Namaste and welcome to Notes from the Hermit’s Cave. There is an About Me page, so on this Welcome page I hope to give you some idea what to expect from the blog itself.

Musings on one hermit’s life and world, like it says at the top, pretty much sums up the theme and content of the blog.

Being a hermit and monk, I lead a contemplative, and secluded life. Essentially most posts concern my contemplations, things I’m studying, insights I’ve gained. Reflections on the spiritual life as lived by me is a good way to put it.

I live in a small community of hermit monks in a small town where we’ve settled after a few years moving from place to place. So you will also get the occasional posts about what I call hermitage life.

In a rather important sense, the blog is about my quest towards a fuller realisation that all of us are one, there is no division, there is only one Absolute Reality. More or less everything I try to do in my life is an effort towards that realisation.

And a key way for me, and our community, to achieve that is reduce my entanglement with ‘things of the world’ as they’re called: you won’t find much (if any?) comment on the state of the material world, politics, and the like. Though having said that, my life is dedicated to prayer and devotion, which I hope contributes to the upliftment of our world. I’m big on the ripple effect!

And why should this interest anyone else other than me and my close ones? Well, as I mentioned, I sense there is no ‘you’ or ‘me’ or ‘them’, ‘us’ or any other kind of separation. Only one unity, one reality as I said. In other words, my life is just like your life, with the same challenges, hassles, fears, joys, responsibilities, the list goes on!

So, there may be things in this blog you relate to, or which give you pause for thought or prompt in you a response. If you are attracted to a spiritually oriented life, if you think about the big ‘who am I?’ questions, then you’re just like me. Maybe we can find some answers.

And, if you are like me, then you are also attracted to a prayerful and prayer filled life. My prayer life involves actual prayers, chanting mantra, turning all my actions into prayer, and putting down in words my own explorations and contemplations on the true nature of our lives.

In addition to this blog, which is for me, a very important and sincere act of devotion, a full-on prayer really, I write devotional poetry from time to time. So, I’ve just added a Poems of Devotion page, which is where you will find an ever-growing collection of my poetic offerings.

I illustrate the blog with mostly my own photos, though occasionally source them from elsewhere when needed. Again my photography is what I call Contemplative, and I hope it adds some depth to the words I write here.

Anyway, welcome. You are very welcome to explore this blog. The archive goes back to early 2022, so there is a lot to see and reflect on.

Thank you for sticking with me this far. Please feel free to contact me with comments, questions, or just to say hello. In the meantime, you are welcome to join me on my quest.

love and peace
Paul the hermit