR programs with five day retreats at Lowell CI for 18 months now. It is so easy to start thinking in terms of cycles and numbers and to forget that we are dealing with human beings that want nothing o… Continue

Posted by Melinda Kadinger on June 10th, 2008 at 3:30pm — No Comments (Add)

PDN Matching Grant Challenge

Dear PDN Friends and Supporters, We would like to bring you up to date on a number of exciting developments at PDN, including a wonderful matching grant funding opportunity. Matching Grant Challenge: We are delighted to share very exciting news with you! Prison Dharma Network has received a matching grant challenge that, if met, will enable us to greatly expand our current services to young people, women and men incarcerated in juvenile facilities, jails and prisons, as wel… Continue

Posted by Fleet Maull on June 6th, 2008 at 12:30pm — No Comments (Add)

Women Behind Bars

from KC Walpole: Greetings: Just found out that three or four times this week, one of our students is going to be featured on Women's Entertainment Network in their segment Women behind bars with will play three or… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on June 4th, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments (Add)

Prison Nation: Discovery Channel June 1st

LOCKED UP Visit the site for videos and photos. Hidden within our country is a dark, parallel world — a Prison Nation that is inhabited by 2.2 million American convicts. I… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on June 1st, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments (Add)

Report From The Field: Frank Tedesco

From Frank in Tampa area Florida Hi Kate, Here I am with Chung, a couple of hours after his being released from the Pinellas County Jail, Florida, where he was held for three years pending trial for 2nd degree murder. After a three day trial, and jury in session fron from… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on May 30th, 2008 at 10:00am — No Comments (Add)

Day of Mindfulness at Donovan State Prison

On Saturday May 24th, in the Yard 1 Chapel at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility at Rock Mountain, 20 inmates and 4 volunteers from the Prison Meditation Project particpated in a day of mindfulness in celebration of the Buddha's birth and enlightenment. The event was the culmination of months of planning and preparation by the PMP and the Chaplains at Donovan, a California State prison with 4800 prisoners located southeast of San Diego and in close proximity to the US-Mexico border. Previous… Continue

Posted by Doug Gorman on May 25th, 2008 at 9:27am — 1 Comment (Add)

Sit Stay Pray

A 1 1/2-year-old black-and-white Chihuahua named Conan has become a celebrity in Japan after he began joining his master in daily prayers at Naha's Shuri Kannondo Zen Buddhist temple. "I think he saw me doing it all the time and got the idea to do it, too," priest Joei Yoshikuni… Continue

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on May 19th, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments (Add)

By the Numbers: America's Prisons (sources: PBS NOW June 07 Show)

By the Numbers: America's Prisons 7 million Number of people in the U.S. who were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at yearend 2005. 1.5 million Number of inmates held in state and federal prisons at yearend 2005.

700 percent Increase in prison pop… Continue

Posted by Fleet Maull on May 9th, 2008 at 9:54pm — No Comments (Add)

In Your State: Prison Costs

Visit the link below to find out how much your state is spending on prisons. Nationwide the bill is: $62 Billion In Your State: Prison Costs

Posted by Fleet Maull on May 9th, 2008 at 10:00pm — No Comments (Add)

Directory of State Prison Librarians 2002

If you're interested in getting dharma materials into prison libraries, check out the Directory of State Prison Libraries 2002 (http://www.ceanational.com/PDFs/statelibdir2002.pdf) from the Correctional Education Association. The directory includes: * Library Bill of Rights * Resolution on Prisoners' Rights to read * Websites of Interest * Listing of Librarians by State * State Library Consultants for Institutional Libraries If interested in donating materials either on your own o… Continue

Posted by Lisa on April 27th, 2008 at 12:30pm — No Comments (Add)

Prison Dharma Goes Prime Time on NBC

NBC.com has an introduction to Zen, on it's page for the show "Life," starring Damien Lewis who finds zen while in prison.

Posted by Kate Casavecchia Crisp on April 25th, 2008 at 8:00am — No Comments (Add)

"One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008" - A Report by Pew Center on the States

Pew Report Finds More than One in 100 Adults are Behind Bars Pew Press Release Pew Contact: Jessica Riordan, Communications (215) 575-4886; jriordan@pewtrusts.org Washington, DC - 02/28/2008 - For the first time in history more than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prison—a fact that significantly impacts state budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety. According to a new report released today by the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance… Continue

Posted by Lisa on April 13th, 2008 at 3:45pm — No Comments (Add)