buddhist correspondence course
newsletter
Volume 6, Issue 4
October-December 2010
INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
Articles
Guided Meditation: Breathing,
James Halbirt
Overcoming a Convict's Blindness,
James Halbirt
Heedfuless, Carlee Hines
Dharma in Your Pocket?, Jennifer
Stripping Away,
Tenshin Hyon Sek (Jeremy Jones)
No-Self and Impermanence;
Buddhist and Western Perspectives
Hans Maverick
Buddhist Practice at Red Rock
Correctional Center
Paul Stavenjord (Tenshin Ishikawa)
Beyond Words?, Douglas Stream (Tojin)
Poetry
The Incense Burns, Travis Adams
Goodnight to the World, Brian Alberer
This Temple Like No Other,
Brian Alberer
Strength, James Bettis
Meditating on the Continuity of Mind,
James Davie
Art
White Cloud, Travis Adams
Untitled, Kenneth Griggs
Buddha, Andre Marzetta
Kuan Yin, Nhut Vo
Letters
James Davie
page 1
Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt,
so also this Dhamma and Discipline has one taste,
the taste of liberation.
Uposatha Sutta
Beyond Words?
Douglas Stream (Tojin) (Plymouth, WI)
H sin-hsin-ming is a famous poem by Seng-ts’an (Japanese: Sozan), the Third
Patriarch of Chinese Zen. Hsin-hsin-ming means “Trust in Mind.”* The poem
is 146 lines long and is one of the earliest Ch’an (Zen) writings. Not only does
the poem show Mahayana teachings in the form of Zen’s basic principles, but it
also has a strong Taoist influence. Here are just a few excerpts from the poem:
The Great Way is not difficult
Just don’t pick and choose.
Cut off all likes and dislikes
And it is clear like space.
Emptiness changing into things
Is only our deluded view.
Do not seek truth,
Only let go of your opinion.
Do not live in a world of opposites.
Be careful! Never go that way.
If you make right and wrong,
Your mind is lost in confusion.
Peaceful and troubled are only ideas.
Enlightenment has no likes or dislikes.
All opposites arise from faulty views.
Without any distinctions
There can be no comparison.
Stop and there is no motion.
Move and there is no stillness.
When you see things like this,
You are already complete.
Trust and Mind are not two.
Not-two is Trust in Mind.
What really caught my attention was the final two lines of the poem:
The way is beyond all words:
Not past, not future, not present.
continued on p. 4
Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter

