Rinpoche sent this letter to a man who had found Buddhism and taken refuge while in prison. He had written to Rinpoche to request practice advice.

Practices to do:1. Middle length Medicine Buddha puja.2. Seven malas of Oser Chenma (OM TARE TUTARE TURE SARBA NAGA VISHA SHANTING KURU SVAHA).3. Strong praises to Tara, particularly prayers to the Tara liberating from prison, one of the 21 Taras.

Rinpoche gave the following advice to a student who was in prison.

My very dear Martha,I hope you are doing well and that you are happy. You can learn a lot from your present situation by looking at it in a positive way.

Rinpoche received a letter from a prisoner, who sent a list of all the practices and mantras he had performed. He replied as follows.

My very dear Cameron,Thank you very much for your kind letter. I am extremely happy that you opened your heart.

An inmate in a Californian prison recited one million Medicine Buddha mantras and dedicated them to Rinpoche’s long life. He then wrote requesting Rinpoche to be his guru. Rinpoche responded as follows.

My very dear Russell,

To stop thinking, for prisoners, when the mind is too overwhelming, can bring calm, but you can’t stop thinking completely. It is better to have an object than not to have an object, otherwise the person may get spaced out.