Buddha Behind Bars

Since his release, Johnson says, he hasn't returned to a life of crime, and he's even been on the Gangaji movement's speaker circuit, but he has experienced the same feeling of being separated from the flock that Dane described. He says that upon his release he went back to Kansas City to live with his mother, but it didn't feel right.

Echoing others, Johnson says, "Prison is like a great monastery. There are no distractions like having to mow the lawn, which I should be doing right now. But once you establish a bond with others, in prison or out, and have to leave, you feel so alone. That's why I came back to Boulder. All the people in Kansas City were asleep. Back there, I felt like a thousand people were plugged into me and draining me of my energy.

"It's good being out, but it's still not the same as meditating in prison. That's the greatest thing that can happen. You just let all your thoughts go and you're truly free. No hustle needed.