The book has two audiences: prison inmates who want to start practicing Buddhism and volunteers from American sanghas who want to work with prison dharma groups. The book discusses the basics of meditation, compassion and precept practice within the correctional facility context. Whitney discusses some of the history of Buddhist involvement in American prisons as well as the history of constitutional interpretations of religious freedom as applied to inmates. The book is meant to be as practical as possible and it emphasizes Buddhism in action - through the precepts, peacemaking and sangha building inside and out.

Sitting Inside: Buddhist Practice in America's Prisons, Kobai Scott Whitney, Prison Dharma Press, Paperback, 164 pages, $17.50

Scott Whitney is a writer and magazine editor who lives in Honolulu. Before moving to Hawaii, he studied at the San Francisco Zen Center. Before that, he spent five years of his early adulthood in a Catholic monastery. He has been a student of Robert Aitken Roshi since 1981. Aitken Roshi gave him the Buddhist refuge name Kobai, which means "Old Plum."

CONTENTS: Sitting Inside: Buddhist Practice in America's Prisons
INTRODUCTION: Tragic Necessities by Bo Lozoff	8
CHAPTER ONE: Holding Back Disaster	11
CHAPTER TWO: Sitting Inside	30
CHAPTER THREE: The Practice of Power	50
CHAPTER FOUR: Good Behavior: Precepts for Insiders	62
CHAPTER FIVE: Enemy Yoga: The Practice of Making Peace	78
CHAPTER SIX: Outside-In: Guidelines for Volunteers	90
CHAPTER SEVEN: Dying Inside with Fleet Maull	109
CHAPTER EIGHT: Good Time, Hard Time, Real Time	136
BIBLIOGRAPHY	161
INDEX	163