The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Boy explores the transformation of Jarvis Jay Masters who has become one of America\'s most inspiring Buddhist practitioners while locked in a cell on Death row.
And while he is still in San Quentin and still on Death row, he is a renowned Buddhist thinker who shows us how to ease our everyday suffering, relish the Light that surrounds us, and endure the tragedies that befall us all..
Along the way, Masters becomes drawn to the principles that Buddhism espouses--compassion, sacrifice, and living in the moment--and he gains the admiration of Buddhists worldwide, including many of the faith\'s most renowned practitioners.
With uncanny clarity, David Sheff describes Masters\'s gradual but proFound transformation from a man dedicated to hurting others to one who has prevented violence on the prison yard, counseled high school kids by mail, and helped prisoners--and even guards--find meaning in their lives.
Until desperation moved him to ask her how to do that meditation shit.
A criminal investigator repeatedly offered to teach him breathing exercises which he repeatedly refused.
At the time of his murder trial, he was held in solitary confinement, torn by rage and anxiety, felled by headaches, seizures, and panic attacks.
While in prison, he was set up for the murder of a guard--a conviction which landed him on Death row, where he\'s been since 1990.
He and his siblings were split up and sent to foster care when he was five, and he progressed quickly to juvenile detention, car theft, armed robbery, and ultimately San Quentin.
Born in Long Beach, California, his house was filled with crack, alcohol, physical abuse, and men who paid his mother for sex.
Jarvis Jay Masters\'s early life was a horror story whose outline we know too well.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Boy explores the transformation of Jarvis Jay Masters who has become one of America\'s most inspiring Buddhist practitioners while locked in a cell on Death row