The BCCN is distributed at no
charge to those taking the
Buddhist Correspondence
Course. This is your newslet-
ter–by you, about you, and for
you. You are the major contribut-
ors, so send us your questions,
problems, solutions you've found
to difficulties in practice, thoughts
you have on practice, artwork, po-
etry, etc. Due to limited space,
some editing may be necessary.
We also welcome your comments
on the newsletter and sugges-
tions for ways we might improve
it to serve you better.
Please mail all correspondence to:
Buddhist Correspondence Course
c/o Rev. Richard Baksa
2020 Route 301
Carmel, NY 10512
Let us know if we may use
your full name or just initials.
To receive copies of any of the
resources listed below, please
write to Rev. Richard Baksa at
the address above.
• A listing by state of Buddhist
groups that may be able to
send volunteers to your prison
to conduct Buddhist activities.
• The "Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act of
2000." This guarantees equal
access for all religions to prison
facilities for the purpose of reli-
gious meetings.
• “What is the Religious Land
Use and Institutionalized Per-
sons Act?” This explains the
Act and how it is to be applied.
page 2
MENTOR'S CORNER
Dharma in Your Pocket?
Jennifer
W hen we first come to the
Dharma, it’s like meeting an
old friend on the street. We smile
and nod. “Hello, old friend. I’m so
glad to see you again. We have so
much in common. You really under-
stand me. I’ve missed you so much!”
That sense of recognition, of being understood, can be very strong.
Let’s say that old friend is kind enough to give us a photo of him or herself. What
do we do with it? Maybe we fold it carefully, put in our pocket, and button it in
safely. “Ah, now I know this precious photo is safe. I will always know where I
can find it when I need to look at it and remember my old friend.” But how often
do we look at that photo? We may forget about it for weeks or months, then dis-
cover it as we’re getting ready to wash that shirt or pair of pants. “Oh, my gosh!
I forgot all about this!”
Or perhaps we make a beautiful frame for the photo and put it in a place where
we can see it every day. We look at it. “Oh, my good friend. That friend brings
out the best in me. I’m so happy to remember that friend. Seeing that person
makes me feel so good, so understood!”
We face a similar choice when we discover the Dharma. Do we safely tuck it
away in a corner of our heart, taking it out when we need to clean some particu-
lar suffering from our minds? Or do we lodge it squarely in the center, so that
hardly a thought can go by without brushing up against it?
The Buddha gave us many important teachings, so many that most of us will nev-
er absorb all of them in our lifetime. So we find those that touch us most deeply
at a particular time, and we frame them and place them in the center of our
hearts. There, they can guide our thoughts and feelings, our speech and actions.
They can offer us sustenance when we need nutritious spiritual food. They can
bathe our battered spirits when we are suffering. They can offer us strength and
confidence when we feel weak and uncertain.
Like any good medicine, the Dharma works best when we understand the condi-
tion it is treating. What challenges are you facing in your life now? Do you
struggle with anger? Try the Buddha’s teachings on patience and equanimity. Do
you feel swamped by sadness and dejection? Find the Buddha’s words on the
place of joy in the practice. Do you feel lazy and not inclined to practice? There
are wonderful teachings on energy and right effort.
Do your best to be your own doctor. Find out what is ailing you at the present
time. Search out possible teachings to address that condition. Then carefully
read, contemplate, and study those teachings until they are as familiar as the
face of an old friend. Take the central messages and place them in a frame in
the center of your heart. Pretty soon you’ll find that that old friend is so close, so
accessible, that you can reach out and take his or her hand easily, and never
again be without that feeling of security and safety, confidence and stability. 
Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter
Guided Meditation:
Breathing
James Halbirt (San Luis Obispo, CA)
S it comfortably with your back
straight but relaxed.
Take a few deep cleansing breaths,
then let the breath flow out naturally.
Rest your attention on the rhythm of
your breathing and on the air you
breathe.
Do not imagine your breathing. Do
not visualize it. Just experience it.
Do not control your breathing, mak-
ing it deeper or more shallow. Just be
aware of your breathing as it is, from
moment to moment.
If you become distracted, remember
your intention to be aware, to rest in
the present. Come back to your
breathing gently and firmly again
and again.
Do not be annoyed by your distracted
thoughts. Just notice them and return
to concentrating on your breathing as
soon as you can.
Focus on your breathing, but maintain
an open awareness. You may hear
sounds, feel sensations, think
thoughts. Do not grasp at them, make
stories out of them, or reject them. Just
let them come and go lightly.
As your mind becomes quiet and still,
look more deeply into your breathing
and the air that you breathe through
your nostrils and all the pores of your
body.
Consider that every human being is
breathing the same air. It goes in oth-
er people’s lungs and comes out
again, then goes into your lungs and
out again, and so the process contin-
ues. Experience that connection. How
would it be without each other’s air?
Trees and plants are involved in creat-
ing the air you breathe. Animals are
breathing the same air. Focus on your
page 3
breathing and look deeply into it. Ex-
perience that connection fully to all
that is.
Come back to your breathing. Come
back to the world.
Be one with your breathing. Be one
connected with the world.
Rest in awareness. Be intimately con-
nected to the whole world and each
other.
Open your eyes. Relax your back and
your legs. Stand up gently. 
Buddha
Andre Marzetta (Susanville, CA)
T
he brain is the light bulb. The sun
is the heart!
The flowers are something I try to
picture when I concentrate.
The breath is the circles covering the
whole body.
Sometimes I can see the rest of my
body while my eyes are closed, so
that’s why they’re inside the feet!
The mountains are a sign of taking a
deep breath.
The bird I guess is just attracted to the
peace of mind … 
Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter
This Temple Like No Other
Brian Alberer (Smyrna, DE)
This Temple is glorious and no
other is quite like this one.
It is filled with the power and
light of a thousand suns.
On the outside of this temple
there are cracks and chips.
Weather has given it a battle-
scarred look.
This Temple is not much when
you see it from the outside.
Step beyond the threshold and
behold the splendor.
This Temple holds treasures
that there is no price for.
You may take these treasures
and be the wealthiest man of
them all.
Everyone will see you have
something of great value.
You may be harmed for showing
your splendor.
A long as you think of this
Temple and remember
They may hurt this Temple, but
not the powerful light within it.
So, stick to the light inside of
the Temple.
This Temple is me and it is like
no other.
It’s not hard to see this Temple
is me,
And everything in it will cease to
be.
Beyond Words?, cont'd from p. 1 White Cloud
So, after reading 144 lines of the Patriarch’s words, he tells us, “The way is bey- Travis L. Adams (Bradenton, FL)
ond all words”?

