An Interesting Article

Although I'm no DE "groupie," this article is very interesting.

http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/surviving-prison

I did find it interesting. Weird in some parts, but I guess that's just me. Overall, a good find, CR! Thanks for sharing, I hope more people take the time to read all the pages, and not just the first one.
See you in the funny papers!
GK

Yeah, GK, that happens too often! I got that from a mutual Facebook friend (KE), the fairly new one on the Friends page. What I think I found the most interesting is how he healed himself from the tooth problems while on DR. I know that kind of thing is possible, and you don't even have to practice Reiki!

I must admit, I just skimmed the article, because it seems just like all the other articles I've read about DE: the hell he went through and how mentally strong he needed to be to survive.

Sometimes, I wonder about these supposed "beatings" that took place. Funny how there is really no evidence/scars/chipped teeth/etc. You'd think there would be some sort of sign, right? Especially if a billy-club/night stick was used? Maybe that's just me.

Didn't he say he was raped in prison as well? If memory serves, he's pretty much walked back that claim.

I guess my point is that, sometimes I wonder about some of these stories being factual -- and I've heard them all before from him anyway.

I'm pretty sure that the tooth thing is accurate. I've experienced tooth pain, and it is the absolute worst! I know I read somewhere that a dentist did some work on his teeth after the release. The problem was that, on Death Row, they wouldn't allow any dental work but extractions. Since he didn't want to lose his teeth, he had to find some way to cope with the pain. Meditation did that for him. I know from personal experience that the mind can heal. That's what I found most interesting. As to all of his claims, maybe some of them are fabricated and/or exaggerated. However, I've heard too many similar claims about prison guards to totally discount all of them. I wish him well. I'm sure he suffered in prison. I just think that the writer in him has a tendency to exaggerate a bit.

Thank you! I enjoyed reading that article. I practice meditation and sitting zazen for five hours a day is quite an accomplishment for someone living outside a prison. I cannot even imagine living in a cell on death row and at such a young age. Meditation very well could have saved him from developing a full blown psychosis as has happened with isolation and despair at such a young age. As to exaggeration, well I would imagine that fear would pretty well run in my bloodstream if I was in that situation so everything would seem larger than life.

I have experienced healing properties from both Reiki and meditation and I found Damien's wording in this article to be genuine.


The takeaway from this article is choosing to not be negative and bitter and attack others' views but to choose to be positive and kind to others. Being positive is actually self-charging and freeing and the article speaks to this.

I've never tried Reiki or meditation, so I really don't have an opinion on it either way. If it works for you, more power to you.

Like I said, I do doubt the stories though. Is doubt "negative"? Sometimes, I think doubt can be very positive. I think it's essential in many cases in order to obtain truth.

I know that DE also read "A Course in Miracles" while incarcerated. This is a Christian philosophy book that I have studied, too. It focuses on being positive instead of negative and teaches that the most important lesson we need to learn is how to love and not fear. I, too, believe that much more can be accomplished with a positive outlook. My mother used to tell me, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." The Course (this is how students of A Course in Miracles refer to it) teaches, "Projection makes perception." I believe in these dicta and try (although not always succeeding) to live by them.