STUDY COURSES | TESTIMONIALS | LETTERS & ESSAYS | ART & POETRY | PHOTO GALLERY

“I am not angry, nor upset. I feel only sad that I had talents, gifts, and didn't use them for the benefit of others. I now feel much better, I strive to make improvements through positive actions."

 

 

“Words can’t express how beneficial the teachings have been to me. I used to harbor resentments against people and let the circumstances in life give me a negative attitude. I know now that I have a choice. Bitterness or wisdom. I choose the latter.”

 

“We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder.”

 

  
THE POWER OF PATIENCE: HEALING ANGER STUDY COURSE
 

"I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep my loneliness warm—
two hands protecting
two hands nourishing
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger."

-Thich Nhat Hahn, "For Warmth," in Call Me by My True Names (Berkeley, Parallax Press, 1999)
 

Our third correspondence course for prisoners, offered upon completion of The Myth of Freedom Study Course, is an in-depth look at anger and aggression and their antidote, patience. 

Suggested to us as appropriate material for prisoners to study by the esteemed teacher Khenpo Tsultrim Gyatso Rinpoche, we examine the sixth chapter, "Patience," of a very famous and ancient Buddhist poem called The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva.  The main text for this study course is Healing Anger, The Power of Patience by the Dalai Lama, which is a book-length commentary on the "Patience" chapter of Shantideva’s Mahayana masterpiece.

The material investigates in a sharp and penetrating way the logic and justification we use for anger, and points out how our use of anger almost inevitably leads to further suffering, confusion, and...anger!  This is extremely relevant to the lives of prisoners, as quite often it is anger itself that has led them into prison in one way or another -- then prison life itself is often rife with aggression, forming a kind of echo chamber of resentment and rage.

The students therefore must look hard at issues that come up for them daily in prison.  The course leads them into acknowledging their anger, seeing clearly how it functions in their minds and interactions with others, and helps them cultivate an attitude of patience and non-aggression, which in turn cuts the vicious cycle of aggression at its root.
  His Holiness, The Dalai Lama and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Shambhala Mountain Center, September 17th, 2006
 

"All the suffering in the world arises out of wanting happiness for myself.
All happiness in the world arises out of wanting happiness for others."

- Shantideva
 

 

QUOTES FROM INMATES ABOUT THE POWER OF PATIENCE: HEALING ANGER STUDY COURSE

 

“From the bottom of my heart–with tears in my eyes–thanks! In these lessons I feel caring from you folks, but I also know that I am a better man for the blessing of the lessons....But what I am most thankful for is the beginning of an ability to feel and be patient and tolerant, an ability to not hurt people I otherwise love and care about.”  (G.C.)

 



“I have learned to see things much differently in daily life. Now that I have a better understanding of the nature of emotions, I have grown to be more patient and tolerant of situations and circumstances, and I am not nearly as quick to get angry about things. This course has taught me to be able to penetrate all things, to get past labels, and understand more of the underlying layers of cause and effect and the true nature and conditions of samsara.”  (J.H.)

 



“If there are enough people in the world to do these studies, I don’t see how it could help but become a better place.”  (G.C.)

 



“Overall, [this course has] given me the ability to control my anger. Instead of being swept up in the emotion, I can diffuse it or use the energy for something else. Patience is the tool which allows for this. Also, though initially I experienced more anger, by the end of the course my days were filled with hardly any anger.”  (N.Y.)

 



“The practical nature of this...is incredible and very pertinent and valid in my experience. Prison is an awesome testing ground to prove that this works–I can now move around and encounter situations a whole new way–it’s a freedom. Thank you.”  (E.E.)

 



“This is a course much needed in prisons. They have anger management classes, but those just touch the things this course takes to a much deeper spiritual level.”  (M.C.)


 

 

© 2007 The Ratna Prison Initiative     
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