Prison: A Waste of Human Life

[Sky Dancer]

Yep.

Twice.

If you're going to send mean comments, at least have the balls to make them negs.

I say what I mean and mean what I say. If you'd rather I neg rep you when I do so, that can be arranged.

Fine, because I hate to have to ask my friends to neg me to get rid of points I don't want from you, like I did a few pages ago.



By the way, thanks buddy! (you know who you are) I hope you enjoyed the return pos.

Fine. I won't rep you at all. I'll put you on ignore, that you make you happy.

 

[syrenn]

You have no respect for my views. It's clear this entire thread. I don't think we have anything in common other than posting here.

I think you like to fight.

i disagree with your views... how hard is that to understand? Grow up sky.. Not everyone is going to agree with you.

I never expect you to agree with me. You live to oppose me.

I do hate to disappoint you sky. That is not something i live for. The world does not revolve around you.

 

[Sky Dancer]

i disagree with your views... how hard is that to understand? Grow up sky.. Not everyone is going to agree with you.

I never expect you to agree with me. You live to oppose me.

I do hate to disappoint you sky. That is not something i live for. The world does not revolve around you.

OK. I'll restate that differently. We rarely agree. Period. We post in opposition. We don't understand each other. We find no common ground.

 

[Sky Dancer]

"When I first entered the gates of San Quentin in the winter of 1981, I walked across the upper yard holding a box called a “fish-kit” filled with my prison-issued belongings. I saw the faces of hundreds who had already made the prison their home. I watched them stare at me with piercing eyes, their faces rugged and their beards of different shades-all dressed in prison blue jeans and worn, torn coats-some leaning against the chain fences, cigarettes hanging from their lips, others with dark glasses covering their eyes.

I will never forget when the steel cell door slammed shut behind me. I stood in the darkness trying to fix my eyes and readjust the thoughts that were telling me that this was not home-that this tiny space would not, could not be where I would spend more than a decade of my life. My mind kept saying, “No! Hell no!” I thought again of the many prisoners I had seen moments ago standing on the yard, so old and accustomed to their fates….

After the first days had passed, I decided to decorate my walls with photographs from the National Geographic magazines. The landscapes of Malaysia and other parts of the world had enormous beauty, and I gladly pasted photos of them everywhere. These small representations of life helped me to imagine the world beyond prison walls.

Over the years, I collected books and even acquired a television and radio-windows to the outside world. And I pasted many thousands of photographs on the wall. The one that has made my prison home most like a sanctuary to me is a small photograph of a Buddhist saint that a very dear friend sent to me. It has been in the center of my wall for a number of years.

I now begin every day with the practice of meditation, seated on the cold morning floor, cushioned only by my neatly folded blanket. Welcoming the morning light, I realize, like seeing through clouds, that home is wherever the heart can be found."

Jarvis Masters

Quote of the Week: Jarvis Jay Masters « The Jizo Chronicles

 

[Sky Dancer]

The woman who wrote the forward to Finding Freedom:

Melody Ermachild Chavis

Melody Ermachild Chavis is a member of the Berkeley Zen Center, and former board member of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and a founding member of BPF's prison project. As a private investigator for 20 years, she works to defend people charged with capital crimes or who have been sentenced to death. In her fascinating career, she has worked on behalf of Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt, who was exonerated in 1999, and she investigated the tragic events in Jonestown, Guyana. She has worked on the defense teams of 25 prisoners on California's death row, and for others on the Federal death row.

She is a youth justice advocate who volunteers with a community gardening program for youth at risk. Her memoir, Altars in the Street: A Courageous Memoir of Community and Spiritual Awakening, chronicled her efforts to reclaim her own battle-scarred, crack-infested neighborhood. Rather than building more prisons, she held grieving rituals for those who had died, because "It's important to honor the dead." Her volunteer gardening project for wayward teens created paid work, self-esteem, much-needed attention from adults and a connection to the Earth and their community.

Melody also authored Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan: The Martyr Who Founded RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afganistan. Chavis has published essays in Sierra, Yoga Journal, Shambhala Sun, Turning Wheel, The Sun, and numerous anthologies. She wrote the foreword to death row prisoner Jarvis Masters's moving book, Finding Freedom.

Melody is a mother and grandmother, and lives with her husband in Northern California. She devotes her time to the movement to abolish the death penalty. She has served as co-chair of the Berkeley Community Partnership for Substance Abuse Prevention and has been honored by the Berkeley Commission on the Status of Women for her outstanding contribution to the community.

Melody Chavis Bio

These are the kind of people I hang out with in RL

 

[Sky Dancer]

What is a bodhisattva?

A bodhisattva is one committed to reducing the suffering of others. In examining the human dilemma, the bodhisattva recognizes that we cannot hope to improve negative conditions outside ourselves until we have transformed the same conditions within. By cultivating our inherent qualities of love and compassion, we can awaken bodhi, or "great mind"-the seat of all positive qualities- which enhances the effectiveness and depth of our work, and is much more powerful than our ordinary minds.

