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188:. The first ten-day intensive at the prison occurred in January 2002 with twenty inmates. The film includes material from the second ten-day intensive meditation retreat held in May 2002 with thirty seven inmates and a follow-up three-day retreat and interviews in January 2006. Each retreat consisted of 10 hours of daily meditation and was held in complete silence. Convicted murderer Grady Bankhead described the retreat as, "tougher than his eight years on Death Row."
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The film also includes interviews with local residents who provide statements about the meditation program, perceiving it as
Buddhist. In an interview with NPR, Donaldson warden Gary Hetzel "says he's convinced it's not religious, and has encouraged staff members to take a meditation course to dispel
221:
had reservations about the program. In
December 2005, the prison administration changed and the meditation program was allowed to begin again. The program has continued with only minor interruptions at Donaldson since that time. Vipassana programs at Donaldson and other North American prisons are
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Director Jenny
Phillips, Vipassana teacher Jonathan Crowley and Dr. Deborah Marshall were largely responsible for the meditation program's inception at the prison. Phillips had previously studied prison culture in Massachusetts. In 1999, she heard that prisoners at Donaldson were practicing
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meditation and she then organized the first ten-day intensive retreat there in
January 2002. Phillips believes that was the first time a ten-day retreat had been held in a United States maximum-security prison such as Donaldson. Previous US courses had been in county jails.
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Studies by
Stanford University, University of Washington and participating prisons have reported sharp declines in disciplinary action, violence, self-reported drug use and recidivism following implementation of the program.
121:. The film features four inmates, all convicted of murder, and includes interviews with guards, prison officials, local residents and other inmates, and reenactments of their crimes. The soundtrack includes music by
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The meditation program at
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misperceptions." The program is described as non-sectarian on the organization's website.
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said that the film contains "cheesy, half-assed re-enactments of the inmates' crimes."
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New York Times review of The Dhamma
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in India with over a thousand inmates using the same meditation retreat format.
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164:(1997), which documented a large-scale meditation program at
474:"TV Guide review of Doing Time, Doing Vipassana by Ken Fox"
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Documentary films about incarceration in the United States
697:"The University of Washington Meditation Research Project"
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organized by the North
American Vipassana Prison Trust.
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Letters from the Dhamma
Brothers: Meditation Behind Bars
152:), a book based on follow-up letters with the inmates.
637:. Tuesday April 8, 2005. Retrieved on October 9, 2010.
618:. Thursday May 29, 2008. Retrieved on October 9, 2010.
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The Dhamma
Brothers: Vipassana Meditation in Prison
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202:rated the film four stars. Julia Wallace of the
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109:is a documentary film released in 2007 about a
217:reviewer Whitney Joiner this was because the
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380:. Worldfilm.about.com. Archived from
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753:"Vipassana: The Path of Liberation"
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180:The meditation program taught was
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430:"Variety review by Ronnie Scheib"
904:Documentary films about Buddhism
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603:Cinema Dope: Fedora the Explorer
428:Scheib, Ronnie (April 8, 2008).
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780:"2007 Pass Award Winners"
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111:prison meditation program
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796:on September 11, 2015
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358:"The Dhamma Brothers"
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866:at Culture Unplugged
268:United States portal
863:The Dhamma Brothers
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328:Vipassana Movement
318:Satipatthana Sutta
196:Jack Brown of the
172:Meditation program
18:2007 American film
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384:on April 13, 2014
366:. April 15, 2008.
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671:January 30,
576:February 2,
310:Film portal
186:S.N. Goenka
38:Directed by
894:2007 films
888:Categories
342:References
296:Law portal
166:Tihar Jail
80:76 minutes
323:Vipassanā
192:Reception
182:Vipassana
131:Sigur Rós
127:New Order
852:Archived
606:Archived
550:Archived
254:See also
219:chaplain
93:Language
758:YouTube
97:English
85:Country
62: (
861:Watch
840:
436:May 2,
337:(1997)
234:Awards
148:
794:(PDF)
783:(PDF)
711:. VRI
117:near
838:IMDb
802:2016
766:2020
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717:2020
673:2020
578:2020
517:2011
482:2011
460:2011
438:2018
415:2011
390:2011
247:NCCD
243:2007
146:ISBN
129:and
64:2007
60:2007
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