Prison inmates turn to Buddhism

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Growing numbers of U.S. prison inmates are turning to Buddhist meditation to help them do time, the founder of the Prison Dharma Network says.

Fleet Maull told CNN the network includes 75 organizations and is in touch with 2,500 people, many of them prisoners. Twenty years ago, he was the entire network.

"This is transformative justice as opposed to punitive," he said.

There are no statistics on the number of inmates practicing meditation. But more prisons now have Buddhist meditation programs and there is a growing library of books with titles such as "Prison Chaplaincy Guidelines for Zen Buddhism" and "Razor-Wire Dharma: A Buddhist Life in Prison," CNN reported Friday.

"Mostly, the people in Buddhist community are going into the prisons, providing programs, and word of mouth gets from one inmate to another," said Gary Friedman, head of communications for the American Correctional Chaplains Association. "It's a break from all the hustle and noise of the prison environment."