[pullquote align=”left” background=”on”]In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.”  – Dōgen Zenji[/pullquote]

I was watching a most beautiful documentary yesterday evening, entitled “Path of Freedom” – in which, former inmate Fleet Maull discusses the challenges of true survival in one of our nation’s harshest prisons.

He travels there each week, as part of the Prison Mindfulness program, and in hopes of sharing his insight to these men in need of a much deeper peace.

When 1 in every 100 American is currently serving time in prison – it begs a much deeper question.

Do we work to save those lives? Or, do we merely to discard them?

[blockquote source=”Brother G.”]”First I learned that ‘hurt people hurt people.’ That I lashed out from the pain inside me that I didn’t know what to do with. Then I learned that ‘healed people heal people,’ that my own healing drives me to want to heal others and give back. That lesson is all I needed.”[/blockquote]

Through mindfulness and meditation, Fleet offers these inmates the chance to connect with themselves, ‘to be ok with the soft stuff’, in an environment where there are surrounded by the harsh reality of “hard time.”

In doing so, he shares with them this most beautiful gift of learning to be present in their ‘now.’

“This has an impact on their lives inside prison and, maybe more importantly, gives them a better chance of not returning, if and when, they’re released, therefore making their sentence a chance for enlightenment not just imprisonment.” – Fleet Maul

This film so perfectly demonstrates the importance of mindfulness in our daily lives. It’s not just a means to inner peace, but the mechanism for spiritual transformation.

Path of Freedom – The Book

Go Project Films produced an accompanying book, Path of Freedom: Transformative Programs in America’s Prisons. The book explores innovative approaches to rehabilitation that are thriving in some of the country’s toughest prisons, and features infographics, testimonies from corrections leaders, and articles about transformative programs by Insight-Out, Rehabilitation Through The Arts, Mind Body Awareness Project, ArtSpring, and Prison Mindfulness Institute.

You can download the book as a PDF here. For more information or questions, please contact info@goprojectfilms.com.