Obviously in a practical sense, I understand that the way must be experienced

and thus is beyond words. The words are, however, a reminder and act as
guidelines in this world of constant delusion. When I read the Patriarch’s words,
the words of other Zen Masters or Buddhist authors, listen to Dharma talks, and
have discussions with the Sangha, I try to take what I’ve gathered and apply it to
my daily life in here.

It’s difficult to take phrases like, “don’t pick and choose,” “cut off all likes and dis-
likes,” and “do not seek the truth, only let go of your opinions,” and apply them to
prison life, or any setting for that matter. How do I not pick and choose the way
I’m going to spend my time in prison? Do I just wander aimlessly, letting the sys-
tem make all my decisions for me? Or do I choose and reject the activities that I
do have control over? How do I cut off all likes and dislikes in this environment? The Incense Burns
Let’s be honest, there are people and things that we like and those that we dislike. Travis L. Adams (Mujin) (Bradenton,
How do we not seek the truth, and let go of our opinions? Our very consciousness FL)
is the thing we are most attached to. It’s what makes me ME! How do I just “let
go” of my opinions? Do I not have a voice in the matter? Am I not a part of this The incense burns.
world?
Autumn winds, clouds of
Again, these are just words but they do have practical value. I’m pretty sure Soz- impermanence.
an didn’t intend for those who read his words to crawl in a hole and deny A bird in the tree sings his song.
them“selves” to such an extreme. I think in a practical sense it would be wise to The ancient eye sinks into the depths
practice closely examining the things we pick and choose rather than avoiding of the ocean.
them. It would be wise to look at the motives and intentions behind our opinions Rays of sun, as the dharma, fill the
rather than letting go of them. I think that with some introspection the “letting go” Ten Directions.
and “cutting off” will come with the passage of time. Time!!
Swift as the double edge sword,
For after all, if the goal of practicing the way is to achieve a mind of non-duality
Kill the Buddha.
then a certain amount of introspection is necessary. Or we can simply do away
The dewdrop falls between Heaven
with all of the words, questions, and my analysis for that matter, and try what Soz-
an suggests in the title of his poem: and Earth;
and the incense burns.
Hsin-hsin-ming, The autumn wind, cold as that of
Hsin-hsin-ming, Death.
Hsin-hsin-ming. Great sages, voices of emptiness
echoing through the mountain
Trust in mind, valley;
Trust in mind, Do you see them?
If so, know this,
Trust in mind.
Mumon is a jokester!!
* Zen Sourcebook, Traditional Documents from China, Korea, and Japan 
When the hubles wheel turns,
Neither master nor no-master
can stop it.
It turns above the Heavens and
below the Earth-
South, North, East, and West.

