Prison Mindfulness Institute

The Prison Mindfulness Institute (formerly Prison Dharma Network) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 dedicated to supporting prisoners in their personal transformation through meditation and contemplative spirituality. The organization offers books and other resources through its Books Behind Bars program, publishes literature on prison dharma via its Prison Dharma Press, and provides facilitator training for prison staff and volunteers through its Path of Freedom^® program. PMI supports prisoners in the practice and study of mindfulness awareness practices and contemplative traditions in correctional settings.^[1][2] It is affiliated with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the Zen Peacemakers.

Philosophically, the organization advocates for restorative justice and transformative justice models over retributive justice.^[1]

Spiritual Advisors

(current and past spiritual advisors include):

• Robert Baker Aitken Roshi
• Pema Chödrön
• Roshi Bernie Glassman
• Roshi Joan Halifax
• Father Thomas Keating
• Jack Kornfield
• Stephen Levine (author)
• John Daido Loori
• Thrangu Rinpoche
• Sharon Salzberg
• Joseph Goldstein
• Venerable Thubten Chodron
• Jon Kabat-Zinn

History

The organization was founded in 1989 by Fleet Maull, Ph.D. while he was serving a 14-year sentence for drug trafficking.^[3][4] Prior to his incarceration, Maull studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism under Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche^[5] and earned a master's degree in psychology from Naropa University.

While in prison, he maintained a dedicated Buddhist practice, completing his ngöndro in a repurposed prison closet and receiving his Vajrayogini initiation from Thrangu Rinpoche who visited him during his sentence.

During his sentence, Maull also founded a hospice program for prisoners with AIDS^[6] which was formally incorporated in 1991 as the National Prison Hospice Association.^[7] It later became an authorized training program for prison hospice care. He served his time at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners (MCFP) in Springfield, Missouri,^[2] and was released in May 1999.^[7] He was subsequently ordained as a Zen priest and teacher in the Zen Peacemakers Sangha under Bernie Glassman.^[4]

Since 1999, the organization has been led by Executive Director Vita Pires, Ph.D. (formerly Kate Crisp).

Additional Projects

In addition to its core programs, the organization also operates:

• Center for Mindfulness in Public Safety
• Engaged Mindfulness Institute

Further reading

• Pires, V. (2024). Path of freedom.
• Maull, F. (2013). Dharma in hell: The prison writings of Fleet Maull.
• Maull, F. (2021). The resilient C.O.: Neuroscience-informed mindfulness-based wellness & resiliency (MBWR) for corrections professionals.
• Whitney, S. (2017). Sitting inside: Buddhist practice in America's prisons.