Pico Iyer

It is something I'd sought out, and I probably have a kind of temperamental inclination towards monasteries. Even as a little boy, if I stepped into a convent or monastery, I felt a sudden longing the way other people may feel when they see a strawberry cheesecake or whatever. It spoke to something inside me. But I think the particular beauty of this silence is that it's not an absence of noise.

It is something I'd sought out, and I probably have a kind of temperamental inclination towards monasteries. Even as a little boy, if I stepped into a convent or monastery, I felt a sudden longing the way other people may feel when they see a strawberry cheesecake or whatever. It spoke to something inside me. But I think the particular beauty of this silence is that it's not an absence of noise.

It is something I'd sought out, and I probably have a kind of temperamental inclination towards monasteries. Even as a little boy, if I stepped into a convent or monastery, I felt a sudden longing the way other people may feel when they see a strawberry cheesecake or whatever. It spoke to something inside me. But I think the particular beauty of this silence is that it's not an absence of noise.

It's almost a presence as if years of prayer and meditation, not just in this monastery but in every convent and monastery, have created these transparent walls where suddenly the world comes to you with greater immediacy. And so the curious thing was –

It's almost a presence as if years of prayer and meditation, not just in this monastery but in every convent and monastery, have created these transparent walls where suddenly the world comes to you with greater immediacy. And so the curious thing was –

It's almost a presence as if years of prayer and meditation, not just in this monastery but in every convent and monastery, have created these transparent walls where suddenly the world comes to you with greater immediacy. And so the curious thing was –

As I drove up to the monastery, as usual, I was conducting arguments in my head and fretting about deadlines and worried about my tax return and concerned about my aging mother. And I stepped into the silence and all of that fell away. It was as if little Pico and his tiny thoughts were left down on the highway. And instead, I was in the midst of this beautiful scene above a radiant coastline.

As I drove up to the monastery, as usual, I was conducting arguments in my head and fretting about deadlines and worried about my tax return and concerned about my aging mother. And I stepped into the silence and all of that fell away. It was as if little Pico and his tiny thoughts were left down on the highway. And instead, I was in the midst of this beautiful scene above a radiant coastline.

As I drove up to the monastery, as usual, I was conducting arguments in my head and fretting about deadlines and worried about my tax return and concerned about my aging mother. And I stepped into the silence and all of that fell away. It was as if little Pico and his tiny thoughts were left down on the highway. And instead, I was in the midst of this beautiful scene above a radiant coastline.

And I was in some ways released from myself, I felt, and released from my endless chatter.

And I was in some ways released from myself, I felt, and released from my endless chatter.

And I was in some ways released from myself, I felt, and released from my endless chatter.

Well, as a writer, of course, I spend much of my day alone. And when I'm at my desk, the chatter is sometimes deafening. But what I experienced with the silence in the monastery was something very different. I was just thinking as I was walking down to talk to you, that it's as if suddenly in the monastery, I realized I wasn't the center of the world.

Well, as a writer, of course, I spend much of my day alone. And when I'm at my desk, the chatter is sometimes deafening. But what I experienced with the silence in the monastery was something very different. I was just thinking as I was walking down to talk to you, that it's as if suddenly in the monastery, I realized I wasn't the center of the world.

Well, as a writer, of course, I spend much of my day alone. And when I'm at my desk, the chatter is sometimes deafening. But what I experienced with the silence in the monastery was something very different. I was just thinking as I was walking down to talk to you, that it's as if suddenly in the monastery, I realized I wasn't the center of the world.

And the sort of me part disappeared and the world part became very strong. And Thomas Merton, the great Trappist monk who lived with silence for 27 years, wrote, when your mind is completely silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real. And I think that's what I found.

And the sort of me part disappeared and the world part became very strong. And Thomas Merton, the great Trappist monk who lived with silence for 27 years, wrote, when your mind is completely silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real. And I think that's what I found.

And the sort of me part disappeared and the world part became very strong. And Thomas Merton, the great Trappist monk who lived with silence for 27 years, wrote, when your mind is completely silent, then the forest suddenly becomes magnificently real. And I think that's what I found.

So although sometimes I've been there during storms and at very scary and uncertain times, my mind at least is quiet in a way that it isn't when I'm by myself elsewhere.

So although sometimes I've been there during storms and at very scary and uncertain times, my mind at least is quiet in a way that it isn't when I'm by myself elsewhere.