Milarepa Journal |
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The
way to accomplish a great endeavor
An Interview with Kiran Bedi • Voices from the Inside • Dear Abhi • News _________________________________________________ NewsAn
Update on our Work | Letter from Margot
Neuman _______________________________________________ An Update on our WorkSince the publication of the first issue of the Milarepa Journal three years ago, the Shambhala Prison Community has continued its focus on assisting with the formation of meditation groups in prisons, book distribution, and correspondence with prisoners. We have now helped initiate groups in thirty-four prisons in the United States and Canada. It is difficult to convey the quality of heartfelt longing and of desire for the teachings of meditation, which pours into our office from prison inmates on a daily basis. We are constantly inspired and challenged by the level of request. In 2001 Margot Neuman and Bill Karelis addressed the Heads of Religious Services and Heads of Volunteers from the Departments of Correction of fifteen states and two regions of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at a conference in Longmont, Colorado about our work. In 2002 Mrs. Neuman set in motion a correspondence course for prisoners, who study The Myth of Freedom by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche with individual tutors; currently about a hundred prisoners participate. The SPC has received invitations from a number of state and Federal prisons—and prison systems—to organize qualified volunteers to present meditation in those places, as well as from the government of Chile. Recently, we have concentrated our energies in Colorado and Arizona and now currently serve the majority of prisons in those two states. It has become clear that while our volunteer organization grows stronger monthly, we need more infrastructure. To this end, four new members joined our Board in 2003—Gary Allen, Karuna Thompson, and Chuck and Mary Whetsell—and Amy Hutchinson joined the office staff in an ongoing capacity as Administrative Director. We have discovered that, the basic operating principle of our work being volunteerism, in order to drive our very efficient engine, we need financial support for operations, and we are turning our attention to fundraising in myriad ways.
_______________________________________________ First Thoughts: Letter from Margot NeumanMargot Neuman is Vice President in charge of operations of the SPC, and a member of the Board of Directors. In addition to being frequently found at her desk in the SPC office in Boulder overseeing office staff, she manages correspondence and correspondence courses with hundreds of prison inmates, and visits half a dozen prisons in two states on a regular basis. We have the auspicious great fortune to have the Ven. Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche as an advisor to Shambhala Prison Community. He came to the West at the request of His Holiness Karmapa XVI in 1977. He is regarded as a living Buddha, and one of the most erudite scholars and accomplished yogis of the Karma Kagyu lineage. Last January, at a meeting we attended with him for the purpose of seeking his counsel for prison practice, he spoke at great length about the similarities between prisons and monasteries. This statement arose out of his visits to several prisons. He was adamant and uncompromising in his view that they are very similar. He told stories about how imprisoned Buddhists in other cultures, such as India and Tibet, were very grateful for the opportunity to have their basic needs taken care of so that they could concentrate on meditation. He told stories of how they did not want to be released when the time came, because they felt that their practice would become more difficult once they had to deal with the world. He said many monasteries would take them in and they would become monks so that they could continue with their monastic style of life without interruption. His basic point was that there are no obstacles. Nevertheless, I argued with him. "It just doesn't seem that easy and seamless, " I said. "There really seem to be considerable obstacles: hostile cell mates, problems with prison administration, tremendous environmental aggression. There are many inmates whose minds are tortured with anger, self-loathing, regret, guilt, loneliness, depression, even despair. There are those who are on death row, and those who struggle with mental illness. In addition, there is a great lack of Buddhist resources in prison chapels, and many chaplains have not had the opportunity to become familiar with the necessities of Buddhist practice." He answered with the following advice, to be shared with prisoners. He said the inmate sangha should study the chapter on "Patience" from The Way of the Bodhisattva (Sanskrit - Bodhicharyavatara, pronounced 'bo-dee-char-ya-va-tar-a'). It is one of the great classics of the Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. Patience is the antidote to anger. Patience is that quality which heals anger. Patience, as expounded in Shantideva's verses, offers very detailed avenues of skillfully handling the obstacles and difficulties that arise in our daily lives. Khenpo Rinpoche has instructed us to study this material, thus enabling us to use our perceived obstacles and difficulties as stepping-stones to greater wisdom and insight. Accordingly, we will follow the instructions of Khenpo Rinpoche. Our next correspondence course will be entitled Patience, and will be based on the text by Shantideva. Khenpo Rinpoche's teaching articulates the fact that obstacles have no true existence, they are of the same nature as dreams. We should all consider this view again and again.
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Shambhala
Prison Community has lost a dear friend. Clarke Watson worked
extensively in State and Federal government, and through this
work expressed a constant passion to protect the undefended.
As a volunteer family advocate for youth in prison, he was
able frequently to improve the housing and legal situations
of the youngsters. His generosity extended to the SPC, as he
continuously beat the bushes for situations that would further
our goals, including networking among his many friends and
acquaintances in government. This work he donated because of
his good heart, and because, I believe, he knew just where
the greatest treasure troves of joy were to be found. We love
you and miss you, Clarke, our dear friend of many years.