Even if he did something bad by chance, if he covers it up with a good deed, he will light up the world like the moon escaping a cloud.
Believing in the evil master’s words that only by killing a thousand people and making a necklace of a thousand fingers can one attain perfect spiritual practice, he turned into a murderer and tried to harm even the Buddha, but was influenced by the Buddha, and as a result, he was stoned by the crowd and willingly died. This is the Buddha’s song in honor of Angulimala.
Death row inmate Jarvis Jay (photo source-Tricycle), who is imprisoned at San Quentin Prison at the northern end of Richmond Bridge, Northern California. He did not commit murder like Angulimala, but like Angulimala, he is branded as a murderer and is waiting for death in prison. The story of Jarvis, recently re-introduced in Lion’s Roar and Tricycle, two representative Buddhist media outlets in the United States, begins with his unfortunate childhood.
Born in Long Beach, Southern California in 1962, he grew up as a troubled boy who ran away from home and became violent despite his mother who was a drug addict and the care of his aunt who replaced his mother. He denied the charges but was helpless at the false testimony of his fellow prisoners.
In 1990, he was introduced to his Buddha teachings through a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chagdudu Tulku Rinpoche, who visited the prison. He encounters Sasangje and vows to become a Bodhisattva. Meanwhile, his fellow prisoners recanted their false testimony, and in 2001 another prisoner admitted to making the weapon. He has written a book (“That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man Awaiting Death Penalty” in 2009) showing how Buddhism has changed his life and has given counseling and lectures to inmates several times.
However, his murder was not cleared. The county court has repeatedly dismissed his appeal. He is now preparing a case in federal court.