<2006 Annual Report-3>

Co-Coordinators: Bhante Suhita Dharma, Hong Chingkuang, and Michael Callahan

Since 1998, our Prison Program has played a leadership role in the prison dharma movement and worked with thousands of imprisoned individuals through ministry, advocacy, correspondence, and education. Our correspondence program, guided by Helen Seward and a group of dedicated volunteers, provided Buddhist materials to 1,588 prisoners in 2006 alone.

In 2006, program director (and founder) Diana Lion stepped down from her staff position due to a long-term illness. During our strategic planning process, we recognized that the program has succeeded in planting the seeds to support dharma practice on the inside. Co-coordinators Michael Callahan and Hong Chingkuang offered a proposal for the “Coming Home” initiative that addresses the needs of a group that is often overlooked: dharma practitioners who are returning to the community from prison as well as the community to which they are returning.

The need to develop holistic alternatives for those coming home is critical: In California alone, approximately 113,000 prisoners are paroled every year. Of these, 59% return to prison either on new charges or because of parole violations. Only 6% of the state prison budget is allocated to rehabilitative programs.

The mission of Coming Home Project is to act in fellowship with those who have found the resolve to practice meditation while imprisoned, and to meet the material, emotional, and spiritual needs of people coming home and the larger community. Our long-term vision is to create institutions and relationships based in compassion, generosity, equality, participation and peace. Only when we understand that we are one community can there be a real opportunity for liberation for all.

In November 2006, Bhante Suhita Dharma joined our staff, and we re-christened the program as the Transformative Justice Program, to emphasize the emancipatory aspects of this work for all involved.

BPF has already built relationships with many of the people who will participate in this Coming Home Initiative, through our prison correspondence and ministry over the past eight years. During 2006, program staff went to San Quentin Prison to meet with some of the inmates who are prospective members of Coming Home; Bhante attended the first conference on re-entry for inmates; and we networked with a number of social and community services in the Bay Area.

We are projecting opening a Coming Home Drop-in/Meditation Center in spring 2007. Bhante and other staff and volunteers will offer Buddhist practices to help support the decarceration process, as well as other kinds of support and referrals to participants. While Coming Home is a local project, we plan to document it so that it can be replicated and adapted in other parts of the world.

Throughout the year, we also deepened our relationship with Death Penalty Focus, American Friends Service Committee, and California People of Faith Working Against the Death Penalty to work toward a legislated moratorium in California and sentencing reforms.

Program Coordinator: Tempel Smith

Youth Program/Teen Retreats webpage

“This retreat was like a long drink of fresh spring water. Sharing my thoughts, hanging out,
sitting intensively, and resting in this wonderful space we created was a joy. I left with renewed
hope and confidence, clarity on the issues that had been troubling me, and energy to continue
my meditation practice at home.”

~Teen Retreat participant

In 2006, BPF’s Youth Program held two six-day intensive retreats for teenagers, each retreat serving 35 youth. Teens traveled from as far as Toronto, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, Michigan, and Tennessee to attend. We experimented with making the 2006 retreats a day longer than in previous years and found it greatly improved the depth of the experience.

During each retreat, we held an afternoon workshop on a theme of progressive social awareness. On the first retreat, Diana Winston and Spring Washam lead a workshop on social diversity and oppression and on the second, Alan Senauke taught on the dharma of Martin Luther King, Jr. and engaged the teens in issues of social change.

In 2007, we are adding a new teen retreat in southern Virginia, and we are holding our first retreat for young adults in their 20s. We are also working with the Insight Meditation Community in Redwood City on the first dana (donation) based weekend retreat for teens. Our intention is that this retreat will greatly reduce any economic barriers to lower income families who are interested in these retreats.

The LEF Foundation continues to support the youth retreats with a generous scholarship fund. We are also grateful to The Land of Medicine Buddha and the Padmasambhava Peace Institute centers for helping us by lowering their usual site rental rate. And finally, we are thankful to the 15 adults who volunteer on each retreat and offer a week of their lives to teach and serve the youth. BPF’s Young Adult Retreats are truly a community-wide effort!

Communications
(Turning Wheel, e-newsletter, film project)

Editor: Susan Moon

Managing Editor: Colette DeDonato

Webmaster: Maia Duerr

Turning Wheel webpage

The fall/winter Turning Wheel, "Call to Action," was a special double issue on the urgency of our situation in the world and how we can respond as engaged Buddhists. It is also a tribute to Robert Aitken Roshi, who suggested the idea. The issue elicited much positive feedback, and was produced with a spine and heavy cover to make it a real keepsake. It contains important analyses and interviews with many of our teachers and elders: Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, Robert Aitken, Robert Thurman, Nelson Foster, and David Loy among others.

During 2006, we also organized a mini-fundraising campaign to help send authors and Sandy Boucher and Earthlyn Manuel to Sakaydhita’s International Conference on Buddhism Women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which took place in June. Earthlyn presented a groundbreaking paper at the conference titled, “What’s Buddhism Have to Do with Black Women?” On her return, Sandy gave several presentations about the activist efforts of Buddhist women in Asia.

We are excited about the spring 2007 issue on “Building Alliances to Address Racism,” and believe it will serve as a useful tool for diversity, multi-cultural, and anti-racist work in Buddhist sanghas that are mostly white. There will be three guest consulting editors for the issue: Mushim Ikeda-Nash, Kenji Liu, and Swan Keyes.

Colette DeDonato continues to work hard as TW’s managing editor, while simultaneously meeting the challenges of parenting a toddler. Artist Jan Eldridge has been a wonderful resource as an art consultant, and Jim Brown served as the book review editor.

In June 2007, Susan Moon will retire after 17 years as Turning Wheel’s esteemed editor. She is looking forward to the next piece of her life, with more time for writing and dharma. Sue will work with Maia Duerr as she transitions into the role editor of TW.