We’re All Doing Time by Bo Lozoff (Human Kindness Foundation 1985)

We’re All Doing Time is introduced by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and is an introduction to yoga, meditation, and Buddhism.  Mr. Lozoff had a heart as big as the universe, and share it with his intended readers, inmates.  He grew from an activist to a turned-down prison guard, into a US Prison Consultant offering yoga and spiritual paths within the system.  Great story!

The book focuses on changing our vision.  Lozoff could see far beyond what our eyes can see;  he shared that vision and some steps to reaching it.  These steps are described and even illustrated in chapters like “Meditation—just sitting still,” “healthy yoga,” “diet,” “breathing,” “prayer,” “the path of service,” and more.

The second half of the book looks at prison life through letters he answers.  He emphasizes readers’ responsibilities in the world they live in now, and perhaps the larger world if they rejoin it.  The letters offer stories for reflection, and Lozoff reflects.  He does not pontificate from a high throne.  Rather, he uses stories of his own life, and his marriage, his confusions, his own defects, to respond to the most difficult of all questions that inmates need to ask.

Here’s his book in a nutshell:

1. Simple living
2. Personal spiritual practice
3. Commitment to service.

I love this book and its message. If you can send one to a loved one, do!  If you wonder why you are on this earth, with problems, perhaps alone, read this book too.  It is a gift.

“Life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans.” –John Lennon