7/27/17
The California Health Care Facility – Stockton (CHCF) is an intermediate-level medical and mental health care facility for patient-inmates within the California state prison system which we visited today. We have been visiting this prison for 5 years. We used to visit the sick inmates from building to building. Now we only run the regular services in the chapel instead. There are about 35-43 brothers at this facility who practice Buddhism.
Today several brothers shared their incarceration experience in prison. Brother A has six more years to go before he can release from prison. He has three kids being taking care of by his parents. He said that his ex-wife is not taking good care of the kids. He wishes that he can go out before his parents passing so he can spend some time with them and reciprocate with what they did for his children.
Another brother also shared his life story. He said that he grew up in an alcoholic family. When he was a child, his father used to be drunk 24/7. He did not get love and affection from parents, especially when he was so young. He could not understand what is the right way of living. That's how he got in trouble and end up in the prison. He said that he is fortunate to encounter the Buddha Dharma in the prison where he learns a lot of good things. Now he knows much better about the essence of life. He said that he will practice as much as he can during this life time. Even though he was sentenced for-life, but he hopes that one day he gets a chance to parole.
After listening to all these touching experiences from different brothers, Ven. Kai Zhao gave a talk on meditation and its benefit. He said," There are many things we can't control in our life. What we can do is try to live in the present moment that will reduce our suffering and bring some peace of mind. If you practice well, it will lead you to free from all kinds of suffering. Living in now is very difficult because our mind gets used to wonder.You need to train your monkey mind every day. Start with relaxing your body and try to focus on your breathing. You can count from 1 to 8 over again and again while you breathe in. Whenever your thoughts lead you to the past memories or future dreams, don't forget to bring back to your breathing and focus there." Everyone got to practice meditation with Venerable for 30 minutes during the services. The feedback from all the brothers was extremely positive. It was another fruitful day with brothers at Stockton Karuna Sangha. Amituofo.
