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Practicing peace in prison
From Colorado Daily, July 07, 2004. By Meredith Arndt, Your Town Special Correspondent _______________________ An organization in town is on a new path - figuratively and literally - toward enlightenment. Founded in 1996 due to an increasing amount of requests, the Shambhala Prison Community (SPC) serves spiritual and educational needs within federal, state, county and municipal prison systems and jails, and their associated communities. In fact, since the SPC began working with its first prison community in 1991, the organization has provided meditation training to more than 50 prison communities around the world. Bill Karelis, the executive director of the SPC, says that the free training has a lot less to do with dogma, and a lot more to do with education. "Meditation is applicable to any belief system. What we're doing is simply improving the human mind," explains Karelis, who has worked with prison communities in this manner for nearly 15 years, and says that prisons are a community in need of meditation training. "If a person is calm, non-aggressive, clear-minded and awake, they will perform better," Karelis says. Karelis has witnessed first-hand the "dysfunctional culture" of prisons and how the prisoners behave before they begin meditation practice. He is not alone in his observations. A recent study released by the Department of Justice reports that 22 states and the entire federal prison system operated at 100 percent or more of their highest capacity last year. The report further found that 59 inmates were killed by other inmates, and assaults, fights, and rapes left 6,750 inmates and 2,331 correctional staff injured seriously enough to require medical attention. Karelis hopes to change these statistics, one prisoner at a time. "There will be a day when non-aggression is respected by all aspects of prison society," says Karelis. "Compassion must extend in all directions in this situation. We continue to make great steps forward." The SPC assists inmates through meditation instruction by providing qualified instructors, pastoral counseling, distributing books and recorded tapes, correspondence with the prisoners and providing newsletters, magazines and pamphlets relevant to the meditative path. However, Karelis acknowledges that education cannot be given to just prisoners. Ultimately, there must be acceptance of non-aggression from all individuals who are part of, or supporting, the prison community. Last week Karelis provided training to a federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., and upon leaving the prison, he was contacted by a prison employee who inquired about follow-up training for the staff. "The impact in these communities is subtle, but profound," says Karelis. "I believe there is a great interest for this type of education." In fact, there has never been a prison that SPC has contacted that does not have some interest in the training program. Karelis says that the organization envisions providing ex-prisoners with a network of community support, job training and job placement, spiritual and emotional sustenance and facilities that bridge the gulf between prison and the outside world. While Karelis also envisions expanding the SPC vision to other countries, "there is more than enough" to keep the organization busy reaching out to United States prisons. Currently, the SPC manages 11 prison communities in Colorado. The United States currently
has the largest documented prison population in the world, with
approximately 2 million people - or 703 prisoners
for every 100,000 people - behind bars, according to the International
Centre for Prison Studies at King's College, London. "Boulder is a business and cultural hub for this type of work," explains Karelis. "Without the depths of resources in this community, this bird would not fly." For more information about the Shambhala Prison Community visit www.shambhalaprisoncommunity.org or call 720-565-1352.
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