In December 2017, the Vipassana Prison Trust offered a 10-day course for old students only at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in the southern US state of Alabama. Donaldson is the maximum-security prison featured in the film The Dhamma Brothers. Courses for inmates have been held there since 2002, but this was the first regular 10-day course open to old students only. The participants maintained silence – always a challenge in prison – and followed the discipline carefully. An added challenge was a cold wave that brought two days of snow to Alabama. Some participants left early, but 10 very committed meditators completed the course. At the end, one 15-course student said that the experience this time was the most powerful since his first course. Plans are taking shape for another course limited to old students in December 2018. Meditator inmates are discussing what they can do to maintain the program. www.prison.dhamma.org
(Source: International Vipassana newsletter Vol. 45 • issue no. 1 • march 2018)