Meditation for Prisoners

MEDITATION FOR PRISONERS

I started studying meditation because I firmly expected to go to prison as a result of my refusal to participate in the Vietnam War. I knew instinctively that I would have to find resources within myself to prepare for and protect from long hours of boredom, hostile strangers and oppressive situations. These studies took me around the world and, although I never actually entered prison, I gathered what I needed to arm myself against the sudden deprivation of material comfort and freedom.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book contains 31 meditations, one for each day of the month. Use the meditation that corresponds to the date of the month. Find a comfortable place and read the introduction and meditation once. Then say each line of the meditation aloud if possible, silently if necessary. Concentrate on the meaning. Close your eyes, quiet your mind, watch your breath, observe your thoughts and, most importantly, follow your intuition. THE MIND TURNS TO LIBERATION

I write for those few brothers and sisters who are forced by circumstance to contemplate the meaning of liberation. I write with a sense of camaraderie because everyone is, in some sense, a prisoner. True, for most people imprisonment is self-imposed. Nevertheless, once imposed, the mind turns to liberation.

About the Author
LEWIS ELBINGER is a multidimensional grandfather, yogi, poet, artist, retired diplomat, planetary citizen and dedicated evolutionary. He hitchhiked from Scotland to India in 1968 when he was 21 years old and has been a world traveler ever since. He studied yoga and meditation at the ashram of Swami Muktananda in Ganeshpuri, India. Lewis and his Indian friend Sri Harish Karun co-founded the East West Ashram Trust, a spiritual retreat in the foothills of the Himalayas. After a 28-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service that included 16 assignments in ten countries, Lewis retired in 2011.