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Questions & Answers

Question What is the Prison Project? How did it start?

Answer The Prison Project was started by Baba Muktananda on January 14th 1975 when he conducted a satsang in the Raiford State Penitentiary in Florida for 200 inmates.

In 1978 in Hawaii Baba turned to one of his Swamis and said, "Take Siddha Meditation into prisons everywhere."
In April 14, 1979 a conference was held at the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland. More than 100 devotees came to plan this mission and started going into prisons all over the country. In 1981 Baba gave the Siddha Yoga Correspondence Course to the Prison Project to distribute to prisoners. It is his prasad (spiritual gift) and the primary vehicle for people in prison to receive the Siddha Yoga teachings and the grace of the Guru. He gave it with the promise that they would receive everything from studying the course. "Everything" means Shaktipat and liberation. The Prison Project is a way to cooperate with Baba's promise. The work of over 150 trained program facilitators and sevites is to bring the Siddha Yoga teachings and practices to incarcerated seekers of the truth.

Question What is the Prison Project doing?

Answer In addition to the work of providing the Correspondence Course, there are two other main aspects of the Prison Project. The first aspect is involvement with centers, which grows in importance continually. An interested center with available resources can adopt a local prison. The relationship with the prison can be as simple as occasionally donating Siddha Yoga books to the library. Or, it can involve having trained program facilitators holding satsangs in the local facility. If you are interested in getting involved, contact the Prison Project office in Oakland.

Secondly, we answer letters from Incarcerated students regarding their practices and understanding of Siddha Yoga to help them move forward in their sadhana. A group of trained sevites around the globe performs this function.

Question How does it work?

Answer The Correspondence Course is the heart and the foundation of the Prison Project. The course goes out to over 6000 incarcerated students per month. Basically, the course gives to these students in prison what the Guru gives us through the agency of ashrams and centers. It links them dynamically to the transformational wisdom of Siddha Yoga Meditation and the grace of the lineage of its masters.

Question Can transformation really happen in prison?

Answer The most eloquent testimony to the transformation of Siddha Yoga students in prison is their own words. Please see the letter from one of these students in prison, which is a small sample of the hundreds of letters the Prison Project office receives every month. These powerful expressions of devotion, gratitude and inner freedom speak for themselves.