The Prison Project
The Prison Project is dedicated to making the teachings, practices and experience of the Siddha Yoga path available to incarcerated seekers. With Gurumayi Chidvilasananda's inspiration, it has touched the lives of thousands of inmates throughout the world. Swami Muktananda, who founded the Prison Project in 1979, wrote a message to prisoners in which he said:
If you want to respect yourself, if you want to improve yourself, if you want to experience the joy of your own inner Self, you can do that anywhere, even in prison.
Since 1979 the Prison Project has provided the Siddha Yoga home study course free of charge to all inmates who request it. These lessons link the inmates dynamically to the transformational wisdom of the Siddha Yoga teachings and to the grace of the lineage of the Siddha Yoga masters. Lessons are received monthly and, on request, are available in Spanish translation. Currently enrolled in the course are some six thousand inmates in fifteen hundred prisons in North America, Europe, and Australia.
The Prison Project also provides more than a hundred and fifty trained satsang coordinators who visit prisons and conduct satsangs. In these satsangs students chant, meditate, and participate in exercises on the current focus of Siddha Yoga study.
Participating in the Prison Project
Siddha Yoga meditation center sevites participate in the Prison Project in a variety of ways:
- Conducting satsangs for inmates at local prisons
- Corresponding with inmates to answer sadhana questions and support their study of the home study course
- Donating Siddha Yoga books and photos to be sent to incarcerated students and prison libraries throughout the country
- Making monetary donations to support the work of the Prison Project
- Offering seva in the Prison Project office at the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland.
The Prison Project looks forward to serving prison inmates who are, in growing numbers, discovering meaning and transformation in their lives through their Siddha Yoga practice and study.