I just finished reading the book Finding Freedom by Jarvis Jay Masters. The book is moving, life-affirming memoir written from San Quentin's Death Row. In the book Jarvis Masters traces his remarkable spiritual growth in an environment where despair and death are constant companions.

The passage that follows struck me because of the way Masters talks about the importance of reaching out and extending love and compassion to others, even in the most difficult of times.In the passage prior to the one below, Masters describes a moment when a murder has just taken place on the prison grounds. He and the other inmates were forced to lay face down on the ground while the prison was secured. He says...

Just as I though my head would explode from so many flashing thoughts, I locked on to a single idea; how some people in this world have only a tragic five seconds to put their entire lives in order before they die - in a car crash or in some other sudden way. I realized that what really matters isn't where we are or what is going on around us, but what's in our hearts while it's happening.

I used to feel I could hide inside my (meditation) practice that I could simply sit and contemplate the raging anger of a place like this, seeking inner peace through prayers of compassion. But now I believe love and compassion are things to extend to others. It's a dangerous adventure to share them in a place like S.Q. Yet I see now that we become better people if we can touch a hardened soul, bring joy into someone's life, or just be an example for others, instead of hiding behind our silence.

The key is using what we know. This calls for lots of practice. There is this vast space in life to do just that, both as a practioner and as someone who walks around the same prison yard as everyone else in this place. I've learned how to accept responsibility for the harm I've caused others by never letting myself forget the things I did and by using those experiences to help others understand where they lead.