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35 Comments
Josh
12/11/2014 04:47:00 am
This is the blog feed for open communication between volunteers and those interested in the project. Thanks to everyone participating. May flowers spring up from your every footstep.
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Josh
12/18/2014 12:38:47 am
Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting at Murray City Library. It was wonderful to meet and talk with all of you.
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Shirley
1/6/2015 11:48:18 am
Introduction: Bow, self, (shaking hands is not acceptable)
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Josh
1/10/2015 01:55:32 pm
Hello dear friends,
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Tony
1/20/2015 01:38:59 am
Hello all,
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Thomas McConkie
2/3/2015 11:28:33 pm
I just wanted to drop a quick note about the last session. Gloria, Jennifer and I facilitated at the prison this last Saturday and had a very beautiful experience with the inmates.
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Shirley
2/10/2015 08:03:59 am
Dear Dharma Friends,
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David Jones
2/16/2015 10:52:45 am
Hello All:
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Becky Himsl
2/22/2015 04:10:44 am
Thanks to all that attended our second project meeting on Saturday, February 21st. The following is the meeting's agenda and our discussion on the various topics. Best to all as we continue our teachings at the Utah State Prison.
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Josh
2/26/2015 03:19:56 am
Hey guys, sorry for the delay on posting
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Josh
2/26/2015 03:25:59 am
Oh, also some of the inmates wanted to talk about walking meditation and meditative movement such as qigong etc. They mentioned that come May or so we will have access to the chapel yard outdoors and they would really like to utilize that.
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Tony
3/23/2015 01:15:40 am
Hi all,
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Josh
3/23/2015 08:53:14 am
Hi all, it's Josh,
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Becky
3/25/2015 06:43:39 am
Hello project members and website guests,
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Shirley
4/10/2015 12:07:26 am
Dear Friends,
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Shirley
4/10/2015 12:11:35 am
PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE ABLE TO EXCHANGE MY 16 MAY VISIT WITH YOURS DURING THIS SECOND QUARTER. THANKS, SHIRLEY
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David L
4/11/2015 01:28:14 am
Hi, I went with Shirley April 4 and Shirley provided a wonderful guided meditation. Shirley discussed the Brahmaviharas and the inmates provided their insights and experiences with incorporating these into their lives when dealing with situations that arose in the prison. We had a lively discussion about the issue of vegetarianism in Buddhism, which led to deliberating about general food production practices and our personal responsibility in the world. While we each go to the prison once every 5-6 weeks, we are starting to become more familiar with some of the inmates who come regularly, and I find their descriptions of their lives at the prison really giving us a window into their world and important role that their Buddhist practice plays in helping them through their trials and tribulations. It's been an amazing experience, which I'm grateful that we are there and are learning so much from them to develop our own Buddhist practice.
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Josh
4/18/2015 05:47:13 am
Hi all,
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Tony
4/20/2015 06:43:35 am
Will and I met with a group of six inmates on Saturday. A seventh arrived about an hour in. No explanation was given as to why relatively few joined us and I am very curious to know if there were external factors keeping inmates away.
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Shirley
5/10/2015 02:13:36 am
the 3rd attempt, guess I am writing too much. Bullets for brevity.
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Shirley
5/10/2015 02:13:58 am
I just typed my comments and they disappeared, the blog does not accept some spellings in Pali. So for a 2nd time.
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Jen
5/13/2015 01:33:31 pm
Hi Everyone,
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David J.
5/20/2015 12:04:43 pm
Hi friends:
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David Lipschitz
6/5/2015 09:07:17 am
Saturday May 30, one of the monks from the Layton Buddhist Temple, Ajahn Sombat, and I went to the Prison to teach. There were 4 inmates who came to the group; all were familiar faces. I started by welcoming everyone and saying that Ajahn Sombat would be presenting a Dhamma talk and we’d do some chanting. We went around the group and each person spoke about their practice. Aj. Sombat explained about the three characteristics, dukkha, anicca and anatta – dissatisfaction/suffering, impermanence and non-self. Given that the group spoke about their difficulties with their practice in terms of depression, anger, etc., Aj. Sombat focused on non-self in terms of the 5 aggregates (name and form), and specifically saṅkhāra – mental formations. He asked each inmate what specific issues they were having in their meditation practice and then spoke about the differences between concentration meditation and insight meditation. He suggested how they might go about recognizing their negative thoughts, feelings and emotions that arise during their meditation or throughout the day when interacting with other inmates, and try to just recognize these mental states without reacting to them. One of the inmates in particular expressed how other inmates and family visitors have noticed how differently he conducts himself with lessened anger and reactivity to situations. During the group, there was also a bit of humor interspersed, which is always a good way to take the edge of some of the more difficult moments.
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D. Jones
6/10/2015 03:05:07 am
Dearest Friends,
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Tony Semerad
6/26/2015 05:39:00 am
Hi all,
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Josh Hill
8/5/2015 04:54:15 pm
Hi guys,
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David Lipschitz
8/17/2015 10:51:36 am
Hi,
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Please forgive my lateness. This has been a very busy time for my family and me. This report is for the 8th of August.
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josh
9/3/2015 10:54:16 pm
Hey guys, I'm writing about the last Saturday the 29th. We had only a few Sangha members show up due to a combination of things. For one there was a recital happening that a few of the guys were performing in. Also unfortunately due to some moves in housing some lost their clearance to come to the chapel. Hopefully they will get back to us.
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David J.
9/18/2015 08:42:30 am
This week’s (12 September) meditation session with our group was again a very rich experience. I attended the session without Becky this time. There were nine inmates who joined us. We began with a very short meditation to bring us all present with our purpose and intent to practice.
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Josh
10/11/2015 03:28:39 pm
Hi guys,
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Becky
10/20/2015 04:18:33 pm
Shirley led the teaching on Saturday Oct. 10th with David L. and Becky there for support. We practiced sitting as well as walking meditation. There were only a total of seven of us so it was easy to coordinate walking in room one. We discussed both with the inmates and noted how walking meditation can be accomplished daily in the prison and one's cell. Shirley also led an object meditation on beautiful fall leaves that she brought with her. She asked the inmates to focus only on the leaves. After, we discussed the experience each person had with the meditation. Shirley announced this would be her last teaching at the prison and was sad to be leaving but must lighten her schedule due to her age. David and I are saddened to be losing such a great meditation teacher, and will continue on in her absence. Please read Shirley's message below:
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David Lipschitz
11/27/2015 07:03:11 pm
Hi, I went to the Prison November 14 and only 5 inmates showed up for the first hour and then about 6 showed up after the second movement. They said something was going on so they were not allowed to move until later. For most of the time until about 20 minutes before the end (during which we meditated), we engaged in a discussion about our Buddhist practice and each individual spoke a bit about their own practice and the various activities they engaged in. Interestingly, some are attending an Indian/Hindu group, which they feel provides them with some similar approaches to the Buddhist group. I shared some of my own experiences and I like to discuss impermanence, so I dwelt a bit on that. Interestingly, the Paris bombing had just occurred, and several of the inmates expressed that they were angry about the event, and that there should be a strong response, maybe even retaliation. We chatted about this in terms of how important it is to try not to perpetuate negative Kharma, It was an interesting take from the inmates given their own situation in terms of being incarcerated. There is always something interesting and illuminating to come out of our visit to the Prison.
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David J.
6/11/2016 11:45:49 am
Hello Everyone,
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