Rusty Ring

This unlikely 1967 Arlo Guthrie classic has become a Thanksgiving ritual for American radio stations, many of which spin it on that day....

So it's July again, when Internet readership drops off sharply and strange things happen on this blog while no-one's looking....

Here's insight we can use. In this short meditation, Rusty Ring favourite Peter Mayer sums up the lesson we all should have l...

I had never heard of this alt hymn, or the artists who built it, or even the television series that launched it, before I first heard i...

Though it's generally unknown to Western Buddhists, Russia is one of the formative homelands of our religion. Not only has Buddhis...

Welcome, honoured sangha, to your annual festival of potential rock group names here on the Ring. This makes an eleventh year of this...

This is a July post – meaning it has little immediate relevance to Zen or hermit practice – but Tom has made it clear on his website th...

New Year's is upon us again, and as usual I'm in a reflective mood. This time I've got the Cowboys Fringants' Ici-bas ru...

In keeping with our general July theme ("what the heck") here on the Ring, today I'm sharing something awesome, just...

And here we are again, with another Rock Group roll. Those joining us in progress can get filled in here ; note as well the rules , such ...

Forget your perfect offering There's a crack, a crack in everything That's how the light gets in Leonard Cohen, Zen hermit m...

Here's a good meditation for sojourners my age. Here at the crossroads of life, when most of ours is behind us, and what we have ...

July has ambushed us again, and you know what that means: another whack of rock groups. As I've explained in the past, July is ...

Here's another great example of a video that adds striking dimension to the song it accompanies. Not that it isn't fine as it is; ...

I've loved this song for years but only recently searched out the video, which adds incisive context to the lyrics. It's a detai...

Ah, July . That glorious month when northern Zen loosens up and Rusty Ring vacates from seriousness. Seriously. I look forward to thi...

It's about time I shared a John Prine song. The guy's catalogue is replete with complex, insightful meditations on th...

Here's another burst of insight from that cagey lot down at Monty Python. This time they put humanity in context with a song draw...

God help us, here we are again. There but for the grace, &c. And if ever we needed rock groups – as many rock groups as possibl...

(I've never been a stain guy. I don't know why; boatbuilders just tend to prefer oil or varnish. If we deny ourselves the na...