This is the Life of a Zen student!

page 4 Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter

Buddhist Practice at Red Rock
Correctional Center
Paul Stavenjord (Tenshin Ishikawa)
(Eloy, AZ)
T he altar that was being set up this
morning consisted of a wooden
base, carved with a lotus on top and
the Six Paramitas around the edges in
Chinese script. It had folding legs that
kept it ten inches above the ground.
An altar cloth was put down first, then
a wooden stupa, a 12-inch Buddha
statue, and a hardbound copy of the
Dhammapada.
In front of the altar, arranged in a row,
almost touching, were seven bowls for
water and rice offerings. There was
also an incense burner, a bell and
vajra, and a candle. Members of the
Sangha sat on folded blankets in two
rows of five each, facing the altar.
After a group recitation of the Prajna-
paramita Sutra, one by one the
Sangha members approached the al-
tar and lit one or two sticks of incense,
offering them with their personal pray-
ers and placing them in the incense
holder.
After everyone had lit incense and
placed it before the altar, the bell was
rung three times and a 30-minute med-
itation started, the rising sun warming
the backs of those in meditation, small
birds arriving to eat the rice that was
scattered around behind the altar.
A beautiful retreat somewhere up in
the mountains? Actually, this describes
the morning Buddhist meditation that
took place outside on a designated
piece of land at Red Rock Correctional
Center, a facility operated by Correc-
tions Corporation of America (CCA),
just outside of Eloy, Arizona. This pris-
on houses contracts from Alaska, Cali-
fornia, Hawaii, and Washington.
Does our outside morning meditation
seem a little out of the ordinary for a
prison setting? Originally, requests
page 5
were denied for no apparent reason
and the administration acted like they
were bee-stung. The Buddhists wanted
to do what?!? No way!
The RLUIPA (The Religious Land Use
and Institutionalized Persons Act 42
U.S.C. § 2000cc et al.) changed all
that.
More and more people in prison are
finding out that the RLUIPA is the
sword that has the potential to cut
away the prison mindset, or just plain
ignorance, when it comes to religious
rights. It took us a few months to put to-
gether what we needed on the person-
al level and for the group. And it also
took a civil complaint or two as the
cherry on the cake.
CCA/Red Rock has made a perman-
ent change to its policy, allowing burn-
ing ritual incense at Buddhist
meditation. As Buddhists, we should
have realized by now that we are
where we are because of what we
have done in the past. That doesn't
mean that we must stop or give up our
practice and beliefs. The courts have
given us the tool (RLUIPA). Now we
must use it skillfully.
The Bodhisattva Warriors are also
those who battle with the pen. We are
able to celebrate four Buddhist holy
days per year with food purchased by
us and brought to the facility by an out-
side vendor. Personal Buddhist items
that we requested, and that were ap-
proved included: altar, altar cloth,
Buddha icon or Kwan Yin icon, offer-
ing bowls (7 each), battery-powered
Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter
candles (4 each), meditation mat,
prayer beads (mala), small bell or
cymbals (tingshaw), prayer oils (3
each), flute, and offering scarf
(khata).
Group items included: altar, offering
bowls, prayer wheel, stupa, bell and
vajra, wooden bell (moktok), altar
cloth, incense (stick only), and plastic
flowers. None of these items, person-
al or group, could be determined to
be a security concern. The RLUIPA
defines religious exercise as "any exer-
cise of religion." In order to deny your
request for religious accommodation,
they must show a compelling govern-
mental interest and they must offer a
“least restrictive means” of furthering
that compelling governmental interest.
For example, we couldn't have
candles in our cells, so the least re-
strictive means was to allow battery-
powered candles.
On December 19th, 2009, the
Alaska contract with CCA/Red Rock
Correctional Center expired. Most of
the Alaskans were transferred to Hud-
son, Colorado. The rest were shipped
back to Alaska. Being back in
Alaska, after 8 years, is like starting
from scratch again. The Buddhists
want what?!?
The RLUIPA is like a wish-fulfilling-jew-
