Still Sitting is proud of the relationships it forms with organizations and individuals around the world as they engage in meditation and mindfulness practice. Occasionally, we like to share their stories in our Spotlight Series.
Gendo Allyn Field is as much at home sitting among the Trappist monks of Saint Joseph’s Abbey as he is among the prisoners at New Hampshire’s Concord maximum security prison.
Field, who has been studying Zen since the mid 1970s now leads the Upper Valley Zen Center in White River Junction, Vermont, where he serves as the head teacher. Since founding the center in 2005, he has also made inroads with teaching in some unconventional places. Field serves as a chaplain, leading sitting practice at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and at the Vermont State Prison. He also offers Zen meditation at Dartmouth college.
Chaplaincy at a maximum security prison
“For a time I was also leading practice at a maximum security prison in New Hampshire, because the prisoners there had reached out to our Zen Center and asked for support for their own meditation practice,” he said.
Leading meditation in a prison is no easy feat, but he, along with his sangha there, put together a makeshift zendo in the visitor’s room.
The one thing they needed: zafus.
“I ended up buying cushions from Still Sitting first for the maximum security prison in New Hampshire, and now, secondly for the state prison in Vermont,” said Field.
Zafus and makeshift zendos
With cushions in hand, he and his sangha would create a makeshift zendo, laying out their pillows in in parallel rows to face each other, in the traditional Rinzai fashion. Sessions also included walking meditation, a discussion period, and Q&A time for prisoners to seek personal input about their practice.
Field has also been in talks with prison administration to improve access to their zafus outside of meditation periods.
“Our goal is also to get permission for prisoners to have cushions in their own cells. We already have one prisoner right now who has Still Sitting cushions in his cell at the prison, and we’re hoping to do that for others as well,” he said.
The meditation periods and teachings are deeply important to those that Field works with inside the prison walls.
“They are very appreciative of any contact with outside groups like ours. I think it’s a cherished moment for them to be able to visit and have conversations with people from the outside,” he said.
The austerity of life behind bars is, of course, a challenge, but Zen practice has clearly made a difference for many of those inside.
“Prison can be a very noisy place. It can be rather disruptive for them. Actually finding a time of stillness and quiet in their own selves is often hard to achieve,” he said.
“I do think there are people who come to a sensibility that prison can be a retreat. It can be an opportunity for them to examine their life. And to examine their routines in a way that potentially is productive.”
The Covid pandemic eventually put an end to Field’s work at the Concord prison, due to visitation restrictions. But, he continues to work with incarcerated individuals at the Vermont state prison.
Leading the Upper Valley Zen Center
He and the sangha at Upper Valley Zen Center hold daily meditation practice both in-person and on Zoom. The center offers traditional 10-week Zen monastic training known as Seichu twice per year in the spring and winter.
“That 10-week period includes a weekly study group. In that group, we pick a text — one year we did the Diamond Sutra, and we’ve done the Platform Sutra, but more recently we’ve been doing texts from contemporary teachers,” said Field.
This year’s spring Seichu period will involve different Zen teachers from various lineages and traditions from around the United States and Canada.
“We have five sessions that are covered by male teachers and five covered by women teachers, for the whole Seichu period. They include teachers from far away places like Washington State or California, who are joining us on Zoom for those study sessions,” said Field.
“I’m looking forward to inviting other people and other Buddhist groups in our area to join in those sessions. And along the way we might encourage them to buy more cushions as well,” he adds with a laugh.
If you enjoyed this Spotlight, we encourage you to read about others, like Indy Community yoga, and our friend who is teaching kids to sit on zafus in their school library.
Learn more about Gendo Allyn Field and UVZC on their website: http://www.uvzc.org/
Their schedule is available here: http://www.uvzc.org/schedule.html