Thoreau: “Autumnal Tints”
October is the time to revisit Thoreau’s October 1862 essay “Autumnal Tints,” even for readers not living in Thoreau’s New England. The essay is rep...
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Late Summer moment
In Japanese aesthetics, the phrase “mono no aware” means “the poignancy of things.” The photograph (of part of our garden) represents th...
Buddha’s method
One of the strengths of historical Buddhism, as reflected in the Pali canon, is its suspension (formal and real) of metaphysics and speculation. To Western thin...
The Way of April
The transition between winter and spring is especially erratic in a northern climate and elevation. One day the temperature reaches sixty degrees F. with a bril...
Favorite hermits: 5. Ryokan
The Japanese hermit-monk Ryokan (1758-1831) is a favorite figure in Zen circles as a poet and monk — unexpectedly he is a favorite figure among Japanese s...
Jung’s psychological types
About a hundred years ago, psychologist Carl Jung issued his seminal essays on psychological types, introducing the now common concepts of “extroversion” and “i...
Rousseau, solitary walker
Blame for the devolution of the French Revolution into a reign of terror has often been placed on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, specifically his Social Contract, a str...
Walking
Walking is a natural function. Walking took on a special meaning culturally when it became part of ritual and religion. Walking became a special expression of p...
Under the bridge
A story in the Daily Star (UK) runs with the headline: “Homeless man has lived under noisy dual carriageway ‘like a hermit’ for 11 years.̶...
Favorite hermits 4., briefly
Speaking of the benefits of solitude, as in the previous post, a pandemic reading list of Chinese and Japanese hermits is always appropriate — even as pan...