Thich Nhat Hanh, the great Buddhist teacher, has noted: "Without doing anything, things can sometimes go more smoothly just because of our peaceful presence. In a small boat when a storm comes, if one person remains solid and calm, others will not panic and the boat is more likely to stay afloat."
In this book, African-American Jarvis Jay Masters, a Buddhist practitioner, demonstrates the high and holy calling of being a "peaceful presence" in a terrible place. Sent to prison at age 19 for armed robbery, he was sentenced to death for allegedly conspiring in the murder of a guard. Thanks to the friendship and interventions of Melody Ermachild Chavis, author of "Altars in the Streets," Masters has been able to turn his life around by pursuing the Buddhist path toward liberation.
These stories, poems, and anecdotes from San Quentin's Death Row demonstrate how meditation can be a centering and refreshing force in life. Masters writes about bad-ass prisoners, suicides in cells, scars (as signs of men who were beaten and violated as children), dreams, and the struggle to keep hope alive in one's soul. Two of the best pieces are one on the author's Tylenol prayer beads and one on his handling of ants in his cell. "Finding Freedom" by Jarvis Jay Masters beautifully celebrates the Buddhist practice of "gentling the heart."