REVIEWS

Finding Freedom
by Jarvis Masters

Finding Freedom is a deeply moving, life-affirming memoir written from the netherworld of San Quentin's death row. Offering us stories that are sometimes sad, funny, poignant, revelatory, frightening, soul-stirring, painful and uplifting, Jarvis Masters traces his remarkable spiritual growth in an environment where despair and death are constant companions. His book is a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit and the talent of a fine writer.
Robert Allen, Senior Editor, The Black Scholar;
Coeditor, Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America

Jarvis Masters' words and stories burn with the flames of a heart-stopping honesty and compassion. They show how spiritual practice and meditation can change a life completely. And they speak of the triumph of the human heart, over even the deepest desperation of death row.
Sogyal Rinpoche, Author, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

It is a privilege and joy to read Jarvis Masters' account of his spiritual struggle to find freedom at the edge of life. Everyone should read this book.
Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies, Columbia University

In Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row, we meet Jarvis, meditating on a folded blanket in his cell, on San Quentin's death row. His voice comes to us from the belly of the beast—it is a voice that has turned from violence and anger to love, spiritual activism and nonviolent conflict resolution. As he brings his warrior spirit to the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, he makes connections with fellow prisoners, guards and friends around the world, in a place designed to sever all connections. And as he finds some measure of freedom inside a maximum-security prison, he teaches me how to find freedom in my unfenced life.
Susan Moon, Editor, Turning Wheel: Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship