jarvis jay masters

i’m irregular in my meditation practice, some weeks steady with a morning practice, and other weeks not. but i labor on, for it has been a refuge for me unlike any other. today i’m inspired by jarvis jay masters, who has been on death row and until recently in isolation the entire time i’ve lived in california; and just a few miles north of me. he writes in his published book about his life there:

“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.”

one of my favorite buddhist teachers, ani pema, often quotes from his book and from his letters to her. she has said she is also inspired by his practice in the midst of such a difficult situation.

i’m surprised, however, in reading more about him that he is possibly innocent and wrongfully imprisoned. during appeals, the california supreme court found eight major issues and in a highly unusual move unanimously demanded the attorney’s office respond to them. it seems likely that a retrial will occur or he may be freed outright sometime in the next few years, after spending over sixteen years on death row. he’s on death row convicted of making a shiv that other inmates at san quinten used to kill a guard in 1985. ironically, the two perpetrators of the murder are not on death row but serving life without parole.

to read or download a detailed pamphlet about his case in pdf format, click here. It is written by a supporter of jarvis, so it is not an unbiased account. but it details some of the issues with the case. the san francisco chronicle also wrote about him recently. to support his case, make a donation to the buddhist peace fellowship at P.O. Box 3470, Berkeley, CA 94703 and denote that they are for the “Jarvis Jay Masters Fund”. to write to jarvis directly, send letters to Jarvis Jay Masters, C35169, San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California 94974.

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