August through December 2026 · Monthly · Online
About this study. This curriculum draws on core Buddhist teachings: the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Five Precepts, the Brahmaviharas, and the teachings on impermanence and non-self. It also draws on practices developed by contemporary teachers working specifically in prison and reentry settings, including RAIN and forgiveness meditation.
This is a lay-led study group, not a substitute for formal dharma instruction. Anyone who wants to go deeper is welcome to explore further with a qualified teacher.
The five months build on each other: refuge, then understanding suffering, then ethics, then working with hard emotions, then freedom of mind. You don't need to have attended a prior session to join any given month.
Every session: eyes open is always fine. No one is required to share more than they're comfortable sharing. Anyone can step out at any point.
Refuge: you don't have to earn a place to stand
Core teaching
Taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha isn't about escaping your life. It's about having somewhere to stand while you look at it clearly. Refuge in the Buddha means trusting that the capacity to wake up, to change, exists in everyone, no exceptions. Refuge in the Dharma means trusting that things are the way they are, not the way shame or fear tell you they are. Refuge in the Sangha means you don't do this alone.
The anchor story: Angulimala
One of the oldest stories in the tradition is about a man named Angulimala, who had killed many people before he encountered the Buddha. He didn't get turned away. He was taught, and he changed completely, going on to live the rest of his life in practice. This story has stayed in the tradition for over two thousand years for one reason: it insists that no one is permanently defined by the worst thing they've done.
Practice: arriving
Three slow breaths. Feel your feet on the floor or your body in the chair. Notice you're here, now, not back there and not in whatever comes next.
Discussion
Carry into the month: once a day, take three breaths before you react to something.
Facilitator note: keep the arrival practice short and body-based. Don't require closed eyes. No one has to speak about their history to take part.
Suffering has causes, not verdicts
Core teaching
The Four Noble Truths, in plain language:
1. Suffering is real. It's part of being alive, not a sign that something is uniquely wrong with you.
2. Suffering has causes: craving, aversion, and not seeing clearly. Old patterns keep repeating because some part of you is reaching for relief in a way that doesn't actually work.
3. Suffering can ease. The causes are not permanent.
4. There's a path. Paying attention, on purpose, without judgment, is the start of it.
This is not about blaming yourself for what you've been through or what you've done. It's about seeing clearly enough that you're no longer run by patterns you can't name.
Practice: noting
When a thought or feeling shows up, silently name it: "thinking," "remembering," "planning," "worrying." Don't follow it, don't fight it. Just name it and let it move.
Discussion
Carry into the month: once a day, notice one thought and just name it: "thinking."
Facilitator note: noting practice can surface real material for people with trauma histories. If it gets intense, open eyes and bring attention back to the room. That's not doing it wrong.
Ethics as commitment, not verdict
Core teaching
The Five Precepts, reframed: not harming, not taking what isn't given, honest speech, care with substances, integrity in relationships. These aren't a permanent record. They're commitments you renew, one day at a time. From the Eightfold Path, Right Action and Right Livelihood carry the same idea: your conduct today is what you're practicing, not a fixed judgment of who you are.
The precept around substances isn't about shame. It's about protecting your own clarity of mind, which is yours to protect.
Practice: loving-kindness for yourself
Silently offer yourself these phrases, or your own version of them: may I be safe. May I be at ease. May I be free from suffering. May I know my own goodness.
Discussion
Carry into the month: one phrase of loving-kindness for yourself, once a day.
Facilitator note: directing kindness at yourself can bring up grief or resistance for people carrying shame. That's common. It doesn't mean anyone's doing it wrong.
Working with anger, grief, and guilt
Core teaching
The Brahmaviharas, the four immeasurable qualities, include compassion and equanimity. These are capacities you build, not traits you either have or don't. A practical tool for hard emotions, used widely in contemporary mindfulness work, is RAIN:
Recognize what's here.
Allow it, without fighting it.
Investigate with curiosity. Where do you feel this in your body?
Nurture it with care, the way you would a friend.
Forgiveness meditation is a practice of setting down weight you're carrying. It doesn't require contact or reconciliation with anyone. It can include forgiving yourself.
Practice
Bring to mind something you're still carrying, resentment, guilt, grief. Run it through RAIN, slowly, without rushing to fix it.
Discussion
Carry into the month: when anger or guilt shows up, try naming it: "this is anger," "this is guilt," before deciding what to do with it.
Facilitator note: forgiveness work can be heavy. Make clear that no one is required to forgive anyone, including themselves, on any timeline. This is an invitation, not a requirement.
Freedom of mind, wherever you are
Core teaching
Impermanence means nothing is fixed, including your worst moment. Non-self means you're not a static thing that got defined once and for all. You're a process, still unfolding. Freedom starts in the mind, and that's the one place that's fully yours, regardless of circumstance.
Practice: equanimity
Sit with something you can't currently control. Not fixing it, not fighting it. Just: this is here, and I can stay steady with it.
Closing reflection
This month closes the arc that opened in August: refuge, understanding suffering, ethics, working with hard emotions, and now freedom of mind. Leave room to look back across all five months, not just today's theme.
Discussion
Carry forward: pick one practice from the past five months and keep it as your own, ongoing.
Facilitator note: this is a closing session. If it fits the group, invite members to name one thing they're taking with them, out loud or in writing.