Jarvis Jay Masters

Jarvis Jay Masters was born in Long Beach, California, in 1962. He is a widely published African American Buddhist writer and the author of That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row. His poem “Recipe for Prison Pruno” won the PEN Award in 1992. He has kept an active correspondence with teachers and students across the country for two decades, and his work continues to be studied in classrooms in both grade schools and colleges. In collaboration with the Truthworkers, a hip-hop theatre company for youth in New York City dedicated to issues of social justice, his work has been adapted and performed in a variety of venues including the National Cathedral and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Since taking formal refuge vows with H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche in 1991, Jarvis has also been guided by Ven. Pema Chödrön, with whom he shares an enduring friendship. In 2020, he became the subject of a podcast series Dear Governor as well as a new biography, The Buddhist on Death Row: How One Man Found Light in the Darkest Place, by David Sheff.

Originally sent to San Quentin State Prison in 1981 for armed robbery, Jarvis was convicted of conspiracy to murder a prison guard in 1985 and sentenced to death in 1990. Because his case involved a correctional officer, he was placed in solitary confinement and endured there for twenty-one years, from 1985 to 2007. Jarvis exhausted his state appeals in 2019, and his case is currently headed to the federal courts. For more information on the growing campaign to exonerate him, go to www.freejarvis.org.

"This is one of my favorite books, which I have often referred to in my teachings. I am delighted that it will have a wider publication now so that more people can read these wonderful heartfelt stories." —from the foreword by Pema Chödrön

"It is a privilege and joy to read Jarvis Masters’s account of his spiritual struggle to find freedom at the edge of life. Everyone should read this book." —Robert A. F. Thurman, author of Essential Tibetan Buddhism

"An inspiring, even exhilarating teaching on the life of a peacemaker in the midst of rage and despair, and in the shadow of the execution chamber." —Bernie Glassman, founder of Zen Peacemakers International

"As he finds some measure of freedom inside a maximum security prison, Jarvis teaches me how to find freedom in my unfenced life." —Susan Moon, coauthor of What Is Zen?

"Above all, the revelation Masters asks readers to contemplate is the acceptance that 'all of us live in a prison' of cyclic existence and suffering. This is a remarkable testament of personal transformation and spiritual awakening." —Publishers Weekly

"A deeply moving, life-affirming memoir written from the netherworld of San Quentin. . . . His book is a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit." —Robert L. Allen, author of Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America

"This book is a must-read for all those who believe in prison reform and should be required reading for those who do not. It is a gentle reminder that all voices matter, that all stories deserve to be heard, that all life is precious, and that hope is real." —Indira Grace, The Tattooed Buddha

"This book is also a must read for all those who believe in prison reform and should be required reading for those who do not." —The Tattooed Buddha