Happy Birthday, Circle of Love Inside

[Guest guest]

Happy Birthday to Circle of Love Inside! We are one year old right

about now. Aikya wrote to a woman on Death Row in Pennsylvania in

the beginning of November last year and the first inmate reply came

from Illinois on the day of Devi Bhava that ended Amma's November

2004 visit to San Ramon, CA.

 

Today, our 32 volunteers write to 47 inmates. Eight letter writers

also write for Circle of Love Letters, the community program. Over

the past year, five of us visited Circle of Love Inside letter

recipients in prison in Illinois, Pennsylvania and California.

 

Almost one hundred books about Amma have been donated to individuals

in prison and to prison libraries. This year we also donated 75 CDs

of songs to Amma in English with the pamphlet "Who Is Amma?" to

California prison chaplains. Books and CDs we donate are the

generous gift of the MA Center to this program.

 

The lives of people "inside" is changing because of what we do and

as we do it. Sometimes, the ones who seemed the least likely have

responded the most eagerly to Amma and her message of unconditional

love. For spiritual changes we can point to these stories.

 

--Two male inmates, after reading a book about Amma, asked for a way

to remember her every day. They were given prayers in English to

Amma and they began saying them. Both credit their recent

reconciliation with their families to Amma's grace.

 

--Two male inmates expressed interest in the Bhagavad Gita. An Amma

devotee and her friend, located through this list, donated 5

different translations of the Gita to the prison chapel library and

personal copies of the Gita were donated for each man. One of these

men is developing a devotion to Lord Krishna, who, he is keen to

remind me, is none other than Amma.

 

--A male inmate, who has been healing himself after years of severe

physical abuse through reading lots of Jungian psychology books and

self-reflection, is one of several who appreciates Amma. He

recently contributed to a new self-help group founded in his prison

an idea for its structure and his understanding from personal

experience and study of what is involved in personal transformation.

 

 

Several inmates to whom we write have emerged or are about to emerge

from prison including these cases.

 

--A female inmate from Texas, unfairly convicted and having spent 12

years in prison, was released on parole March 11, 2005 and the

Austin Innocence Project will bring her case to court on appeal in a

few months. This woman has a mini-Circle of Love Inside of her own

now that she is on parole. She writes to 40 women whom she met

while incarcerated in Texas.

 

--A male inmate, in prison for 10 years, who had exculpatory

evidence withheld in his trial, has identified an attorney who

successfully defended someone else with a similar case (and the same

prosecutor) and his appeal comes before a judge soon.

 

--A female inmate on Death Row for 10 years will have a hearing

because of numerous errors in her first trial. She is expected to

be released after the hearing since she will have served the time

for the lesser crime.

 

--A male inmate now has his case before the 9th Circuit Court of

Appeals. The longer they take to review his case, the more likely

he will be released after their decision.

 

When these people get out of jail, whether they had a personal

transformation because of discovering Amma or just experienced

kindness from another person, they will be and their communities

will be blessed. I am very grateful to the letter writers devotion

to this seva..

 

Jai Ma!

Aikya