My name is Heather. I am a teacher with the Liberation Prison Project and I have just received your most recent letter to us. I was happy to hear that you have an established Buddhist study group on Monday evenings. I want to say a few things about belonging to a Buddhist group and then I will address the questions you raised about your own group. I find it is helpful in my own practice to belong to a Buddhist group, or sangha, and to meet together so that we all have regular practice times. Belonging to a Buddhist sangha offers a lot of benefits to your practice; but basically it provides each member with the opportunity to both offer and receive support and encouragement. It can reinforce your commitment to your practice if you have made arrangements with others to meet at a certain time. It is also an opportunity to ask questions, study together, and talk about your understanding of Buddhist teachings with other people who are also interested in Buddhism. Now you mentioned a number of problems that you have encountered in your own situation and I will try and answer those each below.
First of all, you said that your Buddhist Study Group is scheduled for the same time as evening rec. I can see where this would be a definite conflict for other inmates and yourself. I am sure that you would all benefit from being able to be involved in both. I don't know if this is something you can try and change by working with prison staffer or not. But even if it isn't then you can still do your best to positively influence those around you. By this I mean a couple of things. First, you can encourage the interest of others. In addition to talking to anyone that expresses an interest, you could make up signs or flyers, as a way of giving out more information about your group and what you do. Second, the example you provide will say a lot about your practice to those around you. If they see that your practice affects your speech and your actions in a positive way that could spark an interest in others who are also looking for positive changes. Of course, ultimately you can only make decisions for yourself and others will also make their own choices.
You also mention that you have certain practices when you are alone but that when others are around it is more of a social meeting than a study or practice group. I can understand that. I remember when I first started practicing I was happy to bow to my Buddhist statue in the privacy of my own Buddhist room, but I was embarrassed and lacked the self confidence to perform these practices in front of anyone else. I think it must be especially difficult for you since you don't even have the opportunity to perform the more personal aspects of your practice with any privacy- even if you decided to do this outside of your group for now. Despite the fact that you have to share a cell due to overcrowding, I wonder if there are times when your cellmate is absent, that you could perform your prostrations or chanting? Is there a sympathetic staff member that you might be able to talk to about getting more privacy ror your practice given the circumstances? If there isn't anyone that can help you, and there isn't an alternative solution then you will have to decide if this is something that you want to continue to do. For example, maybe you would be more comfortable with these practices during your group time if others understood what they mean and why you perform them. I have asked for a pamphlet on prostrations to be sent to you. Hopefully this will be of some help, both to you in your own practice and in explaining it to others. I would be interested in hearing what you think of it.
I think organizing your time so that you can make the most out of your opportunities to study and practice is a great idea. I also think that developing a strong practice is something that evolves over time. You mention that you have included prostrations, chanting the heart sutra and meditating in your practice. These all sound good. In my own practice I find that I get the most benefit from it when I am able to "practice" throughout the day and not just on the cushion. For me, this means studying Buddhist books and sutras, talking to other people about Buddhist beliefs and ideas, chanting, meditating, developing compassion for others, and practicing mindful awareness. In our sangha we spend the first half of the group meditating and the second half taking turns reading a chapter from a Buddhist book. Then we have a discussion about our understanding of what the various ideas we have read mean to us in our lives, and in our practice. Maybe this is something that could work in your group?
I can also understand your confusion at having so many books to choose from. It can be hard to know where to begin. Of course this project is a part of the Tibetan tradition (The Ge lug sect in particular) And the advice we give comes from the perspective of this tradition. Regardless of this, I have always found the Dalai Lama's books to be insightful and full of compassion. If there are any of his books in the library there I would recommend starting with those. I think it is important to remember though, that all of the Buddhist books, regardless of tradition (I.e. Zen, Pure Land, Tibetan) will share a common message. They may have different rituals, practices and ways of expressing that message, and those differences could be confusing. That is why the Dalai Lama recommends choosing one path (or tradition) and sticking to that path. In some way its like knowing all the roads ahead of you will get you to the same city. You just have to stay on one long enough to get there. But if you walk just a little way (say down the Zen road) and then a little way (down the Pure Land Path) and a bit further (on the Tibetan road) you might find that you are walking a lot of different roads but not getting any closer to the city. Does that make sense?
At least that is true for some people. Other people really do seem to benefit from learning something about Tibetan Buddhism and then they might gain an important insight from a Zen practice and then they may continue to benefit from Tibetan practice again until they learn a little something more from Pureland. And so on. I think you will be able to best decide for yourself if you would like to read and follow only Tibetan teachings, or if you would like to follow a mainly Tibetan practice but enjoy reading the occasional book by another teacher in another tradition. From my own experience, I would say if you are just starting out that it might be best to stick to one road for now, and as you get more confident in your practice you will be able to better decide these things for yourself in the future.
You also comment in your letter.. ."I wish I could repay you for your kindness, but I am powerless in here." I would just like to say to that- that you are never powerless, wherever you are, and whatever situation you are in. And you always have something to give, even if it is just a kind word or a smile.
With Loving Kindness,
Heather
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment