I have been facilitating study groups on Ethics for the New Millennium with inmates in the medium security prison in Maine now for about a year and I am always humbled and amazed by the kind of response I am witness to there.   Whether it is men or women, young folks or older, so-called hardened criminals or newly incarcerated, the guidelines that the Dalai Lama puts forth for how to be an ethical member of society seem to be heard and felt differently than the way any religious dogma, societal laws or parental guidelines are received.  Even though all these may be essentially saying the same things:  do unto others, behave compassionately, live by the golden rule, etc, there is something clearer and cleaner about the message that comes from his way of thinking and communicating.  They get it. [Read more...]