el. It will show you the way, but travel-
ing that path is up to you. Sound
familiar?
Gassho. 
Copies of the Religious Land
Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act can be obtained by
writing to:
Buddhist Correspondence Course
c/o Reverend Richard Baksa
2020 Route 301
Carmel, NY 10512
Overcoming A Convict's Blindness
James L. Halbirt (San Luis Obispo, CA)
I have been in prison thirty-seven years of my life. In that
time, I have overcome many obstacles related to my mind
and my relationships with various people. This is no big
deal. This is what we should do. We should make
ourselves whole.
I have complained, whined, and denied many things
while in prison, but one day, I said, “This is enough.” I
have always had somewhat of a
generous heart and compassion
for certain people, but I was not
fully whole with myself, my true
self. I carried a great deal of bag-
gage from the past. It influenced
my life drastically.
I have heard inmates complain
about their suffering, their stay in
prison, the guards, the parole
board, and just people in general.
Yes, we all suffer, but the people
in Kenya and other places in the
world would just love to live in our
shoes in this prison: three meals a
day, a place to stay, clothing,
healthcare. Many people don’t
have that in their lives. I hear bad
acts all the time, and the roles
they play. I see the masks they
wear. Been there, done that. The
book on Karma changed my life.
It was the beginning of a search
for understanding and wisdom. I
had to overcome the burdens I
had been carrying, the fears that
were affecting my life. I began the
search with the diligent study of
Buddhism.
We are all connected to each other, related to all that is,
but we create our blindness, our own heavens and hells
here on earth. We are heir to our spiritual blindness. We
have eyes to see and appreciate things, but not things as
they are, because we are blinded to the ultimate reality.
Do we believe what we are told, or do we believe what
we experience? We convicts tend to abandon ourselves to
a life of uncertainty, obscured and distant from any faith. If
we choose to live in complacency, we remain weak and
page 6
blind. To achieve illumination or spiritual insight, we require
an essential change in attitude and practice. That alteration
involves our choice to relinquish our old nature of indiffer-
ence and independence and submit or surrender to our
true selves.
Too frequently, we are in the thug mentality, opposed to
change. Old age tends to kick your ass. We start to see
this is not working for us. Living faith and practice requires
introspection and personal work.
Sometimes it involves pain. The
pain is the change. A major
struggle of the pilgrimage for you
and me is to adopt a new way of
thinking. The Buddha, the Dharma,
and the Sangha give us a natural
way to think.
This study and practice is the tam-
ing of the ego, of our dualistic think-
ing, and of our fictitious concepts.
To do this, we must endeavor to rid
ourselves of afflictions, addictions,
and negative attachments. We do
this through intensive study and
meditation.
We need to overcome our anger,
hatred, separation, pride, distrac-
tions, lust, greed, jealousy, and ig-
norance. As prisoners, we
definitely have been ignorant and
delusional in many instances. The
proof is in the pudding, so to
Kenneth Griggs speak.
(Cheshire, CT)
As a prisoner I have had trouble
with my gossip and talking about
others’ faults. I know it is wrong, and I catch myself. Fortu-
nately, it is happening less and less often. However, without
a sincere heart, we find ourselves bogged down, motion-
less, not knowing how to get free. The Buddhist teachings
show us the way. We may not be free of prison, but we will
be happy and free in mind.
There are many obstacles in our way. We still cling to the at-
titude we belong to ourselves, when in fact we have no
“self.” When we are free of our self-ownership, we tend to
see things in a different light. This blindness of the natural
continued on p. 7
Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter
Blindness, cont'd from p. 6
man is the result of complete trust in
his five senses: touch, taste, smell, hear-
ing, and sight. This natural man thinks
only of temporal pursuits. When we
open our minds to ultimate reality in-
stead of our conventional reality, we
