A bird
By B. T.
Incarcerated people 
On Mindfulness 
Oct 10, 2005 
Being close to nature is special. There’s a little bird that comes to sit in my window. The window is textured on the outside so that we cannot see out. It is only to allow light in. There are little cracks around the edges where you can see a little bit, and in the main part of the window, you can see shadows and silhouettes. So when the bird comes, I get on my table and watch him. He’s not real pretty—just a plain brown songbird of some kind. But he always lightens my mood when he comes around. I know that animals are supposed to be a lower life form, but sometimes it seems to me that they are the ones who have got it together more than we humans do.
Incarcerated people
Many incarcerated people from all over the United States correspond with Venerable Thubten Chodron and monastics from Sravasti Abbey. They offer great insights into how they are applying the Dharma and striving to be of benefit to themselves and others in even the most difficult of situations.
