Follow Ian McTavish's journey, from the emotional state that caused him to commit the crime that sent him to prison, to the spiritual enlightenment and soul transformation he gained both in and out of prison. The true-life stories depicted in this book are written with simplicity and understanding that are applicable to everyday living. Learn and journey with author Ian Mctavish as he faces many challenges along the way in a prison environment that any reader can relate to. The tests he encounters unfold like a video game getting harder and harder as he ascends to different levels of spirituality, shedding many layers of his ego and proving that the circumstances of your life are purely manifestations of your inner thoughts.
Western philosophy’s relationship with prisons stretches from Plato’s own incarceration to the modern era of mass incarceration. Philosophy Imprisoned: The Love of Wisdom in the Age of Mass Incarceration draws together a broad range of philosophical thinkers, from both inside and outside prison walls, in the United States and beyond, who draw on a variety of critical perspectives (including phenomenology, deconstruction, and feminist theory) and historical and contemporary figures in philosophy (including Kant, Hegel, Foucault, and Angela Davis) to think about prisons in this new historical era. All of these contributors have experiences within prison walls: some are or have been incarcerated, some have taught or are teaching in prisons, and all have been students of both philosophy and the carceral system. The powerful testimonials and theoretical arguments are appropriate reading not only for philosophers and prison theorists generally, but also for prison reformers and abolitionists.
Katya Sabaroff Taylor has taught creative writing to prison inmates for nearly three decades. In addition, she has corresponded with inmate "pen pals" for many years. In Prison Wisdom, Katya presents selections from a rich body of inmate writing and also provides helpful advice for teaching creative writing-in prisons or elsewhere.
When terrible things happen in life and there’s little we can do to change them, the only option seems to be either anger or despair. This is the reality for prison inmates. They have no power over their circumstances. Many have long sentences, some have been wrongly accused and some even await execution. Their environment is often overcrowded, ugly, violent and full of noise, “like being in a rock concert all day,” as one man reported. There is nothing to look forward to and often no one to turn to. For the past twenty-five years, Liberation Prison Project has been a lifeline for prisoners, first in the United States and also in Australia, Italy, Mongolia, New Zealand and other countries, who turned to LPP, asking for Buddhist books and spiritual advice in an effort to find meaning in life when everything else has been lost. This book is a compilation of advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the spiritual director of LPP, in response to letters from more than one hundred prisoners, mainly in the USA, edited into a coherent narrative. Rinpoche’s advice is that, actually, their prison “is nothing in comparison with their inner prison—the prison of anger, the prison of attachment, the prison of ignorance.” That prison, Rinpoche says, they can definitely change. And why should they? Because, simply put, happiness and suffering come from the mind, not the external world. The extent of the heartfelt compassion and love that Rinpoche offers the men who write to him is incredible. He empowers them to never give up on the development of their potential and their ability to help others. The advice in the book is not just for prisoners. It is for all of us.
Whether mere bumps in the road or genuine crises, we live in a world of unwanted events that no willpower can prevent. In The Art of Disappearing, Ajahn Brahm helps us learn to abandon the headwind of false expectations and follow instead the Buddha's path of understanding. Releasing our attachment to past and future, to self and other, we can directly experience the natural state of serenity underlying all our thoughts and discover the bliss of the present moment. In that space, we learn what it is to disappear. Ajahn Brahm, an unparalleled guide to the bliss of meditation, makes the journey as fun as it is rewarding. The Art of Disappearing, comprised of a series of teachings Ajahn Brahm gave to the monks of Bodhinyana Monastery, where he serves as abbot, offers a unique glimpse into the mind of one of contemporary Buddhism's most engaging figures.
The mind is our greatest tool but can turn into our worst enemy. When this happens, it can hold you back from achieving almost anything in your life, including mental freedom. While your mind attempts to prolong your life and keep you safe, it can also sabotage your life goals. This book is a collection of thoughts and observations on life and why our constant mental games keep us stuck. These pages will bring to light those mental games because once you know how the game is played, the rules don't matter. Jason is a Veteran, Former Federal Law Enforcement Officer, Personal Trainer, and Mountain Athlete. After his mother was murdered while he served in Afghanistan, and an injury that caused him to question many things about life, Jason became a student of the mind, and why we are so tormented by it. The path was long but has led him to here.
This timely book expands on Viktor Frankl's seminal Man's Search for Meaning, examining the book's concepts in depth and widening the market for them by introducing an entirely new way to look at work and the workplace. Alex Pattakos, a former colleague of Frankl's, brings the search for meaning at work within the grasp of every reader using simple, straightforward language. The author distills Frankl's ideas into seven core principles: Exercise the freedom to choose your attitude; Realize your will to meaning; Detect the meaning of life's moments; Don't work against yourself; Look at yourself from a distance; Shift your focus of attention; and Extend beyond yourself. By demonstrating how Dr. Frankl's key principles can be applied to all kinds of work situations, Prisoners of Our Thoughts opens up new opportunities for finding personal meaning and living an authentic work life.
Do you feel lost, without guidance, like your life is out of control? Are you one of the millions of people who have already lost control and are now incarcerated or facing incarceration for mistakes you wish you could take back? Or are you a family member or loved one of one of these unfortunates and wish you had a way to get through? Caged Wisdom: Learning to See through the Bars will walk you through all God wants you to know, in stripped-down, easy-to-read language that won't leave you confused. In this part devotional, part go-at-your-own-pace guide for living a good life, Dan Reynolds has carefully selected scriptures that pinpoint where it is easy to go wrong, and then he has surrounded those with scriptures of encouragement. Through Caged Wisdom: Learning to See through the Bars, even the most wayward can easily see that all is not lost.
Razor-Wire Dharma is an eloquent, enlightening, and utterly inspiring personal story how one man found Buddhism—and real, transformative meaning for his life—despite being in one of the world's harshest environments.