begin to become mindful and aware
of the moment-to-moment of pure be-
ing. I think it is called maturity. Some
of us never grow up. With study and
practice of meditation we begin to see
birth and
death, the cyc-
lic existence The habit that leads us
of our pro- to finding fault with
duced karma,
those evil
others always steals
things we from our own true heart
tend to do to
others and
ourselves.
If we grasp the spiritual reality of life
and death, our behavior will be dra-
matically impacted. The Dharma
teaches us to live for ourselves and oth-
ers in the moment to moment of being,
rather than living with our past or our
dream of the future. In reality, we only
have now.
It serves no purpose to blame our par-
ents, our mentors, the cop, the judge,
the Board of Prison Terms. We created
our own life as it is. When we find our
true wisdom, it is a perfect measure-
ment of life and substance. And we
can still have our faith in God. Being
a Buddhist does not separate you from
anything; in other words, it connects
you with all there is.
Many of us are embittered by life’s for-
tunes, specifically our dealings with
other people. In Buddhism, we notice
our bitterness, our hatred, our jeal-
ousy, our vanity, the ups-and-downs of
relationships that were stormy and viol-
ent. We become aware and gain in-
sight into how our ve accusing of
others separates us from them. The
tendency to divorce ourselves from oth-
page 7
er good people and to divide people
from each other through our backbit-
ing, accusing tongues is not an expres-
sion of a mature, living faith. Still, I
have been there and done that. Usu-
ally all divisiveness is the product of
one of two things: envy or the patholo-
gical desire for power and control of
others. We must be willing to sur-
render our pride, and begin to see
life through spiritual eyes, to free us Meditating on the Continuity of
from our guilt and fear. We are in a the Mind
continual struggle James Davie (Brent, AL)
for our integrity
and soul.
I contemplate strongly –
As prisoners we
have seen that hy-
a positive motivation
Streams of thoughts –
pocrisy is a lie. It
and feelings of creation
is a shell game. It
Comfortable and relaxed –
is like wearing
masks. It is an in my present state of mind
act. We all know about our masks, I observe in a detached way –
our dishonest faces to the world. How as I travel back in time
our manipulation, schemes, and Briefly skimming over –
designs regarding others leave us
a consciousness flow
without peace and divided from oth-
ers. A person who is genuinely con- Getting a feeling –
cerned begins to resonate with the as I let my mind go
inner person of others. Avoiding involvement –
The habit that leads us to finding fault while traveling through recollections
with others always steals from our Realizing my mind stream –
own true heart. This habit excludes us as a flowing connection
from love and the radiant space in Reaching back in my memory –
our heart and mind. It excludes love
as far as I can
and compassion for our fellow man.
Streams of events –
The antidote is to become a neighbor all at my command
to yourself rather than an accuser.
A momentum of feelings –
Make friends with the enemy. As you
truly love yourself you will find appro- time continues to fly
priate ways to love others. Deep with- Adolescence, childhood –
in the human mind and heart are and infancy flash by
corners of darkness and self-inflicted I find myself somewhere –
suffering that we know as fear, worry,
I’m not even breathing
and self-pity. We fear death, each oth-
In a warm surrounding –
er, failure, solitude, old age, lack of
acceptance, and pain. The under- not even seeing
standing of the Buddha, the Dharma, Is this where I started –
and the Sangha will free you from or did I exist before
your mental prison. And so it is…  Will I always be around –
or will I be no more 
Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter
No-Self and Impermanence:
Buddhist and Western Perspectives
Hans Maverick (Dayton, TX)
T he issues of no-Self and imperman-
ence have been on my mind a lot
lately. I recently finished lesson 4 of
the Buddhist Correspondence Course,
which covers those topics, as does
much of Part I of Peter Della Santina’s
The Tree of Enlightenment. Other
Buddhist texts I’ve read including
Kosho Uchiyama’s Opening the Hand
