Pico Iyer

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.

Yes. So this is the Camaldolese congregation, which is a thousand years old. It's the most contemplative community within the Benedictine and within the Catholic Church. And it's actually been given dispensation with the Vatican to engage with every other faith tradition, you know, in the spirit of Vatican II, which said, Nothing that is true or holy in any tradition is alien to us.

Yes. So this is the Camaldolese congregation, which is a thousand years old. It's the most contemplative community within the Benedictine and within the Catholic Church. And it's actually been given dispensation with the Vatican to engage with every other faith tradition, you know, in the spirit of Vatican II, which said, Nothing that is true or holy in any tradition is alien to us.

Yes. So this is the Camaldolese congregation, which is a thousand years old. It's the most contemplative community within the Benedictine and within the Catholic Church. And it's actually been given dispensation with the Vatican to engage with every other faith tradition, you know, in the spirit of Vatican II, which said, Nothing that is true or holy in any tradition is alien to us.

And so I think one of the blessings of arriving there was to rid myself of all my stereotypes or preconceptions about monks. For the first, to begin with... They open their hearts and they open their doors to people like myself, who's not a Christian. And I think many of the people who stay there probably have no religion. And secondly, they're eager to learn from everybody.

And so I think one of the blessings of arriving there was to rid myself of all my stereotypes or preconceptions about monks. For the first, to begin with... They open their hearts and they open their doors to people like myself, who's not a Christian. And I think many of the people who stay there probably have no religion. And secondly, they're eager to learn from everybody.

And so I think one of the blessings of arriving there was to rid myself of all my stereotypes or preconceptions about monks. For the first, to begin with... They open their hearts and they open their doors to people like myself, who's not a Christian. And I think many of the people who stay there probably have no religion. And secondly, they're eager to learn from everybody.

So the recent prior would go and give talks at the Zen monastery over the hills. And the Kamaldalis actually maintain a Catholic Hindu ashram in southern India, where their priest is. dresses in a dhoti and sleeps on the floor and eats with his hands. And in that ashram, their motto is, we are here to awaken from the illusion of separateness.

So the recent prior would go and give talks at the Zen monastery over the hills. And the Kamaldalis actually maintain a Catholic Hindu ashram in southern India, where their priest is. dresses in a dhoti and sleeps on the floor and eats with his hands. And in that ashram, their motto is, we are here to awaken from the illusion of separateness.

So the recent prior would go and give talks at the Zen monastery over the hills. And the Kamaldalis actually maintain a Catholic Hindu ashram in southern India, where their priest is. dresses in a dhoti and sleeps on the floor and eats with his hands. And in that ashram, their motto is, we are here to awaken from the illusion of separateness.

And so really they're about dissolving divisions and reminding us of what we have in common rather than what splits us apart. And Many years after hearing that wonderful motto, I found it's actually from the Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh. So these Benedictine monks are actually happy to take their wisdom from a contemporary Vietnamese Buddhist.

And so really they're about dissolving divisions and reminding us of what we have in common rather than what splits us apart. And Many years after hearing that wonderful motto, I found it's actually from the Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh. So these Benedictine monks are actually happy to take their wisdom from a contemporary Vietnamese Buddhist.

And so really they're about dissolving divisions and reminding us of what we have in common rather than what splits us apart. And Many years after hearing that wonderful motto, I found it's actually from the Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh. So these Benedictine monks are actually happy to take their wisdom from a contemporary Vietnamese Buddhist.

Well, Big Sur already is the place where the calendar falls away and the outside world feels very distant. And you're on this 60-mile stretch of coastline in central California where humans feel very tiny because you're just in the presence of tall redwoods, the huge expanse of the uninterrupted ocean, the cliffs, and the sky.

Well, Big Sur already is the place where the calendar falls away and the outside world feels very distant. And you're on this 60-mile stretch of coastline in central California where humans feel very tiny because you're just in the presence of tall redwoods, the huge expanse of the uninterrupted ocean, the cliffs, and the sky.

Well, Big Sur already is the place where the calendar falls away and the outside world feels very distant. And you're on this 60-mile stretch of coastline in central California where humans feel very tiny because you're just in the presence of tall redwoods, the huge expanse of the uninterrupted ocean, the cliffs, and the sky.

And then right perched at the top of a hill there is this 900 acres of dry golden hills, pampas grass, and a cluster of little huts where the monks stay and where their 15 or so visitors stay. It's already one of the most beautiful sights on earth.

And then right perched at the top of a hill there is this 900 acres of dry golden hills, pampas grass, and a cluster of little huts where the monks stay and where their 15 or so visitors stay. It's already one of the most beautiful sights on earth.

And then right perched at the top of a hill there is this 900 acres of dry golden hills, pampas grass, and a cluster of little huts where the monks stay and where their 15 or so visitors stay. It's already one of the most beautiful sights on earth.

In 1996, because I travel a lot, National Geographic magazine very kindly came to me and they said, we'll send you anywhere in the world on our dime to write a piece about a special place. And I'm sure they were thinking I would write about Tibet or Ethiopia or Antarctica. And I said, the only place I can think of is Big Sur.