National: Prison Dharma

Article by Venerable Thubten Chodron

Here in this barbed wire monastery, we have the same situations arising every day, every instant. People who lack awareness or education, or communication skills, or upbringing, or morality, do things to themselves and to others which affect those who are confined in the small area with them. We are a part of those confined in that small area. Do we react with anger, with malice, with greed and envy? Or do we find ways to diffuse the problem? Do we act and think and speak in ways that continue to perpetuate the patterns of hurt and harm or do we convey methods of cessation? - Ohio prisoner and student of Ven. Thubten Chodron,  on practicing the Dharma from inside the walls.

Recently, I went to visit James, a prisoner in Ohio with whom I’ve been corresponding. He had initially arranged for me to give a talk to the Buddhist group as well as to a large assembly of men, but unexpectedly he was thrown in “the hole,” the “punishment quarters” in which the men are locked in a dingy two-person cell for all but an hour a day. If I was to see him now, it would have to be on a clergy visit, and according to prison rules, I could not do that and be a volunteer who gave a talk to an assembly at the same time. Thus, the talks unfortunately had to be canceled (Did you really think prison rules were to help the men?). 

As it turned out, two days before my visit, the assistant warden told the officers in “the hole” to let James out as he hadn’t done anything to merit being there to start with! So we met in an attorney’s room, a stark white room with a round table and blue chairs, off the general visiting room, for four hours on a Sunday morning. James continues with his daily meditation practice and Dharma studies, as well as tries to practice in daily life—not easy in a prison environment, where hostility is the norm and violence is frequent. Last year he took the eight precepts for life, and keeping them has helped him tremendously. (editor’s note: the eight precepts are: correct action, correct speech, correct livelihood, correct view, correct mindfulness, correct meditation, correct intention, and correct effort). Our correspondence continued throughout the year: I send him questions to contemplate, he writes his reflections, and I comment on them.

For several months, he has been asking me to do the aspiring and engaging bodhisattva ceremonies during this visit. So that morning, we discussed the motivation for taking the bodhisattva precepts and went through the  root precepts, discussing their implications in daily life. (editor’s note: a bodhisattva is a person who has compassionately vowed to achieve buddhahood but has not yet done so; in all forms of Buddhism, the bodhisattva works for the welfare of others). Then we did the ceremonies in the attorney room, with him kneeling on a gray blanket on the floor and me sitting in a chair. Forget about setting up an altar, but the Buddhas and bodhisattvas were there for sure! Those of you who have taken bodhisattva precepts with me before will be happy to know that I made it through the ceremony without crying. (A crying nun was all the prison guards needed!) 

While we were doing the ceremony, things felt “normal,” but afterwards when I considered what had happened, I was amazed. Imagine trying to generate even the slightest bodhicitta (editor’s note: the intention to become fully enlightened in order to benefit others) in a prison environment. It’s similar to generating it in hell! I felt profoundly thankful for the opportunity to be there.

After our time together ended, James returned to the compound, while I waited for a guard to escort me out. Then, his mother came into the visiting room. Since he had left the room already, a guard arranged for him to meet us at the gate as we left the visiting room. There he was, standing behind a huge metal gate with enormous bars. He bent over and kissed his mother through the bars and then we turned to walk away. My last image was of him behind the gate looking at two people he cared about leaving. My first thought was, “How sad,” but reconsidering and knowing James as I do, I knew that wasn’t his feeling at all. He was feeling very full and grateful as he watched us depart. He rejoiced at what he had, rather than lamented that it was over. If only the rest of us could do that with the good things in our lives!

Venerable Thubten Chodron is a Seattle-based Buddhist nun of the Tibetan tradition, who has worked with prisoners around the country.  She began working with prisoners several years ago, offering teachings via correspondence, and has traveled to several prisons to lead teachings with her students. The following is an excerpt from an essay she wrote in 2000, describing the exceptional experience of leading teachings with prisoners from inside the walls.  The prisoners’ name has been changed at his request. Tara Herivel, 2002

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2002 issue of Justice Matters.