Joseph Hall

In THE REPUBLIC, Plato described in great detail the education of the philosopher, making it clear that one did not become a philosopher without lifting a spear and serving as a soldier. During his sophomore year, Joseph Hall followed that advice and dropped out of college, enlisting as an infantryman in the 10th Mountain Division. Even while serving, his quest for spiritual things continued. He spent weekends at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, singing the psalms and spending time with the Cistercian monks there, many of whom had also been warriors before becoming priests. Upon his separation from the US Army, circumstances would lead him to live for a short time in a Hindu Ashram in Houston, Texas, where he first encountered the ideals of the Ksatriya, the BHAGAVAD GITA, and eastern meditation. He would go on to become a police officer in a small town in Mississippi, then a Border Patrol Agent and a Federal Air Marshal, before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan as a medic with the 221st Cavalry. During this time, he would also continue to study philosophy and Zen (as it might be practiced had the Buddha been born in Judea) but always seeing the great questions through the lens of the trained warrior. Currently living in the Mojave, just north of Las Vegas, close enough that he can see the lights, he spends his days in meditation, studying martial skills, and writing. What he knows, he teaches through his small enterprise, The American Ronin Project. He is currently working on his next book, AMERICAN RONIN 2, Zen And The Way Of The Gunfighter. His email is: JosephHall@AmericanRoninProject.com His blog can be found at: https://americanroninproject.com/headspace-and-timing/ He is always willing to talk about the Dharma as he understands it, and the ways men can explore and live their own warrior nature. Like Nietzsche, he holds that “All men are bred for war” though he would add that all men are also born for poetry. He is the proud father of two amazing sons and expects to be a grandfather soon...real soon.