Dhamma Brothers, The (DVD) East Meets West in the Deep South

East meets West in the Deep South. An overcrowded maximum-security prison—the end of the line in Alabama’s correctional system—is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program.

Behind high security towers and a double row of barbed wire and electrical fence dwells a host of convicts locked away from the outside world, many for life. 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 retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding course of meditation lasting ten days, nine in silence.

The Dhamma Brothers tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it documents the stories of prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter this arduous program. This film, which dismantels stereotypes about men behind prison bars, “gives you hope for the human race." in the words of Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking;).