A Byrd's Eye View

Bodhissatva Taking Nothing

Years ago, a friend of mine and I were reading the Lotus Sutra and remarking on the names of some of the Bodhisstvas. Bodhissatva Magnificent Sound, Bodhissatva Wisdom Adorned, Bodhissatva Golden Golden Lotus Light, and so on and so on (I don't hava sutra in front of me, so I can't give you the exact names, but you know what I mean).

It was sort of like those Sioux Indian names from "Dances With Wolves" - Wind in His Hair, Sitting Bull, Smiles A Lot, and like that. My friend and I had a good time dreaming up fun and fabulous (and sometimes less than flattering) Bodhissatva names for ourselves and others. Like Bodhissatva Streaming Golden Farts. Or Great Bodhissavta Foot Odor Adorned. Come to think of it, many of those Bodhissatva names had to do with some sort of fragrant bodily function - but that's just because my friend and I have immature, adolescent senses of humor.

Today, I took my Bodhissatva butt down to someplace I had never been before - the LA County Jail Twin Towers facility in downtown Los Angeles. When you go back to see your prisoner, you can't take anything with you -- not a magazine, not a purse, not a candy bar, nothing. All you can take is your driver's license, a car key and a locker key to one of the lockers where they let you leave your stuff. That's why today my Bodhissatva name is "Bodhissatva Taking Nothing".

I got to the jail at 7:00 am, the doors opened at 7:30, and I got to see my dear cousin at about 10:30 - so much for getting in and getting out. I thought it would be a much quicker procedure, like checking out at the grocery store.

After I got off the subway, I had a hard time finding the building. I waved down a sheriff's car to ask the officers where the jail was. He gestured with his hand and said, "Right over there, ma'am." I followed his hand and yup, there it was...d'oh....gee, I guess it must be that huge, windowless, multi-story concrete bunker-type building surrounded by barbed wire. The sheriff must have thought I was a real dope. A blind man could see that jail.

When I got to the the visitor's area, one of the first things I noticed was that I was just about the only Caucasian in a room full of about 200 people waiting for prisoner visits. I'd heard that the criminal justice system was racist, but now I really believe it. Either the white prisoners don't have families, or they're kept in some other jail....like...say, Brentwood or Beverly Hills.

First, you have to stand in line for a long, long, long time to get to a window where you are "helped" by a deputy who would much rather talk to his colleagues about a football game than look up your prisoner's booking number. Then, you get to sit down on some huge blocks which hold about 35 people apiece and just wait until your prisoner's name is called.

Fortunately, I had brought along some reading material, and I was able to spend a very pleasant waiting period looking at my National Geographic Magazine with an eight-year old girl who was very, very bright. She was able to recognize and name all the animals which had pictures in the magazine --well, all except a lemur, but that's an understandable mistake. We made friends, and I encouraged her to think about becoming a veterinarian.

Finally, they called my prisoner's name and I walked back through a series of long, white, windowless corridors, until I finally got to a room where my cousin was sitting on the other side of a think, plexiglass wall -- just like in the movies. You talk to each other through a black telephone handset - he picks up one on his side and you pick up one on your side.

"Jesus, it's like a jail in here!" I exclaimed, and then I remembered that this was because it was, in fact, a jail. Another brilliant intellectual breakthrough moment for Bodhissatva Big Brain.

We chatted away, and he gave me the name of his public defender. He also gave me some messages to take to his mother and sister on the "outside" - he'll be out in just a coupleof weeks, though, and able to talk to them himself.

It's really shocking how expensive things are at the jail commissary. $4 for a pad of paper, $10 for a pair of reading glasses you could get at the 99 cent store. And you can go online and send goodie packages to your prisoner, but it's all crap and junk food. You can go online and spend $50 to send your prisoner Spam and Fritos and Cap'N Crunch cereal. You couldn't get a plain old healthy apple or banana in there to your guy if you bribed somebody.

You can send books, though, as long as they come direct from the publisher. This past week, I sent my dear coz a couple of books on Buddhism from Amazon.com. He got them and was grateful for that.

So, today, all I had to offer my loved one at the Twin Towers was myself. Bodhissatva Taking Nothing. Nothing but a smile and an "I love you." That had to suffice, and I think it did.

Be patient, be law-abiding, be cool.

Byrd in LA

Posted by wahzoh at March 1, 2008 01:43 PM