Damien Echols

So he and his best friend, his best friend was a Zen Buddhist monk. who got into a gunfight with the cops and got two of his fingers shot off.

They shot off two of his fingers, so everybody on death row used to call him Three Finger Woo. But he had a Zen teacher, a Zen master that would, you know, he was the head abbot of a 300-year-old temple in Japan and would come back and forth to teach him. And when you're executed, the only person that's allowed to be with you is your spiritual advisor, like no family, no friends, any of that.

They shot off two of his fingers, so everybody on death row used to call him Three Finger Woo. But he had a Zen teacher, a Zen master that would, you know, he was the head abbot of a 300-year-old temple in Japan and would come back and forth to teach him. And when you're executed, the only person that's allowed to be with you is your spiritual advisor, like no family, no friends, any of that.

They shot off two of his fingers, so everybody on death row used to call him Three Finger Woo. But he had a Zen teacher, a Zen master that would, you know, he was the head abbot of a 300-year-old temple in Japan and would come back and forth to teach him. And when you're executed, the only person that's allowed to be with you is your spiritual advisor, like no family, no friends, any of that.

So this Zen master came over to be with the theosophist's best friend whenever he was executed. After he was executed... He was allowed to come back on death row and tell us, you know, what the guy's last words were and, you know, how he held up during the execution, all this kind of stuff. And we just started talking and then started corresponding with each other.

So this Zen master came over to be with the theosophist's best friend whenever he was executed. After he was executed... He was allowed to come back on death row and tell us, you know, what the guy's last words were and, you know, how he held up during the execution, all this kind of stuff. And we just started talking and then started corresponding with each other.

So this Zen master came over to be with the theosophist's best friend whenever he was executed. After he was executed... He was allowed to come back on death row and tell us, you know, what the guy's last words were and, you know, how he held up during the execution, all this kind of stuff. And we just started talking and then started corresponding with each other.

And his teacher became my teacher. And before I left prison, by the time he was executed, he had become an ordained priest in the Rinzai Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. And I followed the same route, trained for years while I was in there with the same teacher, got ordination while I was in there. But those two guys, the day that I walked in the door,

And his teacher became my teacher. And before I left prison, by the time he was executed, he had become an ordained priest in the Rinzai Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. And I followed the same route, trained for years while I was in there with the same teacher, got ordination while I was in there. But those two guys, the day that I walked in the door,

And his teacher became my teacher. And before I left prison, by the time he was executed, he had become an ordained priest in the Rinzai Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. And I followed the same route, trained for years while I was in there with the same teacher, got ordination while I was in there. But those two guys, the day that I walked in the door,

Those two guys were the first people to approach me, and they gave me just this pack that had stuff in it that you need on your first day in prison. You know, like, for example, stamped envelopes so you can write to your family and let them know where you are. Yeah. But I'll borrow soap, you know, stuff like that.

Those two guys were the first people to approach me, and they gave me just this pack that had stuff in it that you need on your first day in prison. You know, like, for example, stamped envelopes so you can write to your family and let them know where you are. Yeah. But I'll borrow soap, you know, stuff like that.

Those two guys were the first people to approach me, and they gave me just this pack that had stuff in it that you need on your first day in prison. You know, like, for example, stamped envelopes so you can write to your family and let them know where you are. Yeah. But I'll borrow soap, you know, stuff like that.

And one of the very first things that they said to me whenever I got in there is you can either turn yourself into a monastery and work on yourself or you can be like the rest of these guys and you can sit in here and go stark raving insane.

And one of the very first things that they said to me whenever I got in there is you can either turn yourself into a monastery and work on yourself or you can be like the rest of these guys and you can sit in here and go stark raving insane.

And one of the very first things that they said to me whenever I got in there is you can either turn yourself into a monastery and work on yourself or you can be like the rest of these guys and you can sit in here and go stark raving insane.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think what it was like, what part of what was so destructive to me about getting out of prison was getting away from that, you know, being introduced into this world where so much is happening. And there's you know, I went from solitary confinement like the last year. Nine years that I was in prison, I was in solitary confinement.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think what it was like, what part of what was so destructive to me about getting out of prison was getting away from that, you know, being introduced into this world where so much is happening. And there's you know, I went from solitary confinement like the last year. Nine years that I was in prison, I was in solitary confinement.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think what it was like, what part of what was so destructive to me about getting out of prison was getting away from that, you know, being introduced into this world where so much is happening. And there's you know, I went from solitary confinement like the last year. Nine years that I was in prison, I was in solitary confinement.

I went from solitary confinement to the streets of Manhattan literally overnight. It was like being bombarded with everything you can imagine. And I kind of wanted to make up for everything that I had missed and not experienced. I lived on the streets of New York for years when I first got out. I wanted to see everything, do everything.