Avalokiteśvara from the Ajanta Caves

Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Community

In September of 2020, Open Road board members–Bill Faricy, Deborah Buchanan and Katie Radditz–along with Howard Thoresen and I, inaugurated the Open Road Meditation & Mindfulness Community, for people who live in prison and for those who don’t. If you are interested in meditation and mindfulness, you are welcome to join us. The idea of the Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue is to provide support and encouragement for your spiritual practice–that is, whatever gives your life meaning.

We are not promoting any religious tradition. We will just be sharing our thoughts, experiences, questions and friendship in order to support and encourage each other in living more peacefully and mindfully. To begin, we will be using Your True Home by Thich Nhat Hanh as a jumping off point for dialogue. As we go along, we will use other inspirational texts and poems, along with everyone’s personal ruminations.

I will coordinate the writings of prison residents through the Open Road post office box, and use email for everyone else. To begin, everyone is invited to find one of the 365 meditations in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book that inspires you and write something in response to it. You can use other sources of inspiration as well.

On the 15th of every month I will send out what I’ve collected from everyone to all the participants. You are free to respond to what other people write, or just ponder it.

Here is the first Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue, published on September 15, 2020.

Here’s the second Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue, published on October 15, 2020.

Here’s the third Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue, published on November 15, 2020.

Here’s the fourth Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue, published on December 15, 2020.

Here’s the fifth Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue, published on January 15, 2021.

Here’s the sixth Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue, published on February 15, 2021.

Here’s the seventh Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue, published on March 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for July 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for August 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for September 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for October 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for November 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for December 15, 2021.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for January 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for February 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for March 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for July 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for August 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for September 15, 2022.

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for October 15, 2022

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for November 15, 2022

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for December 15, 2022

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for January 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for February 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for March 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for July 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for August 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for September 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for October 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for November 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for December 15, 2023

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for January 15, 2024

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for February 15, 2024

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for March 15, 2024

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for April 15, 2024  

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for May 15, 2024 

Meditation & Mindfulness Dialogue for June 15, 2024

Here are two meditation texts:

a talk on Beginner’s Mind by Shunryū Suzuki (1904-1971)

the earliest Zen text, Hsin Hsin Ming, by Seng Ts’an, the Third Zen Patriarch (529-606 A.D.)

If you’d like to join our merry band, email me and let me know.

Jake was in segregation (solitary confinement) at Two Rivers prison when he wrote this:

Is one of my favorites! In segregation we have paintings that are of different scenes. At first it was cool, then I and others got over it. But since putting this wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh in perspective you see more than a painting. For it opens my eyes to the time, the painter, the painter’s years of art skills, everything down to what makes paint…paint. There are so many miracles that came together to make these paintings! It’s amazing. Now I try to be mindful of what miracles come into place to make people I meet, foods I eat. Being conscious of what had to come together to create your best friend or your favorite food gives you much more appreciation for how they come to be in your life .