Libero
Volume 3, Issue 1 Winter 201 7
Meditation in Prison
Light from the Tunnel
fight each other, slicing each other with razor blades, permanently dis figuring each other. I witnessed neck by James Bishop slicings, stabbings, and brutal rapes. I also witnessed the aftermath, the n February of 2016, I spoke at the permanent scars, both mental and University of Southern California physical, that such violence imposes graduate class, “Spirituality, Cre on the victims and their loved ones. ativity, and Conscious Aging.” The class was led by Dr. Leah Buturain, For those who witness such atrocit Ph.D. Also speaking was Esi Mathis ies, and even for some who experi who advocates ence them against life impris firsthand, the onment for minors. “negative” ex periences of We discussed everyday life Richard Rohr's can pale in “Falling Upward” comparison. and some poetry of The older Maya Angelou. I among us, and began by relating certainly those some of my experi who have also ences during my ten been through year incarceration. very negative During my time in prison, I told experiences, tend to have a greater them, I had witnessed brutality on a capacity to take things in stride. level I had never before seen. I When faced with darknesses in our watched men who had been friends lives, those of us who have experi
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“Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds him.” – Padre Pio
“Spirituality, Creativity, and Conscious Aging” class, USC. James Bishop on far left, Esi Mathis on far right.
Inside... Light from the Tunnel.. 1 Report from a New Zealand Prison..... 2 Waiting for Monroe.......3 How to Meditate............3 The Last Word................ 4
enced much darker things will be able to weather through them with greater ease. But it is not just a comparative re lationship that allows us to take things in stride. Rather, it is a deeper understanding of life, a deeper relationship with our own lives and the Giver of Life. Medit ation brings us to that deeper un derstanding and builds our relationship with ourselves and with the Source of our peace. We become more willing to sacrifice comforts and less willing to sacri fice our morals. We mature. I cannot say that my experiences alone would have yielded the same result, for I remain deeply affected by the negative aspects of my experience. Through medita tion, I have a broader scope, a wideangle view on the world and my life experiences. And with this view, I believe, comes the patience and calm that allows us to deal with the negative aspects of daily life. ◊
Report from a New Zealand Prison Anonymous [Note: Names in this article have been changed from the originals]
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or ten months we negotiated the often fraught process of gaining permission to introduce Christian Meditation into our Re gional Prison. Eventually my col league Sally and I were the proud possessors of our electronic name tags had done our prison safety in duction and were ready to go. We were assigned to the section of the prison housing SYN inmates. [Editor: These are typically referred to as “Sensitive Needs” facilities, for inmates requiring specialized housing or protection] Of those ex pressing interest, five inmates were given permission to attend and eagerly came into the room to check us out. As they shook hands with us we began to understand the full extent of their nervousness – their hands were wet with per spiration – and the taunting they'd endured in asking to attend. They
asked to close the curtains. Then as we began to explain the process of Christian Meditation a very human imitation of a dog howling came from underneath the window. To their credit the inmates ignored this last attempt at intimidation from one of the local gangs.
The fact that they could choose when and where they did their morning and evening meditation proved of real value to the men as did the fact that this was a pilot programme, the first meditation programme in the prison. This really made them feel special.
Knowing that these men had prob ably been abused as children, we explained that Sally would medit ate with them but Jean would be the coach, she would keep her eyes open and may even move around the room or speak softly to them during the meditation if that was necessary. They found this very re assuring and after a five minute practice were keen to experience a twenty minute meditation. All commented on how quickly the time went.
As the weeks have gone by we have all had to cope with the unexpec ted. On our fourth week the SYN Section was in lockdown and no one was permitted in or out. We felt for the men deprived of their group but trusted that no one could stop them meditating.
Sally and Jean have changed some aspects of Christian Meditation from those practiced in their local group to enable fuller participation. In particular the use of a coach has solved the question of safety and is On our next visit two of the men re really welcomed by the men who ported that they had meditated be feel especially vulnerable with their fore attending classes that they'd eyes closed. previously found stressful. One found he was more relaxed during For now, it's one week at a time as his reading and writing class and we become accepted as a positive the other said he found it easier to force of real value within the pris “understand” during his computer on. ◊ class.
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Waiting for Monroe by James Bishop
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atience is a virtue. As virtues go, I am dreadfully short on several of them, and patience seems to be one of the more difficult for many. No one likes to wait. Daniel Goleman, in his book “Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence” (Copyright 2013 Daniel Goleman, HarperCollns Publishers) notes, “In some ways the endless hours young people spend staring at electronic gadgets may help them acquire spe cific cognitive skills. But there are concerns and questions about how those same hours may lead to defi cits in ore emotional, social, and cognitive skills.” And our ability to wait, our patience, is one of those core skills. Goleman continues, “Our focus continually fights dis tractions, both inner and outer. The question is, what are our distractors costing us?”
listen to the word, as you say it. Let go of all thoughts (even good thoughts), it down. Sit still with your back images and other words. Don’t fight straight. Close your eyes lightly. your distractions: let them go by saying Then interiorly, silently begin to recite your word faithfully, gently and attent a single word – a prayer word or man ively and returning to it as soon as you tra. We recommend the ancient Christi realise you have stopped saying or it or an prayerword "Maranatha". Say it as when your attention wanders. four equal syllables. Breathe normally and give your full attention to the word Meditate twice a day, morning and as you say it, silently, gently, faithfully evening, for between 20 and 30 and above all simply. minutes. It may take a time to develop
How to Meditate
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this discipline and the support of a tra The essence of meditation is simplicity. dition and community is always help Stay with the same word during the ful. whole meditation and in each medita tion day to day. Don't visualise but Many people, after their first medit ation session, seem to be looking for the immediate effect. “I've invested ten or twenty minutes here, and what did I get out of it?” It may seem like we get nothing out of it at first, but slowly, over time, with pa tience, we begin to see the fruits of our investment, and one of those fruits is... patience.
