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sangha BEHIND BARSOne man wrote inhis journal, “WhenI leave class, I amcalmer and happierthan I’ve been foryears.”photo by Juan Carlos del RioDharma, but there seems no way around the rules at present. Tochange affiliation is to call attention to one’s self — not a goodthing to do in a prison environment where, as the Japanese sayinggoes, the nail that sticks up gets hit on the head — so unless peopleare unusually motivated, they are unlikely to request a change.Inmates are allowed to attend a religious service as a guest threetimes, but for most people this is not enough exposure to determinewhether or not they want to change affiliation and forgo the formalservices of their root tradition.Last summer I decided to offer a course on Buddhism sothat more inmates might have an opportunity to explore the ideasand practice of meditation. I offered a four-week course on “TheScience and Practice of Meditation,” and while the men seemedto enjoy it and attended regularly, it was much too short to scratchthe surface of either the science or the practice! This term I amdoing a fourteen-week course, entitled “Introduction to AsianMeditation.” We are fortunate to have the official backing of boththe Cornell Prison Education Program and Cornell University’sEast Asia Program to help pay for books and photocopying. Mylocal Sangha paid for the first course’s texts, Be Free Wherever YouAre and The Heart of Understanding by Thich Nhat Hanh.Twenty-one men joined the present class. Together we arereading about and discussing the benefits of meditation — mostlyresearch reported in the Mind-Life Institute of the Dalai Lama.We will study the historical life and context of the Buddha andthen move on to the teachings, including Thay’s Being Peace andseveral articles from the Mindfulness Bell. We meditate briefly atthe beginning of class and then again for the last forty minutesor so, alternating guided meditation with walking meditation andsilent meditation. The men are keeping a journal on their attemptsto meditate on their own during the week. One man wrote in his20 Autumn 2009journal this week, “I love this class. I haven’t figured out how toconcentrate yet, but at least I know it is possible. When I leaveclass, I am calmer and happier than I’ve been for years.”No Stone WallsWill any of these men join our prison Sangha? I don’t know.But what I do know is this: the men in the Sangha are encouragedto know that there are others out there in the cell blocks who areat least exploring the same path. I remind my students often thatthis is a class about Buddhism, with some practical experiencein meditation, but that it is not a class that aims to “convert”anyone. Meditation, I tell them, is part of all religious traditionsand if they practice, they will learn more about themselves, aboutothers, about compassion and how to handle destructive emotionsand be free and peaceful wherever they are. The teachings areabout a more skillful and peaceful way to live. Yes, I hope theycome to our Sangha, at least to visit, but whether they do or not, Ibelieve I am contributing to the real meaning of Sangha: a broadcommunity of people walking the same path — whether we callourselves Catholic or Sufi or Jew or Zen Buddhist, whether weare in prison or on the outside. In such a Sangha, there are nostone walls.Nancy Lee Koschmann,Opening the Path of theHeart, taught psychologyand women’s studies fortwenty-five years; sheis now a life coach andvolunteer who practiceswith Cedar Cabin Sanghain Ithaca, NY and ShoShin(Beginner’s Mind) Sanghaat Auburn CorrectionalFacility, Auburn, NY.