The Dhamma Brothers

RebeccaS

I just saw this movie on Netflix about a vipassana course in a jail in Alabama. It was really touching and I totally recommend it The Dhamma Brothers

Bunks

Great article!

How about the guy whose mother left him and his baby brother and just never came back and his brother died.........that makes me sick. How could you do that to anyone let alone your own flesh and blood!

Cinorjer

My mother was involved in the Christian prison ministry.

Over the past decade there have been many attempts to teach Buddhist meditation and bring the religion to the prisons, most blocked by the Christian chaplains. They grudgingly allow Muslims to gather to observe their practice, but you won't find a Muslim chaplain.

Christian volunteers do a lot of good working with prisons and prisoners, but make no mistake, the religious program in prisons are ran by political fundamentalists who cherish their exclusive ties to the state.

tmottes

Cinorjer said:

My mother was involved in the Christian prison ministry.

Over the past decade there have been many attempts to teach Buddhist meditation and bring the religion to the prisons, most blocked by the Christian chaplains. They grudgingly allow Muslims to gather to observe their practice, but you won't find a Muslim chaplain.

Christian volunteers do a lot of good working with prisons and prisoners, but make no mistake, the religious program in prisons are ran by political fundamentalists who cherish their exclusive ties to the state.

They encountered that in the prison featured in the movie and spoke about it briefly.

RebeccaS

Yeah the program was actually shut down for four years? because the Christian chaplain complained that the program was taking "his Christians" and making them Buddhist.

tmottes

RebeccaS said:

Yeah the program was actually shut down for four years? because the Christian chaplain complained that the program was taking "his Christians" and making them Buddhist.

Despite the fact that none of the prisoners considered themselves buddhists, most considered themselves Christian both before and after the program.

Cinorjer

I'm afraid meditation itself is seen as a tool of the Devil in fundamentalist circles. It's supposed to provide an opening for demons to invade, you see. I don't think my mother is ever going to get over being afraid my lifetime of meditation isn't a dangerous thing and probably she thinks it's her prayers for me that kept me safe. So in spite of obvious benefits, a certain type of Christian is going to flip over anyone teaching meditation.

I love her dearly and she's a remarkable woman, but we live in different worlds.

RebeccaS

Yeah, they always considered themselves Christian. They were actually banned from meditating for that period, which we found pretty shocking. But yeah, as @cinorjer said, some fundamentalists view it as a kind of witchcraft (which a lady in the movie described Buddhism as )

Zero

Cinorjer said:

They grudgingly allow Muslims to gather to observe their practice, but you won't find a Muslim chaplain.

Islam doesn't have priests / chaplains - there is no intermediary between man and God

tmottes

Zero said:

Cinorjer said:

They grudgingly allow Muslims to gather to observe their practice, but you won't find a Muslim chaplain.

Islam doesn't have priests / chaplains - there is no intermediary between man and God

From Wikipedia:

In the Shi'a context, imam has a meaning more central to belief, referring to leaders of the community. Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a believe that these imams are chosen by God to be perfect examples for the faithful and to lead all humanity in all aspects of life. They also believe that all the imams chosen are free from committing any sin, infallibility which is called ismah. These leaders must be followed since they are appointed by God.

Sounds like an intermediary to me. I guess it depends on which branch of Islam to which you are referring.

Cinorjer

Zero said:

Cinorjer said:

They grudgingly allow Muslims to gather to observe their practice, but you won't find a Muslim chaplain.

Islam doesn't have priests / chaplains - there is no intermediary between man and God

Sorry, I meant Imams or their Teachers/Holy Men.