History of Dharma Seeds
It all begun in the spring of 1996 at Folsom State Prison in Repesa, CA . ......
4 lifers and 1 short timer...begun to seek a way to let other prisoners know of the transformative power of meditation . What begun with just a handful of prisoners, a free staff volunteer affiliated with Fr. Thoams Keating, soon grew to over thirty men meeting weekly in Greystone Chapel for 1 hour, with 20 minutes of silent mediation and 30 minutes of teachings. Most of the teaching were from personal experiences from the inmates themselves.
As one of the five orginators, we sought to bring a universal approach to our group. We had Atheists, Buddhists, Catholic, Celtic, Jewish, Muslims, and Protestants. With Such diverse ethnic groups as African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanics, and Native Americans. All sitting for 20 minutes in silence, most, with their eyes closed, inside Greystone Chapel.
We wrote away and received over 600 books initiating the first Contemplative Library inside California State Prisons, and still exists today. This library had many different paths, religious and esoteric subjects all with a thread of commanality of meditation techniques.
As of 2008, there were over 3,000 men inside eight different prisons practicing meditation. All this begun in 1996 from inside Folsom State Prison with four lifers and one short termer.
The short-termer who paroled in 1997 sought to keep in touch with those he had been meditating with so he kept writing them. Soon it turned into writing the same subject matter to over seventy-five prisoners. He sought a simpler way to write to all, thus DHARMA SEEDS newsletter begun in 1998. Since then we have grown to over 2,000 subscribers from over seven states. We continue to offer free subscriptions to any prisoner from any United States prison, federal or state, and all county jails. Starting in 2010, we will increase to a full size broadsheet newspaper and be adding to our mailing list the inmate libraries in all state and federal prisons.
Dharma Seeds is a gift of service for any who are incarcerated. The same opportunities given to the short-termer to change from within by his spiritual transformation, he offers the same to fellow prisoners through the writings within Dharma Seeds.
In the spring of 2008, Dharma Seeds was offically incorporated as a non-profit organization in Oklahoma. Our board helps us attain our missions and goals. As well, the board has set up our non-profit so that all (100%) of the financial donations goes directly back into the costs of printing and mailing Dharma Seeds. We have no paid staff, it is all volunteer ran. As a non-profit, all donationis are tax-deductible to the full extent of the tax laws.
That is how Dharma Seeds came into existence. It is through the kind donations of others and the work of all our volunteers that keep Dharma Seeds in the hands of those incarcerated who desire to change their lives.
