June 8, 2017 I have to practice mindfulness everyday! I’ve always been a fighter, tough on myself so when I I’ve discovered something. I have to decide who I want to be! See theres an image a reputation, I’ve upheld for so long that honestly I’d come to love everyone knows Twisted, wanted to be like him yet don’t know …
Dealing with an angry world—don’t eat the rat poison
Are you often angry about what you see in the news? I try to limit how much ‘bad news’ I take in. In 1826 a doctor wrote: “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” I have a similar saying: Tell me what you hear and I will tell you how you feel. If you take …
John – 7×10 space for living and dying
June 2017 Doug I want you to order the movie – (LIFE) –. It is part comedy, but understand the significance of life in prison on those living here. This movie is about (2) guys that are innocent of the crime of murder, and sentenced to life. You need to watch it. Eddie Murphy plays – Ray Gibbson and Martin …
Christopher – The focus of my kindness
June 2017 Pick a person close to me to be the focus of my kindness. Heres the plan: I’m chosing Red Dog who is what most call a mental health patient. He cuts on himself alot and prisoners always talk bad about him when he moves to the cell block. He also has a speech impediment. He will cut himself …
Dealing with your anger toward others around us
I spent quite a bit of time looking into reservations for a trip with my wife and two daughters. When I talked with my wife to confirm the dates over the phone, she told me she had changed her plans—which undid all my reservations. I was angry with her. How Love Wins suggests taking three mindful breaths when we are …
John – Our True Purpose
June 2017 When a person[s] choose to help others in life, what is their true purpose behind it? When I first started in this life I thought, “Don’t nobody really care about me, so why should I care about them. They all play their little games, acting like they are my friends or they “love” me. B/S. So I played …
Christopher – Kind and Unkind Cycles
June 2017 Mindful-kind cycle: It began a few months ago when I began to live in a mindful state it led me to start small just not being violent, mean, rude, to others then kind words, led to kind acts for others this built momentum increasing my peacefulness my awareness of others needs all while I was able to look …
Dealing with your anger directed toward yourself
I have a habit of swearing at myself when I make a mistake, for example I overlooked the car to my right at a four way stop and did not wait my turn. I silently cursed myself. I make many mistakes every day and curse myself for several of them. The news is full of our anger and we feel …
John – Darker than dark
May 15, 2017 As for me…well how to begin. Change of life? Tired of life? Tired of being so lonely? Tired of the world and/or all the hate I feel emanating from it? Maybe a mixture of it all and more. If not for C.Q. (Chris Davis), I believe I would of gone mad already. I express loneliness such as, …
Christopher – Confirming two or more of the seven elements of kindness
May 17, 2017 It’s a common practice of mine to assist prisoners coming to the hole on behavior control even with individuals I don’t care for when its cold I’ll send them socks, a shirt, toothpaste, toothbrush all due to the fact I know how it feels I know how they feel to be in a cell freezing no way …
Chris – Mr. M takes up kindness
May 24, 2017 A new I/M moved into the BK’s and Mr. Munoz asked me who it was. I couldn’t tell him b/c I didn’t know and so he went out of his way to find out his name. Where he came from, if he needed a few shots of coffee! Munoz didn’t have very much to begin with. So …
Bradley – Two Poems: Samadhi & Toxicity
June 19, 2017 *Samadhi* Sitting lotus Watching the rise of the incense I feel my mind void of thought everything slows down I see the wind outside move through the trees I hear my nieces outside playing, time and I are totally still without my senses I’ve entered Samadhi I understand Zen practice now but this is only a …
Tad – Still finds time to be kind
August 2017 As I sit here writing this letter I’m watching two inmates fight. One about 22, the other mid 30’s. The young was playing catch with a balled up piece of plastic with another inmate, when he mistakenly hit the older dude in the face. The young one’s pride was soo thick he couldn’t humble himself to apologize properly …
Christopher – Profound Kindness
May 15, 2017 When my oldest daughter Alissa was born premature weighing 1pd 5oz she was in a neonatal unit over 100 miles from myself from my wife and mines home with us both being under the age of eighteen and with a small child already we were severely strapped for cash to pay bills let alone make the daily …
Ernesto – Pay it forward
Ernesto and Buddhism: I was in the hole when I got ahold of a Buddhist book called “Zen”. Studying Buddhism within the confines of solitary confinement in my early 20s was a real eye-opener for me. It put into perspective illusionary perception of the worlds we got lost within … Our self-image, or ego, or human nature, our artificial emotions, …