NEWS ABOUT THE DHAMMA BROTHERS
Dhamma Brother Rick Smith died recently after a long illness with liver disease. Rick was a leader in the Vipassana community at Donaldson Correctional Facility, with a dedication to be his best Self in a challenging environment. He had a rich sense of humor, and was an unforgettable character. He is missed by many prisoners and staff members at Donaldson, as well as many others who came to know him.
The Vipassana program continues to grow at the prison in Alabama. Currently, over 400 prisoners have taken the 10-day meditation program. Plans are under way to establish a Vipassana cell block.
A REQUEST FOR OUR MEMBERS
We are setting up a national database listing all the prison-based meditation programs in the U.S. If you know of a program in a prison or jail in your area, please let us know. Also, if you are looking for opportunities to get involved in a prison or jail, please contact us.We are hoping that our Dhamma Brothers Facebook page will become a clearing house for ideas and opportunities among our members. If you are not already a member, please join us!
DHAMMA BROTHERS IN THE NEWS
Listen to Jenny Phillips' interview on the Emily Rooney Show: Vipassana Meditation At A Maximum-Security Prison
Listen to the Jenny Phillips' interview on the Bob Edwards Show:
Part 1 (7:30 mins) | Part 2 (6:43 mins) | Part 3 (5:54 mins) | Part 4 (7:50 mins)
Read the Associated Press article: Meditation class helps lower violence at AL prison
Read the NPR article: At End-Of-The Line Prison, An Unlikely Escape
WHAT DVD TO BUY? Many of you have wondered which DVD you should purchase for home use. Well today
we're extremely excited to announce the release of a collectors edition DVD. This edition includes in addition to the feature length film, one hour of never-before-seen footage including personal conversations with the Dhamma Brothers, their families, and the meditation teachers about their lives in prison and Vipassana practices and digital widescreen presentation of the theatrical trailer. The official release is later this week, but you can order yours today here.
For educational or institutional screenings, that is any screening for which you intend to charge an admission fee, or hold a public screening outside your home, the film can be ordered from Bullfrog Films. You can find them here: bullfrogfilms.com. You can also call Bullfrog directly at: (800) 543-3764.
Also as of today you can add The Dhamma Brothers to your Netflix queue! You can find us on Netflix here. And if you get the film from Netflix don't forget to writ e a member review to encourage others to see ourr film!
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Freedom Behind Bars, Inc produced The Dhamma Brothers to support and bring meaningful treatment programs into prisons.
We are now reaching out to community groups to arrange screenings and to prisons to provide DVDs for prison libraries. The interest generated by the film has resulted in meetings with Department of Corrections officials in several states.
You can help us in these efforts by donating online. Any size donation is welcome; you can donate for a specific project or just to generally support our efforts. To make a donation, go to Dhamma Brothers at Click and Pledge. Or, if you are a member of Guide Star you can donate through Network for Good.
Right now we are seeking donations that will allow us to provide free DVDs of The Dhamma Brothers for libraries and screenings in prisons across the country. Or, you might want to make a general donation to help fund the effort to bring The Dhamma Brothers to public television next year. |
We're still setting up screenings for The Dhamma Brothers. In fact this month we have three!
If you'd like to set up a screening you can do so here.
Many of you are unaware that filmmaker Jenny Phillips also wrote a book called Letters from the Dhamma Brothers. That is available through Pariyatti Books.
Finally, please let your friends, family and colleagues know about our film and our work. If you have any questions, or want to help us out, please contact Adam at: adam@dhammabrothers.com or Jenny at jenny@dhammabrothers.com.
Again, thank you for your support of The Dhamma Brothers.
Adam Sekuler
Outreach and Project Coordinator
adam@dhammabrothers.com |
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