Why we love prisoners; Inmates halt strike

Prison hunger strike solidarity demonstration (Los Angeles Times/Mel Melcon)

Pelican Bay inmates halt hunger strike
Sam Stanton (Sacramento Bee)

Inmates who began a hunger strike at Pelican Bay State Prison on July 1 to protest [torture] their treatment inside the facility and the Security Housing Unit have ended the effort, officials with the CDCR announced today. The inmates halted the hunger strike Wednesday "after they better understood CDCR's plans, developed since January, to review and change some policies regarding SHU housing and gang management. These changes, to date, include providing cold-weather caps, wall calendars, and some educational opportunities for SHU inmates." More

Why is Wisdom Quarterly Covering This?


We do not work for the prisoners, and we do not work for the wardens. But we oftentimes do work for Kwan Yin, the Buddhist "Goddess" of Compassion.

A bodhisattva (someone intent on supreme enlightenment to benefit all beings) does not limit her compassion, so why would we limit ours? As a society we imprison more citizens than any country in the world. It has been made into a for-profit industry (the prison industrial complex) with a goal to imprison and go worldwide.

We are not being enriched or profiting in any way as a state or nation. We are less safe for it, and poorer. That profit goes to private industry and to a massive prison guard's union, which lines the pockets of politicians who sing themselves to election with the refrain "tough on crime, tough on crime."

This "toughness" we support by voting for such politicians out of fear is bankrupting us, impoverishing us ethically and spiritually, debasing our humanity, and NOT making us safer.

There may be a worldwide fascist movement (remnants of Nazis who were brought to this country to work on nuclear bombs, space travel, intercontinental missiles, social control, propaganda, public relations, etc.), active CIA covert operations, hypocrisy from Israel and other nations on a level never before seen). But that does not mean we have to cave in to the insanity or the untruths that hold it in place.

Ordinary citizens cheer for the killing and torture of our prisoners in the name of revenge -- calling it "justice" and calling themselves "good" for doing it.

Good (such as justice, progress, and humanity) is not brought about by "bad" means -- police misconduct, kangaroo court trials, routine torture, inhumane isolation, degradation, rape, bestial violence, careless misappropriation of tax dollars, state-sponsored executions.

We think it's okay so long as we imagine these injustices are being done to the "other." There is no other.

WE are a society and prisoners are part of it. As such, everyone here is entitled to fairness, protection, and compassion.

Why does Wisdom Quarterly cover this unpopular segment of society? A better question might be why others interested in peace and justice or socially-engaged Buddhism do not.

The Buddha never limited his compassion to those deemed "good." In fact, our compassion is needed most for the least among us.

• Ksitigarbha's compassionate vow to free all hellions
  

Stop Torturing Our Prisoners

Jailhouse Meditation & Yoga

Prison Dharma class (sazpp.org)

[Indian and American] Prison authorities have adopted a holistic approach
Pramod Morjaria (BBC reporter in Delhi)

The massive Tihar jail complex just outside the Indian capital Delhi was until a few years ago a place to be feared.

"I found a new kind of mental freedom in jail"

-- Tihar inmate

Comprising six separate prisons sprawling over 400 acres, Tihar -- the biggest prison in Asia -- was notorious for drugs, corruption, and violence.

Overcrowding is still a chronic problem, with 12,000 inmates filling the institution to almost three times its capacity.

But Tihar is now regarded as a model prison, welcoming delegations from far and wide who come to study how prison authorities turned the place around. [The first female officer in South Asia apparently introduced the idea.]

The key to their success, they say, is an holistic approach to reform and rehabilitation.

Golden cage
Buddhist meditation and yoga are now widely practiced by inmates, and more than 1,000 prisoners are enrolled in education programs or degree courses.

• Yoga in San Quentin (California)
• Yoga in Arizona jail
• Yoga in South African Prison (BBC video)

"For the past 18 months, I've been into meditation, both yoga and Vipassana meditation, and it's helped me a lot," said Ravi Chandran, who is awaiting trial for murder.

Agarwal: rehabilitation must be mental

He said Vipassana ["insight"], which involves ten-day silent meditations, had helped him "eradicate the vicious complexes you have inside." [Free Goenka meditation programs are available worldwide and involve a ten-day intensive Buddhist practice].

"And it helps a lot to eliminate the agony which you have created," he said.

Critics of Tihar call it a "golden cage" full of amenities for prisoners to enjoy for free, instead of a place where they go to be punished for their crimes.

But Ajay Agarwal, the Director General of Tihar, defends his prison's alternative approach.

"In the western world, what happens is that a person is incarcerated physically, but mentally there is no effect on him," he said.

"As a result, when he comes inside, or when he goes outside, there is practically no difference whatsoever."

Mental freedom
One inmate who has noticed a difference is Leo Sandigasnier, a Norwegian national sentenced to 10 years in 1997 for trying to smuggle two kilos of cannabis from Nepal.

Delegations visit from far and wide.

"Before I came here, my impression of jail was like some black hole in my mind," said Mr. Sandigasnier, who was just 19 when he was sentenced.

"Coming here, I see that there is a lot of positive initiative, a lot of people who want to help us evolve, and somehow, I found a new kind of mental freedom in jail," he said.

New circular cells have been built for prisoners who want to do the 10-day Vipassana meditation course, which authorities say gives them the time and space to come to terms with their actions.

"After three days, [the prisoner's] mind starts bursting, he starts laughing and shouting, but by the fourth day onwards, peace starts descending on the man," Mr. Agarwal said.

"After 10 days, he starts realizing the futility of having committed a crime."

Further education
Non-governmental organizations come in from outside to oversee some of the initiatives, but in many cases then hand over the running of the projects to the prisoners themselves.

Tihar helps prisoners help themselves.

About 800 inmates are enrolled on various education programs.

And more than 300 are taking degrees with the help of the Indira Gandhi National Open University and the National Open School.

The typing and secretarial class is popular, and the female section of Tihar jail, which houses 532 women, even has its own beauty parlor.

Ruby, a female prisoner who has trained as a beautician in Tihar, summed up the view of many of the inmates.

"When I entered the prison, I was scared and apprehensive about how jail would be," she said.

"But seeing that there are many opportunities here, it calms one's mind." Source

• More on yoga in prison (BBC)