of Thought and When Things Fall
Apart by Pema Chodron, emphasize
the notion that what we call the self,
“I”, “me”, or “myself” is in reality a con-
stantly changing assemblage of other
things.
Prior to my incarceration, I had the op-
portunity to take Western philosophy,
psychology, and sociology courses. I
have continued studying psychology
while in prison via correspondence,
and read some books about Western
philosophies like existentialism. What I
have learned is that when modern
Western psychologists and philosoph-
ers, like their ancient Buddhist counter-
parts, are attempting to identify and
describe the Self, they cannot find any
well-defined, permanent aspect of hu-
man consciousness that maps directly
to what we call “the Self.” One theorist
describes in great detail how different
parts of the mind--like the senses, the
emotions, and the thought process--af-
fect and are in turn affected by the en-
vironment, and that these parts of the
mind do not have clear boundaries
between themselves, with the rest of
the body, or with the world. Yet anoth-
er theorist, in examining human behavi-
or, found that we do not have fixed
characteristics, only tendencies, and
that we only behave consistently some
of the time in some situations. Yet a
third group of researchers over the
years has begun at least tentatively to
identify parts of the brain associated
with sensation and perception, with
page 8
memory, with hunger, with various defined, fixed and permanent, I have
emotional states, and with decision- decided that it is, to use Peter Della
making, but no one of them or even a Santina’s metaphor, more like a
grouping corresponds to the conven- forest, whose trees are constantly
tional notion of Self. As with sprouting, growing, dying, and decay-
everything else in the body--perhaps ing: not one single thing, but an ag-
even more so--these brain centers and gregation. Both ancient Buddhist
their interconnections change in re- teachings and modern Western psy-
sponse to our experiences. chology support his view. (It is no coin-
cidence that many renowned Western
Having grown up in a traditional West-
psychological theorists have vener-
ern Christian environment, at first I
ated Buddhist teachings and studied
found the thought that my Self had
under Buddhist masters.) After the ini-
turned up missing pretty unpleasant.
tial shock of grieving a self-concept I
The Self, I thought, was who I am,
held so dear, however, I realized that
who I had been, and who I would be,
these teachings--no-Self and imperman-
for all time. Western religion posits a
ence--represent an opportunity: an op-
soul or Self that is essential and per-
portunity for change and liberation
manent, something that, if it followed
that would not otherwise exist. 
certain rules, could expect to attain
an eternal reward. Even Western secu-
lar tradition thinks in terms of an un-
changing core personality or essence,
something that can be found, meas-
ured, and actualized. Western
European and American systems of re-
tributive (punitive) justice, recidivism,
and increased punishment for repeat
offenders simply don’t make much
sense without assuming the existence
of a permanent Self.
Thus, we come to what is, for me, the
heart of the matter. As hard as I find
Strength
the notions of no-Self and imperman-
ence to embrace, I cannot escape the James Bettis (Clarinda, IA)
evidence that supports these ideas. In-
stead I see in them tremendous relief some people look for it
and opportunity. Even though I accept some people pay for it
responsibility for committing awful some act like they have it
crimes and hurting innocent people, I travel the world for it
am not those crimes. If the Self were travel all over land
as permanent and unchanging as
travel all over the sea
some worldviews would have us be-
for strength of mind
lieve, there is no way we could
change and become better people. for strength of spirit
Accepting responsibility is itself a for strength of body
change, perhaps the most important but true strength is always
kind of all: a change of thinking. with us
the true strength comes from
Thus, by having searched for
within.
something permanent I can call the
Self and failed to find anything clearly
Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter
Stripping Away
Tenshin Hyon Sek (Jeremy Jones) (Bunker Hill, IN)

