Every year, a group in Southern California sponsors a program that offers free transportation and support to enable poor children to visit their mothers in prison. Today buses of children will come to Chowchilla, the largest state prison for women in the state (and the western world), to observe Mothers’ Day. (https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Visitors/Get_On_The_Bus.html) The women in our Chowchilla Sangha helped prepare meeting sites for this. They were already excited about this last month, as many have children. I also found out that yesterday was Mothers’ Day in Mexico as some of our Sangha had to leave class early so they could call home to their moms. Their time and privileges are so closely monitored. The women now have a devise that enables them to send and receive emails from certain relatives, but that too is closely monitored.
Next Friday, another Buddhist group from San Diego, will come and they will do a “Bathing the Buddha” ceremony for the women. We now are able to convert the Catholic chapel into our temple with the help of a small statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, the dharma instruments, some silk lotuses, and silk khartas. Another group is installing a formal garden with walking paths that I hope will be ready for walking meditation sessions outside soon.
I am learning more and more about what life is like here. Yesterday, one of the Sangha told me she really wanted to take refuge, but did not think she was ready yet to give up drinking. I was shocked to learn that they make their own alcohol by saving and pooling apples, sugar, other fruit. They even somehow have yeast. She says she will try to abstain and see if she can be ready to take refuge when we have our two-day retreat in July. The peer group pressure is very great. Gang life is very real. I am told that almost every day the guards have to use force to subdue inmates somewhere in the prison…and I am also warned that no one fires warning shots if that is required.
One sangha member, a Native-American woman who had been so passionate about learning Buddhism, was back after missing a few sessions. She is amazing, but I understand comes with some very serious baggage. We have a number of “lifers” in the group in addition to the women on death row. The Jewish chaplain, whom I report to, told me yesterday that he has seen an incredible improvement in the women in our Sangha and how much my visits mean to them. What they may not know, is how very much these visits mean to me. When you see the intelligence and desire to grow and be loving compassionate people under such severe conditions, it makes you very humble. Yesterday I shared what I could from the last week’s blog on the precepts and forbearance and told them about how the Buddha Master had responded to those who defamed him and they got it. They really got it.
I can’t just download this blog for these women, as I am trying to make the blog very personal and share my experiences and insights, and I can’t do anything that is personal for the inmates. That may be the hardest thing for me, as I do have genuine affection and admiration for them and I do want to express that. I remember what our Buddha Master once told me that “rinpoches do not have friends.” So I make the abridged blog (Can’t even call it a blog) handout a more impersonal version.
If anyone else wants to sign up to join us for the July 9 & 10 retreat, please let me know asap so we can get clearance for you. You should plan on coming to the temple Sunday night as we will leave before seven AM each day. You may join us for either or both days, but I do need to know which days as everything has to go through a zillion layers of approval and the paperwork MUST BE EXACT. We need your name, date of birth, social security number, and a copy of your driver’s license or passport before June 5 to have you vetted. We start at 8:00 am and end at 3:45 pm each day. The prison is a 52 minute drive from the temple, but you do need to allow extra time for checking in and out. This will essentially be a meditation retreat with chanting and a time for a short talk and discussion.
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