On the last day of the visit, I sat in the waiting room watching the friends and families of prisoners. They were waiting for their visits, and most were waiting for the re lease of their friends or family members. When Monroe's name was called, I got up and made my way through the metal detectors and automatic gates, past the elec tric fence, to the visiting room. I re I've just returned from a visit to cognized the guard at the desk, and Corcoran State Prison here in Cali he recognized me. He asked how fornia. I had visited Monroe once long I had been in prison, and I told before, and we continue to write. him that I was there for ten years. Monroe was in the SHU (Secured The visiting room was crowded, Housing Unit), a sort of prison and the guard noted that I had been within prison. It is a place for those let in a little late due to the prisoners being punished for crimes crowding. He asked, “Did you have committed whilst in prison (as if a long wait?” prison was not enough punishment in the first place). I smiled. “Not nearly as long as my wait to get released.” He nodded in I'm a latecomer to the world of the I've been awaiting Monroe's release, understanding, but he only partially smart phone — I was incarcerated which was scheduled for the next understood. I didn't mean my re for ten years and missed out on year or two. Now, it looks as if he lease from the physical prison as much of the world's technological may be in for another eight years. much as I meant my release from advances. And this was particularly It's difficult for many to deal with my selfmade prison. And that re difficult for me, having worked in this kind of frustration. I've known lease came from perseverance and computer software for the previous men who lost their sanity shortly patience. And that perseverance ten years. But one of the great les after losing their prison release and patience came from meditation. sons one can learn in prison is pa dates. Monroe takes it in stride. He ◊ tience. Patience is a luxury of those wants to get out, but he accepts that who have time, the one asset of it may take a while longer. It may which I had plenty in prison, but is take a little more patience. so rare in the “real world.”
“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” –Mahatma Gandhi
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The Last Word by James Bishop and Anonymous Victims of crime are sometimes offered services to help them cope with the injustices that they've suffered. However, often ignored or forgotten are the hidden vic tims of crime, the families of both the direct victims as well as those who are sent to prison, whether innocent or guilty. Families suf fer immeasurably. I asked the mother of a former prisoner to describe her experience dealing with her son's incarceration and her experiences with meditation. Her response follows.
H
ow I felt after my son was ar rested was based on my ex periences right from the start. My son had a dishonest solicitor who belonged to one of Britain's largest law firms owned by one barrister. He told me a pack of lies and tried to get my son to lie in court. I repor ted him, and I had him replaced, that solicitor in turn defended an other person in the case and his
boss tried to get his firm to take over all proceedings. The aim was to destroy me and my son for report ing a solicitor from one of England's largest and most powerful legal firms. I had opened a pandora's box to find a hoard of killer bees. Unfor tunately, I have not been able to shut it since. I was fortunate that I was exposed to organized professional dishonest networking right from the start, as it made my son's misdemeanors look like child's play. My feelings were and are of utter disgust at the beha viour of these immoral adults, who seize any opportunity in life to fur ther their income and careers.
Through The WCCM conference on Justice, I got more insight and read James Bishop's books which helped a great deal. Knowing that I was not mad, that all the corruption I could see was elsewhere too, was a great Of course, I had the usual sinking sadness, yet a great help at the same feelings of danger; I still do some time. times when my son's phone has been tampered with and calls can Through all my experiences in life I not get through to him. Being intro look for the positives to match the duced to The World Community for negatives. My son had passed one Christian Meditation (WCCM) of life's red lines. He had got into a happened just at the start. My quagmire of tunnels leading mother was introduced through her nowhere when he got arrested. My church to a little group at a home sole aim was to blast a hole in one nearby. Casually, she told me about of those tunnels to let in the light WCCM. I researched it, as my mum and get him out. ◊
Libero Libero Meditatio St. Marks, Myddelton Square London EC1 R 1 XX United Kingdom email: meditatio@wccm.org web: wccmprison.org
can be as naïve and gullible as me at times. I felt immediately that WC CM was something I should be a part of. It gave me balance on the scales of life. It was from WCCM that I gained strength. In turn, I in troduced my son to WCCM. He was not sure what to make of it at first, but he gave it a go, and he soon reaped the rewards. He has since found a combination of ways to maintain and explore his spiritual ity.
Libero publishes letters from inmate meditators around the world to encourage those struggling with meditation in prison and inform those on the outside of the challenges with meditating in prison.
Letters may be edited for appropriateness of content or size considerations. If you would like to send a letter to Libero, write the address below. If you do not want your letter published, please write "Do Not Print" at the beginning of your letter. Libero publishes letters from inmate meditators around the world to encourage those struggling with meditation in prison and inform those on the outside of the challenges with meditating in prison. Libero is a Meditatio publication. Unless otherwise specified, all material contained herein is copyright ©201 7 The World Community for Christian Mediataion.