The Initiatives Foundation
In New York organized the meeting of former prisoners with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on September 17. Richard
Gere the founder, was at the meeting. He spoke to Liberation about it.
What do you feel was the most important message that His Holiness had to share with the prisoners during their meeting?
I’m paraphrasing. I think it was the assurance that whatever they’ve done they still are human beings caught in samsara like
the rest of us, and that they also are capable of getting out of samsara like the rest of us. Whatever they’ve done can be atoned
for by working on the mind and their hearts. And the most relevant thing is the change that one can bring to the mind, not the
past.
What did the ex-prisoners seem to feel was most important for His Holiness to know about their experience?
His Holiness was there about an hour and a half, it was quite a long time for him, and the dynamic was one of these prisoners
feeling very comfortable with His Holiness and really wanting to share the softness inside them and the delicate part of their
hearts that felt shame about what they had done, their incredible regret, and the pain they had suffered in prison. It was a
human connection that was being made and it was done in a circle and everyone was just telling him their stories; some were
quite emotional.
Some had done a lot of work and could see the direction of their lives being changed through the prison projects, and the ones
who had practiced meditation [expressed that they] had been helped. His Holiness was surprised about the number of non-
white prisoners, that there are racial issues as well as penal code issues.
He got it very quickly that these issues of prisons and prisoners have much to do with the whole dynamic of society and the
microcosm of society within prisons.
He said there was a lot to be done with prisoners smoothing out rough edges that are still raw, and that clearly there is a lot of
work to do with prison guards and wardens and legislators. This is a dynamic that is a no-win situation for anyone. The status
quo, prisons as usual – no one wins.
Are their any plans for future activities or encounters between His Holiness and exprisoners?
I was really surprised. I had asked His Holiness to do it and he said he would and it would fit into his schedule for 45 minutes,
which is a long time for him, and he was there for an hour and a half and only left because he had a pressing engagement.
In the elevator he was taking about it quite a bit, and the next morning when I picked him up, the first thing he said was about
the prison project in general and what could we do, and agreed to have further meetings down the line in the next year. At this
time in his life, he wants to be very effective with his energy and this is a major commitment. It is true bodhisattva work.
I also asked him to speak about it during the teachings, during one session when the ex-prisoners would be there. He kept
referring back to it in the teachings and his references to the modern world that day were quite often prison-related.
What His Holiness wants to do this next time around is not only to meet ex-prisoners, but to have a symposium atmosphere
where people could openly discuss from many different points of view – including victims’ organizations, wardens, prison
guards, legislators, governors; invite a wide-range of interested parties into the discussion. That’s our hope and wish that we
can do next time, in about a year’s time.