Our Project addresses multiple levels of violence while pushing for prison reform through four main components. Ministry is aimed at individual prisoners, to assist them with developing skills to meet the everyday violence in prison, and later when and if they are released, to lead their lives as ex- felons with greater awareness, skills, and ability to cope with stress. We co-sponsor and participate in the Prison Meditation Network, teaching meditation, yoga, and journal writing in 7 local prisons and jails. We hope to eventually add in programs for correctional officers and prison administrators. We want to work with all the people associated with the corrections institutions, as that will ultimately bring the most far-reaching impact.
Correspondence is carried on with hundreds of prisoners from all across the United States.
We distribute free books and subscriptions to our quarterly journal Turning Wheel to around 550 inmates per issue. Training is aimed at the people who provide inmate meditation programs. Advocacy, education and networking activities aim to mobilize people in the faith-based, Buddhist and activist communities, as well as in the general public. The growing interest in prisons means this is a ripe time to promote understanding of the root causes of the current prison crisis, and to work together for change. We have been focusing on resistance to the death penalty.