First Gay Men’s Buddhist Prison Network Forming
Written by Baruch Golden   

If you are interested in joining us, please contact Baruch Golden or Jim Shalkham .

ImageIt is with deep appreciation that I offer this article with excerpts from the minutes of the first Gay Men’s Buddhist Prison Network meeting.

A myriad of Buddhist prison correspondence programs exist in the U.S. and none have been specifically created to meet requests from gay men for support to develop or continue their Buddhist practice. On July 10, 2008, 15 men met at the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) to discuss forming a new project called the Gay Men’s Buddhist Prison Network (GMBPS). The meeting was facilitated by Lee Lipp, the SFZC Prison Correspondence Coordinator. Members from the Gay Men’s Buddhist Sangha (GMBS), the Gay Buddhist Fellowship (GBF) and a few other men not affiliated with these sanghas discussed this proposed new project.

Gay prisoners write to our respective sanghas with requests for a Buddhist penpal and ask specifically for correspondence with another gay man; it has been challenging to honor these requests...

Over the years, as prisoners who self-identify as gay have requested a penpal, we’ve sent their requests to SFZC’s Prison Correspondence Program. Currently, SFZC has a long waiting list for Buddhist penpals and the names we send are added to SFZC’s general list.

The SFZC Prison Outreach Program has many years of experience writing to people behind bars. Those present at the meeting were eager to learn about the benefits, joys and challenges of corresponding with men in prison. Historically, both the GBF and the GMBS have been involved in activities to support gay men in prison. The GMBS, collecting books for the annual book sale to support the SFZC‘s Program, the GBF sending out copies of a bimonthly newsletter and other written materials (including when requested, copies of Queer Dharma Volume 2) to over 200 men. In addition some of the men at the meeting already have a pen pal but lack any formal support or guidance in their writing relationships.

SFZC’s prison correspondence program is focused on supporting the Buddhist practice of those who request it with written materials, books and penpals. The initial letter sent to a person requesting a penpal includes a description of SFZC’s program and the boundaries followed to keep the relationship focused on practice and safe for both the incarcerated person and the “free worlder.” Lee gave us the guidelines and we discussed how to set limits and respectfully maintain appropriate boundaries. The guidelines help to clarify that the purpose of this penpal relationship is to support Buddhist practice.

Some men self-identify as gay in their initial contact with us and some give us this information at a later time. Lee talked with us about confidentially and a description of the path of the letters that are sent to and from prisons. Letters are often read by prison staff and we talked about how to keep prisoner’s self-identity confidential. She shared personal antidotes of letter writing relationships she has had over the years at SFZC. Empathy between gay men writing to each other can develop quickly and Jim Shalkham from GMBS read excerpts from letters from his pen pal. He discussed the impact on his spiritual practice. Jim said that he always writes letters by hand, keeping everything in the context of practice. “When you comment through the eyes of practice it helps you focus on your own practice.” He spoke about how in his penpal exchanges he has learned to value freedom, to appreciate life more often, and that we can be teachers to each other. His experience writing to a prisoner has shown him that this exchange is a mutually beneficial relationship that can help us to learn not to judge, grows our compassion, reminds us we’re all connected and we all have goodness.

Lee talked about letting go of any idea that we are writing as “teachers” and how valuable and deeply satisfying it can be to write as fellow travelers, each of us finding our path. Illusions about our differences from “them” falls away and, “…as in this endeavor we are in contact with a prisoner’s suffering, we can experience great empathy and compassion. We can touch the many bodhisattvas who live the prison life (prisoners as well as staff) and that they have much to teach us.”  

Lastly, Linda Galijan from SFZC’s Community Initiatives Dept. told us that John King left a small endowment for prison dharma books and Lee told us of the resources available through the SFZC Prison Outreach Program to support new writers.

Following are some ideas and requests expressed by the group participants to support this fledging project. We can:

  • Communicate with each other in person or on-line
  • Meet together periodically, say once a month, for support and Sangha
  • Bring letters in and do a practice session (practice examples) in a workshop
  • Have a buddy for questions: “company in this writing experience”
  • Agree to follow the guidelines/ limits that have been shown to be helpful to both prisoners and “free-worlders”
  • Ask for trainings with speakers

If you are interested in joining us, please contact: Baruch Golden or Jim Shalkham .

Last Updated ( Friday, 29 August 2008 )
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