I had a mental-set that worked for me. I saw some inmates as soaking wet wood: no one would be able to light a fire of awareness in them any time soon. If I had encountered them in the past, I would simply wave when I saw them in the yard.
I perceived others as crisp, dry wood. They were ready for transformation. All that was needed was a match. I regarded a third category as "damp wood." With multiple attempts to light the fire of love and awareness in them, some would finally burst into flame. It was the pain of incarceration that acted as a goad to encourage growth and change. As the saying goes: "A diamond is a piece of coal that made good under pressure."
Anyone who is familiar with the American prison system is aware that it is a hell-hole. While there are kind and honest correctional officers, I had to agree with a colleague who described many of them as "criminals with badges." This is the way of "retributive justice," that pervades our penal system.
It did not deter Bo from offering inmates the opportunity to use their suffering as a form of Grace and a fire of purification.
Sample letters from inmates:
"But something kept telling me not to just read this to help pass the hours away but to read it and keep it in my heart and mind. So, each day I've been applying some of the things that I read to my daily life, and I've been like a new person.
"When I got your letter today, I noticed my hands were shaking as I was taking it out of the envelope. Well, as I started to read, I felt a warmth come over me as I have never felt before, and a voice within stilled my fears and seemed to say that at last you're coming home and you have no need to fear ever again.
"As I read on, I noticed that I kept having trouble seeing and my face felt like it was on fire. So, I reached up and started to rub my eyes and it was only then that I realized that I had tears in my eyes and running down my face. Then they came freely as I knelt and thanked God for that little book and for you and all the others that are trying to bring the world together to live in harmony with each other and with God.
"It has been a long time since I was able to let my heart open up and let myself really be free and feel again. I sincerely believe that this would not have been possible had it not been for the prison-ashram project and for people like you."
Dear Bo,
""What I've read though seems to be what I've been searching for, for so long. I'm searching for my spiritual awakening that so far, I've not been able to find, but my life has come to a point where I need to find myself before I'm lost in the terrible maze of un-knowing.
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