Meditation holds silent promise for prisoners

Several men in bright-orange outfits sink into fluffy cushions for daily meditation. They remove their shoes, close their eyes, slow their breathing to a languorous pace.

The room is still and serene on this recent afternoon as they head down Buddha's Eight-Fold Path toward the Four Noble Truths -- until the material world crashes in.

"Attention all residents!" crackles a loudspeaker. "Report back to your dorms! In-room head count!"

Inhale, exhale. Such is enlightenment, jailhouse-style.

Here, at the Northern Rehabilitation Facility, a minimum-security jail in Shoreline, Buddhist meditation -- and its quest for freedom from suffering -- is seemingly at odds with incarceration.


Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Meditation-holds-silent-promise-for-prisoners-1062411.php

Prisoners benefit from meditation

Vipassana has been tried on an experimental basis in Lancaster prison in the UK. The research was presented at the Royal College of Psychiatrists annual conference in London.


Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1430311.stm

Ten Days of Silence: Inside a Vipassana Retreat

Nandini Naik, 21, is a religious studies major at Colby College, Maine. Her spiritual quest has led her to Zen meditation, Reiki, and most recently, a 10-day Vipassana retreat in her native India. In a recent interview, she described what it was like to spend over a week in silent meditation and self-observation.

Read more : http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Hinduism/2001/01/Ten-Days-Of-Silence-Inside-A-Vipassana-Retreat.aspx