We recently watched the Dhamma Brothers video again as part of the Change Your Mind program (probably my 15th time). The film always seems fresh to me and I do find something new in it each viewing. What struck me this time was the many examples of incredible courage demonstrated by so many involved in the project.
• The psychologist who dared to bring something he heard about in a prison in India to a backwater prison in Georgia.
• The warden who struggled with his doubts and gave the idea a chance
• The New England vipassana team who dared come into the hostile environment of the prison
• The guards who gave it a chance
• And, of course, the collection of murderers and general misfit-outcasts who dared bare themselves in a 10-day meditation retreat.
Any of these could have scuttled the whole adventure, but didn’t. They saw something there and wanted something else for prisoners than “doing the time”. As someone put it in the film they saw the difference between punishment and rehabilitation.
I wonder if anyone in our own Canadian Department of Corrections has ever looked at this.
Some people are taking it seriously. Check out:
http://www.prisonmindfulness.org/
If you’re curious about the movie or the story, here’s their website:
http://www.dhammabrothers.com/
On Another Topic,
If you are interested in learning the 10 Form Tai Chi set we have begun on Saturday mornings, here is a beautiful performance by the spectacular Chinese tai chi practitioner, Gao Jiamin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Z4sQNQtJM
Yours , on purpose,
Ray
The purpose of life is a life of purpose
Robert Byrne
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