 

[Sky Dancer]

This Lama visits Jarvis frequently:

Lama Shenpen Drolma was ordained as a lama (or teacher) by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche in 1996, and since being authorized by Chagdud Rinpoche to give The Bodhisattva Peace Training, Lama Shenpen has focused on making the teachings accessible and relevant to people who live with violence, conflict and great suffering, as well as those seeking to help them. As an ordained Lama, she also draws on her work as a feminist activist and organizer in the battered women's movement in the 1970s, she has taught at-risk youth, youth workers, battered women, advocates, peace activists and a variety of others who work with at-risk populations.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Here is another visitor to Jarvis:

Pema Chodron is a leading exponent of teachings on meditation and how they apply to everyday life.

She is widely known for her charming and down-to-earth interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism for Western audiences.

Pema is the resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery for Westerners and has authored several books, including:



Always Maintain a Joyful Mind (lojong teachings)
Practicing Peace in Times of War
No Time to Lose
The Pema Chodron Collection (audio)
Getting Unstuck:Breaking Your Habitual
Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality (audio)
The Places that Scare You
When Things Fall Apart
Start Where You Are
Pema Chodron

 

[Sky Dancer]

"Is God vengeful demanding a death for a death" Or is God compassionate, luring souls into love so great that no one can be considered 'enemy'?"

Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, Roman Catholic Nun, and Death Penalty Abolitionist

She praised Jarvis' new book, That Bird Has No Wings, The book has also received praise from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

 

[del]

is he dead yet?

 

[Sky Dancer]

"Brave, heartbreaking, redemptive and wise. Jarvis Jay Masters has turned his life into remarkable good medicine."

— Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

Jack Kornfield is the Founder of the Insight Meditation Society.

 

[catzmeow]

These are the kind of people I hang out with in RL

I'd be more impressed with Ms. Carmichael Chavis if she'd ever reached out to the widow and children of Mr. Masters' victims. It's funny how you buddhists only seem to care about other buddhists. If this guy hadn't converted to buddhism, he'd be just like any other inmate in your eyes.

This thread is a great illustration of exactly how shallow your ethics and values are, Sky.

 

[RadiomanATL]

As a conservative, I am against the Death Penalty as it is the ultimate power that is given to the state of which there is zero remedies if the state gets it wrong.

However, I feel no sympathy for this bastard.

Being against the powers of the state does not mean that I automatically sympathize with those who commit grievous crimes.

 

[Wicked Jester]

is he dead yet?

Unfortunately no......He'll get his three hots and a cot, along with cable TV again today, on the dimes of the taxpayers.......Talk about a waste of money, housing and feeding a scumbag who is less then human.

 

[Wicked Jester]

As a conservative, I am against the Death Penalty as it is the ultimate power that is given to the state of which there is zero remedies if the state gets it wrong.

However, I feel no sympathy for this bastard.

Being against the powers of the state does not mean that I automatically sympathize with those who commit grievous crimes.

It's the power of the people, not the state, Radio.

It's the state who carries out the orders of the people.

But, I have zero problem with privatizing the execution biz, so we can take the state factor out all together.

 

[RadiomanATL]

As a conservative, I am against the Death Penalty as it is the ultimate power that is given to the state of which there is zero remedies if the state gets it wrong.

However, I feel no sympathy for this bastard.

Being against the powers of the state does not mean that I automatically sympathize with those who commit grievous crimes.

It's the power of the people, not the state, Radio.

It's the state who carries out the orders of the people.

But, I have zero problem with privatizing the execution biz, so we can take the state factor out all together.

A difference without a distinction.

Government is not infallible. Mistakes can and are made on a regular basis. Taking away a life is the ultimate price for which there is no room for mistakes and no way to correct a mistake when it is made.

Therefore, I cannot support the death penalty.

 

[Sky Dancer]

I have no problem writing to prisoners AND serving victims of crime.

 

[syrenn]

is he dead yet?

Unfortunately no......He'll get his three hots and a cot, along with cable TV again today, on the dimes of the taxpayers.......Talk about a waste of money, housing and feeding a scumbag who is less then human.

Lets think about that

three hots and a cot, cable TV.....AND a whole lot more. All provided to him by the state.


How about his victim? Do the dead get to enjoy any of that? Does the state provide three hots and a cot along with everything else to the family that was deprived of him?


sorry... he deserves a blanket on the floor, three cold meals and nothing else.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Yeah, Syrenn. You and your little troop keep that going, your right wing harpies.

My troop includes Pema Chodron, Lama Shenpen Drolma, Sister Helen Prejean, Jack Kornfield, and Bishop Desmond Tutu.

 

[Wicked Jester]

I have no problem writing to prisoners AND serving victims of crime.

Yeah, that's probably what the lunatic who wrote, and eventually married Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker) said.