Writings

What Ru Shi Writes

Whatever comes to mind. Sometimes a story I read, sometimes something that came to me while holding my mala beads.

All Writings

I Stuck Tiny Seeds on My Ears to Cure Anxiety. I Didn't Believe It Either.
wellness

I Stuck Tiny Seeds on My Ears to Cure Anxiety. I Didn't Believe It Either.

A few days ago, I came across a video. A foreign girl looked into the camera and said, "Ear seeds changed my life." She had...

7/12/20267 min
The Man on the Snow Mountain Who Gave Everything for Half a Verse
Buddhist Notes

The Man on the Snow Mountain Who Gave Everything for Half a Verse

A man searched his whole life on a snow mountain for one true sentence. He finally heard half of it. The price for the other half was his life. He didn't hesitate.

6/9/20267 min
The Man Who Was Always Laughing: The Story of Budai Monk
Buddhist Notes

The Man Who Was Always Laughing: The Story of Budai Monk

Behind that chubby, big-bellied, grinning Buddha at the temple entrance, there was a real person — a monk who carried a cloth bag and spent his life smiling. This is his story.

6/2/202610 min
The Blind Turtle and the Floating Log: How Rare It Is to Have This Human Life
Buddhist Notes

The Blind Turtle and the Floating Log: How Rare It Is to Have This Human Life

The Buddha told a story about a blind turtle at the bottom of a vast ocean, surfacing once every hundred years, trying to put its head through a hole in a randomly drifting piece of wood. That probability, he said, is how rare it is to obtain a human life. This story has stayed with me — about cherishing, about possibility, about still surfacing when you can't see the way.

5/13/20268 min
A Day Without Work, A Day Without Food: How Master Baizhang Spent His Whole Life Proving That Work Is Practice
Zen Stories

A Day Without Work, A Day Without Food: How Master Baizhang Spent His Whole Life Proving That Work Is Practice

During the Tang Dynasty, an old monk named Huaihai lived on Baizhang Mountain. Every day he worked alongside younger monks. When his disciples hid his tools, he refused to eat. This story has been passed down for over a thousand years.

4/26/20268 min
The Burning House Parable: A Story of Fire That Reveals the Truth of Life
Buddhist Notes

The Burning House Parable: A Story of Fire That Reveals the Truth of Life

The most famous parable from the Lotus Sutra—a burning mansion, children oblivious to danger, and a father who uses skillful means to save them. This 2,500-year-old story reveals the nature of our delusion in the Three Realms and the path toward liberation.

4/20/202612 min
Angulimala: From Murderer to Arhat — How One Sentence from the Buddha Changed a Life Forever
Buddhist Notes

Angulimala: From Murderer to Arhat — How One Sentence from the Buddha Changed a Life Forever

The story of Angulimala — a murderer who killed 999 people, yet was transformed by a single sentence from the Buddha and attained arhatship. Buddhism's most dramatic story of transformation.

4/18/202613 min
The Surangama Sutra and Modern Life: Reclaiming Your Stolen Attention
Insights

The Surangama Sutra and Modern Life: Reclaiming Your Stolen Attention

The Surangama Sutra teaches: When the wild mind suddenly stops, that stopping is awakening. In an age of stolen attention, 2,500-year-old wisdom offers the most precise answer.

4/14/202620 min
The Medicine Buddha Sutra: The Most "Practical" Buddhist Scripture — Health, Peace, and Fulfillment
Insights

The Medicine Buddha Sutra: The Most "Practical" Buddhist Scripture — Health, Peace, and Fulfillment

The Medicine Buddha Sutra is the Buddhist scripture closest to everyday life. His twelve great vows cover health, prosperity, safety, and freedom from worry — nearly everything people wish for. It is not a promise about the afterlife, but a blessing for this life.

4/10/202620 min
The Amitabha Sutra: The Pure Land Is Not About the Afterlife — It Is the Direction of Your Heart Right Now
Insights

The Amitabha Sutra: The Pure Land Is Not About the Afterlife — It Is the Direction of Your Heart Right Now

The Amitabha Sutra is the core text of Pure Land Buddhism, describing a realm free from suffering. But the Pure Land is not a destination after death — it is where your heart settles in this moment. When you recite the Buddha's name with a focused mind, you are already there.

4/10/202620 min
The Diamond Sutra Decoded: How an Ancient Text Cures Modern Anxiety
Insights

The Diamond Sutra Decoded: How an Ancient Text Cures Modern Anxiety

The Diamond Sutra is the core text of Zen Buddhism. Its central teaching — "cultivate a mind that abides nowhere" — has inspired everyone from a 7th-century woodcutter to Steve Jobs. Here is what it actually means for your daily life.

4/10/202625 min
The Heart Sutra in Daily Life: How 260 Characters Can Change How You See the World
Insights

The Heart Sutra in Daily Life: How 260 Characters Can Change How You See the World

The Heart Sutra is only 260 characters long, yet it is the most widely recited Buddhist text in the world. It is not mysticism — it is a mirror, reflecting the truth about your attachments, anxieties, and the illusion of a fixed self.

4/10/202622 min
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