Meditation for Prisoners

1: GETTING OUT You can get out of prison now, this moment, through a radical readjustment of your thinking process. The prison is threefold: physical, emotional and mental. The keys to the locks are threefold: harmlessness, right speech and selfless service. The path is called "razor-edged" because it is so narrow and seemingly difficult to tread. It is seemingly difficult because it is so obvious, yet many people forget to tread it. They fall asleep at every opportunity and revert to habit. MEDITATION 1 My heart was in prison, but now it is free. I soar above the noise and squalor. I give thanks for life and breath. I am healed by the thoughts of healing which my soul creates. I am not alone. There is nothing to fear. No one is given a test they cannot pass. 2: CONFRONTING EVIL In the battle of good and evil, the power of evil is as a candle held against the sun. The candle gives light and heat for a short time, costs money and leaves a mess. The sun is the source of all life, is dependable, distributes light and heat evenly and burns with the fires of untold millions of candles. Hatred is a good short-term motivator, but, in the long run, only love can sustain us. The candle of hatred burns itself out; the sun of love promotes growth and healing. Some people are drawn like moths to the flame of evil because it appears to be a source of power. It is, of course, powerful, but the power is temporal and illusory. The fire of evil cremates those who are foolish enough to flirt with it. Right and good appear to be defenseless and weak, but they triumph over time because they are persistent, essential and potential in all creation. Hitler's Thousand Year Reich lasted only twelve years. They were a terrible dozen years, but they ended in defeat for those who would enslave and imprison the human spirit. Let us meditate on the courage of those who face the power of evil without hatred or fear. MEDITATION 2 Some people are unafraid when confronted by evil I want to be like that. Some people are so full of love that they are not hurt by poisonous words. I want to be like that. Some people are so wise that they can avoid mistakes. I want to be like that. May I attract the kind of person I wish to become. May I be the kind of friend I wish to have. 3: PAIN Pain comes into life uninvited. It is a warning that something is wrong and, as such, should be regarded as a friend. I have always found it difficult to regard pain as a friend and I assume most people agree with me. I also assume most people dislike pain as much as I do, so I try never to cause it. Sometimes situations arise in which causing pain is inevitable; in such situations, I try to cause the least amount of pain possible. Pain can be a warning sign to guide and direct us. It is the last method to which experienced teachers resort when faced with a particularly obstinate student. Let us seek to understand the meaning of pain and remove its cause. MEDITATION 3 My pain has a purpose. My pain is a teacher. My pain teaches compassion for suffering. Let us make pain obsolete by perceiving dangers in advance and removing all causes of suffering. In sharing the pain of others, I lose my own.