About Healing Dharmas
The first Noble Truth states that there is suffering in life. The irony is that it is through suffering that liberation is realized. It is through trials and tribulations, relating to matters of life and death, that teaches us most about true freedom. For those that have experienced incarceration and discovered healing, their stories serve as inspiration and guidance.
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Healing Dharmas' goal is to share stories of individuals who suffered from traumas that led to their incarceration and how they used the Buddha's teachings and meditation to process and heal. Oftentimes healing is expressed through art and poetry. We will showcase the work as beacons of what is possible.
Healing Dharmas will also provide guidance for people new to Buddhism to choose the tradition and practice that work for them. Healing is personal, but the path does not have to be a lonely one.
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We want to bring awareness to the public about the cause and effect of trauma and incarceration, that there is an insidious feedback loop at play. It is our ultimate hope that the stories shared here could help our politicians craft sensible policies to support traumatized children and teens, and eventually end the cycle of violence and suffering of incarceration.
Our Team
Ven. De Hong, PhD
Ven. De is one of the co-founders of the Engaged Buddhist Alliance, a nonprofit based in Rosemead, CA and affiliated with the University of the West. He has since volunteered in several state prisons in southern California since 2013 teaching Buddhist Psychology and trauma-sensitive mindfulness meditation.
Ven. De is an adjunct professor at the University of the West since 2016 teaching Buddhist Psychology and Buddhist Counseling.
Fluent in Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Teochew, Ven. De is a fully ordained Buddhist monk in the Pure Land and Chan Traditions since 2006 and the Theravada Tradition since 2014.
Irving Relova
Irv started his daily meditation while serving a sentence of LWOP-Life Without Parole. After being granted a commutation by Gov. Brown, he made it out of prison after 25 years. Through meditation he was able to process and make sense of the traumas he experienced before, during and after decades prison.
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Since 2007 he has been studying and practicing Tibetan Buddhism in the Gelug tradition. He continuously lives the Dharma and practice his daily meditation.
He was born in a country amid Martial Law under a dictatorship regime. After losing his father at 13 years old, he emigrated to United States. At the age of 19 he was arrested, by the time he was 21 he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to die in prison.