Prison-Ashram Project
Encyclopedia
"The focus of the Prison-Ashram Project is to help prisoners and prison staff throughout the world turn inward and use their harsh environments to develop wisdom and compassion."
The Prison-Ashram Project was started in 1973 by Bo Lozoff
and Ram Dass
to encourage convicts to use their prisons as ashram
s.
Originally, Ram Dass funded the project, and Lozoff corresponded with prisoners, going on to develop educational materials, including books, audio recordings, and videos. Lozoff's wife, Sita, joined the project in 1975, and the two of them have led thousands of workshops in over 500 prisons.
Lozoff's first and best-known book is We're All Doing Time: A Guide to Getting Free, first published in 1985, now in its seventeenth printing and with a foreword by the Dalai Lama
. The Village Voice called it "one of the ten books everyone in the world should read." It has been translated into French (Nous Sommes Tous Dans une Prison), Spanish (Todos Estamos Encarcelados), Italian (Spezza le tue catene), Dutch, and Czech (Všichni Máme Svá Pouta - aneb průvodce k osvobození), and is available at no cost to prisoners.
The Prison-Ashram Project is part of the Human Kindness Foundation, which was founded by Bo and Sita Lozoff, and has a sister project in England, The Prison Phoenix Trust
, which offers yoga and meditation to prisoners in the UK and Ireland.
The Prison-Ashram Project was started in 1973 by Bo Lozoff
Bo Lozoff
Bo Lozoff is an American writer, musician, and interfaith humanitarian.-Human Kindness Foundation:Lozoff, with his wife Sita Lozoff, founded the Human Kindness Foundation. He started the Prison-Ashram Project with Ram Dass in 1973...
and Ram Dass
Ram Dass
Ram Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem...
to encourage convicts to use their prisons as ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
s.
"Ashram" is a SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
word meaning "House of God." In the East, an ashram is a place where people live for some period of time in order to strengthen their spiritual practice and self-discipline. Many ashrams are very strict. Residents, or ashramites, abide by an exhaustive schedule and live very simply, without many comforts or luxuries.
Originally, Ram Dass funded the project, and Lozoff corresponded with prisoners, going on to develop educational materials, including books, audio recordings, and videos. Lozoff's wife, Sita, joined the project in 1975, and the two of them have led thousands of workshops in over 500 prisons.
Lozoff's first and best-known book is We're All Doing Time: A Guide to Getting Free, first published in 1985, now in its seventeenth printing and with a foreword by the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
. The Village Voice called it "one of the ten books everyone in the world should read." It has been translated into French (Nous Sommes Tous Dans une Prison), Spanish (Todos Estamos Encarcelados), Italian (Spezza le tue catene), Dutch, and Czech (Všichni Máme Svá Pouta - aneb průvodce k osvobození), and is available at no cost to prisoners.
The Prison-Ashram Project is part of the Human Kindness Foundation, which was founded by Bo and Sita Lozoff, and has a sister project in England, The Prison Phoenix Trust
The Prison Phoenix Trust
The Prison Phoenix Trust is a charity registered in England that offers help to prisoners through the disciplines of meditation and yoga, working with silence and the breath. The PPT encourages prisoners – and prison staff – to take up a daily practice, and supports them with classes, free books...
, which offers yoga and meditation to prisoners in the UK and Ireland.