Heart Mountain
Prison Project
News
Heart Mountain Meditation Booklets and Tapes
Heart Mountain Prison Project now has cassette tapes of our yellow booklet, "Doing Your Time with Peace of Mind: A Meditation Manual for Prisoners." Dharma friend Amy Davis reads the entire manual, answering commonly asked questions about meditation, and then providing instruction in 5 basic meditation styles. The tape is useful for inmates whose reading skills may be lacking, or for those who would like to hear the dharma spoken by a gentle person. The tapes can be used in conjunction with the booklet.
The tapes are free to inmates who contact us directly. We ask for a donation from prison dharma groups who request tapes, to off-set our costs. The cost of production, handling and mailing is $.75 to $1 per cassette, depending on quantity; however, no requests will be refused due to lack of funds.
The cassettes are "prison-friendly" – housed in clear plastic cases with clear shrink-wrap, molded together without screws.
You may write to us at Heart Mountain Prison Project, 1223 So. St. Francis Drive, Suite C, Santa Fe, NM 87505, or on-line at dougbooth4@gmail.com.
Many thanks to Ms. Davis for her great service and lovely voice.
We also have a pdf version of this booklet available. Use this link.
The meditation unit at the Grants, New Mexico men's prison is now in its fourth year of successful operation. The unit was created in response to our former Governor's interest in meditation for convicts. Governor Johnson instructed his Secretary of Corrections to look into expanding existing meditation programs within the prison system. We were invited to meet with the Secretary and Charles King, Bureau Chief of Addiction Services. They asked us how the administration could help us with our work. Echoing the requests of several inmates, we suggested that a dormitory be established and dedicated to prisoners committed to meditation and spiritual practice. Two months later the meditation unit opened at the medium security prison in Grants.
It is the only prison dormitory dedicated to meditation in the United States.
The unit houses 16 men of different faiths, who use meditation or yoga as part of their spiritual practice. Several of the men are serving life sentences. The Heart Mountain teachers helped the men create their own guidelines for running the pod, such as no TV, no smoking or excessive noise in the common area, and three hour-long silent periods every day. We taught Council process, as a means of collective decision-making, to assist the men in addressing their problems within the pod. It took several months for trust and tolerance to grow, and now, the men agree that it is a good place to live within the system. They meet in council every Friday. Theft and drug use has stopped in the unit, and it is a place of mutual support for spiritual growth. Heart Mountain teachers conduct monthly, daylong meditation and, recently, yoga workshops for the men.
At first, the warden and guards were skeptical about the pod's chances for success; however, they now gladly acknowledge that it is a clean and safe place to reside with few problems requiring a minimum of security.
Recently, six men from the meditation unit elected to design their own day of spiritual practice. In prison, the administration dictates how every minute of an inmate's time is spent. Having the autonomy to create one's own schedule, with dedicated and supportive fellow-inmates, was a rare treat for these men. Some chose to meditate for several hours continuously, without the customary interruptions of guards and loudspeakers (the retreat was held in the library, which is mercifully devoid of loudspeakers). Others chose to alternate their sitting practice with walking meditation or Qi Gong. Still others opted to follow a formal schedule of 1/2-hour sitting and walking periods. Bag lunches were delivered to the library, and all the men came attended "check-ins" with one of the two teachers present.
All of the men reported that they enjoyed the day. One man, who has served 40 years in prison, reported that meditation and yoga have made bearable his life "inside."