First Hit: A very moving documentary about the power of Vipassana meditation with hardened prisoners. This film explores the power of meditation in an overcrowded maximum security prison deep in Alabama. Most of the people in this prison aren’t going to get out of prison, they may move to another prison but they aren’t going home. For a deep in the Bible belt prison to be the first prison in America to offer an official 10-day Vipassana (Vipassana means: Seeing things as they are.) meditation is an amazing story. The prisoners who participated were self selecting and many of them were skeptical to say the least. However, the guards and some of the other prison officials were more skeptical. One major concern was how this could effect primarily Jesus believing prison community. The retreat was set up so that the prisoners sat, ate, and slept in the gymnasium. They did not leave or speak for 10 days. The film chronicles the retreat and used interviews with some of the prisoner’s stories of what crime they committed and their history.
Having sat numerous retreats, including a 90-day silent retreat, I was very aware of the process the prisoners were going through during this retreat. It was fascinating to sense and feel the difference in these men from before the retreat to after. It made a difference in each of them. To sense their embracing the power of meditation and just being with themselves is a beautiful and touching story. That the program was stopped because a clergyman said people were turning away from Christ and towards Buddhism was simply a fear based belief that was untrue. Later, the program was re-instituted and continues to grow.
Overall: A beautiful story of how simply being with one’s self can make all the difference in the world.