The Dhamma Brothers

Original version in English with Spanish subtitle
A documentary film about the powerful of a Vipassana Meditation course in a maximum-security prison.
56 min.

In an overcrowded maximum-security prison, behind high security towers and electrical fences dwells a host of convicts who will never see the light of day. But for some of these men, a spark is ignited when it becomes the first maximum-security prison in North America to hold an extended Vipassana meditation retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting ten days. This dramatic documentary, with a power to dismantle stereotypes, tells a hopeful tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates who enter into this arduous and intensive program.

The teaching of Vipassana meditation in a correctional environment started in India in 1975. Since that time, Vipassana courses have been succesfully taught in prisons in many countries including the United States, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Mexico and from April 1st to April 12th 2003 a course took place in the “Centro Penitenciario Brians”, near Barcelona, being the first course in prison, not only in Spain but throughout Continental Europe.

The documentary is aimed at both meditators of this technique, as at people interested in the fields of meditation, educators, psychologists, social assistants, civil servants of prisons, familiar of prisoners and to any person with interests.