You are not forgotten.

I wrote this for incarcerated individuals viewing Buddhist Prison Ministry’s Newsletter via the Edovo online platform, based on an experience I had during my pilgrimage to Bhutan in 2024.

Of course, if anyone has ever met BPM’s founder, Rev. Susan Shannon, then you know that her daily life is imbued with bodhicitta; I’m sure not a day goes by that she doesn’t have another idea about how to improve BPM. But what about the volunteers? Many of us also think so much about all of you…

Recently, I had the great honor of supporting my Lama on a pilgrimage to Bhutan. This tiny Himalayan country — roughly half the size of Indiana, with only 700,000 people, is steeped in Buddhist history, practice and culture.

Bhutan has both soaring mountains — some twice as high as most in the USA— and temperate valleys that are lush with tropical plants, rice fields on steep terraces and wild animals such as monkeys, red pandas and barking deer.

It’s become famous of late for it’s “Gross National Happiness” (versus most of the world’s “Gross National Product”); a vision from it’s benevolent King that seeks to elevate the well-being of it’s people as a national priority (imagine that?!).

Our group of 25, were immediately taken with the stunning scenery, along with hillsides that were dotted with sacred sites and beautiful homes painted in traditional bright colors. These incredibly well-preserved holy places have been home to Buddhist practice dating as far back as the 7th century. If you have ever been to any church, or special place that has had a history of sincere spiritual practice, then you might be able to imagine that hundreds of years of prayers, meditation and aspirations create a very palpable energy. Often pilgrims were brought to tears when they entered into temples, which often housed 10 to 30 foot statues of Buddhas.

On the early days of the journey, another fellow-pilgrim/BPM-volunteer, and I shared how much we felt Susan Shannon and the BPM sangha. Perhaps it was the $108 Susan had sent us for offerings, or the fact that we just launched “The Divine Feminine/Tara’s Sisters” and BPM’s new website.

In any case, my daily practice on the ride to each new place would be to ask for guidance on who/what I should pray for once inside. On this particular day, in a stunning valley known as Bumthang, we made our way to the Tamshing Lhakhang (ancient temple/monestary) built in 1501 by Pema Lingpa. It was during this bumpy bus ride that I got the “hit” that I should pray for the BPM incarcerated sangha.

We entered through a small doorway past some of the oldest wall-murals in Bhutan. As we made our way inside an inner corridor that surrounded a small temple I wondered when I should make offerings and prayers for BPM. Just then, our guide became very excited and shared that an iron-link “cape” made by Pema Lingpa was available for us to “wear.” He told us that whomever puts on the cape and circumambulates (walks around) the inside corridor three times, would have their karma totally purified. Here it was: I would wear and walk for our incarcerated brothers and sisters!

I was a bit nervous to put on a 55 lb iron-link cape (my current fitness level in question), but when it was my turn, I practically ran inside the corridor — reciting the Vajrasattva Mantra (a mantra for purification, see BPM’s Course Book Two, Mantra section for more info), imagining the past, present, and future factors that lead to incarceration—such as racism, poverty, oppression, and a dysfunctional justice system — being purified. The final lap was dedicated to my sangha-sisters, who are frequently imprisoned for self-defense (I have recently become more aware of the particularly regrettable conditions faced by women in prison). Afterwards, I felt such a lightness and joy, and visualized all this goodness radiating out to my sisters/brothers on the inside.

With Susan's donation, I spent the next two weeks making butter lamp offerings in Bhutan and Nepal, another Himalayan neighbor. Small butter lamps cost about . 25 and large ones $3; so you can imagine how many butter lamps we lit for BPM!

I share this story with you, my sangha on this inside, to let you know that my story is just one story. The volunteers and contributors for BPM have so much heart invested in supporting all of you, and the amazing spiritual practice each of one of you is doing in prison! We are so proud of you. You are not forgotten. In fact, you truly matter to us.