A s members of a modern society, we are used to filling every waking hour

with mental distractions. In prison, this is no different. We might wake up
and begin to expend our energy on any number of distractions. Whether we are
watching TV, listening to the radio, or engaging in a conversation does not mat-
ter. A distraction is a distraction. Heedfulness
Carlee Hines (St. Louis, MI)
I know men who watch TV from the moment they wake up until they decide to go

M
to sleep. Then there are those who have to talk constantly. They fill their day with
indfulness, examining the state
a non-stop barrage of, for the most part, non-productive idle chit-chat or negative
of our emotions. The mind
crying and moaning. Even reading and exercise can be a way to distract
races from here to there, not stopping
ourselves.
to form anything tangible. There’s no
What are we running from? What are we hiding from? What do we dislike so filter between brain and mouth, like a
much about ourselves that causes us to go to such mind-numbing extremes to river flowing into the ocean. With no
avoid facing? Are we even aware that we are running? provocation, our delusions and non-
virtuous ways are causing us to harm
I like using food as my escape from the reality of my own suffering. We all have
ourselves and others by not being
our own favorite escape. This fact has spawned the cliché, “Everyone has a vice,”
mindful of our speech and actions.
as if this makes it all right.
Ignorance is not bliss. Avoiding the
OK, here is a challenge. I am preparing to take it tomorrow myself. Pick
web that is being spun will only let it
something you enjoy and set it aside for a pre-determined amount of time. Then
get so big that there will be no place
sit back and observe yourself. For me, I am choosing to fast by not eating from
to turn without being stuck in our own
sun up until sun down. Not too long I know, but for me a lifetime. I love to eat.
defilements.
*****
I’m just like everyone else, I want to
So, my fast is up. It was a little rough in the beginning but got easier. When those be happy as well as I want to be suc-
first hunger pangs began to rumble and shake I started thinking, “I’m gonna cessful and accomplish goals in life.
starve.” “Hey, it’s not healthy to deprive the body.” This all took place during the But in the striving for accomplishment,
first three hours. I seemed to be hungrier since my mind knew what I was trying to we experience greed and jealousy.
do. We become attached to the struggle
of surviving. The funny thing about
The predominant thought was that I was going to somehow miss out on that is, no matter how much we ac-
something if I did not eat. Not following my normal activities produced a sense of complish in our struggling, imperman-
dread. I felt out of place in my own life. ence taps us on the shoulder just to
People everywhere cling to who they believe themselves to be and the familiar remind us that it is everywhere and in
world around them. I believe this is even truer for us in prison. We have so little to everything.
identify ourselves with that we cling that much harder. You see, by looking into your own
I am going to start stripping away all of those things in my life that I identify my- heart, you can find the unclouded ex-
self with. I am not giving all of my possessions away or stopping all personal activ- perience of all kinds of situations and
ities. Instead, I will detach myself from, well—myself. how things really are. No matter who
we are, nothing ever measures up,
Does my TV define my life? No, it only offers an escape. So I will watch less TV. nothing is ever good enough. The
In fact, I will lessen all of my time spent in unmindful attempts to escape the real- problem is the confusion within us.
ity of life. I invite you to do the same. Give it a try. Your discoveries will be The beginning of mindfulness is con-
simple, yet vast at the same time.  trolling the chaos and telling yourself
that I can stop all of this and step
away from the norm and possess a
power all of my own…the power of
sentience. 

page 9 Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter

Even though I’m in prison, I’m happy
and content. They can lock my body in-
to a confined area but they can “nev-
er” put a lock on my mind. I’m free,
no matter where I am. In fact, I never
realized freedom until I came to prison
and learned about the teachings of
Buddha. I’m a lucky man. Luck has to
do with chance. By that I mean I’m
thankful for the chance I’ve been given
to study and learn about the Four
Noble Truths and how the Noble Eight-
fold Path is the way to end all suffer-
ing. I hope everyone eventually finds
liberation in their life. I wish them well.
Thank you for listening to me. Your
friend.
James Davie
Brent, AL
Kuan Yin
Nhut Vo (Delano, CA)

Goodnight to the World

Our practice is to meet life
exactly as it is and to notice
whatever fear, anger, or doubt
gets in the way of direct
intimate contact with this
moment, bringing attention to
that as well. Rather than
changing something or seeking
to get somewhere we imagine
we should be, practice is about
seeing clearly exactly how
things really are and how we
relate to them. Practice thus
becomes an increasing
intimacy with life just as it is,
and there is nothing--including
the ideas that we should be
getting something or
somewhere--that is unworthy
of the clear, nonjudgmental
attention we call mindfulness.
Brian Alberer (Smyrna, DE)
Goodnight to the pain that keeps me here
Panic, anxiety, and deadly fear
Goodnight abuse, tension, and strife
I have no need for struggle all of my life
Goodnight ignorance, greed, and anger,
All of which seem to be a doppelganger
Goodnight sadness, starving poor, poverty-
Stricken children who sleep on the cold hard
floor.
Darkness falls and the time is right
So I flip the switch and turn out my light.
I no longer struggle with what I mentioned.
The last thing I say when I remove the world
From my aching back
Goodnight, Dear World, time to hit the sack.

Douglas Phillips
Tricycle magazine

page 10 Buddhist Correspondence Course Newsletter