Report on the Venerable Sik Yin Kit’s Lecture on Teaching Vipassana in Canadian Prisons

Around 90 people attended the Venerable Sik Yin Kit’s lecture on Prison Dhamma at I.K. Barber Centre, UBC campus, early Friday evening, March 18, 2011:

“Dhamma in Prison: The True Transformation?”

The Venerable Sik reflected on her experiences as a meditation teacher in Fraser Valley prisons. She shared many stories and her views on how vipassana or “insight” meditation practice has affected the lives of prisoners she has worked with for the last several years.

The Venerable Sik Yin Kit,  also known as “Sister Jessie” to those closest to her, is the head nun of Po Lam Buddhist Association, Chilliwack. She is active throughout the Fraser Valley, and Greater Vancouver area. One of her many roles, the Venerable Sik is a volunteer meditation teacher in Canadian prisons. Although she is a Mahāyāna nun, she draws upon a meditation technique nurtured in the Theravāda tradition: vipassana meditation. As a volunteer meditation teacher, the Venerable Sik sits at the intersection of many worlds–but she also sits at the intersection between different Buddhist schools and practices in an increasingly globalized Buddhist world.

Buddhist outreach in general, and prison work in particular, are interesting phenomena. It is a point of contact between Buddhist professionals and the broader Canadian public. Their very existence speaks to concern for the religious rights of prisoners in our society. And the use of techniques such as meditation suggest a therapeutic and rehabilitative role for Buddhist practice beyond a specifically religious context.

At a workshop earlier in the day, the Venerable Sik met with a small group of Buddhist professionals involved with addiction counseling, pre-trial detention, prison chaplaincy, and prison meditation. This group discussed a wide variety of issues connected to their ongoing work and their interactions with organizations like the Correctional Service of Canada.

This lecture is part of a series organized by UBC’s Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program, and the Program itself is grateful for the continuing support of The Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation, and the cooperation of units here at UBC, especially the Institute of Asian Research, the Department of Asian Studies, and the I.K. Barber Learning Centre.

by Jessica L. Main.