Prison Program

We would like to inform you of some changes within Buddhist Peace Fellowship’s prison programming. For many years, BPF’s Prison Program (also known as Transformative Justice Program) has provided a variety of resources to inmates, chaplains, and other prisoner groups and programs. Starting in November 2007, BPF began a programmatic and fiscal restructure process.  As result of the process the BPF Prison Program and Coming Home Project are being replaced with a program campaign called Too Young to Do Time: A Focus on Incarcerated Youth.  Soon our website will provide more information about this new BPF direction in the area of prison programming.

However, despite the new direction, certain core services will continue under the following two programs:

Dharma Companions – Sponsored by BPF: The core group of volunteers who coordinated the Prison Correspondence Program will continue as a separate affiliated program, under the name Dharma Companions. Dharma Companions offers the following free materials to all inmates, study groups, and prison libraries: Buddhist books, pamphlets, used magazines, and some tapes.  Dharma Companions also offers a “mentoring” correspondence program for inmates who are practicing Buddhism in prison without a teacher. (There may be a waiting list for this service).  You can contact Dharma Companions at:

DHARMA COMPANIONS

P.O. Box 762

Cotati, CA.  94931-0762

Inmates write to Dharma Companions through many sources: resource lists, word of mouth, referrals form agencies and chaplains. We appreciate your help in spreading the word about this program.

Turning Wheel Inside/A BPF program: Through the generosity of our members, we will continue to provide BPF’s Turning Wheel free to inmates.  To subscribe, inmates may send a letter of inquiry, including

NAME and ADDRESS to:

TW Inside SUBSCRIPTIONS

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

P.O. Box 3470

Berkeley, CA 94703

It is important to note that after many years of prison correspondence through the BPF national office, we are no longer able to respond to any letters or inquiries for support from inmates or prisons. Please direct correspondence request to our affiliate Dharma Companions, and inquires for support to other resources, such as the Prison Dharma Network: www.prisondharmanetwork.org

Thank you for your support.  We appreciate any help you can offer to spread the news of these changes to prisons and prisoners alike.  We thank you for the many years of working together, and hope that you will continue to support Dharma Companions and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 

1. Advocacy, Education, and Networking

Our goal is to mobilize people in the faith-based, Buddhist, and activist communities, and the general public to take compassionate action. We strive to promote understanding of the root causes of the current prison crisis, and to work together for change. Some of our focus areas have included ending the death penalty, and supporting restorative justice models.

Resources for Prisoners and their Allies

• BPF Prison Program Resource Guide for Prisoners

• Essays: Socially Engaged Buddhist Perspectives on Prison Dharma and the Prison Industrial Complex

The Dharma and the Death Penalty

• Declaration about the Preciousness of Life
• Reflections about the Death Penalty
  

Prison-Industrial Complex

• Statistics (PDF document)
• Links

Youth Resource Lists

• Books and Other Resources for Teens and Young Adults
• Resources About the Juvenile Justice System
• General Resources for Youth and Their Parents

Other Contemplative Prison Projects

• Links to Prison Dharma Programs and Groups
• Contemplative Prison Projects in the U.S (PDF document)
• Contemplative Prison Work in Asia, Central and South America, South Africa, and Mexico (PDF document)

• BPF joins other faith-based groups in the Simmons case to end execution of juvenile offenders!
  On March 1, 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders in the United States (one of only five countries in the world that still did this) is unconstitutional.

Ministry helps individual prisoners develop skills necessary to meet the everyday violence in prison, and to lead productive and satisfying lives while in prison and post-release.

• Frequently Asked Questions for Potential Volunteers
• How to Start a Prison Meditation Group
• What We (Women) Wish We Had Been Told When First Going Into Prisons
• Resources for Youth