We provide meditation instruction through correspondence and in person to prisoners throughout the United States.  Meditation is taught and practiced as a spiritual discipline, depending on the needs of the inmates requesting our services. It is taught as a means of deepening one's understanding of any spiritual path he or she chooses to walk, or as a secular path to increase understanding of one’s emotional patterns. Many inmates fear the mental states which resulted in their present circumstances, and they are extremely appreciative of tools that allow them to tame their minds and increase stability and tranquility in prison. 

Our work includes developing and distributing correspondence courses for inmates.  We currently offer three courses. the first course is entitled  Turning the Mind Into An Ally, based on the text by the same name by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. This course is an introduction of why and how to meditate.  The second course is entitled The Myth of Freedom, based on the text by the same name, written by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. This course addresses our tendency to allow our habitual patterns to create knee-jerk responses according to preconditioned habits, and how doing that makes our sense of choice and freedom a “myth.”  The third course is The Power of Patience, Healing Anger. This course is a formal contemplation of the destructive qualities of anger and the innumerable benefits of patience.   

We at the Ratna Peace Initiative also donate spiritual and educational books and other items to support our client inmate's spiritual path.  We devote particular attention to the needs of inmates who are locked down in solitary confinement, a situation that is dehumanizing and devastating.  We also support many inmates in the practice of hatha yoga, and particularly encourage this practice for those who are being held in solitary confinement. 

The Ratna Peace Initiative visits a large number of prisons throughout the United States, where we teach meditation in a secular format and according to the requests of the inmates. We have over 800 prisoners in 48 states with whom we correspond and conduct ongoing guidance related to their correspondence coursework. 

Our post-release program includes continued communication with inmates on their correspondence courses.  In geographic areas where it has been possible, we have assigned personal meditation instructors to recently released individuals, providing support for the continuation of their practice and friendship to help ease their transition back to society.