Pico Iyer

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.

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.

And so I just drove three and a half hours up the coast again because that is as unworldly a location as I know.

And so I just drove three and a half hours up the coast again because that is as unworldly a location as I know.

And so I just drove three and a half hours up the coast again because that is as unworldly a location as I know.

It's both. I'm very conscious, I'm very lucky that I can summon up the time and resources to go on retreats there every season, sometimes for as long as two weeks and three weeks. And one of the things that so disarms me is that the monks ask for so little, but still there is a voluntary donation involved. So I... I am keenly aware that many people in the world don't have that opportunity.

It's both. I'm very conscious, I'm very lucky that I can summon up the time and resources to go on retreats there every season, sometimes for as long as two weeks and three weeks. And one of the things that so disarms me is that the monks ask for so little, but still there is a voluntary donation involved. So I... I am keenly aware that many people in the world don't have that opportunity.

It's both. I'm very conscious, I'm very lucky that I can summon up the time and resources to go on retreats there every season, sometimes for as long as two weeks and three weeks. And one of the things that so disarms me is that the monks ask for so little, but still there is a voluntary donation involved. So I... I am keenly aware that many people in the world don't have that opportunity.

But I do concentrate on silence because that is available to anybody and somebody who can't go on retreat can still go on a walk, can still turn off the lights and listen to music, can still try to free herself from the clamor of the world. And in order to, just as you say, bring yourself back to a sort of deeper reality that too often we forget. I think T.S.

But I do concentrate on silence because that is available to anybody and somebody who can't go on retreat can still go on a walk, can still turn off the lights and listen to music, can still try to free herself from the clamor of the world. And in order to, just as you say, bring yourself back to a sort of deeper reality that too often we forget. I think T.S.

But I do concentrate on silence because that is available to anybody and somebody who can't go on retreat can still go on a walk, can still turn off the lights and listen to music, can still try to free herself from the clamor of the world. And in order to, just as you say, bring yourself back to a sort of deeper reality that too often we forget. I think T.S.

Eliot once wrote about the life we have lost in living and And I think many of us are crying out to find that life, but we're in such a rush. And the world is so distracted these days. We don't know how to put our hands on it. And I loved what you said in your introduction about how this isn't about getting away from the world, but actually getting deeper into it.

Eliot once wrote about the life we have lost in living and And I think many of us are crying out to find that life, but we're in such a rush. And the world is so distracted these days. We don't know how to put our hands on it. And I loved what you said in your introduction about how this isn't about getting away from the world, but actually getting deeper into it.

Eliot once wrote about the life we have lost in living and And I think many of us are crying out to find that life, but we're in such a rush. And the world is so distracted these days. We don't know how to put our hands on it. And I loved what you said in your introduction about how this isn't about getting away from the world, but actually getting deeper into it.

Because it's uncluttered and undistracted, and it's like having the most intimate conversation with the natural world. Again, as I'm talking to you here in Santa Barbara, my mind is too likely filled with the email I just answered, the latest CNN update, the latest notification from United Airlines.

Because it's uncluttered and undistracted, and it's like having the most intimate conversation with the natural world. Again, as I'm talking to you here in Santa Barbara, my mind is too likely filled with the email I just answered, the latest CNN update, the latest notification from United Airlines.

Because it's uncluttered and undistracted, and it's like having the most intimate conversation with the natural world. Again, as I'm talking to you here in Santa Barbara, my mind is too likely filled with the email I just answered, the latest CNN update, the latest notification from United Airlines.

As soon as I go there, where there is no cell phone connection, no internet, no television, I'm freed of all that clutter. And suddenly, as if I've come awake to the beauty of the ocean, I'm suddenly fascinated by the rabbit that's standing on the splintered fence in my garden.

As soon as I go there, where there is no cell phone connection, no internet, no television, I'm freed of all that clutter. And suddenly, as if I've come awake to the beauty of the ocean, I'm suddenly fascinated by the rabbit that's standing on the splintered fence in my garden.

As soon as I go there, where there is no cell phone connection, no internet, no television, I'm freed of all that clutter. And suddenly, as if I've come awake to the beauty of the ocean, I'm suddenly fascinated by the rabbit that's standing on the splintered fence in my garden.