Rusty Ring

An intoxicant is any external source that draws you deeper into yourself, your beliefs, your egocentrism, and away from direct experien...

incola ego sum apud te in terra et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei. Psalterium Sancti Hieronymi, 38:13 (English translation...

I've been gratified over the years to encounter a small but steady circle of fellow hermits on social media. It's always encour...

A friend recently posted this meme on social media. His immediate intent was the current political situation, but in fact, it's r...

The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. Be brave. – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Photo of young Iranians standing ...

Liberate yourself from everything that doesn't concern you. Don't depend on people or on situations. Look for your refuge and...

If you'd like to explore a rich source of provocative, not overly-technical Zen reads, check out Sotozen.com . Among its many offe...

Eschew temples. Abandon theology. Ignore priests. Walk the path. Don't waste time. (Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com and a g...

There’s always a very inconsiderable minority of these non-joiners. [...] But you will find that insecure societies are the most in...

This Sunday, 29 October, is National Hermit Day. (I have no idea which nation declared this. The day commemorates an Irish saint, so I...

For some years I've enjoyed sporadic correspondence with a fellow Zenner in England. After a few less-than-uplifting experiences with...

The most dangerous thing a sentient being can do is to act on pretext. "Since you did that, I can do this." That's ...

Among many incisive observations in Adam Savage's maker manifesto Every Tool is a Hammer , I found this boldest: "There is no...

A few years ago I read a Brad Warner post about getting others into Zen. Brad was typically circumspect on the notion, but he did ad...

This video is both brief and necessary. We live in apocalyptic times. We're not the first; there have been many other apocalypti...

"Do not emulate others' wrongdoing. See to your own virtue." Dōgen (Photo courtesy of Jay Castor and Unsplash....

This week I learned two things: that something called "the Buddha-like mindset" is trending among young people in China a...

It just struck me that I've never posted on these before. Which is remarkable, since they're central to my practice, and indeed m...

"The greater part of what my neighbours call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely...

A few months ago I happened upon this excerpt from Brad Warner's latest book, Letters to a Dead Friend about Zen . I haven...