Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion: Review

I have always been a little left of center; deeply spiritual, not terribly religious; a modern day hunter and gatherer of theological principles and wisdom. I imagine something akin to a recycling center inside my head. Everything separated and compartmentalized waiting to be processed and then smooshed into something new; something that I can use...that `fits' me. In this new creation bits and pieces of many great spiritual traditions are found and the unused portions are released, like mist into the ethos, to be used by others. For me, this works. That being said, I have just finished, Tattoos On The Heart, by Jesuit Priest Gregory Boyle, a small-yet significant book with great impact; a book, that incorporates bits and pieces from many great spiritual traditions; and therefore...works. In its simplest definition, it is a series of parables; succinct stories, which illustrates one or more instructive principles. Analogies, which you can reduce, reuse and recycle. From Mother Teresa to Rumi to the `homies in the hood'; the wisdom, the lessons, the parables are relayed with such a raw and stark truth, that we cannot help but consider, that we are here for the sake of others; that are souls are connected through some cosmic bond. Tattoos On The Heart is about Homeboy Industries, a gang intervention program, located in the gang capital of the world; Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California. But it is not a story about gangs. It is written by a Jesuit Priest, Gregory Boyle, who has traveled to many places in the world, as a missionary; but it is not a story about religion. It has received the California Peace Prize and numerous humanitarian awards ; but it is not a story about rewards for worthy behavior. What it is about is compassion, learning, growing, falling, stumbling, getting up, moving on and moving beyond. It is about hope. From 10 year old Lula, we learn about the importance of hearing our name, of being known. From Matteo and Julian, we learn to dissolve the illusion of separateness. From Fabian we learn that by latching onto the singularity of love, it doesn't melt who we are, but who we are not. Story after inspiring story we learn, we grow, we stumble, we fall, we get up, we move on-together. Ultimately, these stories, and this book, are about transformation; for the reader and the subject, because in the end, we are truly more alike than unalike.

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