The Divine Compass
By Dan Milllstein

One of our group participants in prison was a commercial fisherman before getting busted for smuggling drugs on the high seas. No need to go into the reasons he thought smuggling was a good idea, we all make errors in judgement. Desperate times sometimes equal desperate measures. This guy is a particularly fine person who was, maybe karmicly, chosen to be a scapegoat for the war on drugs. No way to know for sure but the way he handled himself in prison was a testament to all of our human capacity to be gentle, loving and kind. He did his time well, helping others and learning about himself. Our mission in our prison volunteer program is to teach these two qualities to our clients.
We accomplish this through emotional support groups called Attitudinal Healing, a process which is based on the belief that it is not people or circumstances outside ourselves but our own thoughts and attitudes that cause us to feel that we must act outside of societal rules in order to survive. Attitudinal Healing believes that each moment is an opportunity to re-examine our lives and choose a new path. Although this is a new thought  technology in human interaction and consciousness, it can be explained in ancient terms. Herein lies the source of its power to change lives. Attitudinal Healing is a non-denominational spiritual path to awakening karuna , a sanskrit term which describes the natural human qualities of compassion, gentleness and softness. Attitudinal Healing also teaches upaya , another sanskrit term which translates as skillful means of relating to, and dealing with others.
Our friend the fisherman learned these lessons well in his 10 years plus in prison. He also taught us, and all who came in contact with him, the value of a good compass. He became a reading tutor, sat suicide watch in the prison hospital and took advantage of every program the prison offered, even the drug program, though he was not a user himself. He wanted to be involved in the drug program so he could better help, and understand other inmates, the large majority of which were addicts. He even had to lie about his personal usage so he would be admitted to the year long program , he was dedicated to gathering knowledge. In our weekly group we even struggled with the issue of his personal integrity before he decided to sneak  into the program.
We are students and teachers to each other , is one of the principles of Attitudinal Healing. Every week, at the beginning of each group, we read this, and the other principles, in an attempt to stay on track  during our few hours together. This particular principle was really apparent when it came to our fisherman friend, he was a great teacher, a true teacher of peace. He taught me that I have the inner strength to weather any storm, by just tightening up the hatches and riding it out.
There are times in our lives when our compass is useless, nature must have its way (and sometimes, the government). But, as the storm passes you adjust your course again and stick to it. After all, only one setting out of the 360~ will get you where you want to go. Hawaii is 223~ssw from my house. If I set my compass at 224~ or 222~ I will miss the islands. During the trip I will have to adjust my heading many times and compensate for my errors each time.
Our fisherman set his compass on Love and kept adjusting. He rode out many storms in prison, saved a few lives along the way, taught a few students, stood up for the weak, helped many who had less. And now he has done his time and is back on the high seas, where a real fisherman belongs.

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