By Stephen Shay Elliot
[Excerpted from the World Tribune, March 23, 2001]

My abuse of controlled substances, which began with IV drug use at the age of 14, has withstood long stays in prison and the destruction of every relationship I have ever had.

Until June 2000, I had skirted the laws against illegal drug use and managed to incur only parole violations after serving a five-year sentence.

Last year, the law finally caught up with me. It couldn't have happened at a worse time. My girlfriend, Julie, our 1 month-old son, Ryan, and I were caught in a raid. Julie and I were arrested and Ryan was shuttled off to family members. Julie was facing seven years in jail, and I was told that I was facing life in prison. Our son had lost both of his parents in the course of an hour.

I had always thought that my drug addiction was not anyone's problem but my own. I resented the idea that when I do drugs I was victimizing those closest to me. I now saw the truth of it.

Thoughts of suicide, depression, and self-loathing filled my days after my arrest. The worst part was the thought of never being able to hold my beautiful son again, and that I had ruined Julie's life.

The first week of my incarceration, my father visited me in jail. He has practiced Buddhism for 30 years, which is as long as I have been alive. Even though he has always encouraged me to practice, I have always declined. He let me know, in no uncertain terms, that if I started to practice that I would not have to spend my life in prison. "Chanting is not just an intellectual exercise," he said. "Just chant and you will receive results."

I followed my father's advice and started practicing. I chanted, studied and even shared this practice with some of the other inmates.

I got the best criminal defense lawyer in the courthouse free of charge. I was able to keep my head relatively straight. My lawyer convinced the district attorney that a probationary report was in order. This would be my one and only chance to avoid a 25-year sentence. My life would be reviewed and an interview would be conducted.

As I chanted about this situation, I noticed a change. My concern was not only for a successful interview, but for Julie and my son. All of our futures were intertwined. The only way that I could change this situation was through sincere prayer.

My lawyer told me that I should be completely open and honest during the interview. Being up front with authority figures was not something that I was used to doing. I trusted my lawyer and decided to give it a shot. All of my arrogance had gotten me
nowhere. I chanted to do what I had to do.

The interview could not have gone better. I was open and honest. The most lenient result I felt I could hope for was an eight-year sentence, but, at the end of the interview, I was given time served and released. Julie was sentenced to a rehabilitation facility with our son. A positive future was unfolding in front of me.

I found out later that my mother stayed home all day, for days on end, chanting for her grandson, her future daughter-in-law, and me.

I am now clean and sober and with a steady job. Julie is with Ryan. We are working on repairing our relationship.

This victory was in a large part to a change within, something that this practice allowed me to do.

I have no deep philosophical understanding of how or why Nam Myoho-renge-kyo helped me to reclaim my life.  I simply know that it did.