Rusty Ring

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

Enlightenment is the stated goal of Buddhism, possibly the only doctrine all denominations share, though variously defined. As ...

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

"A mariner always casts the blame on his compass." Henry David Thoreau (Photo courtesy of Bernd Fiedler and Wikimedia Common...

Chàn fascinates me. Founded in China during the 6th century CE, it's the parent tradition to the three current national schools of ...

In my university days I T.A.'d for a professor whose insights would have an enduring effect on my understanding of the Path. (Shout-...

I've been rereading The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching , the succinct little Thich Nhat Hanh book that amounts, so far as I...

"One of the most powerful teachings that [Thich Nhat Hanh] shared with us before he got sick was about not building a stupa for ...

'Way back in March of 2012 CE (how strange to have such a deep vault) I reviewed Zen at War , Brian Daizen Victoria's exposé o...

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

So I'm reading Adam Savage 's Every Tool's a Hammer , an elaborated meditation on "making", that thing that mak...

« Croyez ceux qui cherchent la vérité, doutez de ceux qui la trouvent. » André Gide (English translation here .)

I often meet people who "used to do" Zen. Many were deeply engaged, once; some were students of famous teachers. It's...

Isn't this dude on the cover of this month's Lion's Roar ?

I recently encountered this graphic on Facebook. Sums up the situation nicely, though I might have called the right wing of Integrity ...

This is a long post. It needs to be. If you're a Buddhist, or just a fan of the Buddha, please read patiently; the topic is of importa...

Two days ago I found this teaching in my Twitter feed: "Treat non-useful thoughts like undesirable smells: don't dwell on them...

You gotta love Ajahn Brahmavamso Mahathera . He's a forest monk, albeit not of the hermit lineage. In a West dominated by Zen, Vipassa...

"I do not say there is no Chàn. Just no teachers."                             Huangbo (Photo of Evasterias trosch...

Candid portrait of my practice: written and recorded teachings;  twine and rings for making fudos;   mat where my bowl rests;  lapto...