Thank you to Daniel Kee for co-hosting, and to Jacques Verduin, and his 2 guests, graduates from the Insight Prison Project and participants in Insight Out, and Christine McCaull for hostessing the evening and conducting the meditation.A special thank you to Ross Rubin for his music- piano and voice, humor and soul. Ross played Bud Powell's "Cleopatra's Dream" into Donaldson and Kahn's "Love Me or Leave Me" into the Gershwin Bros "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" back into "Cleopatra's Dream" and with a final nod to Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." At closing, he performed Kenny Dorham's "Fair Weather" which seemed fitting to the occasion. See this playlist on Spotify. You can reach Ross at 707.337.8024 and enjoys playing everything from Bach to Monk to the Sex Pistols at parties and events with or without his trio.
Notes and comments:
They are all coming home. How do you want them to come home?
There are 250,000 people in California's prisons. 90% of them are coming home. Will they be hardened, or restored?
This was an unusual and pretty spell binding evening, as our guests talked about the prison system, what it's like to commit a serious crime, do extensive time, and wake up in prison to the truth of your own soul- and to then devote your life to transforming violence to power.
The discussion and Q&A ran for an hour and half, before the recording device stopped.
We have captured most of it in these articles:
Jacques Verduin, Insight Prison Project and Insight Out, on Transforming in Prison, and Transforming Prison
Rusty Trunzo, a 30 year inmate and now a transitional home coordinator, on doing your inner work in prison
Anonymous, a 20 year inmate and now a crisis counselor, on finding your purpose in life and transforming your being
Q&A with Insight Grads
Notes:
Jacques is looking for help on Insight Out. Email Christine[AT]lovespring.org to get in touch with him.
The organization mentioned helping trafficked children in the East Bay is BAWAR. They regularly run volunteer trainings.
