The '
Prison Mindfulness Institute
'' (formerly Prison Dharma Network) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 dedicated to supporting prisoners in their personal transformation through meditation and contemplative spirituality. The organization offers books and other resources through it
''Books Behind Bars''
program, publishes literature on prison dharma via its
Prison Dharma Press
', and provides facilitator training for prison staff and volunteers through its
Path of Freedom^®
' program. PMI supports prisoners in the practice and study of mindfulness awareness practices and contemplative traditions in correctional settings. It is affiliated with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the

Zen Peacemakers The Zen Peacemakers is a diverse network of socially engaged Buddhists, currently including the formal structures of the Zen Peacemakers International, the Zen Peacemaker Order and the Zen Peacemaker Circles, many affiliated individuals and grou ...

. Philosophically, the organization advocates for

restorative justice Restorative justice is a community-based approach to justice that aims to repair the harm done to victims, offenders and communities. In doing so, restorative justice practitioners work to ensure that offenders take responsibility for their ac ...

and

transformative justice Transformative justice is a spectrum of social, economic, legal, and political practices and philosophies that aim to focus on the structures and underlying conditions that perpetuate harm and injustice. Taking up and expanding on the goals of rest ...

models over

retributive justice Retributive justice is a legal concept whereby the criminal offender receives punishment proportional or similar to the crime. As opposed to revenge, retribution—and thus retributive justice—is not personal, is directed only at wrongdoing, ...

Spiritual Advisors

(current and past spiritual advisors include): *

Robert Baker Aitken Robert Baker Dairyu Chotan Aitken Rōshi (June 19, 1917 – August 5, 2010) was a Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959 with his wife, Anne Hopkins Aitken. Aitken received Dharma transmissi ...

Roshi * Pema Chödrön * Roshi

Bernie Glassman Bernie Glassman (January 18, 1939 – November 4, 2018) was an American Zen Buddhist roshi and founder of the Zen Peacemakers (previously the Zen Community of New York), an organization established in 1980. In 1996, he co-founded the Zen Peace ...

* Roshi Joan Halifax * Father Thomas Keating * Jack Kornfield * Stephen Levine (author) *

John Daido Loori John Daido Loori (June 14, 1931 – October 9, 2009) was a Zen Buddhist rōshi who served as the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery and was the founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order and CEO of Dharma Communications. Daido Loori received sh ...

Thrangu Rinpoche Thrangu Rinpoche ( ) (1933 – 4 June 2023) was a tulku (reincarnated lama) in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, the ninth reincarnation in his particular line. His full name and title was the ''Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku ...

* Sharon Salzberg * Joseph Goldstein * Venerable

Thubten Chodron Thubten Chodron ( — De Lin), born Cheryl Greene, is an American Tibetan Buddhist nun, author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the United States. C ...

Jon Kabat-Zinn Jon Kabat-Zinn (born Jon Kabat, June 5, 1944) is an American professor emeritus of medicine and the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Med ...

History

The organization was founded in 1989 b
Fleet Maull, Ph.D.
while he was serving a 14-year sentence for drug trafficking. Prior to his incarceration, Maull studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism under

Chögyam Trungpa Chögyam Trungpa (Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Chos rgyam Drung pa''; March 5, 1939 – April 4, 1987), formally named the 11th Zurmang Trungpa, Chokyi Gyatso, was a Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist master and holder of both Kagyu and Nyingm ...

Rinpoche and earned a master's degree in psychology from ''

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...

''.
While in prison, he maintained a dedicated Buddhist practice, completing his ''

ngöndro In Tibetan Buddhism, Ngöndro (, ) refers to the preliminary, preparatory or foundational practices or disciplines (Sanskrit: sādhanā) common to all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and also to Bon. They precede deity yoga. The preliminary pr ...

'' in a repurposed prison closet and receiving his ''

Vajrayogini Vajrayoginī (; , Dorjé Naljorma) is an important figure in Buddhism, especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism. In Vajrayana she is considered a female Buddhahood, Buddha and a . Vajrayoginī is often described with the epithet ''sarvabuddhaḍā ...

'' initiation from

who visited him during his sentence. During his sentence, Maull also founded a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

program for prisoners with

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

Maull, Fleet. (1996) ''Dying in Prison: Sociocultural and Psychosocial Dynamics'' paper reprinted within 'AIDS and the Hospice Community' eds. Amenta, Madalon O and Tehan, Claire B. p.127 which was formally incorporated in 1991 as the ''National Prison Hospice Association''.PDN history page
/ref> It later became an authorized training program for prison hospice care. He served his time at the ''U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners'' (MCFP) in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, and was released in May 1999. He was subsequently ordained as a Zen priest and teacher in the ''Zen Peacemakers Sangha'' under

. Since 1999, the organization has been led b
Executive Director Vita Pires, Ph.D.
(formerly Kate Crisp).

Additional Projects

In addition to its core programs, the organization also operates:
Center for Mindfulness in Public Safety

Engaged Mindfulness Institute

References

{{reflist

External links

Prison Mindfulness Institute

Center for Mindfulness in Public Safety

Engaged Mindfulness Institute
Buddhist meditation Mindfulness movement Religious organizations established in 1989 Religious prison-related organizations

Spiritual Advisors

History

Additional Projects

Further reading

References

External links