Razor-Wire Dharma: A Buddhist Life in Prison »

Calvin Malone is nearing the end of a 20-year prison sentence. He’s also a practicing Buddhist. Oddly enough, it was in prison that Malone learned about Buddhism, and it’s the one thing that’s kept him going. Some of the stories he tells in Razor-Wire Dharma are hilarious, some are harrowing, but all express Buddhist wisdom as vividly as any practitioner could hope to do. This is true Buddhism: Malone is living it, and in the unlikeliest of places. For him, the choice between staying true to his principles of altruism, compassion, and nonharming — or just choosing to cast a blind eye — often requires that he quite literally jeopardize life, limb, and the few small comforts available to him to try to do what's right. If he can do it in jail, he can do it anywhere. And as his book in all its gritty beauty makes clear, so can we.

Foreword     ix
Editor's Preface     xi
Acknowledgments     xvii
Introduction     1
Entering the Way     9
The Abyss     29
Eyeball     43
Banana     47
Forty-Nine     55
Bulldog and Christmas     65
A Little Closer to Home     71
Essential Oil     79
Anger     85
Getting Involved     91
Derrick     95
Soup     103
Munny     109
The Reluctant Zen Master     119
Tying Flies     131
Apple     135
Hacksaw     139
Shawn     147
Artichoke Heart     159
Metta     165
Freedom     169
A Close Encounter     171
Letting Go     173
Happy Holidays     177
Miracles     179
Liberating Our Gardens     181
Postscripts     185
Author's Note     189
Appendixes
The Four Noble Truths     193
Meditation     199
Recommended Reading     215
Resource Guide     219
About the Author     227